FuturePrint Podcast

Hosted by FuturePrint

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Episodes

380

Latest episode

Oct 2026

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EN-GB

About the show

FuturePrint is dedicated to and passionate about the power of print technology to enable new opportunities and create new value. This pod features deep-dive discussions with the people behind the tech as well as market analysis, trends, marketing and storytelling!

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60 recent

October 26, 202638 min

#365 - How TRG Packaging and Display Solutions Builds A Network For Faster Corrugated Print with Kevin Miller, President and CEO

Send us Fan Mail A corrugated box used to be judged on one thing: did it protect the product? That bar has moved. I’m joined by Kevin Miller , President and CEO of TRG Packaging and Display Solutions , to unpack how corrugated packaging and retail displays are becoming a front-line tool for brand experience, speed to shelf, and supply chain resilience. From colour consistency to the unboxing experience, we talk about why packaging quality sends a message long before anyone tastes the snack or tries the product. Kevin shares what changed across the last five years, especially the whiplash of pandemic-era demand and the lasting shift towards faster decisions, shorter runs, and marketing-led packaging. We get into what customers now expect from their packaging partners: competitive pricing, yes, but also nimble service, flexible graphics, and a supplier who can act like an extension of the brand team when people and roles keep changing. We also explore the rebrand and the strategy behind TRG Packaging and Display Solutions investment in BHS Jetliner Xceed industrial digital preprint. Kevin explains the network thinking: printing further upstream, using a hub-and-spoke model, reducing extra freight steps, and turning more sites into “graphics capable” operations without forcing every job onto one print method. If you care about corrugated packaging trends, digital print for packaging, and how converters build scale without losing agility, this conversation is for you. Subscribe to the FuturePrint Podcast, share the episode with a colleague in packaging or print, and leave a review with the one idea you’re taking back to your team. Listen on: Apple Podcast Google Podcast Spotify What is FuturePrint? FuturePrint is a digital and in person platform and community dedicated to future print technology. Over 20,000 people per month read our articles, listen to our podcasts, view our TV features, click on our e-newsletters and attend our in-person and virtual events. We hope to see you at one of our future in-person events: FuturePrint Packaging, Labels & DTS Summit , 29-30 September '26, Valencia, Spain FuturePrint Industrial Print Show , 11-12 May '27, Munich, Germany

October 22, 202621 min

#364 - How AVA CAD/CAM Builds A Reliable Digital Print Workflow, With Duncan Ross, Commercial Director, AVA CAD/CAM Group

Send us Fan Mail Printing should not feel like gambling, yet colour matching in decorative print and textile printing often turns into endless trial runs, wasted substrate and stressed teams. We’re joined by Duncan Ross, Managing Director at AVA CADCAM, to talk about what actually makes colour predictable across a modern digital print workflow, from design creation to RIP to pressroom control. We get practical about how AVA’s CAD and CAM approach helps teams take artwork from tools like Photoshop and make it genuinely fit to print: correct repeats and scale, smarter colourways, and early warnings for out-of-gamut areas and overprints that will fail later on the printer. Duncan also shares what he sees in the market right now, why cost saving has become a top priority, and how tighter colour management can reduce the number of attempts it takes to match a customer target, unlocking real productivity gains. Digital versus analogue is not framed as a battle. We explore how décor manufacturers can test and develop designs on industrial inkjet, then keep them transferable to analogue presses for volume by working within a common colour space and controlling variables. We also cover collaboration with printer manufacturers and workflow partners, plus the sustainability upside of reducing blind sampling, wasted energy and unnecessary shipping of inaccurate approvals. If you care about colour management, print production efficiency, workflow integration and making decorative printing more sustainable, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share the episode with a colleague, and leave us a review with the one workflow change that would save you the most waste. Listen on: Apple Podcast Google Podcast Spotify What is FuturePrint? FuturePrint is a digital and in person platform and community dedicated to future print technology. Over 20,000 people per month read our articles, listen to our podcasts, view our TV features, click on our e-newsletters and attend our in-person and virtual events. We hope to see you at one of our future in-person events: FuturePrint Packaging, Labels & DTS Summit , 29-30 September '26, Valencia, Spain FuturePrint Industrial Print Show , 11-12 May '27, Munich, Germany

