Many for-profit and in-plant print mail operations have made significant investments in production inkjet. Each organization arrived at their decision after prioritizing the most relevant impact to their operation. The primary factors cited in the decision to move to inkjet include:

For Part 2, I spoke with Michael Graf who is the Technology Director of the New York State, Cattaraugus Allegany Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES). The BOCES organizations were created in the 1930s to meet the educational needs of students in rural New York State school districts. The Cattaraugus Allegany BOCES supports 22 school districts across four counties in southwestern New York state.

Inkjet, toner, offset. Do print service providers need them all? I interviewed two companies who have a mix of technologies to get their perspective on why they use different print platforms, and to understand their customers’ perspectives on print quality.

First, I spoke with Cheryl Kahanec, the CEO of Quantum Group. A full-service commercial printer in the Chicago area, Quantum runs offset, digital, and inkjet printers. Their 250 employees also provide marketing services, e-commerce, direct mail, fulfillment, and logistics to a diverse customer base across most major vertical markets.

June is here. Summer travel has begun. Depending on your geography, restrictions on business and gatherings are over or soon will be. B2B employees are beginning to return to their offices. Mail volumes are up significantly over this time last year and many print service providers are experiencing growth in print volumes across many sectors. After overcoming the hurdles of 2020, the biggest challenge of the summer may be adequate staffing for production volumes.

I recently spoke with four book printers to better understand how inkjet supports their current manufacturing process and how inkjet has changed their approach for future capabilities. Each have taken different paths to migrate to inkjet platforms. All four executives expressed optimism about growth opportunities in book printing. All shared ways that inkjet is a key component in their manufacturing capabilities and how it complements other press technologies.

We recently assisted one of our customers with a major business evolution to inkjet. The company migrated from a cut-sheet toner printing environment to a continuous roll-fed inkjet platform. It’s a journey becoming common as clients demand the flexibility inkjet provides and printing companies scramble to respond.