Inkjet: Ready and Waiting

Production inkjet printing may have been an up-and-coming technology a few years ago, but today it’s a proven, profitable market that’s bringing big success to those printers wise enough to take advantage of it.

That was the message heard repeatedly at the recent Inkjet Summit in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, where more than 100 printers—including a dozen in-plant managers—met in April for an in-depth education about production inkjet printing. All attendees were hand-picked by the summit’s organizers, nGage Events and NAPCO Media (owner of In-plant Graphics and Printing Impressions). They spent three days networking and learning from one another, while enjoying a non-stop program of keynotes, panel discussions and case studies.

Attendees were split into four market segments: books, direct mail/marketing, general commercial and transaction. Sponsors presented case studies for each segment, experts offered industry research on those markets, and inkjet users lent their experience to some insightful, very interactive discussions.

Among the in-plants in attendance this year were Yale University, Briggs & Stratton, Pennsylvania State ­University, OGE Energy, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Louisiana, Transamerica Life & Protection, Washington State University, Fidelity Investments, Urban Lending Solutions, U.S. Bank, the LDS Church and the University of Texas at Austin.

The enthusiasm of attendees and sponsors alike was very high, with many compliments going to organizers for bringing the two groups together in such an intimate setting. The event included scheduled one-on-one meetings between individual printers and appropriate vendors, an approach that drew praise from all sides.

A Strong Market

Technology advances and substrate improvements in recent years have led to a steady increase in inkjet press users; already 390 billion pages have been printed on inkjet presses, proclaimed Conference Chair Marco Boer, vice president of IT Strategies.

“There’s probably no better market to be in than this production inkjet market,” he told the packed auditorium in his opening keynote. In 2014 alone, he said, 164 billion pages were printed on inkjet presses.