That's a Wrap

There was a lot of anticipation for AMPLIFY—a first-of-its-kind event presented by Association for Print Technologies (APTECH) and the Foil and Specialty Effects Association (FSEA). The event centered around the topic of value-added print finishing and embellishment, and boasted the latest and greatest in technology, equipment, materials, inspiration and thought leadership.

Given my finishing background, I had very high (admittedly almost unrealistic) expectations for the event, and I’m happy to report that it did not disappoint. After spending several days at the show, the AMPLIFY experience can be summed up in three major categories:

• People

• Innovation

• Themes and Trends

The People of AMPLIFY

Many people (including myself) have not traveled to a show in a long time, due to the pandemic, so there was a palpable excitement in the air. Everyone was chatty, energetic and excited to be there. That energy transferred to the show floor, and to the audience engagement in the educational sessions and social events.

It felt a bit like a reunion around there—at one point, I was in a major thoroughfare with my friend Daniel Dejan, who, like me, had presented one of the educational sessions at AMPLIFY. Up walks Mark Geeves (ColorLogic), and Tom Moe (Daily Printing). A moment later, we were joined by Deborah Corn (PrintMediaCentr) with the buyer from The Pokémon Company (he was awesome), Jules VanSant (Bubble & Hatch), Jeff Hernandez (Classic Color), Erik Norman and the gang from Bolger Printing, Sabine Lenz (Paperspecs), Kevin Abergel and Warren Werbitt (Taktiful), the teams from Smartpress and WhatTheyThink . . . and the group just kept on growing. It was like an impromptu party, and that was only in a 10-minute stretch of time. It was amazing to see such an eclectic and talented group of professionals interacting in one spot.

Now, this is not to say that we haven’t all been in one spot before—maybe we have—but at the really big shows, I can walk for 30 minutes before I might see someone I know or recognize. At AMPLIFY, there were 1000+ people from my category—printers, print buyers, designers, consultants, manufacturers, suppliers, media and more. You could find people and exchange ideas. It was an engaged, focused group, and I expect we’ll see the attendee and vendor list grow next year as a result of this event’s success and as people become even more comfortable with in-person events and travel.

The educational session I presented was called "Direct Mail in a Different World," and it was about being creative and adding value to mail for your customers in a time when there are real obstacles (paper and envelope supply, postage increases, etc.). At the end of my presentation, I hosted a panel of “boots on the ground” print and finishing executives from Smartpress, Bolger and MCD.

The discussion was powerful, because the environment at the show felt a bit like Dscoop in that everyone had a common interest in the success and momentum of the category, and there was an openness and generosity in the flow of information and advice that I really liked. Topics in the educational sessions spanned best practices, sales, trends, workflow, packaging and more. I was being social, so I didn’t get to sit in on as many sessions as I would have liked, but word on the street was that the educational sessions were top-notch.

Innovation at AMPLIFY

I don’t wander shows—I always have goals for maximizing my time while I’m there, and my goal for my time on the show floor was to find some exciting things I had not seen before, and to see many of the cool things I’ve reported on in living color. I cannot possibly share everything, but here are a few highlights:

• My #1 most favorite innovation at the show was from APS Imaging & Supply – the LINEA Automatica VP, a machine that offers high-speed, automated lay-flat bookbinding at speeds of up to 1,300 spreads per hour. The production process includes cover production, creasing, folding, insertion, heating, cooling and finishing. The machine leverages artificial intelligence (AI) for performance analysis and self-diagnostics and can create up to 20″ x 20″ size albums / 3.3-inch thickness, with optional robotics. It was running on the show floor, and I’ve never seen anything like it.

• I really liked the line of products from Skandacor—they have a series of compact and modular laminating systems, but my favorite was their Vulcan FC-500 Flatbed Digital Die-Cutter with vacuum table for quick and easy cutting and scoring of sheets/boards as large as 19” x 26” and 600 gsm in thickness for short-run production and sample-making. I could think of 1000 ways that machine would come in handy, and it’s priced really well.

• In the Tech Zone, KURZ had live demos of their DM-LUXLINER digital transfer press, which performs metallic decoration and high gloss for digital finishing on labels, paper and cardboard. I feel like I’m over-simplifying what this press does—it’s very impressive.

