During the pandemic, more than 1,300 people from around the world tuned into The Crown Pub every Tuesday and Thursday for weeks and months. Not only did the virtual event create long-lasting friendships, but it also became a learning place. Kelvin Bell from V-Press was one of the initiators of the event, and it was great catching up with him here at the Innovationdays - for the first time in person! Two other frequent "flyers" is Mark Stephenson from Fujifilm and Brendan Perring from IPIA.

Most people don't even consider what happens when a computer is turned on. First, the BIOS gets started, the hard drives, the screen drivers, the operating system and this happens if not instant then seamlessly with many hours of work behind it. In the printing industry, we work towards standards that enable us to deliver better quality, higher output, higher consistency, and easier exchange of data between the processes. We know this happens, but most people probably don't even think about who makes this happen and how it's done. CIP4 is the community that makes this happen, and a couple of times a year the engineers from vendors and printers meet at different locations in the world to test, to define, to develop the standard that we are all depending on - namely CIP3, CIP4, JDF, and XJDF. We got the chance to participate at the recent Inter-OP in Copenhagen and got the opportunity to speak to CTO Rainer Prosi who represents both CIP4 as well as Heidelberg. Enjoy!

The Box Maker is a quite unique and great concept, and your Print Sample TV host, Pat McGrew, is absolutely sold. In this episode, Pat McGrew presents wonderful digitally printed boxes made on corrugated material. We were about to say box-movers, but The Box Maker is a way more accurate description of what you can see in this great episode of Print Sample TV.

German with English subtitles. A few weeks ago, Stefan Schifferdecker from Tessitura reached out to INKISH; honestly, we had never heard about the company. Based in Germany, Tessitura has specialized in developing software for connecting systems. Think of this as Lego bricks or a vast patch bay that enable a printer to use one software with another machine, using a third software -and this way allows for even legacy systems with modern MIS/ERP systems. Stefan Schifferdecker and the company he works for are still new but have customers in Germany, and who knows whether they will be able to reach out even further!

Sweet music arises when two Americans meet in Europe - or more because CEO Mike Rottenheim and Hybrid Software Group share a grand announcement with INKISH Robert Godwin. The companies under Global Graphics decided during FESPA to market themselves under the Hybrid Software Group name - a great name that indicates the hybrid in their offerings.

The Benelux Online Print Event, or BOPE, is amazing. In this chat, Editor Morten B. Reitoft speaks with Managing Director Jos Steutelings from VIGC about what to expect from the event. The program is jam-packed with great speakers and different angles on the online printing industry. Read more about the event here: https://www.vigc.be/en/bope/

Control your entire print room from a powerful single shared client interface. Discover the efficiencies and benefits that digital print rooms have never seen before.

Sur le stand d'Agfa, nous avons rejoint Dominique Hariot et sa bête. C'est un véritable animal de production qui est mis en avant, entre autres, sur le marché de la PLV, et Dominique nous la montre en laisse.

In this INKISH film, we visit an amazing packaging printing company in the southern part of France - Autajon/Haubtmann. Autajon is huge global printing group with 36 sites in Europe, in the US, and in Asia - and the reason for our visit is due to their recent investment in the Highcon Beam. For those who don't know the Beam - it's an industrial grade Laser Die Cutting machine that can do creases, die-cuttings, half-cuts, and combinations of above at a speed of up to 5.000 sheets per hour. The actual speed depends on the complexity of the die-cut but pretty fast and in amazing quality. Plant Manager Xavier Boutevillain explains why they did this investment and also how they see the need for machines like the Beam in a changing market. Smaller print runs, faster setup time, more complex designs are just a few of the challenges Haubtmann is now ready to work with. What is of course, also interesting is to see the Beam in a working environment with huge Heidelberg machines, Bobst machines, Glueing machines, and more - and apparently fits so well into this mix of equipment. It was great to get the chance to meet the team from Haubtmann and I hope you enjoy the film. It was sponsored by Highcon - so thank you also to Highcon for this opportunity - and as usual - we did film the way we wanted it to be done - always on YOUR side. Watch, Like, Share - thank you!

One thing that is almost as effective as using almost naked females in your advertising is Direct Mail. It may not be as sexy, but as host Pat McGrew explains in this Print Sample TV episode, Direct Mail is used more and more. There is only one reason, and that's because Direct Mail works. In this film, you will see some of the pieces that Pat McGrew receives in her mailbox. Find your inspiration and serve the market. It's time!

In our conversations about M&As, we talk to the former advisor and CEO for Elanders Germany, Peter Sommer. Peter Sommer is a frequent guest on INKISH and always openly shares his opinions and views on the things we talk about. 14 years ago, Peter Sommer sold his company to Elanders and became an essential person in the global Elanders group soon. Now, this era has ended, and Peter Sommer is now in charge of his investment company P2 where the work is to acquire companies in the printing industry, join the companies into larger entities, and drive the synergies to their max. As usual, a great conversation - thank you, Peter.

Always a pleasure to meet with Thayer Long from APTech. At the last PRINT show,​ Thayer Long was pretty new to his position but the year has been filled with challenges so, of course, we had to set up an interview with him to hear about what has been going on the past years - and what to expect from the future. Enjoy this open-minded interview with one of our favorites!

