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IVE Group and Australian Community Media (ACM) have entered into a five-year $100m contract for IVE to print and distribute publications currently published and managed by ACM. IVE will also acquire ACM's Mandurah print plant, giving it its first print site in WA. Read more
Under-fire Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate has sensationally been told to step aside or be sacked, by prime minister Scott Morrison, as an investigation opens into the gift of $20,000 worth of luxury watches to four senior AusPost execs in 2018.
Some 750 printers around Australia took part in the first live-streamed Print2Parliament event, which moved online from its normal face-to-face event in Canberra due to Covid restrictions
Newspaper printing equipment from Australian Community Media’s Ballarat plant is being auctioned off, as the regional newspaper publisher closes the factory.
Press manufacturing giant Heidelberg is launching a suite of new products to create a digitised end-to-end solution aimed at the production of wet-glue labels, cut-and-stack labels, and also in-mould labels.
Koenig & Bauer Durst has unveiled updates for its Delta SPC 130 FlexLine Automatic corrugated production press, the system that provides industrial solutions for run lengths from one to millions.
Australia's biggest apparel direct-to-garment printer QTCo is having a stellar year, and has installed two more Kornit DTG printers to join its fleet of four existing models.
Printers around the country will soon be asked to nominate and vote for new board members for employers' group the Print & Visual Communications Association.
Konica Minolta is establishing a new direct operation in New Zealand. The operation will sell and support the company's production print, industrial print, and office printing equipment.
Innovative finishing equipment developer Horizon – supplied in ANZ by Currie Group – is opening its new 10,000sqm Innovation Park with a virtual Smart Factory exhibition, beginning next week.
Imaging giant Epson is making a bold play for new markets for itself and commercial printers, with the launch of a raft of new digital print solutions leveraging its technologies, and targeting opportunities in direct-to-garment, sign and display, and textiles.
One of Brisbane’s oldest and best-known printers, Clark & Mackay, has been bought by Ocean Reeve Publishing, Australia’s leading Assisted Independent Book Publisher, bringing a new chapter to the annals of the venerable 92-year-old business.
Bobst is launching oneInspection, which it says is an integrated and evolving set of quality-control solutions, making zero-fault packaging a reality in the labels, flexible packaging, folding carton, and corrugated board industries.
Fuji Xerox Australia is launching the Versant 3100i Press/Versant 180i Press, digital colour printers which come with new features, that the company says are more flexible, smarter and simpler, ensuring optimised productivity for ANZ print businesses.
EFI is launching two new printers for the high-end, high productivity soft signage market, which it claims will help display graphics producers reach new heights in productivity and extend their capabilities.
Xeikon will launch a new high-end seven-colour label press in its Panther portfolio: the PX30000; it says the press is to meet a need in the market and extend the company’s comprehensive offering, broadening the application reach.
Excel Australasia has installed a new Horizon perfect binder and three-knife trimmer – both supplied by Currie Group – to meet the demands of a major new contract win.
Industry response to the 2020 budget is mixed, with some hailing the measures as good for the print industry, others more cautious, and some lamenting what they said were missed opportunities.
Jamestrong Packaging Australia CEO Alex Commins says manufacturing is a key to recovery and growth and has welcomed announcements surrounding the future of manufacturing contained in the federal government's new Modern Manufacturing Strategy.
The national spend on outdoor media dropped by 56 per cent in the third quarter compared with the same period last year, but that was an improvement over Q2, which saw a plunge of two thirds from last year.
In the biggest business-boosting budget in Australia's history, federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg announced a $35bn programme designed to help beleaguered businesses, including printers, get back on their feet following the Covid pandemic, as part of a larger $98bn government stimulus.
The Covid budget means that all capital equipment in the printing industry is now discounted at either 27.5 per cent or 30 per cent in the year it is purchased, as treasurer Josh Frydenberg turbo-charged the instant asset write off, ditching the previous cap in favour of the full value of the equipment.
Backing its own product, outdoor media printer Cactus Imaging is running a large format advertising campaign for itself around Sydney, and it is seeing great results from the eye-catching billboards.
Digital print giants Ricoh and Canon are the latest big names to pull out of the rescheduled drupa, joining a growing list of major exhibitors saying nein to Düsseldorf in April.
