The first two sessions this morning from #OPS2020 (Online Print Symposium) was with Heidelberg CEO Rainer Hundsdörfer and Bernd Zipper, CEO of ZipCon.
CEO Rainer Hundsdörfer started his session underscoring that Heidelberg is doing well and that all transformation processes take time, are expensive, but according to Hundsdörfer on target. It was in many ways the speech you could expect, announcing more automation, focus on the Smart Print Factory, and all the fantastic things print deliver. There were however a few surprising statements, like when asked about JDF/XJDF about the standards used to provide automation from Heidelberg. Though Heidelberg employee Rainer Prosi heads CIP4, it seems that the giant has not still decided 100% on what technologies should be used. To me, that was a surprise. The other surprising statement was Hundsdörfers slide, saying that the global print volume is relatively constant at around 400 billion Euro. I am so happy about this statement since the paper industry continually complains about the lower volume; this will consequently mean that the value of print (revenue-wise) is increasing. This is good news and something that can feed optimism into an industry that basically needs good news.
Right after his Keynote, we got the chance to do an interview, which will be published on INKISH shortly.
Bernd Zippers speech was, as always, inspiring and optimistic. Many things can be said with his and ZipCons focus on online print, but the exciting and recurring question is who drives this development? Or to more precise who CAN drive this development. If you look at the print-of-one, I believe applications drive the demand for this, and maybe even startups who see print more like something that complements the service, rather than the product itself, drives this development.
During one of the breaks I got a chance to talk to former CEO Dr Michael Friis, Onlineprinters, whether printers in these cases becomes more like a factory only delivering the print, rather than driving the trend. He agreed with me, which you will soon see/hear in the interview we did with him.
When Bernd Zipper focuses on online print, it's with a background in understanding customer behaviours. All the different generations have different value propositions and therefore, also needs to be targeted differently. The value of "one" is, however, still an issue when it comes to books.
Just before the lunch break, I got a chance to talk to Trond Erik and Marc Freitag from Livonia Print, Latvia. As they said, it's totally possible to produce a book in one copy. However, the price for one is still too expensive.
You will also be able to see hear/see an interview with the two gentlemen shortly on INKISH.
So far, #OPS2020 is an amazing event. Buzz is high, everybody is a good mood, and we still have many more speakers ahead of us. Stay Tuned!
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