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 Busters - Philip Paul Beyer
• The E-Myth Revisited - Michael E. Gerber

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

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.

Del Simmons, Managing Director at Dayfold joins us for an episode of The INKspire Podcast to talk about their work to improve print training in university graphic arts courses across the country.

He chats to Ross about what inspired this initiative, why there’s a need to address the issue of a lack of print education and the interesting work the group have been doing so far.

The initiative is being run by Dayfold, along with representatives from the BPIF, GF Smith, Heidelberg, IPIA, Duplo, HP, Foilco and UEI Falcontec.

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 future of the industry! This episode is a must-listen for anyone looking to build strong relationships and achieve greater success.

Connect with Brendan on LinkedIn here

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System reviews often get overlooked once the software is implemented and workflow is set up. But this is where issues can occur, and opportunities for positive change can get overlooked!

Laura Woodward and Andy Strand (Tharstern experts) chat to Ross about why it’s so important for printers and converters to regularly review their systems, and not just your MIS, but the whole workflow. They also discuss the types of personalities you need in your project teams, treating your software like an employee and lots more.

Download the Wheel of Growth that Ross mentions.

Things to ask yourself that Ross mentions in the episode

• Things I wish I knew more about in my system?
• Things I’d like to keep on happening within my system?
• Things I’d like to stop happening within my system?
• Things I’d like to start happening that don’t currently?
• What are our aspirations moving forward?
• What are our challenges?
• If I had a magic wand, what would I wave it to fix?
• Which other systems would we like to integrate with?

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In this special episode, Andy Strand takes over as host and chats to Ross about 4 of the standout episodes from The INKspire Podcast this year.

Listen to find out what lessons businesses can take into the New Year and which episode still gives Ross goosebumps when he talks about it.

See you all in 2023!

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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!

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.

Listen to the previous integration episode - An introduction to print integration from industry experts.

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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 they’ve got to say!

All three are also recent winners of The Rising Star Awards run by The Printing Charity, and we’re also joined by Nicola Peacock who explains why they’re so important for this younger generation and the success that Tayler, Victoria and Elsie had from this award.

Listen to the previous episodes that Ross mentions…

Tackling the diversity issues within the print & packaging industries

The power behind 'Are you okay?' and active listening

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