Ade Onabanjo Loves When Print Craft Meets Production Progress

F.E. Burman’s roots are in prepress and repro, where understanding color and creativity was fundamental to the work. When desktop publishing began eroding that business, the London company pivoted into print and became an early HP Indigo adopter. Ade Onabanjo has been there through that evolution — in fact, he has spent his entire 36-year career at F.E. Burman — and today as the company's production director, he helps the company balance two forces that might seem at odds: increasing automation and efficiency while preserving the craft and creativity that distinguish its work.

That balance is especially important because many of F.E. Burman’s customers are creatives. Ade and his team want to become involved early enough to understand what the customer is trying to accomplish, then bring their own production expertise into the idea. They discuss paper, foiling, embellishments, and other possibilities that can make the finished piece more effective.

“We ask questions: What is it for? How can we augment this product?” Ade says. “I think that's probably the key selling point.” Sometimes delivering the best result even means slowing things down enough to have the right conversation before production begins, he adds.

Ade has watched customer expectations for turnaround, personalization, and efficiency transform production. F.E. Burman continues reducing touchpoints and adding automation from the initial brief through dispatch, while production itself has moved closer to customer service, designers, and other parts of the business. Also, sustainability is increasingly embedded into those same everyday workflows, from minimizing errors and purchasing from sustainable sources to helping customers choose materials and substrates that support their own goals.

Looking ahead, Ade wants F.E. Burman to keep combining craft and technology, while exploring opportunities such as creative packaging and developing the skilled people needed to carry the craft forward.

During the conversation, Ade describes Dscoop as “not just a technology show” but “a people show,” where smart, interesting print leaders share problems and solutions even when they compete in the marketplace. “We help each other solve our problems." For him, those relationships become resources that extend beyond an event — people he can call when a customer need crosses borders or capabilities.

During his career, Ade has experienced enough change to know that production leadership involves more than mastering equipment or workflows. He talks about being receptive to criticism, asking questions, welcoming questions in return, and being a team player. He has also learned that adapting a business requires bringing its people through the change with you.

Ade and his teammates have helped F.E. Burman establish and extend a stellar reputation for producing lots of beautiful work efficiently.