Packaging producer, printer and recycler Visy achieved record growth in August, driven, it says, by consumers switching from plastic packaging to carton, aluminium, and glass.
The biggest print equipment deal of the year has just been signed, with online giant Amazon inking a contract for US$400m with digital direct to garment and textile inkjet print systems developer Kornit Digital.
Digital inkjet solutions developer Durst is acquiring US-based manufacturer Vanguard Digital Printing Systems, adding a new class of wide format printers to its portfolio, which will be coming to ANZ next year.
Pioneering digital enhancement solutions developer Scodix is launching what it says is the next generation of its Ultra Digital Enhancement Press Series, consisting of six presses, each targeted to a specific market segment, and all supplied in ANZ by Currie Group.
The nation’s biggest trade printer, CMYKhub, is seeing a spike in orders as Covid restrictions lift. From next week it will be adding additional shifts in its major factories, and returning to next-day delivery for some products.
What was to have been the largest exhibitor at next year’s rescheduled drupa, HP, has pulled out of the show, with Kodak also withdrawing, both citing ongoing Covid health and safety concerns.
The country’s biggest magazine publisher has been rebranded, Are Media is the new name for what was Bauer Media, with the company committing to print as part of its future investment and development.
A B Graphic International has expanded its range of modules for its Digicon Series 3 with the launch of its latest, newly branded, digital technology – DigiJet (JetFX), supplied in ANZ by Currie Group.
The new owner of Sunshine Coast printing operation trading as Express Print & Mail took a five-year lease on its new 1400sqm Kunda Park premises before the former business, that had previously owned the business and the same name, was put into liquidation with debts listed at $4m.
Following an article in Print 21 published 18 September, Wendy Chadwick has had a number of enquiries about a recent business restructure. She said: "To correct any misconceptions and fully inform those who know only part of the story", she has, "decided to issue this statement."
The print industry has a new name out in the field, with Southern Impact now the brand for what were Southern Colour, Intelligent Media, and Impact Digital, forming a powerhouse business operating under one brand.
Marketing, communications, and printing group IVE is launching ivolve, its expanded hygiene and personal protective equipment (PPE) offering, designed to help businesses return to the workplace safely.
AAB Holdings, the owner of print businesses Pegasus Print Group and SOS Print + Media, has gone to market in what will most likely be one of the industry’s largest digital print technology upgrades and expansions this year.
Small businesses with liabilities up to $1m will be able to trade on under new measures to be announced in the October budget, but industry leaders are wary of the proposed scheme.
Sydney based Glory Printing is seeing a significant upswing in its productivity, with the installation of a new Horizon BQ-270 perfect binding system, supplied by Currie Group.
The Mail Boxes Etc franchise network has reached a new milestone in its long-standing history in Australia, reaching 40 franchise locations with a new store opening in Port Macquarie, NSW.
The company that was formerly Sunshine Coast-based Express Print & Mail is in liquidation with debts of $4m, although the Express Print & Mail business, including the brand itself, was sold prior to liquidation, and is now trading from a new address in nearby Kunda Park.
Speaking at a live Q&A session this morning to printers around the world, innovative printing system developer Benny Landa says his nanographic technology will become mainstream and will produce multiple applications in every print field.
One of the major drawcards to drupa, Benny Landa, has reconfirmed his commitment to the rescheduled giant trade show, while Fujifilm has joined those withdrawing from the event.
The beleaguered Victoria economy is seeing its first significant reopening as the government seeks to kick start the $45bn regional economy, although Melbourne faces another six weeks of closure.
As the domestic newspaper printing industry rationalises, New Corp has released details of its new Vic print plant, revealing it has taken an initial 10-year lease on the 11,000sqm site in Truganina on the outskirts of Melbourne.
The on-off auction of wide format house Craftech is back on, with Liquid Asset Management hosting an online auction that will close in a week's time and includes two Arizona printers and three Zund cutters.
Print research analysts Smithers says there will be an increase in growth in global flexographic output through 2025, during a period of uncertainty and change.
The owner of Digitalpress, bsigroup, has appointed industry veteran Cameron Williams as general manager of the company, following the end of the handover period that saw founder Theo Pettaras leave the business.
