Beyond the Machine: Building Smarter, More Profitable Personalization Workflows
In personalization, it’s easy to focus on the equipment – the speed of the printer, laser, embroidery machine, or production system. But as businesses grow, the biggest opportunities for improvement are often found in everything happening around the machine.
In this session, we’ll take a practical look at workflow optimization for personalization businesses. Using real-world examples, we’ll explore how process mapping can uncover hidden bottlenecks and unnecessary manual touches, and how a simple framework of eliminating, combining, standardizing, and automating steps can transform a workflow. We’ll also examine where tools such as AI, automation, templates, fixtures, and workflow technology can make the greatest impact.
Attendees will leave with a practical method for evaluating their own operations, improving productivity and profitability, and making smarter decisions about where to invest their time, technology, and capital.
Learning Objectives
After attending this session, participants will be able to:
- Map and evaluate a personalization workflow to identify bottlenecks, unnecessary manual touches, and hidden sources of wasted time.
- Apply a practical optimization framework—eliminate, combine, standardize, and automate—to improve workflows, from simple process changes to the use of AI and automation.
- Use workflow and constraint analysis to make better operational and equipment decisions, focusing resources and investments where they can have the greatest impact on productivity, scalability, and profitability.
Speaker:
Lon Riley, Founder and CEO of the DPI Laboratory and Catalyst Printers
Lon Riley is the Founder and CEO of DPI Laboratory and the architect behind the Catalyst® Printing Platform, an integrated UV printing ecosystem engineered for speed, uptime, and scalable production. With more than 30 years in digital printing, engineering, and workflow optimization, Riley applies systems thinking and design thinking to modern UV manufacturing. Through Catalyst Printers, including the Nanos, Aventra, and Nexus platforms, Riley develops comprehensive production environments that unify hardware, bulk ink systems, color management, coatings, and software into reliable, growth-ready solutions for modern businesses. Riley contributes to industry discussions on UV system architecture and workflow design, drawing from hands-on experience in building and optimizing production environments.
Speaker Email: [email protected]