Tankeshwar Kumar, the vice-chancellor and Sunil Kumar, the registrar of the university, complimented the faculty members and students on the seminar, for tackling such an important topic. After which P Chander, the president of AIFMP and the chief guest of the seminar, highlighted the relevance of organising such a conference to assist academia and the Indian print industry. 

Chander discussed the future of printing and packaging, focusing on technology, application, and innovation in a variety of domains. Phool Singh, the dean and head of department, enlightened the delegates by talking about new technologies that will complement the printing and packaging business in the next few years and provide a viable career path for the department's students.

Anjan Kumar Baral, the seminar’s technical speaker, delivered a two-hour session about the power of print in the digital age. Baral emphasised how print is unique in that it is analogue, tactile, and physical, and how, even though there was popular perception the digital era would kill print, it battled back to become more creative, original, and vital than ever. “We prefer to touch, taste, smell, and feel things, and print does them all,” he said, adding that combining print and digital together is the key to print's current growth and progress.

He said, “We as an industry should be more confident in the future for physical print and the growth opportunities for paper packaging.”

Hitender Kumar, the manager, South East Asia (ESID), Eastman Kodak, conducted a two-hour workshop. He put the spotlight on innumerable technologies that qualify as digital printing processes, with a focus on electrophotography and inkjet systems. He went on to explain how current digital print technology is influencing the fastest expanding industry, packaging. He emphasised how mass versioning and customisation have taken the lead in packaging applications.

The print market is moving to an “increasingly digital future,” according to the latest Smithers industry report. Hitender Kumar said, “There is an increasing cost efficiency curve whereby digital presses can reach higher volume jobs.” 

He highlighted how digital’s faster turnaround, low-cost customisation, and better cost profiles on short runs have made it attractive in the advertising and commercial print sectors.

The seminar was a success as students and the delegates gained knowledge and had an insight into the future of print.

PrintWeek and WhatPackaging? magazines were the media partners for the seminar.