Only a handful of clicks, including data verification and a 3D preview even before the order is placed. Printing can be this easy – at least if Printkit has its way. For its approach to making online printing customer-centric and thus even more intuitive, the online printing startup from Berlin received the IOP Award for Most Innovative Online Printer of the Year at this year’s Druck&Medien Awards.
Printkit UG was founded in April 2020 as a spin-off of the software company Breakpoint One and has set itself the task of rethinking the ordering process in online printing by making it completely intuitive. “We have implemented numerous software projects in the printing industry in the past,” recalls Olaf Sacher about Printkit’s beginnings. “This experience, together with our background in data and product visualization, ultimately led to the idea for a new, user-centric approach to online printing.”
The resulting online print platform, Printkit, makes process steps that were previously often calculated separately the standard and offers real-time 3D visualization for all products.
This is said to enable real-time, quasi-photorealistic visualization of paper, folding and finishing, as well as all other details of the job. In addition, Printkit offers the possibility to share, discuss and coordinate a created order with others. And thanks to the integrated real-time data check, any errors and problems can be corrected even before the actual order is placed.
All of this convinced the Druck&Medien Awards jury: “The company has linked its online print portal with a 3D visualization of the print product. We judged this entry or approach, which is already being practiced in the apparel sector, for example, to be innovative for print,” they said in their statement.
“We warmly congratulate the Printkit team on winning the award for Most Innovative Online Printer of the Year and are delighted that the e-commerce concept is thus being taken further into the printing industry. With its solution, Printkit proves that the ‘keep it simple’ approach can also be successfully implemented in the print industry,” says Bernd Zipper, Chairman of Initiative Online Print.
And the people behind Printkit are also proud to have been honored with the IOP Award at the Druck&Medien Awards 2021: “For us, the award came as a total surprise! We haven’t really digested it yet. The award is a huge confirmation of the work we have done in recent years and shows that we are on the right track with our approach. It means an immense amount to us and also gives us new motivation to implement the many ideas we still have in the pipeline,” explains Printkit Managing Director, Olaf Sacher.
Incidentally, print service providers can also use Printkit’s Digital Twin solution and real-time data check via a licensing model.
The Druck&Medien Awards, which were held for the 17th time this year, are among the most important awards in the German printing industry. They honor companies in the printing industry in 25 different categories, ranging from the best sales team and environmentally oriented companies to the print shop manager of the year. Every year, the Initiative Online Print (IOP) presents the award for the Most Innovative Online Printer of the Year as part of the Druck&Medien Awards. The IOP currently has 42 member companies. In addition to Bernd Zipper, the board also includes Thomas Masselink and Wilhelm A. Soll.
