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FESPA announces the conference programmes and feature highl…

FESPA has announced the conference programmes and feature highlight for its 2026 events, taking place at the Gran Via, Fira de Barcelona, from 19 – 22 May 2026. While attending the six co-located FESPA 2026 events, (FESPA Global Print Expo, European Sign Expo, Personalisation Experience, WrapFest, Corrugated and Textile) visitors can also experience: The FESPA Conference and The Corrugated Conference and WrapTalks, as well as World Wrap Masters Europe and Finals. Sessions will be delivered in English and Spanish, depending on the topic, and visitors will also have access to live translations into Portuguese, French, German and Italian with via a translation aid. The FESPA Conference The all-new FESPA Conference (located in Hall 3, Stand B45), will allow visitors to develop a greater understanding of trends and opportunities across speciality print, signage, textile and personalisation. Those in attendance will learn about how they can capitalise on market trends and convert them into business growth. Confirmed session to date include: ‘Theory & Practice: Sustainability in Print’ with Klaus Reisinger, CEO, ClimatePartner. ‘Added Value Apparel: Surface Effects and Embellishment for Garment Decoration’ with Debbie McKeegan, FESPA Textile Ambassador and CEO of Textintel. ‘Print. The Original Influencer’ with Justin Cairns, Head of Offline Production, Ogilvy. ‘In Store Personalisation: Retail Case Studies to Convert Footfall into Revenue’ with Bart Olde Wolbers CEO, Artisjet. ‘La comunicacion visual en el arte y la’ with Natalia Dolz, Design and Prepress Manager, Lachrome. The Corrugated Conference The first edition of Corrugated will provide a platform for visitors to explore the latest trends, challenges and developments across the corrugated industry, supported by a free-to-attend ‘Corrugated Conference’ programme. The conference will include talks from experts on their experiences in corrugated production and how converters can adapt their business to keep up with evolving market trends. Speakers will explore the power of digitisation and automation, packaging regulations – and more. Confirmed sessions to date include: ‘The Cyber Landscape of the Packaging Industry: Where we are and where we’re heading beyond 2026’ with Stefan Liversidge, OT Security Production Owner, OPSWAT. ‘AI is the Solution to Assist in the Automation and Digitalisation of the Corrugated Industry’ with Thomas Orthax, CEO, Packitoo. ‘The Future of Corrugated Packaging: Revealing a Clear Pathway for Today’s Dynamic Industry’ with Ian Bates, Regenerative Packaging Pioneer, NOA Ltd. ‘Ukraine: How industry rebuilds after the conflict’ with Yura Bachurin, Operational Director, Paper Kite and Editorial Board Lead. WrapTalks programme Visitors to WrapFest 2026 can also attend the WrapTalks conference programme (Hall 2, A78), where they will have the opportunity to hear real-life success stories and develop their understanding of the entire wrap industry – from vehicles to interior décor. Confirmed sessions to date include: ‘Inside the Wrap: Creative Projects that Pushed Boundaries’ with Chris Edwards, Director, CVI Group, Shaun Winfield, Director, Dash Wraps and Tim Evans, Founder, Wrapper Mapper. ‘Pixels to Panels: The Wrap Production Pipeline’ with Martin Turecek, CEO, Wrapstock and WrapStyle, and Chris Edwards, Director, CVI Group. ‘Women in Wrap: Breaking Barriers, Building Futures’ with Paige Walton, CEO and Founder, The Vehicle Wrapping Academy, Jen Carney, Founder of Women Of Wrap, Megan Cadogan, Megan Cadogan, Director, Miss Wrapz ‘Beyond Vehicles: The rise of Architectural Film’ with Greg Forster, Managing Director of Embrace Building Wraps, and Christophe Aussenac, Co-Founder, ATC Group. Feature highlight: World Wrap Masters This year, WrapFest will host two live World Wrap Masters Competitions: World Wrap Masters Europe on 19 - 20 May, followed by the World Wrap Masters Final on 21 - 22 May. During the World Wrap Masters Europe Competition on days one and two of WrapFest, regional competitors will compete against one another in a series of timed rounds, wrapping a variety of special objects and vehicles. On the final two days of the event, regional champions will battle it out to be crowned the World Wrap Masters 2026 champion in the Finals of the global series. Alongside the competition rounds, visitors will be able to access a series of daily demos, delivered by global wrap experts, sharing their top tips and tricks for efficient and accurate installs. Visitors can also explore an array of wrap-focused technologies and solutions, including self-adhesive wrap films, software and design, tools and accessories, wrap, vinyl, PPF, window tint, architectural interior and detailing from leading brands and suppliers, as well as Printed Media Partner, Arlon, Colour Change PPF Partner, Carlas and PPF Partner, Terminax. Michael Ryan, Head of FESPA Global Print Expo, comments: “Each year, we strive to offer our visitors something new, and our three conference programmes will do just that. We’re confident that the programmes will facilitate knowledge sharing among our visitors, while giving them a platform to learn, network and maximise their business growth.” He adds: “In addition, the expansion of our flagship event portfolio overall – to include WrapFest, Corrugated and Textile under the FESPA 2026 umbrella – supports the growth of our global community by bringing together experts from speciality print and its related sectors. He concludes: “As ever, it’s a pleasure to be back in Barcelona this May, and I’m excited to see what the future holds for our biggest show yet!”

