In this episode of The INKspire Podcast, we’re joined by George Rumball, Owner and Manager of the Kall Kwik City branch. He chats to Ross about his journey into the print industry and how he climbed the ladder to owning his own business. They also talk openly about the challenges of leadership and working with a mentor to help shape the way to approach both your role and running your business. Ross also puts a perhaps difficult question to George, “How do you see the future of the print industry?” – but you might not expect the answer! Read the books that Ross mentions in the episode: System ..read more

The way print businesses are estimating is changing. Developing technology means you’re more able to adapt your business and improve internal processes, like estimating. But how far can we take this? Matt Cummins (Operations Director at Elle Media Group) and Chris Smyth (Strategic Performance Director at BCQ) chat to Ross and Andy Strand about the people in their businesses who are estimating, the changes they’ve seen in recent years and the common challenges they’re facing in this area. Connect with Matt on LinkedIn Connect with Chris on LinkedIn ..read more

Every piece of technology in the print industry needs to be interoperable, speaking the same language for better connectivity, Karl Ciz, Partner Success at Zaikio explains. Karl explains to Ross the work that Zaikio are driving and why print technology needs a base layer that allows everyone to communicate in the same language to make the process of connectivity much faster. They discuss developing on JDF technology and the value of receiving data in a format that you can use immediately. Learn more about interoperability in this new episode of The INKspire Podcast ..read more

Brendan Perring, General Manager at IPIA joins us for an episode to explore why a strong sense of community and networking is still so important in the print, packaging & converting industries today. Ross asked Brendan about his experience of building meaningful connections and leveraging community to help drive success while in the middle of a digital bubble. He shares with us about the work that the IPIA do in this area, how businesses can find more success through networking and different ways print professionals can connect with others. Stick around to hear Brendan’s insights on the fu ..read more

Capitalize the data in your print MIS with Business Intelligence (BI) tools. There are still huge competitive advantages to using BI dashboards to measure & analyze your data, which Dan McLaughlin and Andy Strand explain in this podcast episode. They chat to Ross about the value of visual data provided by these tools and how it can take your data analysis to the next level. Read the blog article mentioned in the episode. Check out Guy in a Cube for Power BI help and advice Find us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram & TikTok using @tharstern ..read more

Integrating your MIS software with other best-in-class applications is key for upping your CX game. Anthony Pietrocini, Director of Technology at Bennett Graphics, joins this episode to chat with Ross and our Solution Specialist, Mark Jameson, about the value of integration for print businesses, and the cool things that can be achieved. Anthony recalls his journey from working in bindery to running Bennett's technology, shares his advice for print business that might not yet have taken their first step with integration, and tells us some of the cool things he's done within the last year. Liste ..read more

In this episode, we get insight from three under-30s on an important question – how do we encourage more young people into the print industry? Tayler Regan (Paragon Customer Communications), Victoria Blackwell (Page Bros) and Elsie Hargate (Bluetree Group) share their experiences with Ross about joining the industry at a young age, what made them want to work in print and what businesses need to do to encourage the next generation of printers into their business. We also pitch them a tough question to finish – How do you see the future of the print industry? You definitely need to hear what th ..read more

In this episode, Ross is joined by Tharstern’s own John Murphy (Workflow Specialist) and Dan McLaughlin (Integration Specialist) to chat about the what, why and how of print integration. They explain what integration is, how it differs from automation, and the best way to get started with an integration project. People play such an important role in your project, and the team chat about why this is, and where they fit into the workflow. There’s nothing better than real-life examples, so Dan also tells Ross about some awesome integration projects he’s worked on, which might give you some inspir ..read more

Most businesses have a diversity imbalance, especially in leadership roles, and this is something that largely impacts the print and packaging industries and must be addressed. Ross is joined by three inspirational women in our industry - Jo Stephenson, MD of PHD Marketing, Karis Copp, Head of Content at FuturePrint, and Amanda Newman, Head of Marketing at Tharstern. As a group, they open up the conversation about the lack of women in technical/managerial roles and how the industry should be doing more to encourage more women into these roles, building a more diverse decision-making team withi ..read more

In this episode, our host Ross Edwards and Tharstern CEO, Keith McMurtrie chat to Marcus Timson and Karis Copp from FuturePrint about their new vision report. The report explores The Great Acceleration and how this acted as a catalyst for change, the digitization of business and the importance of acknowledging the cyber security risks that come with it, diversification, culture and more. Find Marcus and Karis on LinkedIn, or download the full Vision Report ..read more