The 2023 event, which is being held at the Wynn until tomorrow (26 January), has attracted more than 650 attendees and in the opening keynote speech, Matsliach paid tribute to its continued large, diversified attendance.

“When we became an independent global software technology company [on 31 December 2021], it was very important to us that we would establish Connect as more than just a user conference, but would be able to basically transform it to a kind of industry event.

“To have an event that is enriched by top industry ecosystem players that will join us at the event and provide a broader perspective and more value for all the attendees.”

The stacked roster of companies on the show floor this year includes HP, Ricoh, Agfa Offset, Canon, EFI, ISCorp, Esko, EFI Fiery, Hybrid Software, and OneVision.

Also; Picsart, Progress, Loyalty Loop, PlanProphet, Print Speak, Van Data, Flexible Packaging Association, Tag and Labels Manufacturers (TLMI), Printing United Alliance, UN Global Impact, and Print and Graphics Scholarship Foundation.

Matsliach added: “When we went our independent way, we thought it would be a great opportunity to basically revisit and crystallise to our teams, what is our raison d'etre, why are we here, and what is our purpose? And we wanted to do it in a way that is reflective of what the industry is doing at large, and the way that we participate in that.

“We strongly believe that all of us in this room together enable the creation of innovative communication and consumer experiences that drive a more engaging, colourful, and sustainable world. Multiple people and industries are participating in this vision, but there is no doubt in our mind that the print and packaging industry are playing a pivotal and central role in delivering this vision.”

Moving on to address the company’s highlights in 2022, Matsliach said: “We definitely drove good momentum, we’ve brought some good talent into our teams and actually extended our team in select areas, and I’m very hopeful that the people we’ve interacted with have been continuously collaborating, and hopefully with bigger smiles.

“A very important thing for us has been making sure that we continue to be laser focused on our customers, that we don’t miss a heartbeat, given the fact that we have so much work to do in terms of standing ourselves up as an independent company. But we made sure that the people that are in front of and serving customers would be buffered from all of that so they can continue to focus on you.”

Restating his aim from last year, when he said he would like ePS “to collaborate much better in the print and packaging ecosystem” and “play with all the different lead players in our industries [to] bring greater value to our customers”, Matsliach said the business had “worked hard on that in 2022”.

“We’ve accelerated investment in technology and cloud in select areas and we’re planning to make additional investments going into 2023, and we’re hopeful that you’re going to see that value in the progress as we continue along the year.

“We drove some good organic growth and we spoke about M&A activity that we would like to have, so we definitely built a good pipeline of inorganic M&A opportunities and I would expect as the year progresses to be able to share more results with you on that area.”

Matsliach said the company had put in a lot of work and investment “to really build our systems and processes almost from scratch as an independent company”, and thanked EFI for its help in assisting with the transition.

He also touched on the increasing number of “clouds” affecting businesses in recent years that have resulted in “quite a bit of unpredictability in our industry”, including supply chain challenges, labour shortages, the energy crisis, and high inflation.

Other highlights on the first day of Connect included keynote speeches from Printing United Alliance CEO Ford Bowers, talking to ePS executive chairman Marc Olin about the changing shape of the US print industry and its trade show landscape, and an evening keynote address from Alison Keane, president and CEO of the Flexible Packaging Association, who discussed how US packaging policy is driving technology and innovation.

Product news and further highlights from the event will follow later this week.