FuturePrint Podcast

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In this episode of the FuturePrint Podcast, Marcus Timson speaks with Rob Karsten of Excelitas Technologies about the evolution of industrial inkjet and why its next revolution will depend on the complete manufacturing system—not any single component.
Drawing on more than two decades of experience in UV LED curing, Rob explains how the technology has developed from a specialist proposition into a reliable industrial platform. He also explores how Excelitas’s wider capabilities in UV, infrared, microwave and excimer technologies are helping the company support increasingly complex printing, drying, curing and surface-treatment applications.
The conversation examines where digital print creates the greatest manufacturing value, from packaging and direct-to-shape decoration to wood, building materials, printed electronics and functional coatings. Rob argues that digital technology is most compelling when it changes production economics by removing tooling, reducing inventory, enabling customisation and bringing manufacturing closer to demand.
Rob and Marcus also discuss the importance of reliability, total cost of ownership, measurable sustainability and the challenge of qualifying new industrial processes. They consider the growing influence of AI, machine vision, robotics and process data, alongside the need for connected curing and drying systems that can respond intelligently to changing production conditions.
Above all, Rob makes the case for greater collaboration between OEMs, ink developers, printhead manufacturers, substrate suppliers, automation specialists and end users. Customers do not buy isolated components; they buy reliable outcomes. The future of industrial inkjet will therefore be shaped by intelligent, connected and energy-efficient systems in which printing, curing, drying and manufacturing operate as one.
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What is FuturePrint?
FuturePrint is a digital and in person platform and community dedicated to future print technology. Over 20,000 people per month read our articles, listen to our podcasts, view our TV features, click on our e-newsletters and attend our in-person and virtual events. 
We hope to see you at one of our future in-person events:
FuturePrint Packaging, Labels & DTS Summit, 29-30 September '26, Valencia, Spain
FuturePrint Industrial Print Show, 11-12 May '27, Munich, Germany

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Two old friends, forty years of history, and one incredibly honest book about workplace culture. In this episode, Elena Knight from FuturePrint sits down with Simon Edwards, Technical Director at Global Inkjet Systems, and Anthony Lee, a patent attorney at a firm in Adelaide, Australia, who go all the way back to studying physics together four decades ago.
Together they've written Get Your Shit Together or Get Out , a short, sharp book about honesty in the workplace, why softened feedback does more harm than good, and how businesses quietly drift off course without anyone noticing until it's too late. Simon and Anthony talk candidly about why they wrote it, how they pulled it together in just a few months, and why they made it deliberately short enough to read on a single flight.
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What is FuturePrint?
FuturePrint is a digital and in person platform and community dedicated to future print technology. Over 20,000 people per month read our articles, listen to our podcasts, view our TV features, click on our e-newsletters and attend our in-person and virtual events. 
We hope to see you at one of our future in-person events:
FuturePrint Packaging, Labels & DTS Summit, 29-30 September '26, Valencia, Spain
FuturePrint Industrial Print Show, 11-12 May '27, Munich, Germany

Send us Fan Mail
In this episode of the FuturePrint Podcast, Marcus Timson speaks with Nino Speranza from Interprint about how digital printing is transforming the global decor industry. 
The discussion explores the structural shift taking place across decor printing as manufacturers respond to changing consumer expectations, shorter production runs, expanding product variety, and the growing demand for customization. Nino explains how digital printing has evolved from a sampling technology into a true industrial production platform, enabling greater flexibility, faster time-to-market, and entirely new creative possibilities.
The conversation also examines the continued importance of rotogravure printing, and why the future of decor manufacturing is likely to involve both analogue and digital technologies working side by side.
Marcus and Nino discuss:
 Why shrinking order sizes are reshaping decor manufacturing 
 How digital printing reduces commercial risk for designers and brands 
 The growing importance of localized and customized decor collections 
 Why thermoplastics and alternative substrates represent the industry’s next major battleground 
 The role of water-based inks and sustainability regulations 
 How digital technology is changing the relationship between design and production 
 Why decor printing increasingly influences emotion, experience, and wellbeing within modern spaces 
The episode provides valuable insight into one of the most fascinating intersections of industrial print, design, materials science, and manufacturing innovation.
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What is FuturePrint?
FuturePrint is a digital and in person platform and community dedicated to future print technology. Over 20,000 people per month read our articles, listen to our podcasts, view our TV features, click on our e-newsletters and attend our in-person and virtual events. 
We hope to see you at one of our future in-person events:
FuturePrint Packaging, Labels & DTS Summit, 29-30 September '26, Valencia, Spain
FuturePrint Industrial Print Show, 11-12 May '27, Munich, Germany

