Future Book Forum 2022

Finding new sustainable and profitable growth at Future Book Forum 2022

Our business development manager, Martin Ellison and marketing executive, Robyn Dixon, recently travelled to Munich to attend the Future Book Forum 2022.

It was an event led by Canon Europe, leading provider of digital cameras, inkjet printers and professional printers for business and home users.

Now in its 9^th year, the live event was held at Canon’s European base in Munich and as a loyal customer, we flew out to the Future Book Forum which was held over two days with the focus on ‘Finding new sustainable and profitable growth’.

As a company which specialises in integrated print, packaging and supply chain services, our customer base is publishing for education, automotive, industrial plus, fashion and lifestyle. So, with every industry stepping up to address the same challenges – and increasingly – an accelerating shift towards clean energy, electric cars, plant-based foods, recycled fashion, we were keen to learn more!

We were joined by a range of publishing industry professionals who gathered to watch presentations which ran across the two days. Global author and speaker, Peter Fisk, chaired the event and was joined by experts in sustainability, innovation and publishing.

One of which was presented by our business development manager, Martin, who discussed the challenges publishers face and how Elanders can support them through the use of innovative technology.

The introduction of Canon’s ColorStream 8160 and the IX3200 has been a game-changer for Elanders UK and we were the first print, packaging and supply chain specialist in the UK to invest in a new, premium inkjet printer, offering our customers an eco-friendly solution with increased flexibility, automated workflow and a lower cost of production.

During our presentation, Martin discussed our partnership with Canon which saw us add two premium printers to our offering, allowing customers an array of benefits including a quicker turnaround and personalisation.

The cutsheet Canon VarioPrint iX3200 and the continuous feed Canon ColorStream 8160 has productivity rates of 93% and is the most eco-friendly digital press on the market.

We explored how the new technology is helping us save valuable time, energy and limits wastage in comparison to more traditional printing methods, plus with a flexibility that gives customers more choice in what they want, and when they want it.

Martin discussed the types of production we provide for our customers – just-in-time printing (also called print on demand) where, using Canon digital printers, we can not only print large quantities of particular pieces, we also have storage in its climate-controlled warehouse. As the name suggests, just-in-time simply refers to delivering parts or materials to manufacturers at or near the time they are needed for assembly.

We also provide just-in-sequence services where parts are delivered to the customer at the scheduled time and mass customisation which is enabled by digital printing.

Sustainability for our customers in recent years has become a priority and that includes everything from reducing waste and adopting green technologies, so their business can be as green as possible.

Onsite, we have digital printers that offer ultra-short runs, short runs and midrange run lengths, all from one service provider, meaning that instead of producing 50 booklets we could produce 500. The benefits include freedom of run length whilst ensuring cost performance, fast availability, less obsolescence and super quality and responding to any enquiry not just in the UK but around the world.

We have seen a migration of almost £2 million worth of offset printing moved to digital because we can print in much higher run lengths.

We also shared details of our dynamic order and account management system which allows real time changes and proactive collaboration in managing orders and stock and explored how our customers benefit from our just-in-sequence and just-in-time services which ensure maximum efficiencies and minimise downtime/effectiveness.

The presentation assessed today’s climate with consumers demanding more products and services from retailers in a rapidly evolving number of delivery modes. At the same time, retailers are increasingly asking, “how can we go faster” as they work to refine their retail playbook.

To meet demand, we have developed our own Order Management System which is a single source that can be used to process all orders, view inventory levels, outgoing order shipments, product returns, generate dynamic reports and more – all in real-time. And provide a seamless end-to-end supply chain experience for retailers.

We concluded with an overview of our logistics services and the benefits to customers.

The two-day event provided an opportunity for all attendees to enthusiastically embrace new ideas and practices and examine how we can all work to together to create a sustainable manufacturing future.