I recently caught up with Dorinda Gibbons who is Director and Owner of Profile Recruitment Ltd, a specialist recruitment company that has been operating in the field of Digital Inkjet Technology for over 20 years. We find out more about her experience and view of the trends in the industry.

I’ve always been someone who appreciates innovation. I fall into the innovator or early adopter category. I am excited by the potential and the value of exciting new things and I am prepared for it to not be 100 per cent. I accept that to break new grounds, perfection isn’t always the right target or indeed achievable at an early market stage. In this article we focus on FuturePrint partner Memjet and their culture of innovation.

Mark Stephenson is Marketing Product Manager for Jet Press at Fujifilm. In this interview, Mark speaks to Karis Coppabout challenges and opportunities in the commercial print market, why digital packaging growth remains subdued, and how the Jet Press outshines the competition even when it comes to traditional print.

Guy Newcombe is CEO at Archipelago Technology, which develops print solutions unique to areas such as adhesives and coatings. In this interview, we look at the fundamental environmental and efficiency needs that Archipelago’s technology is resolving, the importance of listening to what customers want, and how Guy’s years of experience in inkjet has shaped both his leadership style and Archipelago’s business model.

In 2019, Simon Roberts joined Integration Technology as Managing Director. Integration Technology has been very much part of the development of inkjet with their pioneering UV curing technology being a key component technology enabling the rise of inkjet printing. Based near Oxford in the UK, since 2015 Integration Technology has been part of the IST METZ Group. This enables Integration Technology and IST together to offer the world’s largest portfolio of UV curing solutions. Integration Technology serves the industry’s OEMs, integrators and system developers supported by offices in Europe, USA, South America and Asia. In this interview we talk to Simon about his experience, his view of the market and what the future holds for Integration Technology, inkjet, UV curing and LED.

Kristin Adams is Marketing Manager at Kao Collins. Based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Kao Collins has a strong track record of innovation in inkjet inks and has played an integral role in the growth of inkjet in the US and worldwide. Since 1990, the company has introduced innovative ink solutions enabling customers and OEMs to reduce costs, increase productivity, and expand offerings into various markets such as graphics, commercial print, packaging, labelling, textiles, and consumer products. In this interview, we talk to Kristin about her experience, her view of inkjet, marketing and the issues, challenges and opportunities for new market growth.

Staying safe during turbulent times is appealing.

But sheltering in the safe harbour, while it may be reassuring is hugely limiting. What are you going to do when the storm eventually comes your way?

There’s no hiding from change, so it’s best to confront it or flow with it, or at the very least set a course forward.

Any sailor will tell you that once you’ve set a course, there will be a whole set of adjustments and adaptions you’ll have to put in place on the way. Very few voyages go to plan. Yet to fail to even try is the worst strategy of all. Often what restricts progress is fear of the unknown.

2020 is a big year for Print Tech! So we are delighted to announce our FuturePrint Tech Partners for 2020 who are going to be sharing some inspiring and interesting content throughout the year. The objective is to collaboratively to grow the FuturePrint community and help to connect innovative print tech people with new opportunities in new markets.

Phil Jackman is Global Product Manager for Digital at Sun Chemical and I caught up with him after the InPrint Show to give his roundup of 2019 and a projection for 2020.

Often, an innovative technology takes far longer than we expect and hope to take effect. Sometimes it can take decades. There are plenty of past inventions that were ahead of their time. Think of the Sinclair C5, which was launched in the 1980s, then look at the Tesla. Obviously the TESLA looks fantastic next to the C5! The point is the concept was similar but the ‘time’ was different. Read on for more.

In this article, Frazer Chesterman interviewed Jos Steutelings who is the Managing Director of the VIGC about their view of the print industry, the changes that are shaping the Belgian and European market and what the association is doing to create value for the community and help its members lead their future.