CIP4 Board of Directors

Chief Executive Officer

Henny van Esch
President
Optimus Group Ltd.
Modemweg 37
3821 BS Amersfoort
Netherlands
Phone: +31 6 53346313
Email: h.van.esch@optimus2020.com, ceo@cip4.org

Biography:
Henny van Esch has been involved with the printing industry a very long time. Initially working as an estimator / CSR he became involved with Print Management Information Systems (MIS) in 1984 when he started work on the design of an internal MIS system (written in Cobol!) for a printing company in Holland. This application evolved into a commercially available print MIS system for the Dutch market. From that point on, working for companies like Philips and Digital Equipment Corporation, he has been involved in the design, support and sales of a number of different Print MIS systems in different countries in different roles.
In his current position as co-owner and director of Optimus Group Ltd, of one of the few truly world-wide active MIS vendors, he has experience with management of organizations and experience and knowledge of the print MIS requirements from all over the world. This experience he has brought into CIP4 organization and the Advisory Board and hopes to continue to do so in future.


Technical Officer

Rainer Prosi
Senior Workflow Architect
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG
Research & Development
Dr.-Hell-Straße
24107 Kiel
Germany
Phone: +49 431 3864620
Email: Rainer.Prosi@heidelberg.com, technical_officer@cip4.org

Biography:
Dr. Rainer Prosi is a high-energy particle physicist turned workflow architect working with Heidelberg since 1998 as a Senior Workflow Architect. He received his Ph.D. in physics from the University of Kiel, Germany in 1992. He worked at the particle physics laboratories CERN and DESY where he evaluated the debris of colliding protons, electrons and positrons in the UA1 and H1 experiments. He has been involved with the Job Definition Format (JDF) project from its early phases in 1999 and is one of the primary authors of the JDF specification and the Interoperability Conformance Specifications (ICS) that are related to JDF. Prior to his work on JDF, he worked on variable data workflow and PDF optimization. He is currently working on a number of workflow and JDF related projects within Heidelberg. He is also the Chief Technical Officer of CIP4 where he is coordinating the technical development efforts related to JDF, PrintTalk and the ICS documents.


Education & Marketing Officer

Thomas Hoffman-Walbeck
Haugstr. 24
70563 Stuttgart
Germany
Phone: +49 1795231133
EMail: marketing-officer@cip4.org, hoffmann@hdm-stuttgart.de

Biography:
Prof. Dr. Thomas Hoffmann-Walbeck has been a Professor at the Hochschule der Medien in Stuttgart since 1998, where he specializes in applied computer science, prepress, CTP, workflow automation and integration. Thomas completed his Diploma in Mathematics at the Free University of Berlin 1982, then went on for his Ph.D. in Mathematics at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia. He has held positions at graphic arts manufacturers including Siemens, Linotype-Hell, and Heidelberg.
He has also served as Head of the German-Chinese Course of Studies in Printing Technology (B.S. and M.S. programs). He has also written several books on the subjects of CTP, JDF, and graphic arts standards, including “Workflow  Automation - Basic Concepts of Workflow Automation in the Graphic Industry”, which was published by Springer in 2022. Between 2008 and 2018 he organized an annual symposium about JDF Workflow at the Stuttgart Media University.


Treasurer & Financial Officer

Nick Benkovich
eProductivity Software
Phone: +1-858-847-8413
Email: Nick.Benkovich@epssw.com

Biography:
Nick Benkovich works with ePS to drive portfolio growth through organic and inorganic means and portfolio rationalization. Nick joined the ePS team in 2012, starting initially as a Product Manager focused on internal integrations between the various components of the wider portfolio. Currently as VP of Portfolio Product Management, I spend my days identifying solution gaps, market opportunities, and strategic investments while continuing to rationalize the portfolio. This includes defining and implementing standard processes for product lifecycle and writing business cases to find new markets.
Nick has taken personal ownership of some key internal initiatives, most recently in 2019, I was able to secure several million in net new business, proving a less than 1-year ROI for the investment and significant upside and new market growth opportunity. Previously, Nick was a the head of product management at Kodak Graphic Communications and Creo and serves as a Board Member of the CIP4 International Standards body.
Fun Fact about Nick. He was born in Sydney, Australia to an Australian mother and croatian father and has moved his family of 6 from Sydney to Vancouver, BC in 2002 before settling in San Diego in 2013 as part of joining the ePS team.


Membership Officer

Matthias Heinz
Senior Consultant
ctrl-s GmbH
Dornbirner Straße 11
70469 Stuttgart
Phone: +49-711-341900-27
Email: matthias.heinz@ctrl-s.de

Biography:

Matthias Heinz was born on May 19, 1984 in Stuttgart, Germany and grew up in a family that owned a printing company. His early experience in the printing industry inspired him to pursue a career in this field. After completing his training as a media designer at the former ctrl-s prepress GmbH in 2008, Matthias initially worked as a project manager and consultant at the same company before being promoted to senior consultant in 2016. Since 2015, he has also been a member of the management board of the company.

As a senior consultant at ctrl-s GmbH, Matthias Heinz has built a successful career by leveraging his extensive experience in project management and consulting to optimize processes in the printing industry and develop innovative solutions for his clients. He is particularly proud to work closely with industry organizations such as CIP-4 to drive the development of standards and processes in the industry.

Fun Fact about Matthias, his first dupa visit was when he was 2 years old.


CIP4 Advisory Board

Elected Representatives of the Members

Company Name E-Mail Membership Class
Adobe Incorporated Mr. Mike Scrutton mscrutto@adobe.com Partner
ECO3 BV Mr. Marc Schellekens marc.schellekens@eco3.com Partner
CloudLab Sales & Management GmbH Mr. Andreas Storms as@cloudlab.ag Partner
Dataline Holding NV Mr. Ron van Duin cip4@tnr.nl Partner
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG Mr. Bernhard Wagensommer Bernhard.Wagensommer@heidelberg.com Partner
HP Inc. Mr. Josep Abad Peiro abad@hp.com Partner
Ricoh Company, Ltd. Mr. Dennis Carney dennis.carney@ricoh-usa.com Partner
Xerox Mr. Joseph G Rouhana joseph.rouhana@xerox.com Partner
Optimus Group Ltd. Mr. Henny van Esch h.van.esch@optimus2020.com Full
Dalim Software GmbH Mr. Jacques Thiebauld jacques.thiebauld@dalim.com Full
Ultimate Technographics Inc. Mrs. Julie Watson julie@imposition.com Full
eProductivity Software Mr. Nick Benkovich Nick.Benkovich@epssw.com Full
University of Novi Sad Mr. Dr. Nemanja Kašikovic knemanja@uns.ac.rs Educational
ctrl-s GmbH Mr. Matthias Heinz matthias.heinz@ctrl-s.de Associate