Thayer Long took over APtech, GraphExpo, and Print when competition changed the market situation. Still, maybe the changes were also a reflection of changing needs. In this session, we get a chance to discuss how the needs are changing the entire industry, from being a printer, a vendor, a media to a trade-show organizer.

Lee Ward is the Chief Revenue Officer of Tharstern. At LabelExpo Americas, the entire team is very excited about the future with the new Tharstern Cloud for Labels. In this interview, Lee Ward shares his view on the potential for Tharstern Cloud, and as you can guess, he is very optimistic.

At LabelExpo Americas in Chicago, Tharstern introduced a new product in a new market, namely the Tharstern Cloud for Labels. In this interview with CEO Keith McMurtrie, we get an understanding of why Tharstern chose to invest in developing an entirely new platform and what the perspectives are. Dig in and listen to why this is interesting!

In this 22 minutes session, Editor Morten B. Reitoft is back to school - or, to be more precise Tharstern Head of Product Chris Burn will take us on a guided tour of just a few of the options with the new Tharstern Cloud for Labels solution. Of course, the solution can't be shown in all its details in only 20+ minutes. Still, you will get an understanding of how Tharstern has developed not only a new solution but also a new core that can be the foundation for future versions tailored to different segments in our industry! LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chris-burn-aa585815/

Kornit is one of the leading suppliers of DTF and DTG. In this film, which we did in Israel (as you can see from the drone shots in the beginning), we talked to VP & General Manager, Direct to Fabric, Danny Gazit, about how this at all is possible. But see and listen for yourself. Great insights!

The Danish online media printogmedier.dk did a test/review of various digital foiling solutions. The film is a short review of the event in Danish - an article in English will follow up on this shortly on LinkedIn.

Tecnau produce binding equipment and at Argos Inspiration Days in Brussels you can see the amazing possibilities - See more and sign up for Argos Inspiration Days at www.argosinspirationdays.com

At PRINTING United, Tecnau presented their Revolution 50-series and Stack 1212 finishing devices. In this interview, we talk to Pete Dolfis, Solutions Manager, Tecnau, to get an understanding of the market, and then we get a walk-through of both solutions. The Revolution 50-series was introduced last year and has been very successful for Tecnau, and so with the Stack 1212. Peter Dolfis also says that Tecnau produces a smaller Stack 1010 that is now configured and sold as part of a book solution. But see for yourself.

In this film, you'll get a walkthrough of the Tecnau Libra 800 all-in-book-of-one machine at Rotomail. Rotomail is one of Europe's leading producers of Books-of-One and has a strategy to produce books from reels, which then, in return, requires a binding line that can accept roles for covers and content - and with the co-development of the Libra 800, Rotomail (and other customers) can now produce books having two rolls of covers (for example one with gloss laminated covers, and one with matt laminated covers) - but you will see in this walkthrough. Today Rotomail uses several HP T-series printers, many Indigo's, a Canon ProStream, and much binding equipment besides the Libra 800 from Hunkeler, ContiWeb, and Kolbus. All are tight together with a software solution called Bronte, developed, programmed, and sold by Rotomail. Rotomail is an exciting printing company to visit, and they are very open-minded and not afraid of sharing how they do things. LinkedIn: Stefano De Marco https://www.linkedin.com/in/demste/ Alessandro Antonuzzo https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessandro-antonuzzo-05bab217/

Imagine your production equipment has end-of-service, and you get a job that needs to be delivered on time? First, you find a printer that can provide the required quality and quantity. Second, you ensure it can be delivered on time - and suddenly, you have North Europe's first Canon Color Stream 8000 installed. With it comes new binding equipment - not unique to KGM, but new at this site - namely the Tecnau Revolution 50 series - and voila, the production can deliver the print job. The story is told by CTO Johan Lansgard, who stepped in on concise notice in this film, made from KGM Datadistribution in Stockholm as part of the Tecnau Spring Forward event - enjoy!

Tatiana Duarte is the Executive President of Andigraf - Colombian Association of Graphic Communication With a background for working to government export agency and also in private companies she was contracted by Andigraf 18 months ago to promote the transformation of the association in requirement to the printing industry market transformation as well. Along with a new board of directors componed of owners and managers coming from companies working in new growing markets as functional printing, visual communication and labels, mixed with traditional printers and relevant suppliers, Tatiana is developing a very good job in developing a new way of communication and promoting relevant content. In the same way Andigraf has taken an important role during the Covid pandemic in generating information and new opportunities to all members. This includes the first virtual trade show they promoted at the end of June with a very successful vendors and attendees participation. Tatiana maybe represents the way Printing Industry Association must transform to thrive in a challenging times like we are living now with serious effects in our industry. So, we are proud to present Tatiana Duarte to our Inkish audience. Along with her we also introduce our new partner in Inkish South America, Carlos Silgado Bernal. A very skilled and recognized professional in Latin America printing industry

The Kyocera Taskalfa Pro is a cut sheet inkjet device that looks pretty much like the toner-based printers you may already have. In this Print Sample TV edition, your host Pat McGrew explains why she believes the Taskalfa Pro is worth a closer look. She likes the look, she likes the footprint, and she likes the cost of inkjet vs. toner. So dig in and learn more!