Solimar CAC & User Group at Wolverine: Innovation and Inspiration in Detroit

When the Solimar Customer Advisory Council (CAC) members gather, it’s never just a meeting; it’s a masterclass in how innovation, collaboration, and customer experience come together to shape the next chapter of print and digital delivery. This month’s CAC unfolded at Wolverine Solutions Group in Detroit and delivered exactly that.

Wolverine, a long-time Solimar customer and powerhouse in business-critical communications, opened its doors for an in-person meeting and factory tour. With a facility humming with high-speed inkjet webs, sophisticated inserting systems, and airtight compliance operations, attendees saw firsthand how Solimar’s Chemistry Platform integrates seamlessly across print and e-delivery workflows to drive resilience and efficiency.

A Community of Doers, Thinkers, and Innovators

The CAC brought together an energetic mix of customers, partners, and Solimar experts, including Wolverine’s Bob White, Larry Lebert, and Darryl English, our hosts, and the RISO team led by Maggie Curry, Allen Filson from SCREEN Americas, Ken Payne from Konica Minolta, Hansen Longfellow from Hansen360, and Mike Bogad, a new partner Digitalized Software. The Solimar team was also in attendance, with John Flynn, Kathy Yaconis, and Kendra Poszywak joining Mary Ann Rowan to explore both tactical and strategic challenges facing the print and mail industry. From postal changes to data privacy legislation, every topic was approached through the lens of opportunity.

Opening with market context and a dose of reality, Pat McGrew from McGrewGroup led with postal and privacy updates, labor challenges, and compliance pressures that are still shaping our world. Also on the agenda were dives into automation, analytics, and smarter workflow design. Solimar’s message is clear: when automation and visibility converge, every print operation can move faster, stay compliant, and remain profitable.

Technology in Motion: The Wolverine Tour

There’s something special about seeing technology in action. Wolverine’s guided tour showcased their core automation stack, featuring high-speed inkjets from SCREEN and Konica Minolta, BlueCrest inserters, and fully integrated Solimar workflows handling everything from file onboarding to postal optimization. The tour made it clear how jobs flow through Rubika and SOLfusion with dashboards tracking every original mail piece and automated reprints triggered without manual intervention. This was a living demonstration of what “digital retrofit” really means: using Solimar’s platform to modernize legacy systems, connect disparate workflows, and ensure output integrity across multiple locations.

Partner Power and Customer Wins

Partner updates from Hansen360, SCREEN Americas, Konica Minolta, and RISO rounded out the agenda, each showing how collaboration accelerates customer value. Hansen360 shared a case where a utility print client cut turnaround time from hours to minutes using ReadyPDF and Rubika automation, achieving ROI in just six weeks.

SCREEN Americas highlighted the synergy between the EQUIOS workflow and Solimar’s ReadyPDF optimization, ensuring repeatable, color-managed output across their Truepress inkjet platforms. Konica Minolta showcased integrated book and variable subset workflows, underlining that efficiency isn’t just about speed, but also control and consistency.

RISO brought the “Easy Button” energy with high-speed color inkjet solutions perfectly matched to Solimar automation for distributed print.

Solimar’s Focus: Resilience, Readiness, and Results

The Solimar technology update brought the house down. From the latest ReadyPDF v9.4 enhancements, including font handling, rasterization options, and new compression controls, to Rubika 4.5’s dynamic messaging and address cleansing integrations, it’s clear that the Chemistry platform is not standing still.

The preview of Solimar’s new Azure-based architecture drew serious interest. Elastic scalability, secure API gateways, and multi-tenant options point to a future where Solimar’s Chemistry Platform becomes even more potent for enterprise and service-provider clients managing hybrid on-prem/cloud environments.

And yes—Zero-Trust environments retook center stage, a reminder that compliance isn’t optional and that Solimar’s obfuscation and redaction tools are mission-critical for safe testing and data privacy management.

A Culture of Collaboration

Beyond the tech, the CAC meeting reminded everyone why this community matters. Every discussion, from disaster recovery self-assessments to postal promo strategy, reinforced Solimar’s unique blend of deep technical knowledge and genuine partnership. The closing dinner at BESA Detroit capped two days of conversation and connection that will fuel innovation well into 2026.

Every CAC since the early days demonstrates that Solimar’s real power isn’t just in its software. It’s in the people: engineers who listen, customers who innovate, and partners who bring new perspectives to the table. Detroit 2025 proved once again that the future of print automation is collaborative, data-driven, and decidedly bright.