PRINTING United Expo 2025 PRINTING United Expo 2025 was a showcase of innovation, collaboration and industry momentum, highlighting the biggest printing industry trends. From automation and AI to embellishment, sustainability and digital inkjet, here’s what experts and print providers are saying about the future of print.
Why Print Service and Support is Mission-critical
In the print production environment, printers rely heavily on their technology vendors not just for equipment, but for ongoing support and partnership. Service plays a critical role, and its importance has only grown as competition intensifies and technology evolves. Service can be a decisive factor for print providers when choosing or switching vendors.
Every minute a press or finishing system is down can lead to lost revenue, missed deadlines and strained client relationships. Fast, reliable service minimizes downtime and keeps operations running smoothly. This pressure often drives printers to re-evaluate vendor relationships, and if a competitor offers superior service – even if their technology is similar – it can be a compelling reason to switch.
This is one area Konica Minolta truly stands out, and the topic opened the door for meaningful conversations with prospects about the depth and quality of our service commitment. With our White Glove Service we provide worry-free installation and customized, hands-on assistance for our products and solutions. The program goes beyond standard support by offering services such as expert training, seamless integration with existing workflows, remote diagnostics and on-site support to ensure customers can maximize their equipment’s uptime and productivity.
The Ongoing Labor Conversation
Labor is still a challenge to run offset presses, and a few printers that have invested in digital spoke to the fact that they can reduce headcount for savings and efficiency. Finding talent to run presses is also a challenge. In the first half of 2025 there seems to have been a general slowdown in terms of growth, but we are seeing a definite uptick in the second half.
The labor conversation has actually shifted from a labor shortage to more of a skilled labor shortage. The trend is about how we help address that as an industry – are we creating tools and training, are we forming the right partnerships to help bridge that gap between what’s considered a labor shortage and what really is a skilled labor shortage?
Automation and AI Driving Efficiency
Customers and prospects were particularly interested in how we can help them with automation, another trend that is actually helping address the industry’s skilled labor shortage. With the right tools, manufacturers are creating efficiencies and driving productivity.
There’s also growing curiosity around the role of AI, not just in products, but in broader business operations. At Konica Minolta, we’re already applying AI to enhance service and support, such as remote equipment diagnosis and servicing. As expectations rise, standard service models are no longer enough. Manufacturers will need to continue evolving their tools and processes to be easier to work with and to stand out as top-tier service providers.
Diversification for Growth
We saw strong interest from printers looking to diversify their offerings. Many are exploring areas like label production, wide format and embellishment – particularly as a way to tap into new profit opportunities. In a commercial print environment, introducing something different can open doors with customers and create demand for core services. If offset work isn’t gaining traction with a prospect, offering wide format gives you a new entry point. Once that relationship is established, it can be leveraged to grow your traditional offset business.
Print Embellishment Trends: Foil, Varnish & Beyond
As customers look for new ways to differentiate themselves and drive additional business, embellishment is becoming a standard in the industry. With Konica Minolta’s broad range of embellishment solutions, we’re able to support clients at any stage of their journey. Whether they’re starting with the AccurioPress C14010S and using white toner (also available with the AccurioLabel 400) as an entry point into embellishment – our ability to apply white in a single pass is a feature many customers value – or they’re ready to fully invest in embellishment with our AccurioShine 3600 or our lineup of JETvarnish presses for foil and varnish effects, we offer the flexibility and expertise to help them reach their goals.
There is also increasing support for designers, who may not yet be familiar with how to design for embellishment – a challenge the industry is actively working to address. Konica Minolta, for example, recently announced a collaboration with Adobe to offer their new pre-press embellishment technology, referred to as Project Goldsmith by Adobe. Demonstrated at our booth, this solution simplifies the process of adding special finishes like foiling and varnishing by automating job preparation and generating accurate, production-ready files. Now, designers can simply drop a file into the application to create the necessary embellishment elements—automation at its finest. The software even suggests where embellishment is possible on existing designs.
