Intelligent Printing for the Future
Anthony Thirlby, owner of UK-based Venn Holdings Ltd.
Anthony Thirlby, owner of UK-based Venn Holdings, launched his printing company in 2021, when the world was still gripped by COVID-19. In an impressive feat, he took the enterprise, which specializes in labels, packaging, and commercial printing, from $2 million in revenue to $10 million in the brief space of 17 months. In a keynote address at PRINTING United Expo he shared his formula for success.
“If you employ the right technology, anything is achievable,” said Thirlby as he outlined the digitization process he’s employed over the last two years to squeeze optimum productivity out of his equipment. “It’s been a huge journey. Every day we go through data to utilize the software, pushing our hardest to go the third mile.”
Thirlby said the goal was to use automation and digital workflows to take away all the decision making before the job arrived on press to ensure continuity of information. We all buy the same equipment, he said, but what you do with it depends on the software.
“You have to digitize or die,” he said. “Be prepared to make mistakes, because that’s the only way to learn.”
Along his journey he also learned it’s essential to be as clear as possible as to what data is operational and what is strategic; that close relationships with suppliers are key; and, most critically, that communication with everyone is absolutely essential.
Thirlby left his audience with five takeaways: embrace technology as it allows you to grow; enhance labor return through software integration; create a clear roadmap with achievable goals; communicate at all stages; and visualization is everything.
