Articles By Pat McGrew

Pat is a well-known evangelist for inkjet productivity. At McGrew Group, she uses her decades technical and marketing experience to lead the industry toward optimized business processes and production workflows. She has helped companies to define their five-year plans, audited workflow processes, and developed sales team interventions and education programs. Pat is the Co-Author of 8 industry books, editor of A Guide to the Electronic Document Body of Knowledge, and a regular contributor to Inkjet Insight and WhatTheyThink.com.

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Featured image for “Design or Composition: What Creates Your Files?”
December 2, 2020

Design or Composition: What Creates Your Files?

You can’t tell your customers how to create their files, but if you can find out what tools were used to create them you can evaluate the files to ensure that they will print as expected.
Featured image for “To G7 or Not to G7”
November 18, 2020

To G7 or Not to G7

Pat McGrew asks Whether ‘tis noble in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of qualitative color perception, or, to take arms against the sea of G7 Masters
Featured image for “Welcome to the Greatest Virtual Show on Earth!”
October 20, 2020

Welcome to the Greatest Virtual Show on Earth!

Virtual conferences should be curated with dedication to building the best mix of information for the target audience. Virtual event offerings continue to multiply so organizers should be mindful of how much time they ask for and what is being delivered in return.
Featured image for “Ganging & Nesting – The Efficiency Puzzle!”
October 7, 2020

Ganging & Nesting – The Efficiency Puzzle!

Grouping and nesting jobs can drive tremendous efficiencies in an inkjet environment. Pat McGrew explains best practices and where to look for solutions.
Featured image for “FuturePrint October Edition: 5 Days of Education”
September 24, 2020

FuturePrint October Edition: 5 Days of Education

Building on the success for the first FuturePrint Virtual Summit, October brings five more days of topic-specific education that every printer will want to review. Just about every topic in print gets a look during the week, with deep dives into the traditional printing arts and the emerging printing sciences.
Featured image for “The Good, The Bad, The Beautiful & The Ugly: 
Living Through Virtual Conferences”
September 10, 2020

The Good, The Bad, The Beautiful & The Ugly: 
Living Through Virtual Conferences

Without knowing if we would all be starting to go back to work or suffering online fatigue, organizers had to devise plans to keep everyone engaged while meeting their conference brief.
Featured image for “Turbocharging your Workflow for Inkjet Printing”
September 2, 2020

Turbocharging your Workflow for Inkjet Printing

While the hardware that informs inkjet printing is essential, the workflow software that supports the hardware is an equal partner.
Featured image for “No Automation? Rules for Managing Manual Workflows”
July 29, 2020

No Automation? Rules for Managing Manual Workflows

If end-to-end automation is not for you at this time, what can you do to optimize your efficiency? You can still look at the path of work through your shop and make a note of each stop it makes.
Featured image for “Software Essentials for Inkjet Printing!”
July 7, 2020

Software Essentials for Inkjet Printing!

Consider that that every business has at least two workflow environments: a business workflow and a production workflow. In both types, there can be a distinct advantage to automation, especially in fast-paced inkjet printing environments. But, automation can mean many different things, so here is a quick guide to looking at automation for your environment.
Featured image for “What’s in YOUR Dashboard?”
June 18, 2020

What’s in YOUR Dashboard?

Dashboards can be an amazing productivity aid, or they can be a distraction. Consider your team, your working environment, and what information will help the team be as efficient as possible.
Featured image for “What is a Dashboard and Do You Need One?”
May 26, 2020

What is a Dashboard and Do You Need One?

Dashboards are helpful for everyone in an organization from team members on the shop floor to the C-suite. Pat McGrew sets the stage for what questions you should ask yourself when considering a dashboard for your inkjet organization.
Featured image for “Working with Virtual Support When Everything is on Lockdown”
April 22, 2020

Working with Virtual Support When Everything is on Lockdown

When that reliable, friendly face is no longer sitting in their office on your site, can’t travel, or is less available on the phone, what options do you have for getting the support you need? Ask your vendors about virtual support! It takes many forms. You may already be using some form of it, but make sure you are taking advantage of every option. 
Featured image for “Evaluating Inkjet Prototypes – Past and Present”
February 20, 2020

Evaluating Inkjet Prototypes – Past and Present

Pat McGrew provides a few guidelines for how to evaluate the non-products you encounter at drupa, other tradeshows, or at private events. She also suggests that you evaluate the promise of the future in the context of past demonstrations and announcements in our industry.
Featured image for “More to Ask for in Your Inkjet Digital Front End”
February 6, 2020

More to Ask for in Your Inkjet Digital Front End

If you run light production equipment, you may not have given much thought to the Digital Front End of your printing device. There is no industry standard for what a DFE should encompass, or even a widely agreed set of guidelines. And, while you may have a choice of features and even vendors for the DFE, there hasn’t been much discussion of what should come next. What should you be asking for and when should you expect it?
Featured image for “What to Ask for in your Inkjet Digital Front End”
January 23, 2020

What to Ask for in your Inkjet Digital Front End

There is no industry standard for what should be included in a digital front end, and there is no universal template that guides how much control the inkjet DFE should expose to an operator to permit changes in how a job will be processed. As we enter the 2020s, this is something that should change. It’s time for the buyers of inkjet presses to identify their expectations, list the features that make a difference to their operation, and categorize the challenges they may have with their current DFE.
Featured image for “Can Offset & Inkjet Finishing Live in Harmony?”
January 8, 2020

Can Offset & Inkjet Finishing Live in Harmony?

Pat McGrew with happy new year news on possible compatibility of finishing options across printing processes. Consider the finishing options that can add value in your inkjet environment.
Featured image for “drupa 2016 to 2020: the Inkjet Journey”
November 21, 2019

drupa 2016 to 2020: the Inkjet Journey

Pat McGrew delivers the 3rd in her drupa series looking at some of the key announcement from 2016 and who has delivered – and who has not.
Featured image for “Drupa 2020, What to Look For-Part 2”
November 5, 2019

Drupa 2020, What to Look For-Part 2

Join Pat McGrew for Part 2 of “What to Look for at drupa 2020” and the questions to ask once you find it! Pat drills down with a great primer on inkjet tire-kicking that will make you think about requirements.
Featured image for “drupa 2020: What to Look For”
October 24, 2019

drupa 2020: What to Look For

drupa 2020 is on the horizon. What should you expect? What should you look for? Pat McGrew has some thoughts on innovation, trade shows and the questions to ask when you get to Dusseldorf.
Featured image for “The Big Push: Experiments to Try with your Inkjet Press – Part 3”
October 9, 2019

The Big Push: Experiments to Try with your Inkjet Press – Part 3

If you own an Inkjet press, part of your on-going process should include some experimentation. Experimentation with different substrates, different ink settings, and different profiles help the production team understand the opportunities your press enables. This episode covers experiments with speed and drying.

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