Labels and Wide Format Printing: Growth Opportunities
Labels are another fast-growing application area. While many customers still rely on cut-sheet and wide format devices to produce labels, we’re seeing increased interest in expanding into applicator-ready solutions to boost capacity and diversify offerings. For commercial printers, labels represent a valuable opportunity to drive new business – especially with the flexibility of digital label production and the ability to run jobs on demand. Brand owners are also exploring this space, and considering whether it’s something they can do themselves. Labels are already a key tool for brand differentiation, and when digital embellishment is added to the mix, it becomes a powerful way to elevate the brand story and create even greater impact.
Konica Minolta continues to invest in the growing wide format segment, previewing our latest innovation – the AccurioWide 250HS – to both existing customers and new prospects at our booth. But wide format is about more than signage; these printers offer the flexibility to print on a diverse range of media, enabling customers to expand into new applications and unlock fresh revenue streams. As one of the most profitable areas in print, wide format encompasses a variety of technologies, approaches and ink types. Konica Minolta’s comprehensive portfolio is designed to offer scalable solutions that grow with our customers’ businesses. We’re also proud to support this growth with our extensive network of service and branch locations, ensuring reliable, expert assistance every step of the way.
Digital Inkjet Printing: Compact, Sustainable and Versatile
One of the strongest trends we heard about inkjet printing was the accelerating shift from traditional offset to digital inkjet. Printers aren’t just looking for speed – they want versatility. Today’s customers expect inkjet devices to handle far more than transactional printing or direct mail; they want presses capable of producing a wide range of applications, including packaging, all on the same platform. Many visitors also highlighted the physical and environmental advantages of our AccurioJet series. With a more compact footprint and lower power consumption compared to competitors, these presses deliver sustainability benefits that are becoming increasingly important to printers.
Engaging the next generation
We’re seeing growing and enthusiastic support for the next generation of print professionals, with continued investment in the youth of our industry. While student engagement has been a part of previous PRINTING United Expo events, this year placed a strong emphasis on it. The industry is clearly embracing young talent, and our technology is at the center of that experience. Students are getting hands-on exposure, particularly with embellishment, and it’s resonating. At Konica Minolta, we were proud to host three groups of engaged and curious students at our booth, many of whom were actively inquiring about internships and future opportunities.
Sustainability and Smart Printing
Visitors took note of Konica Minolta’s commitment to reducing waste – particularly in label production, where our technology enables instant-on printing, allowing the first label to be produced immediately. On-demand label printing is transforming workflows, making shorter runs more feasible than ever before. This shift toward on-demand production empowers businesses to minimize waste – whether it’s time, materials or financial resources – while maximizing profitability. Our solutions are designed to support people, profit and planet. By training teams to be more productive, reducing downtime and leveraging true digital technology for short-run jobs, we’re helping customers operate more efficiently and sustainably.
Aligning Innovation with Customer Demand
At Konica Minolta, we’re focused on building our portfolio around what customers are asking for and where we see growth in applications. At our booth, nearly every visitor was exploring specialized print – whether it was embellishment, labels, or wide format. This strong interest validated that we have the right products in the right places.
It’s not just about traditional print anymore. For example, there was significant interest in how the fifth color on our AccurioPress C14010S could be used to unlock new creative opportunities. It was encouraging to see such clear alignment between what we believe matters to our customers and what they’re actively seeking to grow their business. Hearing directly from them about where they need support to expand their offerings confirmed that we’re all moving in the same direction.
Digital print creating dynamic growth opportunities
Digital production print is proving to hold strong, delivering high quality, reliable performance and excellent image stability. It makes embellishment easier and more cost-effective than ever, especially for short and medium print runs, and has taken a definitive lead in delivering environmental advantages, eliminating plates and reduces paper waste, chemical usage, energy and emissions. We’ll also see digital technology increasingly stepping in to fill the gap in ongoing labor shortages. More shorter run lengths, feeds investments in digital.
An Industry United in Progress
This event and the insights gained really showcase how the printing industry continues to evolve – embracing new technologies and driving forward with unstoppable momentum. If this year’s show is any indication, the future of print is bold, connected and full of opportunity. Hear more from Jason Dizzine in this brief video.
