Inkjet Summit Reaches Peak in Debut

User panelists in the book manufacturing track included Christian Schamberger, president, Mercury Print Productions; Rick Lindemann, vice president at Total Printing Systems; Gary Calleo, vice president of manufacturing, RR Donnelley; and Stephen Franzino, vice president of technology, Courier Corp. Direct mail panelists featured Dave Johannes, vice president of digital print and mailing operations, IWCO Direct; Patrick Murray, vice president of operations, Japs-Olson Co.; Mark DeBoer, director of customer experience at Darwill; and Lou Tazioli, president of Tribune Direct. Representing the transactional/transpromo segment were Gary Powell, business process consultant, Allstate; John Augustine, manager, strategic projects, TransCentra; and Gene Rauch, director at Incepture Print Solutions.

Another frequent refrain at the sessions was the message that the quality of today's inkjet equipment may not yet match offset, but there are plenty of applications where it is more than good enough, and the technology will continue to develop. Discussions on cost of operation of inkjet seemed to all come back to the idea that it was hard to get a handle on costs, which will differ for each user, depending on factors like ink coverage and type of paper used. Another key takeaway was to also pay strong consideration to workflow and postpress production when installing an inkjet device, and not just on the digital engine itself.

Among 19 industry vendors participating in the Inkjet Summit, Keynote-Level Sponsors included Canon Solutions America, Finch Paper, Ricoh Production Print Solutions and Xerox Corp.

Watch for a special supplement that will recap highlights, educational information and key takeaways from the 2013 Inkjet Summit in the June issue of Printing Impressions.