drupa Innovation Park 2012 Highlights: Printed Electronics And Print Automation
www.cip4.org
“JDF and Print Automation are not bleeding-edge technologies any longer, and at drupa 2012 expect to see the majority of printers either engaged in print automation or the process of getting their implementations going. Print Automation is one of the few areas of print technology where printers can get a return on their investment quickly, and in many cases with relatively little investment,” stated Jim Harvey, Executive Director of CIP4 Organization. “We’ve found an average ROI on successful print automation implementations of over 270 percent annualized; and that’s without the high and low outliers. These kinds of gains in productivity and ultimately profitability are hard to ignore, and in the US 43 percent of printers had or were implementing print automation in 2011, with another 22 percent in planning stages. While we are looking for better worldwide data, we believe that drupa 2012 will be the milestone where after which the majority of printers will be employing print automation across the developed world. For many printers, advances in digital printing and new areas like printing of electronics and publication to apps will be among the ‘hot topics’ at drupa,” continued Jim Harvey. “We expect that print automation will be the topic that for operations managers, owners and general managers offers the most immediate opportunity for making positive changes at the plant following drupa, and the Print Automation Zone in the dip is the place to start. Attendees will be able to learn from multiple print automation solutions providers in a concentrated area, and attendees can get a copy of the drupa 2012 edition of the Production Automation News.”