October 20, 202622 min

#363 - When Automation Meets Inkjet: The Norwalt Story

Send us Fan Mail What happens when an automation company approaches digital printing as a manufacturing challenge? In this episode of the FuturePrint Podcast, Marcus Timson speaks with Mike Seitel , owner and CEO of Norwalt , about bringing digital inkjet directly into production lines and helping manufacturers reduce their dependence on conventional labels. Founded in 1971, Norwalt built its business around product handling and assembly automation for consumer goods, medical devices and pharmaceuticals. Its move into printing began with a straightforward customer request: find a way to eliminate labels. Seitel explains how approaching the challenge without established printing assumptions helped the team explore different solutions. The conversation examines the pressures reshaping packaging production, from smaller batches and changing ingredients to sudden demand driven by social media. Seitel discusses how inline direct-to-shape printing could reduce label inventories and make manufacturers more responsive. He also addresses the practical demands of industrial adoption. Speed, reliability, printhead maintenance and sustained performance all matter when printing becomes part of a working production line. Norwalt’s approach includes rigorous acceptance testing, flexible integration and the possibility of introducing digital printing alongside existing labelling equipment. Looking ahead, Seitel explores opportunities in food, beverages and personal care, including ingredient information, traceability and 2D codes. He also shares his thinking on robotic changeovers, AI-assisted diagnostics and factories with far greater automation. For manufacturers, OEMs and printing technology providers, the discussion offers a perspective on what happens when product handling, engineering and print are developed together, with the performance of the whole production line in mind. Listen on: Apple Podcast Google Podcast Spotify What is FuturePrint? FuturePrint is a digital and in person platform and community dedicated to future print technology. Over 20,000 people per month read our articles, listen to our podcasts, view our TV features, click on our e-newsletters and attend our in-person and virtual events. We hope to see you at one of our future in-person events: FuturePrint Packaging, Labels & DTS Summit , 29-30 September '26, Valencia, Spain FuturePrint Industrial Print Show , 11-12 May '27, Munich, Germany

October 16, 202641 min

#362 - More Than a Box: The Value of Connected Packaging

Send us Fan Mail What happens when every corrugated box is given its own digital identity? In this episode of the FuturePrint Podcast, Marcus Timson speaks with Lars and Christian Engel, owners and managing directors of BHS Corrugated , about how serialized QR codes could transform packaging from a necessary cost into a connected, value-generating business platform. The discussion moves beyond the familiar use of QR codes as simple links to websites. Lars and Christian explain how a unique code can connect each individual package to a digital twin, creating what BHS describes as “cyber-physical packaging”. This could give a box access to dynamic information concerning its contents, materials, origin, destination, carbon footprint and journey through the supply chain. They explore the practical benefits for corrugated manufacturers, brands, retailers and consumers. Serialization could improve traceability, enable more targeted product recalls, reduce labelling costs and help manufacturers identify over-packaging or insufficient packaging. It could also support emerging digital product-passport requirements by making information about composition, recyclability, provenance and compliance readily accessible. The commercial possibilities extend further. Connected packaging could allow brands to communicate directly with consumers after a retail purchase, delivering product information, support, personalised promotions and complementary offers. In this model, the box becomes a marketing channel, data source and miniature salesperson. Lars and Christian also explain why digital printing is fundamental in order to future proof any corrugated box printing production plant. Listen on: Apple Podcast Google Podcast Spotify What is FuturePrint? FuturePrint is a digital and in person platform and community dedicated to future print technology. Over 20,000 people per month read our articles, listen to our podcasts, view our TV features, click on our e-newsletters and attend our in-person and virtual events. We hope to see you at one of our future in-person events: FuturePrint Packaging, Labels & DTS Summit , 29-30 September '26, Valencia, Spain FuturePrint Industrial Print Show , 11-12 May '27, Munich, Germany

