X-Rite Pantone Color Council Addresses the Future of Print and Packaging

Workforce transition, AI adoption, and evolving packaging regulations are interconnected trends reshaping the print and packaging industry. Meeting these challenges will take more than individual effort. It will take industry-wide collaboration to drive growth and sustainable success. That was a central takeaway from X-Rite Pantone’s first Color Council, held September 17-18, 2026, in Rosemont, Illinois. The event brought together more than 40 senior leaders from print service providers, packaging converters, brands, and ink and equipment suppliers to share perspectives on print and packaging industry trends, discuss today’s operational pressures, and identify practical actions.

“We created Color Council to hear directly from the people navigating these pressures every day,” said Jeff McKee, President, X-Rite Pantone. “The answers to staffing, AI, and regulation won't come from any one company. They'll come from the industry working through them together.”

Keynotes were delivered by independent industry experts Ron Ellis of Ron Ellis Consulting, Amy Servi-Bonner of PRINTING AI, Robb Frimming of Robb Frimming Consulting, and David Zwang of Zwang & Company. Warren Werbitt, The Print Whisperer, kicked off the event with a call for the industry to speak with one voice: "We don't all have to be in the same boat, but we need to row in the same direction."

Each session included a short keynote with a peer panel and open group discussion, giving attendees most of the time to compare experiences and challenge assumptions. Four print and packaging trends emerged from the event.

• Workforce transition demands a systematic approach to knowledge and skills. As experienced employees retire and printers compete with other skilled trades for talent, undocumented expertise is becoming a business-continuity risk. Participants saw standardization, training, knowledge capture, and automation as ways to preserve that expertise and make it teachable and scalable.
• AI value starts with the business problem, not the technology. Participants emphasized identifying meaningful applications, documenting decision logic, measuring outcomes, and establishing clear governance to ensure AI delivers practical business value.
• Packaging regulations are adding operational complexity. Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), the EU Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), and related requirements are increasing demands for data, traceability, and cost management across brands, printers, converters, and suppliers.
• Success will depend on stronger partnerships. Participants agreed that collaboration among print buyers, brands, converters, and suppliers, supported by connected data, digital workflows, and automation, will define the next generation of print and packaging operations.

“Forums like Color Council matter because print and packaging leaders rarely get to compare notes on what is actually working, and the shops that talk to each other make better decisions faster,” said Amy Servi Bonner, Vice President, PRINTING AI. “The conversation I care most about right now is AI governance: deciding what AI is allowed to own, who catches its mistakes, and which metric it should move, before the tool is already running the shop. Getting in a room together is how our industry turns that from a habit into a strategy.”

“A common theme across the sessions was the need to turn knowledge, data, and decisions into repeatable practices,” said Dan Uress, Director of Business Development, X-Rite Pantone. “Whether it’s capturing employee expertise, establishing accountability for AI decisions, or preparing for new packaging regulations, the priority now is moving from discussion to practical action.”

Color Council is a peer-led forum focused on candid industry discussions about the forces reshaping the print industry. The annual event will return in 2027, with dates and location to be announced early next year.

Source: X-Rite Pantone