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Congratulations to Kevin Bennett from EZ-Mailing. At drupa 2024, we got to catch up with Bennett, whom we filmed a year ago. Already then, Bennett joked about getting a perfection press - and soon he did :-) A warm Congratulations to everybody.

Kevin Abergel is the founder of Taktiful - a company driving a community for companies working with digital embellishment - and also now a software supplier of a newly developed MIS system - that essentially takes the next step for how embellishment can help their owners make more money. In this interview, Abergel talks about how he was born into the industry with two uncles and a father founding MGI - and how digital embellishment differentiates from analog embellishment. Super interesting story that we can all learn from! Watch and learn!

At Fujifilm's Open House in Hanover, Illinois, just outside Chicago, Morten B. Reitoft speaks with Kevin Abergel from Taktiful about one of the printing industry's most talked-about opportunities: digital embellishment. Together with Eric Vessels, Kevin presented market data, industry trends, and real-world business cases showing why digital embellishment continues to attract attention from printers looking for higher margins and stronger differentiation. While only a small percentage of print service providers currently offer digital embellishment capabilities, Kevin argues that this is exactly why the opportunity remains so attractive. With relatively limited competition and growing demand for added-value print, printers have a chance to move away from commodity pricing and create applications that deliver significantly higher profit margins. The conversation touches on research from NAPCO Media and WhatTheyThink, investment trends in embellishment technologies, and the growing use of fifth and sixth colors. Kevin explains how capabilities such as white, clear, metallic effects, specialty colors, and other print enhancements can help printers create more engaging products and stronger business results. The discussion also explores why many embellishment opportunities remain untapped. From economic uncertainty and equipment investment costs to education and market awareness, several factors continue to slow adoption. Yet the data suggests growing interest from print providers looking to differentiate themselves rather than compete solely on price. For Kevin and the team at Taktiful, the mission remains clear: help printers understand the value they already have at their fingertips and turn print enhancements into profitable business opportunities. An engaging conversation about margin, differentiation, customer value, and why the future of print may be about much more than CMYK.

An hour's flight east of Seattle, you find the city of Spokane. Friendly people, stunning nature, and then, of course, Sonderen Packaging. Sonderen Packaging is today led by Keva and Matt Sonderen, siblings with extensive experience and a strong belief in the company's and the market's future. We are there because Sonderen decided to acquire a new Manroland Evolution 700-series offset printer—and, of course, we had to see it, and learn about why they chose to work with manroland. Sonderen have worked with manroland for years and yet they, of course, compared with other suppliers before investing in the new machine - but service, quality, delivery - well - all the boxes ticked in favor or manroland - and today it produces at high speed, high quality, with short setup time - and the service they get is great. But check out the film yourself and enjoy :-)

Kern is one of the main players when it comes to inserting & mailing systems. The Hunkeler feeders will match the company color and can be had in Swiss red, or was it Ferrari red? Not sure if it has to reflect the speeds they obtain, but they are the only ones allowed to have a different color for the Hunkeler equipment that they integrate into their inserting lines. Good talk with Daniel Wenger about how Kern meets their customers' automation requirements.

At Printing United 2025 in Orlando, Morten B. Reitoft from INKISH visits the Standard Finishing Systems booth, where he meets Kent Larson from Bridgeport National Bindery. This company has evolved far beyond its traditional roots while staying true to the craft of bookmaking. Kent explains that Bridgeport began as a bindery but later expanded into printing, a move that strengthened its understanding of both disciplines. “We’re a bindery first — that’s in our DNA,” he says. “We moved backward into printing, which means our focus on quality binding has never changed. Consumers still want a well-made book.” He points out that the quality of digitally printed books has improved dramatically. “Years ago, digital print and hot-glue binding didn’t hold up,” he recalls. “Today, with the right engineering and partners like Horizon and Standard, the books look and feel just like traditionally produced ones — they last.” Kent emphasizes that time-to-market has become the key competitive factor. “That’s the antidote to warehousing,” he says. “If you can print and ship on demand, you eliminate inventory and speculation.” He also highlights how digital printing has revived the book market, once thought to be in decline. “The physical book is thriving again. Short runs, backlist reprints, and print-on-demand are driving a new model — print what you need, when you need it.” Drawing a parallel to streaming media, Kent compares today’s publishing landscape to the evolution of audio and video. “Just like Spotify or Netflix changed how we consume entertainment, digital printing lets publishers deliver books directly to readers. E-books didn’t replace print because people want something tangible — they want to hold it, gift it, and disconnect from screens.” He notes that in recent months there has even been a spike in Bible sales in the U.S., underscoring that printed books still carry cultural and emotional weight. “You can read a Bible online, but people want the real thing,” he says. At the show, Kent explains he’s mainly there to meet friends and see what’s next in finishing technology. “It’s a dynamic time in publishing,” he concludes. “The physical book isn’t going anywhere — people still want something they can touch and feel.”