October 14, 202646 min

FuturePrint PodFEST: Episode 2 - Beyond the Barcode: How Print Still Wins the Brand

Send us Fan Mail Stefan Casey of Lightning Tree hosts Camilla Young (GS1 UK), Fred Lill (Lil Packaging) and Thomas Herman (Path) for a wide-ranging look at packaging through three lenses: stories, scanning and sustainability. Topics include: why people remember how a brand makes them feel rather than what it tells them, the tension between reducing waste and reducing meaning, the say-do gap in sustainable packaging where consumers claim they'll pay more but rarely do, and the shift from barcodes to QR codes and the scale of change that entails across the industry. The panel also discusses the economics of digital print, why serialisation and track-and-trace could be the business case that tips digital print into the mainstream, and closes by designing an imaginary World Cup gift pack together, tying storytelling, sustainability and accessibility into one example. Listen on: Apple Podcast Google Podcast Spotify What is FuturePrint? FuturePrint is a digital and in person platform and community dedicated to future print technology. Over 20,000 people per month read our articles, listen to our podcasts, view our TV features, click on our e-newsletters and attend our in-person and virtual events. We hope to see you at one of our future in-person events: FuturePrint Packaging, Labels & DTS Summit , 29-30 September '26, Valencia, Spain FuturePrint Industrial Print Show , 11-12 May '27, Munich, Germany

October 8, 202628 min

#361 - The Next Growth Curve: Ken Stack from EPS on DTOS and Industrial Inkjet’s Expanding Opportunity

Send us Fan Mail Can digital direct to object printing compete with analogue on speed and cost, even when producing hundreds of thousands of identical objects? Ken Stack , Executive Chairman of EPS , believes it already can, and that the next growth phase for industrial inkjet is taking shape. In this episode of the FuturePrint Podcast, Marcus Timson speaks with Ken about the technologies and commercial pressures accelerating production of digital direct-to-object printing. Drawing on more than three decades in industrial inkjet, Ken explains how single-pass systems are moving digital decoration into high-volume manufacturing. We discuss why customers buy complete automated decoration cells, incorporating product handling, surface treatment, printing, inspection and sorting, and why labour savings and reduced setup time are central to the investment case. The conversation then explores EPS’s XD-AQ system, announced at the FuturePrint Packaging, Labels and DTS Summit in Valencia. Using high-viscosity water-based inks and Xaar Aquinox printheads, the technology addresses the challenges of printing strong colour and fine text on porous substrates, including moulded fibre packaging. Ken outlines the branding opportunity in a market where molded fibre packaging remains undecorated, and how direct printing could reduce reliance on additional labels and sleeves. We also examine printing on pre-die-cut blanks, enabling manufacturers to customise packaging closer to dispatch. Finally, Ken shares his view of industrial inkjet’s maturity curve, explaining why direct-to-object printing and functional manufacturing applications could offer significant growth opportunities. An insightful discussion about automation, materials innovation and the economics of bringing digital printing deeper into manufacturing, with practical implications for brands and producers. Listen on: Apple Podcast Google Podcast Spotify What is FuturePrint? FuturePrint is a digital and in person platform and community dedicated to future print technology. Over 20,000 people per month read our articles, listen to our podcasts, view our TV features, click on our e-newsletters and attend our in-person and virtual events. We hope to see you at one of our future in-person events: FuturePrint Packaging, Labels & DTS Summit , 29-30 September '26, Valencia, Spain FuturePrint Industrial Print Show , 11-12 May '27, Munich, Germany

