The FuturePrint Virtual Conference, taking place 25th – 26th February, will be showcasing a range of solutions, insight and education from established print giants to cutting-edge newcomers, both of which are blazing the trail for the future of the industry. We caught up with Christian Weyer, Managing Director, Technology, at software expert Zaikio, to discover why they have chosen the conference as a platform.

Zaikio may be a relatively new name to some, but the expertise behind the business has been a while in the making. Formerly Crispy Mountain, the business now has the weight of Heidelberg behind it, and is bringing a long-anticipated plug-and-play solution to print businesses. So why the FuturePrint Virtual Conference as a platform? Christian says: “The pioneers of the printing industry meet here, both printers and solution providers, and primarily discuss future-oriented topics. With Zaikio, we want to optimise the industry and the processes within the industry. It is important for us to gather feedback from the market in order to establish a promising product.”

The importance of connectivity has been a recurring theme throughout FuturePrint events, and Zaikio is a business that truly embodies that ideal. What can we expect to hear from Zaikio at the conference? Christian explains: “In the first step, we will talk about the relevance of connecting all systems with each other. In a market that is confronted with an increase of small orders, internal processes have to change if you still want to make a profit. We see the solution primarily in the connection of all relevant systems with each other. This is exactly our vision - the integration of the entire printing industry.

He continues: “We are taking a step-by-step approach and have chosen the purchasing process of a printing company as our starting point. In our presentation we will give a live demo of how easy it is for printers to connect their own MIS with the supplier and to order digitally – with just a few clicks.”

Zaikio is an important voice on this crucial topic: “As I said, we see a huge relevance in the integration of all relevant systems and machines in the printing industry. However, if you try to solve everything at the same time, you usually fail. Procurement in print shops is mainly manual, be it phone calls or emails sent back and forth. With Zaikio Procurement, we quickly offer great added value for the entire industry and want to share the results with all participants. The issue of connectivity is not a new one. There have been many attempts to facilitate connectivity.  We have given a lot of thought to how we can approach this challenge and do it better.

“Finally, we came to the conclusion that only a real product can be the solution to these challenges. A product is not just a documentation about the format of data for connectivity (comparable to a standard like JDF). A product offers a documentation, clearly defined semantics created by a single entity, APIs that provide direct feedback on whether the data being sent is correct, and above all: people who provide support and help for developers. We have bundled this into Zaikio and developed a platform that is open. That is also an important point. No vendor should be excluded. Zaikio will offer all partners the space if they want it and connect them with other participants.” 

As a business that proudly states, ‘we democratise the printing industry’, who are Zaikio hoping to reach with their session? Christian says: “As our platform is relevant for all market participants, we want to address all parties in the industry. Of course, our focus is on printers. We want to deliver the most added value to print shops.”

You can register for the session Print Trends: Gamification, Ecosystem Integration, and Procurement Reinvention here.

You can view the full FuturePrint Virtual Conference schedule here.

 Find out more about Zaikio here.