Editor in News March 30, 2026

FESPA announces the conference programmes and feature highl…

Editor in News March 30, 2026

FESPA announces the conference programmes and feature highlight for i…

Editor in News March 30, 2026

How to implement automation in printing operations

It is becoming necessary in printing operations to automate as much as possible to gain efficiencies. But before you begin your planning processes, look at your current state to ensure that you understand how works happen today. Kodak, a global technology company focused on print and advanced materials and chemicals, explains the vital role of automation in printing operations and how to do it properly. Read on. Single system of record that reliably gathers data from business and production systems If you have that system of record, you are in the perfect state to take on end-to-end automation. If you have multiple points of data collection that have never been integrated, there is still a path to automation. Still, your planning may take longer to accommodate identifying the required data and the processes that use them. Standard processes for order taking, job specification, and order management When there are standard processes, planning for automation can leverage them to speed implementation. When the procedures to take orders are different for every sales channel, it is hard to standardize order intake. When the process of capturing job specifications varies by sales team member and orders are managed without a strategic view into machine usage and job deadlines, some work will be required before automating and making those processes more efficient. How many spreadsheets are used to track jobs, components, or processes? Every business has some ad hoc processes tracked on spreadsheets, whiteboards, and notepads to keep mission-critical items front of mind. There is nothing wrong with them, but when they become the sole source of truth about a job or a process, they add risk to production. Some organisations justify using spreadsheets by putting them onto shared-access servers so that all authorized constituents can easily access them. It sounds like a great idea, but over time you may find that copies are sitting on individual desktops, and the shared copy is no longer the reliable source of information. Knowing what you have as you plan for automation will help you size the effort. Moving to that automated environment creates a single system of record that is reliable and can be integrated into adjacent business and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems. Planning for automation You could find some processes that appear easy to automate, add some new tools, and call that your automation plan, but there is a better path. It starts with knowing what is possible. New options in cloud-based workflows bring the same powerful options to smaller shops as the largest shops enjoy. With minimal investments and immediate implementation, shops with a single digital press can build an efficient workflow that will scale using the same technology as a mid-size shop with a mix of offset and digital devices. And these modern cloud-based production workflow solutions can help in any segment, whether the work you produce is graphically-rich static content or uses data-driven processes to execute variable content targeted to a specific recipient. Today’s automated production workflows are built to integrate MIS and ERP tools, Web-to-Print solutions, and e-commerce options. This approach should be high on your list as you consider automation options because it brings a robust IT infrastructure to the table. Automating individual processes glued together with manual interventions isn’t the accomplishment that brings the most benefit. Considering automation requires a dive into every action involved, from the point of estimation and sale to the final delivery to the customer. Planning is the active event designed to identify the touchpoints and the best approach to reviewing each step, the people involved, and the current tools used. Start by articulating your strategic goals for 2022. You may be looking to expand into a new industry or print segments. Your current workload may require more capacity. You may want to acquire more capabilities, either through buying more equipment, optimising workflows, or buying a company. As you consider your strategic plan, itemize the candidate processes for automation to move you toward those goals. Don’t be surprised if you identify current manual processes as critical roadblocks. Strategic goals are long-term and inform the way the business runs. There will be some work to do to build the bridge from strategy to implementation, and that is where tactical planning becomes essential. Tactical goals are more than solving today’s bottleneck. They work within the strategy to consider implementing new software and processes while keeping production moving. Think of it as changing the tires on a car while it’s in motion. There will be practical concerns as current processes are replaced by automation, including how and when to move off tools that are no longer providing value. Tactics should support the strategic goals and solve the business' specific challenges without adding more hurdles to creating an automated environment. Build the strategic plan for automation to consider the practical implication of automating the current processes, including goals for gaining buy-in from the team members in each department, who may be asked to change how they do their jobs or change positions to accommodate the planned process modifications. Look for onramps to the fully automated business environment for every element in the tactical plan that enables lower cost and higher margins. A part of tactical planning includes your approach to daily operations. To create an efficient environment in 2022, consider a standalone Operational Plan to document the expectations for each department, interface points between departments, and the key performance metrics that will help everyone stay on the strategic course. Automation does not eliminate the need to understand the production touchpoints. The best practice is to document what should happen if you lose access to the automation, too. The last step in planning for automation is to build the appropriate contingency plans. Cloud-based automated workflows protect you from onsite server disruptions and mitigate much of the risk associated with onsite installations when paired with a disciplined backup strategy. What to do next If you plan to automate your print workflow in 2022, look for scalable and easy platforms to integrate with your core business systems. Ensure that your chosen technology partner lets you automate each task within prepress and production and then map those automated tasks together to ensure that each type of job takes the correct journey through each process. Learn your options, and then create a plan that works for you.