October 7, 202622 min

#360 - Printing You Can Read With Your Fingers, With Peter Ueberfuhr, Co-Founder, C-marx

Send us Fan Mail Inkjet gets called “printing” so often that we forget what it really can be: a manufacturing tool that adds function, not just colour. We are joined by Peter Ueberfuhr from C-marx to unpack how an inkjet integrator approaches the real-world problems factories bring to the table, from materials and compliance to throughput, operator workflows and the production environment. We walk through the full journey of an inkjet integration project: the early technical calls, clarifying requirements, and getting customers hands-on with the technology so everyone is speaking the same language. Peter explains “golden samples”, process development timelines, and why pre-treatment and post-processing can make or break performance. From there it’s engineering, proposals, negotiation, and delivery with FAT and SAT, followed by lifecycle support with service, spares, consumables and retrofits. Then we shift into one of the most exciting uses of inkjet: accessible signage. Peter shares how C-marx prints tactile features and Braille by building layers of a durable material that adheres across a wide range of substrates for indoor and outdoor use. We compare digital tactile printing with traditional screen printing, embossing and milling, and explore the bigger opportunity in haptic pictures and tactile learning materials for blind and visually impaired people. We finish with what’s next for C-marx: staying broad across industries, launching more configurable “off-the-shelf” printers in the MarXman series, and developing software that makes automation and robot connections easier without heavy programming. Subscribe for more, share this with someone in manufacturing or signage, and leave a review if you want more practical conversations about where print meets production. Listen on: Apple Podcast Google Podcast Spotify What is FuturePrint? FuturePrint is a digital and in person platform and community dedicated to future print technology. Over 20,000 people per month read our articles, listen to our podcasts, view our TV features, click on our e-newsletters and attend our in-person and virtual events. We hope to see you at one of our future in-person events: FuturePrint Packaging, Labels & DTS Summit , 29-30 September '26, Valencia, Spain FuturePrint Industrial Print Show , 11-12 May '27, Munich, Germany

October 5, 202621 min

#359 - Print Beyond Hardware: AI, Automation and Acquisition, with Anthony Sci, President and CEO , Keypoint Intelligence

Send us Fan Mail Print is no longer just a hardware story. It’s a data story, a software story, and increasingly an automation story too and that shift is forcing every manufacturer, reseller, and print service provider to rethink how they compete. We are joined by Anthony Sci, CEO and president of Keypoint Intelligence, to unpack two big forces shaping print technology right now. First, we talk candidly about Keypoint’s acquisition by Constellation Software and why Anthony believes long-term stability matters more than ever for a research and advisory firm. We get into what changes, what doesn’t, and how being part of a large vertical market software group can affect investment in new capabilities across testing, consulting, and market intelligence. Then we move into the messy reality of AI in the print industry. Where is AI already useful today? Think predictive maintenance, faster software development, and sales enablement for teams that have been cut to the bone. Where are the limits? Trust, data quality, cultural differences by region and company, and even environmental concerns that can create real friction inside organisations. Anthony also shares what they’re learning from a global voice-of-the-customer programme across Asia, Europe, and the United States, including rising demand for “AI connectors” that can query reliable industry data without inventing answers. We close by looking at robotics in production, the link with industrial inkjet, and why combining AI and robotics could be a powerful formula for short-run manufacturing and product decoration as costs fall and labour gets harder to replace. If you found this useful, subscribe, share the episode with a colleague in print tech, and leave us a review so more people can find the show. Listen on: Apple Podcast Google Podcast Spotify What is FuturePrint? FuturePrint is a digital and in person platform and community dedicated to future print technology. Over 20,000 people per month read our articles, listen to our podcasts, view our TV features, click on our e-newsletters and attend our in-person and virtual events. We hope to see you at one of our future in-person events: FuturePrint Packaging, Labels & DTS Summit , 29-30 September '26, Valencia, Spain FuturePrint Industrial Print Show , 11-12 May '27, Munich, Germany