At Printing United Expo in sunny Orlando, Wayne Beckett from INKISH sat down with Kenneth Hanulec from EFI to talk about how the company is approaching this year’s busy and energetic show. “We love Printing United,” Kenneth said with a smile. “It’s a great community of people. It’s been super busy—day one was packed, and we’re halfway through day two and still running full speed. We’re just excited to be here.” Wayne noted that the show seemed bigger and more vibrant than before, and Kenneth agreed. “It certainly feels like there’s more traffic,” he said. “We’ve seen people from Latin America, Canada, and a lot more from the West Coast than I expected. It’s really a broad mix of visitors.” EFI’s booth was one of the largest on the floor, showcasing an extensive range of machines. When asked how conversations with PSPs were going, Kenneth explained that the focus was mainly on applications. “EFI is centered on three verticals—sign and display, packaging, and industrial textile,” he said. “All of our printers are designed to do two key things: maximize productivity and efficiency while driving the lowest cost per square foot, and enable new applications. Whether it’s clear ink, multilayer printing, or working with new substrates, it’s all about giving PSPs ways to boost profitability.” Wayne remarked on the impressive range of substrates EFI printers can handle, from textiles to rigid materials. Kenneth laughed. “I tell people—and it makes engineers nervous—that we can print on almost anything. As long as it’s about 2 inches thick or less and the process is contactless, we can spray ink onto it and make a beautiful image. Whether it’s paper, film, metal, glass, wood, or plastic, inkjet technology is incredibly versatile.” Asked if EFI has a “sweet spot” among its many printers, Kenneth replied, “I love all the children. We have over 40 printers available for commercial use across our three verticals. Here we’re showing hybrid and roll-to-roll technologies, and our partners have brought dedicated flatbed and hybrid systems as well. The strength of our portfolio is its breadth—whatever a customer’s capacity or productivity needs are, we’ve got a solution that fits.” Wayne pointed out that EFI continues to partner with Fiery for front-end solutions. “Yes,” Kenneth said. “We’ve worked with Fiery for decades. Even though we’re now separate companies, Fiery still accounts for 99% of our digital front-end sales. They’re great partners, and we really value their technology.” Turning to automation, Kenneth explained how EFI approaches it from both software and hardware perspectives. “When we talk about automation, it’s really twofold,” he said. “There’s software-based automation, which drives workflow efficiency, and then there’s hardware automation. Take our packaging solution, Nozomi—it can produce a thousand boards an hour, so you need automation to keep up with that. We’ve also launched EFI Insight, a cloud-based analytics tool that converts real-time data from the Nozomi printer into business intelligence. It helps customers improve efficiency, increase profitability, and even manage preventive maintenance. It’s still early days, but the potential is huge.” Wayne asked whether robotics was also part of EFI’s roadmap. “Yes, we’re working on various automation programs,” Kenneth confirmed. “There’s nothing commercially available yet, but it’s an area we’re actively developing.” As their conversation wrapped up, Wayne commented on how impressive the EFI portfolio looked. Kenneth nodded. “We have an excellent direct and indirect sales team, and we focus on solving real problems for our customers,” he said. “With such a wide portfolio, I’m confident we can help anyone who comes to us.” Wayne smiled. “Kenneth, it’s been great talking to you. There’s still a day and a half left—by the time you leave, I’m sure all the machines will be sold.” Kenneth laughed. “That’s always the plan.”

When Japanese publishers wanted to expand their approach to logistics and publication management, they began working with the Rotomail team and their solution, Bronte Global Alliance. In this exclusive Inkish interview, Kenichi Igarashi speaks publicly for the first time.

