Inkjet Summit Ends on a High Note

The final day of Inkjet Summit 2025 ended strong, with a wide range of general sessions, panel discussions, case study presentations, and one-on-one meetings. The unique blend of content types is what makes the event so unique, and such a powerful venue to learn everything needed to invest and grow your production inkjet business.

Marco Boer

One of the highlights of the day was a keynote panel given by IT Strategies' Marco Boer, the conference chair for Inkjet Summit. He presented "Page Volume Trends - What Pages are Growing, Shrinking, and Why?" taking a closer look at where the growth areas will be in the next few years.

Overall, Boer sees growth in the continuous feed space of about 7% over the next five years, with cut sheet projected to grow at around 19%. A big reason for the difference is that cut sheet is a newer market, and has a smaller install base to start with, leaving a lot of room for growth, Boer noted.

As far as applications go, direct mail, books, and high-value graphics arts jobs (particularly photo books) will be the biggest opportunities on the continuous feed side. For cut sheet, he predicts that direct mail and general commercial print work will be the strongest segments as brands and print buyers look for more targeted, personalized messaging to help offset the rising costs for everything from postage to paper.

Related story: From Finishing First to Future-Ready at Inkjet Summit

Another great session moderated by Printing Impressions' content direction, Ashley Roberts, talked to three operations in different stages of their inkjet journey to talk about "Inkjet Adoption's Next Steps." She was joined by Mike Fleury, senior vice president, Strategy and Client Engagement, Mittera; Doug Maxwell, managing director, Brigham Young University; and Michelle Brown, distribution and automation workflow director, Xpressdocs.

During the panel discussion, Ashley Roberts talked with Mike Fleury, senior vice president, Strategy and Client Engagement, Mittera; Michelle Brown, distribution and automation workflow director, Xpressdocs; and Doug Maxwell, managing director, Brigham Young University.

While the panel had a lot of great insight into their individual journeys, one piece of advice they all strongly advised attendees to consider is to spend the time up front doing your due diligence as to what you actually need. What applications are you running today - and what do you hope to run in the future? What kind of space do you have not just for the print engine, but for the finishing as well? How do the different inkjet technologies run on the substrates you prefer? How fast do you need to run? All of these questions and more are things to consider before making the first - or second, or third - inkjet investment to ensure you get the most out of it.

Bob Neubauer moderates a panel discussion featuring inkjet users from Intermountain Health, East Baton Rouge Schools, Jurupa USD and the State of Tennessee.

After lunch, attendees were divided into industry segments for some "deep dive" discussions. PI Editor Emeritus Mark Michelson moderated a panel for the General Commercial segment featuring Tom Ling (Advantage ColorGraphics), Melissa Mayotte (MOSAIC) and Phil Kotula (MPX Group). In-plant Impressions Editor Bob Neubauer questioned a panel of inkjet users from Intermountain Health, Jurupa USD, East Baton Rouge School System, and the State of Tennessee. Lisa Cross led the Publishing breakout session, Pat McGrew led the Transaction session, and Boer led the Direct Mail session.

Fireside Chat

Toward the end of the summit, Boer held a “fireside chat” with Peter Schaefer of New Directions Partners to discuss industry consolidation, which Schaefer called “the easiest way to generate growth.” He made a distinction between "haves" and "have nots" based on technology investments or lack thereof. The latter, he said, are struggling due to declining print volumes and rising costs.

Marco Boer and Peter Schaefer held a fireside chat.

“You can’t just be efficient and maintain your profitability margins,” he warned. “You need to grow because … your costs are going to be increasing faster than the print industry is growing.”

As the country veers closer to a recession, Schaefer said, ”I do think you're going to see more of the have nots be willing to basically be folded into a have as a way to survive.”

One good reason to look at acquiring another company, he said, is if that company has already implemented an inkjet press. You can tuck it into your company and avoid going through the learning curve.

“A smart acquisition can make you more efficient,” Schaefer said.

Boer wrapped up the summit by reiterating some points he made at the beginning: We will have fewer workers in the industry over the next decade, but the increase in automation will soften that blow, and the advanced technology being added will also attract some younger workers into printing.

He emphasized that the “irrevocable decline” in paper production with the continued closure of mills will accelerate the transition of printing from a commodity to a luxury item, with inkjet poised to satisfy the need.

“If you invest in inkjet, it’s very hard not to grow,” Boer concluded. “Inkjet is here and it’s going to become more and more important.”

GPO's Greg Estep at a 1:1 meeting.

University of Virginia's Christa Nuckols at a 1:1 meeting with sponsors.

Mark Michelson moderates a panel of commercial printers.

Bob Neubauer moderates a panel discussion featuring inkjet users from Intermountain Health, East Baton Rouge Schools, Jurupa USD and the State of Tennessee.