September 25, 202624 min

#358 - The Future of Packaging and the Hybrid Stack, With Allan Bendall, Project and Account Manager, Sun Chemical

Send us Fan Mail Packaging is changing in a way that can feel subtle on the surface, but the forces underneath are massive. We’re joined by Allan Bendall from Sun Chemical to talk about what’s really driving the shift: digital-native consumers who expect more than a protective pack, and fast-moving packaging regulation and legislation that keeps brands, converters and printers on their toes. We get practical about what digital packaging printing and inkjet actually bring to the table. Yes, there’s personalisation and short runs, but we also dig into non-contact printing on newer sustainable substrates with recycled or bio-based content, and why “print what you want, when you want, where you want” can reshape the packaging supply chain. Faster launches, less stock, and more flexibility are all on the line. Then we zoom in on the idea Allan is sharing at Valencia: the hybrid stack. We talk through how inkjet can sit alongside flexo, gravure and offset, with primers, varnishes, adhesives, lamination and barrier coatings adding the functionality packaging must deliver, from freezer moisture resistance to retortable performance and abrasion protection. We also tackle what’s holding fully digital packaging back, including the workflow and MIS reality of moving from a few jobs a day to thousands of versions. If you care about sustainable packaging, variable content, and future-ready production, press play, then subscribe, share the episode with a colleague, and leave us a review. Listen on: Apple Podcast Google Podcast Spotify What is FuturePrint? FuturePrint is a digital and in person platform and community dedicated to future print technology. Over 20,000 people per month read our articles, listen to our podcasts, view our TV features, click on our e-newsletters and attend our in-person and virtual events. We hope to see you at one of our future in-person events: FuturePrint Packaging, Labels & DTS Summit , 29-30 September '26, Valencia, Spain FuturePrint Industrial Print Show , 11-12 May '27, Munich, Germany

September 23, 202622 min

#357 - Single-Pass Inkjet Built For Industry, With Thomas Amrein, CEO, Matti Group

Send us Fan Mail Single-pass inkjet can sound like a technical detail until you hear what it unlocks: speed, repeatability, and a realistic route to industrial automation. We sit down with Thomas Amrein, CEO of Matti Technology, to talk about how a 20-person, engineer-heavy team in Switzerland designs and manufactures custom-built printing machines that are anything but off-the-shelf. Along the way, we get an honest look at what customers actually ask for, how ambitious ideas stretch engineering limits, and why making the customer’s life easier is the only metric that matters. A big thread is modularity and the mindset behind Thomas’s talk title “Think Product, not Project”. Instead of treating each build as a one-off, Matti develops reusable technology components, from ink delivery to data handling, that can scale from a single printhead to thousands. We dig into the trade-offs: no module survives every edge case untouched, but a solid foundation reduces risk, shortens delivery, and helps machines mature quickly from prototype to production. We also widen the lens beyond traditional printing into functional printing and energy-related manufacturing. Thomas shares why the USA is especially strong right now, with momentum around batteries, fuel cells and the infrastructure driven by data centres, AI and shifting energy needs. That growth only happens through partnerships, so we discuss working across multiple printhead manufacturers, co-developing inks for drying and energy use, and integrating UV curing and plasma treatment to make systems reliable in the field. If you care about industrial inkjet, modular machine design, and where digital printing innovation is heading next, subscribe, share the episode, and leave us a review. Listen on: Apple Podcast Google Podcast Spotify What is FuturePrint? FuturePrint is a digital and in person platform and community dedicated to future print technology. Over 20,000 people per month read our articles, listen to our podcasts, view our TV features, click on our e-newsletters and attend our in-person and virtual events. We hope to see you at one of our future in-person events: FuturePrint Packaging, Labels & DTS Summit , 29-30 September '26, Valencia, Spain FuturePrint Industrial Print Show , 11-12 May '27, Munich, Germany