admin in News July 22, 2022

Estimable estimators

If they were lucky, the human estimators had an adding machine or desktop calculator to help with the figures. A busy medium-sized printer might have 10 or more full time estimators. Finding and keeping that many specialised estimators could be tricky, as the work was exacting but hardly exciting. Computers were an obvious solution, but the knowledge of how to program for such specialised calculations wasn’t. One of the first UK companies to crack it was what was to become Imprint Business Systems, which is still going strong after 42 years. Today its customers in print and packaging run into the hundreds and many of them have used Imprint systems for at least 25 years. Like most of the early MIS developers, Imprint grew out of the needs of a particular print company, which then used the experience gained to sell to a wider circle or printing and packaging companies. The late 1970s and early 1980s saw a lot of computer estimating start-ups, often with printing company roots. Some of Imprint’s original UK competitors from 40-odd years ago have also survived and prospered independently, such as Optimus (originally Optichrome Computer Systems Ltd, or OCSL), DDS (Accura) and Tharstern, while others were taken over by the ever-expanding EFI empire (such as Prism, Radius, Shuttleworth and Technique). A few others have either merged, or closed, or both. Imprint itself was founded in 1978 by Glennys Bourne and Jonathan Richards. Originally the pair had worked together at the art book printer Shenval Press in Harlow. Richards was general manager, later a director of Shenval, but had learned programming skills at college. Bourne went on to run the nearby Caterpillar Press. Bourne says that the reason for writing the original computer estimating program was a shortage of the trained human variety. “You could not get estimators for love nor money,” she says. So the first estimating program was written to suit the needs of Shenval Press and Caterpillar Press. Bourne saw the potential for Imprint beyond the needs of Shenval and Caterpillar, so the latter was sold to concentrate on the new business. “The Imprint name describes the company well and has stood us well over the years,” says Richards. “As for why the name was chosen, it just seemed a good fit at the time.” Both are still very much involved today. Bourne is CEO, while Jonathan Richards says he’s “allowed to be chairman on high days and holidays”. However, time marches on and their children Will Richards and Nick Bourne have also joined Imprint – the latter now being MD. Today Imprint is based in High Easter, in the countryside between Chelmsford and Bishop’s Stortford, handily close to the M11 and Stansted airport. It employs 16 people in an often overlapping mix of management, programming and customer services roles.

admin in News July 22, 2022

Star product: Zaikio Print Connectivity Platform

What does Zaikio do? Zaikio is a “print-specific connectivity platform,” intended to allow everyone in the print industry to link their systems together, whether printer, software vendor or supplier. End-users can access its connectivity for free, though they can buy compatible Zaikio or third-party products through an app store. According to Zaikio’s partner success manager Karl Ciz, who will handle UK enquiries, it will allow “print-related data to be shared on a level playing field for the first time”. In simple terms, it’s an alternative to JDF that should allow user-level plug-and-play connectivity between systems from different manufacturers – JDF promised but never delivered plug-and-play.

Aug. 2, 2022

Star product: Sitma 1150-FP Fast Pack

What does it do? Sitma’s introduction of the FP-version of its 1150 wrapping machine last year proved prescient in a way that couldn’t be predicted. FP stands for Fast Pack and this model is particularly suited to wrapping variable-sized ‘e-commerce’ goods for mail and courier delivery that have boomed this year. Sitma’s website points out that it can wrap packs of facemasks. The first 1150-FP to be ordered has gone to the US, to “one of the largest e-commerce companies in the world,” that Sitma won’t name but it’s easy to guess. The Fast Pack can also be used for conventional paper or film wrapping of direct mail and publications. When was it launched and what is the target market? Sitma is an Italian company. Its 1150 wrapping line was introduced in 2007 and is one of several wrappers in its range, offering different speeds and price points. All are sold in the UK though Engelmann & Buckham. The Fast Pack was announced last year as a new configuration, joining the existing 1150-FW-PK model, for either paper or polywrapping of printed media; and the PK dedicated to paper wrapping. Richard MacLean, the director at Engelmann & Buckham specialising in Sitma products, says that the Fast Pack is aimed squarely at e-commerce fulfilment, but could help existing DM houses branch out into fulfilment of items other than flat printed papers. Sitma has also recently introduced a dedicated e-commerce fulfilment polywrapper called e-commerce 2.0, which handles single or multiple items of varying shapes and sizes and forms bags around them on the fly. How does it work? The Fast Pack model is primarily intended to wrap using strong brown kraft paper as an automated replacement for hand wrapping or boxing of products, especially variable height flat items such as books, CDs and DVDs. White paper or polywrap can also be used, but is thought less likely in use. Items can be hand-fed on a conveyor into the wrapping area. In 2018 Sitma demonstrated a corobot load/unload unit offline at a mailing exhibition, and now lists this as an option for most of its wrap lines. A barcode reader is used to ensure data integrity with matching of the contents to outer addresses. A label printer-applicator or inline direct inkjet printer can be fitted for addressing and other personalisation.

Aug. 2, 2022

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