From 11 to 13 November 2019, the first Think Smart Factory event was took place in Kyoto, Japan. The target group of the international event are future-oriented print service providers who want to fully automate their processes.

TSF19 was initiated by a consortium of leading Japanese manufacturers who want to promote the Smart Factory concept in the printing industry. The consortium includes Canon, Fujifilm, goof, Horizon, HP, JSpirits, Konica Minolta, Resologic, Ricoh, Screen and Value Machine. The event is organized by Horizon International Inc. at the Miyako Messe in Kyoto.

Smart Factory concept.

The “Internet of Things” (IoT) is spread throughout our lives with many things being networked together. The printing industry is no exception and the IoT is playing an important role in day-to-day business. The printing industry is looking for solutions that not only save labor through automation, but also connect individual systems to form networks.

At IGAS 2018, Japan’s leading trade fair for the printing industry, nine market-leading companies gathered for the first time in a Smart Factory Zone at the Horizon booth. Industry innovators shared their knowledge in keynotes and presentations with the visitors and received good feedback. This successful concept led to the idea of setting up Think Smart Factory 2019 in Kyoto as a separate event for integrated print production to promote the future success of the printing industry. In addition to the TSF19 consortium, the event is also supported by innovative users.