German press manufacturer KBA is launching a new B2 sheetfed offset press, the Rapida 76, available in a multitude of straight, perfecting, commercial, packaging and special configurations, and targeting high-end print production in the medium size format.
Some 150 protestors across three UK print sites managed to block the distribution of millions of copies of daily printed newspapers from being distributed, prompting a chorus of anguish from everyone from the prime minster down.
The print industry and all other industries are in uproar over the roadmap out of lockdown presented by Victoria premier Daniel Andrews in his statement, variously claiming it is a road to nowhere, a document of despair, a kick in the guts, and saying he is destroying the Victorian economy, with what are some the world’s harshest lockdown measures.
The number of Australian businesses going into liquidation or administration is plummeting to way below normal levels, leading to fears over credit lines extended by printers to their customers.
One of the biggest publicly listed companies in Australia has thrown its weight behind local printing, by adopting the Proudly Printed in Australia logo for all its print collateral, and is using it on millions of print pieces hitting letterboxes this week.
Residents in 40 Adelaide suburbs will be the first in the country to suffer from national mail monopoly Australia Post axing its letter delivery schedule from daily to five times a fortnight.
Wide format print business Craftech is in voluntary administration, pulling the pin on a scheduled auction of its equipment which was to have taken place through Liquid Asset Management.
Toowoomba-based commercial printer Greenridge Press has installed a new HP Indigo 7900 Digital Press, supplied by Currie Group, which will replace the HP Indigo 3500 it has been running for the past seven years.
Industry identity Theo Pettaras has said goodbye to his innovative print business Digitalpress, having completed the six-month handover following the sale of the business to Bridgestone Holdings. Pettaras is now working as a business broker, and will remain secretary of the PVCA.
Industry association The Real Media Collective saw membership surge by 191 new businesses to 700 over the last 12 months, the numbers revealed in its newly released annual report.
Outdoor media giant oOh! Media has appointed industry veteran and current Nova Entertainment CEO Cathy O’Connor to succeed outgoing CEO and company founder Brendan Cook.
Heatset print giant Ovato suffered a $130m hit on its sales revenue in the 2019-2020 financial year. Its EBITDA shrank by 70 per cent as Covid ripped through its clients, leaving the heatset giant looking at further restructuring, beginning with tearing up its EBA.
The Covid-19 crisis saw diversified marketing services group and heatset print giant IVE take a 6.6 per cent hit on EBITDA, on revenue down by 4.4 per cent to $691.5m, with NPAT coming in at $32.6m for the 2019-20 financial year. The results were ahead of industry expectations, and those of analysts, with the IVE share price gaining an eight per cent uptick.
The independent McPherson Media Group is aiming to buy Australian Community Media’s Albury Wodonga print plant, as the nation’s newspaper printing continues to consolidate.
Two of the world’s biggest paper producers are closing mills, taking out 2 million tonnes of publication paper capacity between them, citing declining demand.
Commercial operation Satellite Print is moving into the B2 market with a newly installed HP Indigo 10000 Digital Press, supplied by Currie Group, coming into the business. The press is part of the biggest-ever investment package for the company, with new Horizon finishing equipment also being installed.
Revenue at outdoor advertising host – and Cactus Imaging owner – oOh! Media plunged by a third in the first half, as clients pulled in their marketing spend while commuters stayed at home, resulting in a $27.5m net loss.
Jet Technologies has teamed up with global provider of software and hardware printing and packaging solutions Esko to deliver Esko's product range to businesses in Australia and New Zealand.
Labelmakers Group is investing in digital technology for the flexibles and linerless market with the imminent commissioning of an HP Indigo 20000 digital press, currently being installed at its Sydney facility.
Imagination Graphics has fired up its new Konica Minolta AccurioJet KM-1, the company’s B2 inkjet sheetfed printer, with the first sheets coming off the press six months after the company was flooded out.
Label Power owner James Malone has bought Melbourne-based Action Labels & Nameplates, and invested in its first digital press, installing a new Epson SurePress L-6034VW industrial UV label press.
Canon is launching the new ProStream 1800 continuous feed inkjet printer, aimed squarely at commercial printers that it wants to switch from offset to digital.