Send us Fan Mail
A regulation that can fine you for a single weak link in your supply chain forces a different kind of thinking. We sit down with Anna Roberts, Head of Market Development at IOV42, to unpack the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) and why it is creating real urgency for timber, paper, packaging, and print businesses trying to trade with the EU.

We get practical about what EUDR compliance actually involves: due diligence, traceability back to the plot of land, and the uncomfortable reality that “we’ve always done it this way” no longer holds up. Anna explains where the biggest concerns come from, including the scale of penalties, the difference between upstream and downstream obligations, and why print can be uniquely complex when products are composite and raw materials come from fragmented, global networks. We also clarify a point many people miss: scope is driven by the product and its HS code, so some finished printed materials may be out of scope while printed packaging, labels, and stationery can still trigger obligations.

From there, we look at how to cut through the noise. We talk myth busting, mapping your supply chain, and why collaboration with suppliers beats transactional purchasing if you want reliable data. Anna also shares how IOV42’s Interu platform uses automation and AI to reduce the endless back-and-forth of chasing information, while keeping humans in control and decisions explainable. Finally, we zoom out to place EUDR inside the wider EU Green Deal direction of travel, alongside other sustainability and reporting rules that make good data foundations a long-term advantage.

Subscribe for more, share this with someone who buys paper or packaging, and leave a review to help others find the show. What part of EUDR are you finding hardest to pin down right now?
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What is FuturePrint?
FuturePrint is a digital and in person platform and community dedicated to future print technology. Over 20,000 people per month read our articles, listen to our podcasts, view our TV features, click on our e-newsletters and attend our in-person and virtual events. 
We hope to see you at one of our future in-person events:
FuturePrint Packaging, Labels & DTS Summit, 29-30 September '26, Valencia, Spain
FuturePrint Industrial Print Show, 11-12 May '27, Munich, Germany

Send us Fan Mail
A football looks simple until you try to print on it. The curves, seams, and tricky surface finish make traditional flatbed approaches awkward at best. So we sat down with Grant Copson from Cyan Tec to unpack how RoboJet, a modular robotic inkjet printing platform, manages true direct-to-object printing with the kind of quality you actually want to put in front of customers.

We walk through the full production flow, from plasma pre-treatment (with options like corona depending on the substrate) to multi-module inkjet printing with full colour CMYK plus white ink for darker products. Grant explains why UV pinning matters during printing, how the final UV cure locks in durability, and how a six-axis robotic arm gives you the freedom to manipulate complex geometry in open space rather than forcing everything under a fixed printhead. If you are searching for practical answers on UV inkjet printing, 3D object printing, robotic automation in print, or mass customisation, this conversation gets into the details without the fluff.

We also dig into the engineering behind repeatability: bespoke moulds designed in 3D CAD, fixtures produced in-house on 3D printers, and a digital twin workflow that lets the team offline programme and test robot movements before ink ever goes into the machine. That means faster commissioning, less downtime, and a clearer path from prototype to production line. We wrap with where you can see RoboJet in action next, including live demos and upcoming events.

Subscribe for more Future Print conversations, share this with a colleague who cares about industrial inkjet, and leave a review to help more people find the show.
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What is FuturePrint?
FuturePrint is a digital and in person platform and community dedicated to future print technology. Over 20,000 people per month read our articles, listen to our podcasts, view our TV features, click on our e-newsletters and attend our in-person and virtual events. 
We hope to see you at one of our future in-person events:
FuturePrint Packaging, Labels & DTS Summit, 29-30 September '26, Valencia, Spain
FuturePrint Industrial Print Show, 11-12 May '27, Munich, Germany