Burns joins Agfa as sales manager for inkjet

Agfa Graphics has appointed Phillip Burns as the new sales manager for its Australian inkjet business, with a focus on growth outside traditional users as new technology comes on stream. 

Burns is well known around the industry, he has spent 25 years in print, the last 15 years in wide format print with HP (Scitex) and Fujifilm. He will be taking on the role of championing the Agfa large format digital printers across Australia, building on the growth of their inkjet presence and informing the industry of new digital platforms, and he will educate users on how to utilise the capacity for maximum return.

Burns said: “I am excited to be joining Agfa and getting back on the road in an industry that inspires me every day through its applications and technology. This role comes at an important time in everyone’s lives as we start to emerge out of lockdown and the restrictions brought by Covid.

"This role will allow me to learn more about emerging technology and applications and help Australian printers appreciate how the capabilities of digital print can improve their speed to market and reduce their costs. It will give me an opportunity to work side by side with many long-term partners and have an opportunity to introduce digital print to many more potential users.”

Burns will begin work at Agfa on Monday, and will support all users across Australia from the Melbourne head office based in Scoresby, VIC.

Rashed Chughtai, service manager ASPAC at Agfa said: “His vast industry knowledge will be enormous value to Agfa customers."

For the past 15 years, Burns has focused on business development with two of the leading large format hardware suppliers and brings this experience and knowledge to the new role. With 25 years industry experience having real hands-on experience and knowledge, he has seen many changes through the industry from his early days as a user of electrostatic printing for wide format print, through the adoption of inkjet and the shift it has brought to the industry. He brings with him this knowledge as a business owner, having started his own dye sublimation print company in the late 90’s and was an early adopter of the emerging digital print technology.

He has worked with many of Australia’s users of digital print hardware from some of the smallest printers to the largest, and helped move applications from traditional analogue production to full digital output. He has worked on developing new ideas for emerging markets such as corrugated packaging, building materials and new applications for digital textiles.