The world’s biggest packaging company Amcor hit a major milestone, with reported a net profit for FY2020 topping the billion-dollar marker for the first time – and those are US dollars – an 11 per cent increase on the previous year.
With company collapses at an all-time low, there are fears that JobKeeper, Covid commercial leasing rules, and creditor limitations, are opening the way to unscrupulous operators taking advantage of credit lines, and to unsustainable pricing pressures in print.
Well-known industry leader Rob Mesaros has joined Currie Group in the newly created position of strategic executive advisor, moving from HP, where he spent 15 years in a variety of senior executive roles.
Heiko Riecken from trade print operation Industrial Print Co has been named the NSW LIA Heidelberg Graduate of the Year, receiving his award on site at the Lithgow NSW factory in a special ceremony attended by industry leaders.
Supermarket giant Coles is copping a widespread lashing for its decision to dump printed catalogues in favour of an online version, stopping Australia’s biggest print job, with critics hitting out at both the marketing and environmental rationales.
In a decision strongly welcomed by the business sector, a High Court judgement has come down in favour of employers in the case of personal leave and shift times, overturning last year's heavily criticised Federal Court ruling, which opponents said would have been devasting for businesses.
Melbourne-based label specialist Sticky Labels is crediting its Screen GP L350UV+ digital label press for enabling it to maintain supply in surging demand during Covid.
Roland DG is launching a new solution on its website designed to assist customers with creating high-demand Covid-19 related signage, including free-to-use downloadable ready made templates with images.
Innovative garment print business Vicon is doubling the size of its floorspace, with a move from Sydney to Brisbane, and is investing $600,000 in additional print equipment as part of the move.
Kornit Digital is acquiring Custom Gateway, an innovative technology provider of cloud-based software workflow solutions for on-demand production business models, in order to create an end-to-end web-to-print textile workflow.
National industry supplier Starleaton will as of now be supplying the entire 3M Digital Products range, giving the company end-to-end warranted solutions.
The three big newspaper publishers have agreed a historic deal to print each other's papers, spelling the end for several newspaper printing plants around the country, and in effect giving News Corp a stranglehold on much of the nation's newspaper printing capability.
Printers across Victoria have to have their Covid-safe plans up and running to stay open from now on, failure to have a plan could result in being ordered to close and copping large fines, as the government tries to regain control of the spiralling crisis.
Women in Print, which says it is arguably the industry’s strongest diversity and inclusion programme, has, after fifteen years, relaunched itself to take on the year, and the future ahead. Susan Heaney of Gold Coast printer Heaney's Performers in Print is the chair of the board.
In the latest edict from the Victorian government all staff travelling to work at print businesses throughout Melbourne must have an authorised travel permit, or face huge fines.
One of the country's major direct mail houses, Fred Humphrey's Direct Mail & Marketing, is in voluntary administration, sending a cold shiver through the Victorian print and mail industry.
The country's biggest trade printer CMYKhub says it will be able to continue supplying print to the trade in Victoria "come what may" thanks to its national manufacturing footprint.
Printers are breathing a huge sigh of relief as the Victorian commercial print industry has not been shut down under tough new lockdown measures taken by the state government, but they must have a Covid-safe plan in place by 11.59pm on Friday to stay open.
Heatset print giant Ovato is asking the national industrial tribunal at the Fair Work Commision to end its current agreement with its staff, as it battles revenue losses, which will lead to a round of redundancies in the near future. The AMWU is fiercely opposing the change.
Some major debtors at Waratah Group are disputing the size of invoices issued by the now defunct print company, but the liquidator says they are all bona fida, and is now looking at court action to get all the money back for creditors of the business that went bust with $22m of debts.
US technology operations Google and Facebook took more Australian advertising dollars than the big five media companies combined last year, with print losing out as a result.
Australia must embrace a new era of innovation and economic reform to rebound from recession and fix an inefficient economy, according to a new report published this week.
Diversified marketing communications group IVE is making three new leadership appointments, one into a new role as manager of governance, risk, and compliance, and two as general managers in data-driven communications roles.
The printing industry is breathing a huge sigh of relief as the government extends its JobKeeper programme – widely acknowledged as saving thousands of jobs – until next March, although with a reduced payment rate.