At FESPA Barcelona 2026, Wayne from INKISH speaks with Ken Hanulec from EFI about the company’s latest developments across signage, packaging, corrugated, and industrial textile printing. EFI presents a broad portfolio of new technologies at the show, including high-speed UV printers, dye sublimation systems, roll-to-roll solutions, and advanced workflow automation tools, all attracting strong attention from visitors across Europe and beyond. The conversation highlights several of EFI’s newest systems, including the FabriVU 340i+ for high-end dye sublimation graphics, the Q3h XP seven-color UV printer, the hybrid M3hX platform, and the wide-format X5r roll-to-roll solution. Hanulec explains how EFI focuses on combining speed, color quality, flexibility, and automation to help customers improve efficiency while delivering highly differentiated graphics for demanding brand applications. Together, they also discuss the increasing role of software-driven automation, production analytics, sustainability, and labor reduction within modern print manufacturing. EFI’s portfolio includes LED curing technologies, environmentally conscious print solutions, and workflow systems designed to optimize factory performance and reduce operational costs. The interview also touches on EFI’s recent EDP Award wins for its roll-to-roll and Nozomi product families, underlining the company’s continued focus on innovation across industrial digital print markets.

Day one at PRINTING United 2026 in Las Vegas starts with Wayne Beckett meeting longtime INKISH friend Ken Hanulec, VP Marketing – Worldwide at EFI, for an update on a product portfolio that seems to keep growing. Since FESPA, EFI has continued building on several major launches, including new hybrid technology and the eight-color VUTEk FabriVU 340 i8 for soft signage. At PRINTING United, those products sit alongside high-productivity hybrid and roll-to-roll systems covering sign and display, textile and industrial applications. But the bigger story is increasingly automation. Ken describes EFI’s focus as taking cost and manual intervention out of the print factory. That includes physical automation, cloud technology, workflow software and now artificial intelligence. One example being demonstrated in Las Vegas is InSpec AI on EFI’s roll-to-roll platform. High-resolution cameras continuously inspect printed output, creating a digital record of every job while AI identifies and classifies potential print defects. The objective is to automate quality control that traditionally required operators to inspect output manually. EFI is also showing the VUTEk Q3h XP high-speed hybrid platform, the M3h X, the five-meter VUTEk X5r and the FabriVU 340 i8, with additional EFI technology demonstrated through partners elsewhere on the show floor. And as always, applications are an important part of the EFI story. Because printers don’t simply buy speed and specifications. They buy the ability to produce more applications, automate more processes and ultimately improve the economics of their business. Watch Wayne Beckett’s conversation with Ken Hanulec from EFI at PRINTING United 2026 in Las Vegas.

Ken Garner is the VP Development & Industry Relations for the American organization, APTech, short for Association for PRINT Technologies. APTech used to be the organizer of GraphExpo and Print shows in Chicago but chose in 2019 to team up with Tarsus to continue the show under the name Brand Print Americas. In this, Over the Skype session, we get the chance to hear more about the work of APTech. We also hear about the first larger virtual conference that due to the COVID-19 was moved from being a physical conference to a virtual one - and many more exciting subjects. As with all our ‘Over the Skype’ interviews, quality is limited to bandwidth, web-cams, and ability to literally LIVE mix the conversations. However, it works, and with Over the Skype, we will bring you more than 20 exciting people, and angles on the industry as it is right now. Enjoy!

Soon after the pandemic got its grip on the world, the British Web-to-Print company Vpress started The Crown Pub. Two times a week, the pub opened its doors for users to discuss meaningful subjects. Rarely the topics were about anything relating to Vpress and their products. Regardless Kelvin Bell and his team continued the pub, and in this session, we talk to Kelvin Bell, whether this is just REALLY smart marketing, will this format continue forever, and what has the take-aways been for Vpress.