• I caught up with Kevin Moll and Carl D’Aguilar of Moll Brothers, and saw the Moll FlexCut Digital Rotary Die Cutter with servo registration, which I’ve been wanting to see for a while now. A great machine—I reported on this one in my tech outlook last month.

Themes and Trends at AMPLIFY

Theme: Sustainability

With the focus on sustainability in print that has become a real concern of brands and the companies who produce their marketing for them, sustainability was one of the biggest themes at the show. The show began with a three-hour Sustainability Summit, and there was intense discussion about embellishments, foil and recyclability in the category. Walk your way through the vendor booths, and the topic came up a lot as well.

There was a flurry of activity at the Kelly Spicers booth, where they were showcasing a new certified plastic-free and 100% recyclable metallized foil board called Ecofoil. Developed for the HP Indigo, dry toner and inkjet digital print markets, the board is positioned as the only sustainable and commercially viable foil board range on the digital market. Other brands at the show marketing eco-friendly foil and laminate products were Hazen Paper Company’s Envirofoil and Nobelus Ecoelement Sustainable Laminates.

One of the coolest sustainability-related offerings was from KURZ, where they announced the world’s first foil transfer carrier recycling system called RECOSYS. Without getting too deep in the weeds with my explanation, they convert residual transfer products into a high-quality injection molding material called RECOPOUND - they had samples of the little pellets they create, and some injection-molded products made from the pellets. It was wild.

Theme: Production Flexibility

Flexibility, modularity, efficiency, customization—all of these were themes at the show, and they were reflected in many of the machines on the show floor. It was nice to see that there was truly something for every budget, whether you had $7,000 or $700,000+. There was a pathway for everyone who wants to get into value added print to step into it.

• I saw a machine called a Chameleon Finishing System, and although I can’t explain much about it, I was in awe of its flexibility. They make customized converting systems (big and small) for direct mail products, media products and packaging, retail packaging and fulfillment, and other specialty end-of-the-line finishing systems. I was also very impressed with how much time they spent talking to me. That’s not always the case at a show, and I was impressed with that.

• Xerox was showing off their Adaptive CMYK+ Kit, which adds shiny metallics, bold whites and glowing fluorescent colors to a Versant 180/280 or PrimeLink C9065/C9070 printer, extending your palette to more than a million colors using 11 new toners. They had the press on the show floor, and they were making custom variable coasters for everyone using specialty colors.

Trend: Personalization and Wow-Factor

If you like cool samples as much as I do, this was the show for you—there were so many exciting, tangible samples to pick up while you were there. Here are just a few of my favorites:

• Scodix didn’t have a machine on the show floor, but they pre-produced gorgeous, name personalized, “Scodified” prints for every attendee. Well played, Scodix.

• There were several companies at the show who sold every kind of foil under the sun. I can’t mention them all, but my favorite “score” from the foil category was my Designed to Shine book of foils and foil design samples from the team at ITW Shinemark. There were also some very nice embossing/debossing/sculpted die companies that were true artisans, like E.C. Schultz & Company. They gave me a beautiful set of samples, so they get a shout-out, too.

• Parkland Direct had piles and piles of eye-catching and creative embellished envelope samples. I had a great discussion with their CMO, Stephen White, that has sparked an idea for my next article, so watch for that. Victor Envelope and W + D had some really cool envelope samples, too.

• Related to wow-factor, if you’re looking for advice on how to sell, leverage, implement or design with digital print embellishment, check out the team from Taktiful. They launched at AMPLIFY, and are actively consulting brands, agencies and printers.

Can’t Wait for Next Year

I ended my three days at the show with lots of new friends, some fresh ideas and strategies and a suitcase filled with samples. It was a great show, and I can’t wait to do it all over again next year.

Captions:

ITW and Scodix.jpg:

Personlized, “Scodified” print from Scodix and Designed to Shine foil sampler book from ITW Shinemark

Linea_Automatica_VP.jpg:

The LINEA Automatica VP from APS Imaging & Supply offers high-speed, fully automated layflat bookbinding at speeds of up to 1,300 spreads per hour.

Parkland_Victor.jpg:

Eye-catching, embellished envelopes from Parkland Direct and Victor Envelope.

Xerox Adaptive CMYK.jpg

With Xerox Adaptive CMYK+, you can quickly swap out your CMYK toner for a Vivid Kit with white, metallics and clear, or a fluorescent kit with fluorescent CMY toners.