RISO Brings the AFP Consortium to Lyon: A Conversation with Franz Castel
This month, the AFP Consortium gathered in beautiful Lyon, France, for its annual Fall Meeting—hosted by RISO. It was the perfect occasion to take a closer look at RISO’s role in the Consortium and the company’s perspective on the future of presentation architecture.
We sat down with Consortium Member Franz Castel, Support & Solutions Development Manager at RISO France, to discuss RISO’s journey, the value of collaboration within the Consortium, and how AFP continues to evolve.
Q: Why did you become a member of the AFP Consortium?
A: As a manufacturer of cut sheet inkjet high-speed printers, RISO became a new player in transactional printing in 2010. The RISO FRANCE subsidiary pioneered this effort and launched the development of an IPDS controller to provide customers the professional tools they needed. RISO joined the AFP Consortium to learn, discuss, and participate in the evolution of AFP and IPDS with the other members.
Q: What are 2-3 of your key takeaways from your participation thus far?
A: When you’re a newbie on the topic, AFP/IPDS can be a little bit frightening. But the AFP Consortium is a good way to learn and understand that AFP/IPDS is not so terrifying. The Consortium is constantly assessing new printing standards and is working to integrate all of these new developments. And maybe the most important: the AFP Consortium is a real community. During the meetings, we all share our experiences in order to move AFP forward—together.
Q: How does your participation benefit your company, the Consortium, and AFP users?
A: By participating in the AFP Consortium, RISO has acquired more knowledge, not only in AFP or IPDS, but also in the industrial production printing environment.
Q: What advice would you give to those considering pursuing a membership?
A: Do it! The AFP Consortium is a great opportunity to meet experts and share ideas.
Q: What do you consider the biggest opportunity for AFP technology?
A: AFP is the only technology providing security and integrity in printing.
Q: What is the biggest challenge, and how is the Consortium working to address it?
A: We are challenged to adapt AFP rules to new standards.
Q: How do you see AFP evolving in the next 5 years? 10 years?
A: AFP can be seen as complex for people who have never used it. In reality, it’s easy to understand because it’s very logical and well structured. AFP could become a new standard to simplify printing.
We sat down with Consortium Member Franz Castel, Support & Solutions Development Manager at RISO France, to discuss RISO’s journey, the value of collaboration within the Consortium, and how AFP continues to evolve.
Q: Why did you become a member of the AFP Consortium?
A: As a manufacturer of cut sheet inkjet high-speed printers, RISO became a new player in transactional printing in 2010. The RISO FRANCE subsidiary pioneered this effort and launched the development of an IPDS controller to provide customers the professional tools they needed. RISO joined the AFP Consortium to learn, discuss, and participate in the evolution of AFP and IPDS with the other members.
Q: What are 2-3 of your key takeaways from your participation thus far?
A: When you’re a newbie on the topic, AFP/IPDS can be a little bit frightening. But the AFP Consortium is a good way to learn and understand that AFP/IPDS is not so terrifying. The Consortium is constantly assessing new printing standards and is working to integrate all of these new developments. And maybe the most important: the AFP Consortium is a real community. During the meetings, we all share our experiences in order to move AFP forward—together.
Q: How does your participation benefit your company, the Consortium, and AFP users?
A: By participating in the AFP Consortium, RISO has acquired more knowledge, not only in AFP or IPDS, but also in the industrial production printing environment.
Q: What advice would you give to those considering pursuing a membership?
A: Do it! The AFP Consortium is a great opportunity to meet experts and share ideas.
Q: What do you consider the biggest opportunity for AFP technology?
A: AFP is the only technology providing security and integrity in printing.
Q: What is the biggest challenge, and how is the Consortium working to address it?
A: We are challenged to adapt AFP rules to new standards.
Q: How do you see AFP evolving in the next 5 years? 10 years?
A: AFP can be seen as complex for people who have never used it. In reality, it’s easy to understand because it’s very logical and well structured. AFP could become a new standard to simplify printing.
