Full article on WhatTheyThink.com - :
"Coming Up Fast: The R+E Council of the NAPL's Digital Smart Factory Forum
January 8, 2007 - (Special to WTT.com) -- The Digital Smart Factory Forum is a unique event that takes places annually, and addresses key issues facing printing companies in our fast-moving industry. It's a small conference with an interactive format, directly targeted at Owners, CEOs, Chief Technology Officers, IT Managers, Engineers, Production Managers and technically-oriented Sales Managers. Don't be mislead by the name, the "Digital" part of the Smart Factory name means computers and integration, it's not only about digital printing; the Forum covers all aspects of printing technologies, and computer application topics, whether you are printing gravure, sheetfed offset, web offset, flexo or digital.
The Forum is a place where attendees learn how to apply technologies to maximize the performance of print manufacturing operations. But the conference isn't about "speeds and feeds", it's about the integration of customer-facing systems, business systems, and manufacturing systems into a cohesive unit whose whole is more than the sum of its parts. And the most important part about the conference is the networking that takes place between attendees.
Chuck Gehman is the conference co-chair, along with Tim Daisy of Kodak. Chuck has led the conference for the last four years, and this year is his "retirement" year (although he will continue to play an active with the R+E, NAPL and the conference.) Below is a Q&A with Chuck, who explains the Forum and why forward-looking industry leaders should attend.
January 16-18, 2007
Hyatt Regency Orlando Airport
Orlando, FL
Question: What is the Digital Smart Factory Forum?
Gehman: To me, it's amazing that the Forum is now eight years old. Time flies when you're having fun! The topics have never been more important, though; the important thing is that what once were relatively far-out concepts discussed at this conference, have now become practical, applicable ideas and techniques.
Process improvement methodologies and technologies, like CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing), Web-To-Print, Workflow and PrintMIS, the main topics of the Forum, are only becoming more important to printing companies. The conference is more like a cross-vendor user group meeting with a defined agenda, rather than a bunch of sessions where speakers get up on a podium and speak to the audience. It's very interactive.
The purpose of the conference is to help printers understand how to apply these technologies, and to help vendors understand what their printer customers are looking for in these areas."