Press giant Heidelberg has sold the Gallus label press business, as it continues its strategic realignment to stabilise the company, focus on its core sheetfed offset presses, and develop new market opportunities. Former owner Ferdinand Reusch will move with the business.
RMGT is launching a new size press, the RMGT 970, which runs to a maximum of 965x650mm, allowing for eight A4 pages to view with colour bars, crop marks, and other furniture on both sides of a perfected sheet.
Digital enhancement solutions developer Scodix – supplied in Australia and New Zealand by Currie Group – is launching a new productivity workflow package, Scodix Studio Station, which it says will boost productivity by 60 per cent.
Boutique Melbourne print business Taylor'd Press emerged as the country's de facto best printer with more golds than anyone else, five, at this year's National Print Awards, which were live streamed due to Covid-19.
Melbourne printer Vivad is producing cloth masks with full filter systems, using the IP and template from equipment supplier Durst. The masks are reusable, with a reusable N95 filter, and can be custom printed. Vivad says demand is skyrocketing.
Melbourne-based digital fabric printing business AFI Branding is seeing its move into mask printing turbo charged following the mandate to wear them in Victoria.
Daniels Printing Craftsmen in Perth is investing in an HP Indigo 7r Digital Colour Press – supplied by Currie Group – in order to increase its digital capacity.
Printers will be able to claim half their apprentices' wages until at least March under the latest $2.5bn Covid stimulus package from the federal government with its new JobTrainer programme. Under the scheme, designed to boost local manufacturing and youth employment, print businesses can claim 50% of their apprentices' wages, up to maximum of $530 a week.
The federal government will team up with the states to pump $1bn into the TAFE system to make courses free or low-cost for apprentices in certain sectors, including printing, as part of its new $2.5bn Covid youth strategy JobTrainer.
The budding printed solar panels concept is one step closer to commercialisation, with a demonstration project now in place at a Sydney shopping centre. If successful, the renewable energy project could be a boon for printers, with the panels printed on standard narrow web presses.
Specialising in commercial office graphics, Eyetonic is adding a new member to its team – the EFI 16h hybrid LED UV printer, supplied by Starleaton. The new wide format printer is the biggest investment the company has made to date.
Opus Print Group CEO Richard Celarc says tangible results are coming from the industry's campaign to persuade government and government funded institutions to buy Australian print, with his companies receiving enquiries for book jobs that would previously have gone straight to China.
Imaging giant Ricoh is launching the Pro C5300s, a new entry-level digital colour printer, which draws much of its technology from its well-established big brothers: the Pro C7200 and Pro C9200.
Regional newspaper plants around the nation are facing closure as the big three publishers discuss print sharing, and instigate their own closures, with the ACM Ballarat site the latest to get the bad news.
The world's biggest offset press manufacturer Heidelberg has pulled out of the rescheduled global mega show drupa next year, opting instead to host a series of events at its five Print Media Centres around the world.
Konica Minolta launched its high-volume toner AccurioPress C14000 and C12000 colour printers at a live streamed event, with general manager Sue Threlfo saying they will deliver new efficiencies and new applications.
Melbourne based Affinity Print has bought family-owned Cain Colour, in order to boost its UV print power in the high-end packaging market. Owner Chris Cain, all staff and equipment, have joined Steve Todisco's business.
Melbourne based commercial and display operation Print Logistics has failed to convince the Fair Work Commission its dramatic drop in revenue from Covid should enable it to cut its redundancy payouts.
Sydney’s Digitalpress and Melbourne’s Taylor’d Press emerged at the head of the live-streamed state Print Industry Creativity Awards (PICAs), with seven and six Golds respectively for the two printers.
As the major newspaper publishers pull out of the regions new newspapers are set to emerge, saving printing jobs and possibly plants, according to reports on Peter Coleman's GX Press newspaper news site.
Today marks the end of the era of a community newspaper in every town and region in the country, with many presses falling silent for the last time, victims of the Covid crash, new technology and structural changes in society.
Finishing solutions developer Horizon is launching automated print-finishing systems that will not require human operation in the bindery. The new systems feature robots, AGVs, and digital job bags – all connected.
Printing for the 10-year $300m City of Sydney outdoor advertising contract will change from GSP to Omingraphics with parent QMS winning the tender. However, most of that spend will be on digital panels not print.
