Spokane, Washington, was full of energy in early June when more than 125 in-plant managers gathered there for the 2025 In-plant Printing and Mailing Association conference. The four-day conference left attendees inspired and armed with fresh strategies to bring home to their in-plants.

Mark Boyt, principal analyst at Keypoint Intelligence, led the IPMA session on robotics and AI. | Photo courtesy Sam Lauersdorf Photography
One of the sessions aimed to address the hot topic of labor, ranging from concerns about the aging workforce to finding and hiring qualified staff.
Mark Boyt, principal analyst at Keypoint Intelligence, offered an emerging solution to in-plants’ labor problems: robots.
Robots have been around for decades, he said; in factories, they’ve been in use for 50 years. And they’ve been slowly seeping into other areas as well.
Related story: IPMA Report: The Robots Are Coming
“But all that is about to change, because robots are now getting faster, smarter, more agile, more mobile, and they're coming our way — and they're coming our way fast,” Boyt said.
He acknowledged that artificial intelligence (AI), another fast-growing technology with the potential to shape how in-plants work, doesn’t have the ability to do physical work, something that is so crucial to the printing industry.
“Paper’s at the heart of everything you do: bring paper into your plant, through the print process, and out at the end,” he said. “These steps [are] where we need something else — something else to give a hand to the process. That is exactly where robots are going to come in.”

"Robots are now getting faster, smarter, more agile, more mobile, and they're coming our way," said Mark Boyt, principal analyst at Keypoint Intelligence.
Robotic arms are a prime example of this innovation, and autonomous vehicles have also caught on. But the latest innovation that in-plants should keep an eye on is humanoid robots. For in-plants, these could be used to automate a variety of repetitive tasks, from cleaning up the shop to moving material. That gives staff more time to operate equipment.

Attendees sit in rapt attention as they learn about the robot-filled world of their future. | Photo courtesy Sam Lauersdorf Photography
Boyt had the in-plant managers attending the session complete a quick survey, which revealed that more than half were thinking about robotic automation prior to the conference. Most said they would likely deploy their first robot to help with post press finishing and bindery, which would address bottlenecks and cut down on the labor-intensive and repetitive work on employees’ plates.
In addition, AI, though not physically capable of assisting in-plants, plays a complementary role to robotic automation — and in-plants are well aware of it. Boyt pointed to the results of a survey Keypoint Intelligence had conducted previously, which showed that 43% of in-plant respondents hope to use AI for operational analytics in the next two years, and 33% want to use it for job scheduling and planning, for predictive service and maintenance, for image quality and for customer service.

Mark Boyt emphasized the importance of learning how to use and manage AI, which is becoming a skill that will keep people relevant in the workforce.
Boyt emphasized the importance of learning how to use and manage AI, which is becoming a skill that will keep people relevant in the workforce. And this should be at the top of your to-do list, he said.
“The most important thing to do is not wait,” Boyt advised. “Start thinking about it now. Start considering where it's going to come, because the reality is, it's going to come far faster than you ever thought; it’s really accelerating.”
The IPMA 2025 conference was filled with useful sessions like this. We’ll bring you more session highlights in the days ahead. Here is some of our additional conference coverage:

Kalie VanDewater is associate content and online editor at NAPCO Media.