Keith Michael is the founder and owner of Lebone Litho in Johannesburg, and many sides to this story are surprising. First and foremost, what should one expect when driving through a city that has slums and the most beautiful buildings? We arrive at a street where it seems Lebone has taken over most of it. The facades are renovated, and when we arrive at the reception, you realize before even entering the company that Lebone is beyond most printing companies. In the board room, we meet with Keith Michael - a fantastic personality whose background is in plastics, and you soon realize a person who has an eye for detail. No dust and no mess. Wherever we go in the large facility, his eyes are everywhere, and his people know it. Lebone has about 600 employees and though we "only" visit Lebone Litho, the next door buildings have large format, multi-media, publishing, and across the street a super optimized production of exam papers, including scanning facilities to afterwards scan the submitted papers and deliver an electronic output - and I can go on - but we are at Lebone covering Fujifilm Jetpress S750 and some of Fujifilms highly acclaimed print bars, mounted on various printing and finishing machines. Keith Michaels is obviously proud of what he has achieved for good reasons, and when listening to his personal story, everything becomes even more impressive, as he lived in a township before the end of apartheid. Besides the continued growth of Lebone, Keith Michael is also giving back to his community, having donated to the construction of five churches. We are impressed.

Paul is a friend, and if you are not connected with him, you should. Paul Gardner owns the second-largest print group on LinkedIn, with more than 120,000 members and a quite active community. He is the Director of Operations with AlphaGraphics, Sandy, in Utah daily. Whenever we are in Salt Lake City, we get a chance to meet with Paul, have some great food, and talk about the industry - and, of course, we had to interview one of the people who connects the most people in this industry. Please subscribe to Digital Printing and connect with Paul Gardner. Before doing so, please watch the film :-) LinkedIn Group: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/100048/

Katie Kinraid is a new recruit to the packaging industry, jumping in to lead in the role of the Chief Revenue Officer. She relies on technology to help guide decisions, and knows that the constantly changing software world will need to keep up with the growing array of AI tools and whatever comes next.

Wayne Beckett talks to Katharina Prins from Opinion Printing on the first day of OPS 2025. Katharina talks about their new AI offering as-well as a new adhesive material they have recently launched.

At any open house, the presenter/moderator makes the day flow. With the BHS Open House, the woman that 'glued' the event together was Katharina Aguilar, a professional presenter and moderator. We got the opportunity to ask her how much she had to prepare and understand the customer, and we believe you'll find this interview great. Enjoy!

Kasper is the second printing company in the world, being cradle-to-cradle compliant. In this session we hear about the journey, why it's important, and how it can be good business! LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kasper-larsen-b230252/

At the Horizon Finishing First event, one of the Horizon partners was the German workflow software specialist Impressed. Impressed has for 30 years delivered workflow solutions from Ultimate TechnoGraphics, Enfocus, and software for color management - pretty much all the needed software on the pre-press side. At the Finishing First event, Karsten Schwarze demonstrated the Impressed Server platform, which converts and streamlines the XML data. The software is super interesting for companies with multiple input data sources, but see the presentation and learn!

Looking back at the many interviews we have done up to the upcoming #HID25, it's amazing how many software companies you will see at this year's Hunkeler Innovationdays. Impressed from Germany is both a distributor for companies such as Enfocus and Ultimate Tech also a developer of a platform called IWS (Impressed Workflow Server) that enables various sources like MIS/ERP/W2P and more to connect to IWS that then triggers various workflows to various production setup. Seems very smart, but you can check out for yourself in Lucerne :-)

Karsten Kejlhof talks about Lundberg Tech supplying a waste management system to a printing and converting line demonstrated at Labelexpo Americas 2024 by Martin Automatic, ETI Converting, and Lemu Group. The Danish company's technology allows converters to reduce downtime by diverting matrix waste from the press and compacting it for more efficient disposal. LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karstenkejlhof/

At the LabelExpo-Americas show, we got the chance to talk to CEO Kevin Karstedt from Karstedt & Partners, who today, Tuesday, September 20th, announced the company's acquisition by Keypoint Intelligence. Kevin Karstedt is well-known for the company's 20+ years of experience in packaging, and with his experience, he and his partner Jeff will be leading the packaging division at KPI. Super cool to meet Kevin Karstedt, and I am sure you will like the interview.

Karol Karu is the Head of Sales for Estonian printing company K-Print. In this interview, she talks about how the Nordia/Baltic consolidation is a huge advantage for them. She also surprises your humble editor by saying that they experience larger print runs on average and therefore, of course, keep an eye on digital, but they are not really afraid of the competition here. Super interesting!

Despite being less than a year old, You may have heard a lot about CoCoCo. CoCoCo has, however, made an impact by covering a need in the market, connecting various solutions seamlessly and without the need for programmers. Carl Ciz is one of the founders and obviously very passionate about the project - and you should be too :-)