Episode 301 - Industrial Print Unpacked: Decor, Packaging and Direct-to-Product with Agfa
In this FuturePrint Podcast episode, host Marcus Timson reconnects with long-time FuturePrint partner and industry voice Marc Graindourze of Agfa to explore where industrial inkjet really is in late 2025 – and what comes next.
Graindourze starts by defining industrial print in simple, concrete terms: print that becomes part of the product, not just a label or message. Using décor laminates as a benchmark, he explains how inkjet has successfully replaced gravure by slotting into existing impregnation and pressing lines without forcing manufacturers to re-engineer their plants.
The conversation ranges across Agfa’s core focus areas – décor, packaging and direct-to-product printing – and highlights how the economics of digital have quietly improved. Lower ink consumption, faster changeovers and better process understanding mean that, on a total cost-per-square-metre basis, inkjet can now undercut analogue in many decorative applications. Examples include high-speed preprint corrugated with unique QR codes for e-commerce and edge banding for furniture.
Timson and Graindourze also preview the new FuturePrint Industrial Print event at Motorworld Munich (21–22 January 2026). Designed as a focused, hybrid alternative to traditional trade shows, the event aims to connect the specialist inkjet ecosystem – inks, printheads, integrators, software and automation suppliers – with decision-makers in automotive, med-tech, consumer electronics and other manufacturing sectors. A dedicated day on AI for industrial print will sit alongside exhibits, talks and live application “workshop” spaces.
Throughout, Graindourze stresses that success in industrial inkjet depends on collaboration and clarity. General-purpose UV and water-based ink sets can often be adapted for new applications, but only when industrial partners are explicit about their requirements and prepared to rethink workflows to exploit digital’s strengths.
For anyone interested in how inkjet is reshaping advanced manufacturing – and why Munich could mark an important inflection point – this is an episode not to miss.
FuturePrint Events:
FuturePrint TECH: Industrial Print: 21-22 January '26, Munich, Germany