A Day of Workflow Innovation and Insight at Johnson & Quin

Hosted by the innovative team at Johnson & Quin in their impressive Niles, Illinois, production print and mail facility, the latest Solimar Customer Advisory Council Meeting brought together industry leaders for an inspiring day of collaboration and discovery. The renowned direct mail solutions provider created the perfect environment for attendees to explore exciting workflow modernization and automation pathways, showcasing real-world print production advancements that are revolutionizing the industry.

Industry Updates & USPS

The day began with enthusiastic introductions at Johnson & Quin’s welcoming space, setting a collaborative tone for the knowledge-rich sessions ahead. Our industry updates. By Pat McGrew, McGrewGroup, sparked engaging conversations around evolving postal news and important privacy legislation. While we’re seeing a transition with a new Postmaster General, the valuable USPS promotions continue through year-end with promising indications they’ll evolve and continue next year, creating ongoing opportunities for innovative mailers.

Privacy Updates

The privacy legislation discussion highlighted important developments, including the Illinois Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA). Johnson & Quin’s forward-thinking CIO/CISO Manish Haria shared how they proactively addressed compliance by removing biometric logging solutions like handprint time clocks and fingerprint readers, demonstrating their commitment to both regulatory excellence and risk mitigation in this increasingly important area.

Johnson & Quin Behind the Scenes

Building on this foundation of industry insight, Manish and EVP Bob Arkema welcomed attendees to an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Johnson & Quin’s impressive operations. Their presentation brilliantly showcased how Solimar’s powerful Chemistry™ platform drives their production efficiencies, creating a seamless transition to Solimar’s CXO, Mary Ann Rowan’s comprehensive Solimar technology updates. Her energizing overview highlighted key platform enhancements and use cases within the Solimar Chemistry Platform, opening new possibilities for both current customers and prospects in attendance. Particularly exciting was Mary Ann’s exploration of how Solimar’s innovative suite of tools—including ReadyPDF, SOLfusion, and Rubika—are empowering organizations to achieve faster job onboarding, superior print and eDelivery output, and enhanced PDF optimization capabilities.

After enjoying a delightful lunch graciously hosted by Johnson & Quin, attendees were treated to an illuminating factory tour that brought the morning’s discussions to life. Seeing Solimar’s solutions powering their production SCREEN inkjet presses, workflow automation, and sophisticated mailing operations in real-time reinforced the day’s central theme: empowering print organizations to streamline workflows and reduce operational complexity while elevating quality and efficiency.

The collaborative spirit continued with insightful presentations from key partners Hansen Longfellow of Hansen360, Maggie Curry from RISO, and Pete Georges from SCREEN. Each brought valuable perspectives—from RISO’s cutting-edge cut-sheet inkjet innovations to SCREEN’s impressive production efficiencies to Hansen360’s customer-centric professional services—highlighting Solimar’s pivotal role at the center of an open, modular print ecosystem that drives success across the industry.

Tech Deep-dive

A true highlight came during Solimar Senior Technical Analyst Jillian Fischer’s captivating demonstrations of ReadyPDF and advanced optimization features. Attendees watched with enthusiasm as Jillian showcased powerful capabilities including font consolidation, image downsampling, color profile adjustments, intelligent batching, address cleansing and piece level tracking with dashboard visibility. These compelling use cases illustrate how even challenging PDF files can be transformed into production-ready assets with minimal intervention, opening new possibilities for efficiency and quality.

Outlook

As this productive day concluded with a dynamic discussion where attendees eagerly shared feedback and exchanged valuable best practices, the true power of the CAC became evident—it’s not simply a user group but a vibrant product development sounding board where innovative ideas flourish. Beyond providing updates on exciting software developments and integrations, the event reinforced how community collaboration drives meaningful innovation. Solimar’s collaborative approach and robust platform continue to illuminate the path to success for forward-thinking print and digital delivery operations looking to future-proof their workflows.

Attendees enjoyed a delicious Italian group dinner at Carlucci’s in Rosemont. It was truly a 5-Star restaurant, food and service, networking and overall great day!