Postmark 1170 Printer Development
The Postmark 1170 is an industrial single pass printing system developed in partnership with HP using the FI-1000 print engine
Prototype and Proof of Concept
Postmark was approached by HP Specialty Print Systems in late 2018 with an opportunity to develop a new industrial print engine for commercial and specialty printing. Under my technical direction, we decided to pursue this opportunity and develop this new technology as it was a direct competitor with one of our other printheads.
After receiving a development kit in early 2019, I headed up prototype and proof of concept development for a new modular print system.
The prototype was completed in June of 2019, 3 months after receiving the development kit from HP. I was then tasked with creating a promotional video for the product to get a feel for interest on the product.
(video edited in Premier pro)
Pre-Production and Tradeshow Campaign
The video campaign was quite successful and sparked a lot of interest in the product. After launching the video, work was shifted to developing a pre-production model for the product. The design of the system was modified so that the printhead assembly could be modular and mounted onto other types of conveyors and material handling systems.
The product was broken up into 4 different models - Standalone, Turnkey, Conveyor Printer, and All Purpose with a custom feeder and conveyor system designed for this product.
(renderings created in Keyshot)
The printhead included an 11 inch touchscreen running a custom linux software which I wrote using QT creator. This software communicated with the HP print engine via a RESTful API as well as controlled conveyor and height adjustment systems through an RS-232 interface controlled via microcontroller. I also developed a stand alone windows printer driver for the printer which put postmark apart from other developers of this print module.
After a world tour at various tradeshows and events in late 2019, the pre-production units were finalized and installed at a handful of test sites for product evaluation.
Tradeshow Promotional Videos
After a successful tradeshow campaign, focus shifted to developing the production model of the printer. The production model was designed so that on hand inventory could remain relatively low which allowed us to be flexible. Unforntatly, the timing of our launch happened to coincide with California going into lockdown for Covid-19 in March of 2020.
Our original buisness model was to require onsite technical training for dealers and integrators which we had to quickly rethink. I was able to come up with a solution that allowed us to pivot to remote installation via the creation of an online knowledge base filled with articles and videos on using the product. In the first year of launch, Postmark was able to sell and deliver over 100 units all installed remotely (approximately $2 Million in sales).
Postmark AP1170 Product Promo Video
After a successful worldwide launch, product development was nearing completion which coincided with a planned change of scenery for my family. In May of 2021, I stepped down as Technical Director and moved from San Luis Obispo, CA to my new home of Seattle. In late 2021, Postmark was sold to Martin Yale Industries who continues to manufacture and develop the Postmark 1170 line of printers in Wabash, Indiana.
I am currently a part time technical consultant for Martin Yale and continue to develop software for the 1170 printer.