Print Needs Marketing Effectiveness And Efficiency

A Research and Engineering Council of NAPL product story

Edited by the Printingtalk editorial team Jul 5, 2005

The printing industry has an increasing need for marketing effectiveness and efficiency, including business process re-engineering, just-in-time printing and the need for more colour in documents.

The printing industry has an increasing need for marketing effectiveness and efficiency, including business process re-engineering, just-in-time printing and the need for more colour in documents.

That was the assertion of Kodak Graphic Communications Group chief marketing officer Barbara Pellow, presenting the keynote speech the seventh annual Digital Smart Factory Forum in Miami Beach (USA), staged by The Research and Engineering Council of NAPL.

Pellow also noted that content created once by those in the graphics industry must be capable of being repurposed for multiple channels.

Additional speakers included Frank Romano, Rochester Institute of Technology Professor Emeritus and Dennis E Mason, president of Mason Consulting, both of whom provided observations of how printers are moving towards the factory of the future.

At the meeting, representatives from printing companies and suppliers discussed the progress being made by the industry towards automation.

The conference, which immediately followed the EFI users group meeting, Connect 2005, brought together printing industry technologists who shared details of their successes with the audience.

At the meeting, a number of printers described their efforts to employ digital smart factory concepts in their operations.

Raymond M Hartman, the group executive vice president of manufacturing and technology at R R Donnelley and Sons told the group how his company is emphasizing automation at a new plant being built in Atlanta, Georgia (USA).

The audience also heard executives speak about the automation efforts at Action Printing, Bennett Graphics, Classic Graphics, Franklin Trade Graphics, Finlay Printing, Fort Dearborn Company, Great Lakes Integrated, Johns Byrne Company, LAgraphico, Papa John's Pizza, Rex Three and St Ives USA.

+Commenting on the success of the seminar, R and E Council managing director Ronald L Mihills said: "No other meeting in the industry focuses solely on the process of moving towards the automated printing plant.

This year, technologists and print managers heard from an extremely high level of speakers, with particular emphasis on the practical aspects of automation.".