Once every two years, followers of the high-volume printing and paper processing industry meet in Lucerne for the Hunkeler Innovationdays. Its importance as a show has risen in recent years by the rapid technological advancements in digital inkjet printing, and like other good shows, the Hunkeler Innovationdays provide glimpses into the future of what we can expect next. This makes a trip to (beautiful) Switzerland even more worthwhile.
The main thing that struck me is that all major digital print equipment vendors exhibiting at the Hunkeler innovationdays have now digital technology in place that allows them to be active in print on demand (POD) as well as data processing environments (direct mail and transactional print). The ‘TransPromo’ trend is still there: many vendors talked about high-quality promotional messaging in data processing workflows, whether this is done through continuous feed or cut-sheet devices. HP explained they can now use Pitney Bows Emtex technology to bring an HP Indigo machine into an AFP/IPDS workflow. And InfoPrint announced they have set up a data analytics practice to help customers increase the effectiveness of their targeted communications.
This simple observation about print environments has much more implications if you think about what is happening at the vendor level. In the next couple of years Ricoh and InfoPrint will be further integrated, as well as Canon and Océ. Now that Xerox has its own Production Inkjet System, all major vendors (including Kodak and HP) have technology that allows customers to become active in both environments.
via InfoTrends InfoBlog » Hunkeler Innovationdays 2011 – The Convergence is Coming.
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