If you want a calm voice in a noisy economy, go hear Marco Boer at Edge Long Beach May 14-17.
The vice president of IT Strategies, Marco comes to Edge this year with an encouraging message — not rooted in hype, but in grounded, practical perspective: “Everything is changing all the time,” he says. “We’re dealing with trade imbalances, labor shortages, tariffs, higher interest rates, shrinking run lengths — the list goes on. But we can’t chase every piece of chaos. What we can do is focus on the things we do know.”
What we know: Small runs are the new big opportunity.
One of Marco's biggest messages for Edge attendees is that smart printers are seeing growth in short-run, high-value segments — even if their total volume is down. “I’ve seen printers grow revenue by 40% even while their volumes dropped 30% — all because they shifted to shorter-run, more versioned digital work," he says in this interview with Deborah Corn.
Marco points to examples like flexible packaging, direct mail, wide-format signage and promotional items. Many of the shops seeing success aren’t just expanding capacity. They’re shifting their mix, serving new types of customers, and using digital inkjet to unlock higher-margin, high-ROI print.
What we know: Bottlenecks beat speed.
When print businesses invest in automation, most focus on hardware speed. Marco says that’s the wrong place to start. “Your bottleneck is probably not the press. It’s prepress. It’s finishing. It’s job onboarding and approvals.”
He encourages attendees to walk into his session ready to identify the real friction in their workflow: Where are your jobs getting stuck? Where are your people burning time?
“You don’t have to overhaul everything at once,” he says. “Just take the next smart step. One bottleneck at a time.”
What we know: Serving small businesses is a big win.
One of Marco's most optimistic insights? The demand for short-run, customized print is coming from startups and small businesses — and once they find a print partner who gets them, they stick around. “You may start by printing their pouches or cards,” he says, “but before long you’re doing signage, loyalty mail, event kits — everything.”
Come hear Marco Boer live at Edge Long Beach.
His session in the OPTIMIZE track https://events.dscoop.com/longbeach/sessionsbytrack, "Transforming Digital Print: Identifying Growth Opportunities and Strategic Investment," will unpack:
- Why print is shifting from commodity to luxury
- How to refocus your team around high-ROI work
- Where digital print is gaining ground fast
- What small businesses need most — and how to serve them
“I hope people leave with one new idea to try, one question to ask, and the motivation to keep adapting.”
