Chris spent the better part of October 2021 in Europe studying latest developments and discussing business opportunities for our client base. After the hiatus imposed by the pandemic, it was high time to connect with leading innovators of our industry, again. The three-week journey was by no means boring! Very productive if tiring might best describe the venture. Added administrative burden due to the ongoing pandemic, along with time and money spend on various testing protocols, certainly made for some nervous hours…

In all we visited three manufacturers of rotary die cutters, two manufacturers of inline casemakers, three manufacturers of digital inkjet printing presses, two boxplants, and -finally- the industry’s premium convention, FEFCO’s Technical Seminar. The list of company types visited probably gave it away: Germany, Spain, Sweden, and Denmark were part of the itinerary.

And, yes, a few good restaurants!

Discussions with machine manufacturers centered around latest developments, and we can say these people did not sit idle during the pandemic! From electronic enhancements on analogue machines to fantastic quality and speed improvements on digital printing presses and the highlight of hybrid flexo-digital printing, much was learned. Further conversations centered around digital and virtual enhancements to the service offerings by these machinery suppliers. Along the way we were able to execute some print trials on behalf of clients and support final machine specifications for others. Seeing the latest entrant to large format platen die cutting was a bonus.

But what stood out throughout the high-level conversations with owners and CEOs, and again in Copenhagen at FEFCO is the exemplary class of people who lead our industry! Spending time with these individuals is always enlightening and entertaining!

Now it is time to apply what has been learned and I can’t wait…