Episode 320 - Digital Direct-To-Object Printing At Production Speed: In conversation with Ken Stack, EPS
Thousands of parts per minute, each one different. That’s the new reality for direct-to-object printing, and it changes how brands think about cost, speed, and flexibility. We sit down with Ken Stack, Executive Chairman of Engineered Printing Solutions, to unpack why single pass inkjet and smart automation have pushed DTO past the tipping point and what it actually takes to run true production on real-world objects.
Ken brings three decades across industrial inkjet, M&A, and strategy, and he explains how EPS moved from pad printing heritage to leading high-speed, direct-to-object systems. We dig into the big drivers: shrinking run lengths, soaring labour costs, and the need to print on plastics, powder-coated metals, and glass with reliable adhesion. You’ll hear what separates multi pass promotional rigs from single pass production cells, why the printer is often just 20% of the total system cost, and how picking, pre-treatment, inline inspection, and sorting deliver the ROI that CFOs want. From golf balls and helmets to beverage and pharma caps, the examples are concrete, and the numbers are blunt.
We also map the global picture. North America is charging ahead on automation and reshoring, supported by accessible capital and the pressure to localise. Asia and Latin America show strong momentum, while Europe remains more cautious despite high-value short-run needs across many languages. Ken is candid about the hard parts: training vision systems to inspect 2,000 caps per minute, handling odd geometries at micron-level accuracy, and choosing heads and inks that balance gap, viscosity, and durability. The future focus is clear—make automation cheaper and easier, expand surface compatibility, and standardise core print platforms with vertical-specific handling.
If you care about packaging agility, versioned products, or cutting setup fees and downtime from your lines, this conversation lays out a practical path. Subscribe for more deep dives, share this episode with your ops team, and leave a quick review to tell us which object you want to print next.
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