The print industry's superannuation fund, Media Super, is aiming to join construction industry fund Cbus, while maintaining its own brand, and is now looking at a number of merger options for the two to come together to create a $59bn fund, ten times bigger than the current Media Super pot.
QLM has opened its new 3000sqm production centre, with clients, suppliers and ministers lining up to wish the business well.
Press giant Koenig & Bauer has unveiled a new B1 press for the packaging and commercial markets, the Rapida 106 X, at its live streaming event in Germany.
Wellington City Council has postponed a vote on enacting a by-law, which would have seen fines implemented for putting print into letterboxes marked no junk mail, following lobbying from The Real Media Collective.
The Fair Work Commission is mandating an increase in the minimum wage for print industry workers, but in light of the Covid crisis has delayed it from next week until November.
Billion dollar paper producer Norske Skog is investing €350m in converting two newsprint papermaking lines into containerboard lines, entering the packaging market for the first time, as newsprint demand plunges.
Flint Group Packaging Inks – a major provider of packaging printing inks – is investigating how to support a circular economy for its business.
The fall in print during height of the Covid crisis has been highlighted by the April import figures from IndustryEdge, which says coated mechanical imports plunged by almost a third, with bigger falls expected in May.
Press manufacturing giant Koenig & Bauer has kicked off its Live virtual event, which is highlighting the latest developments, and running every day during what would have been drupa.
Agfa is hosting a six-day virtual event featuring sessions to supporting printing companies through the current business challenges and help them plan for the future.
The region's biggest magazine publisher, Bauer Media ANZ, is in new hands, with private equity fund – and owner of heatset printer Webstar NZ – Mercury Capital buying what was Kerry Packer's ACP from its German owners.
Kodak is making a major move into inkjet presses, targeting the commercial print and publishing markets with new high-resolution, high-speed system Kodak Prosper Ultra 520, using its Ultrastream print heads.
In a boon for printers, lobbying from The Real Media Collective (TRMC) has seen the government exclude paper and carton from its export waste ban, for the next four years at least.
ASX-listed packaging business Orora is passing on the funds to its shareholders after selling its Australasian fibre business to Nippon Paper for $1.7bn.
The PVCA is warning printers to stay alert and make sure their accounts departments never make urgent payments without the verbal authorisation of the boss, following $100,000 being scammed from a print industry business.
Brisbane-based commercial operation, Allclear Print + Signs, has installed the first HP Indigo 12000 HD Digital Press in the country, in a “natural progression” for the business.
Press manufacturer Koenig & Bauer will have world-exclusive launches as part of Koenig & Bauer Live, which it is running from 16-25 June, the dates of the now postponed drupa.
Digital print systems developer Xeikon is set to broadcast live on Xeikon Café TV specifically for Australia and New Zealand, with live updates on digital label production, and an introduction to the innovative Xeikon CX300 digital label press on the show.
Alon Bar-Shany, the global face of HP Indigo and its long-time general manager, is leaving the company after a quarter of a century, the last 16 as its leader.
Savas Mystakidis will become the new managing director of Heidelberg Australia & New Zealand effective from 1 July, succeeding current director Richard Timson who steps up to the role of Asia Pacific project director.
The government's $150,000 instant asset write off has been extended until the end of the year, enabling print businesses to take advantage of the Covid cash-flow benefit for much longer than originally set.
Packaging equipment giant Bobst is releasing a slew of new equipment, and says a new reality of connectivity, digitalisation, automation, and sustainability are the cornerstones of packaging production.
Xeikon is launching into the corrugated printing market with Idera, a new fully integrated digital solutions platform for corrugated packaging converters.
Show specials, latest technology, panel programmes, all from the comfort of your office – the world’s first virtual print trade show has opened, as the Australian Print, Sign, Display & Graphics Virtual Trade Show goes live, and sees 1600 visitors on its first day.
Clarke Murphy Print is filling NRL grounds with crowds, albeit corflute ones with the Fan in the Stand, a new and winning initiative for the innovative Sydney print business, which saw it featured on Channel 9 News.
The Australian Sign & Graphics Association has issued a five-point action plan, and other guidance, under a bulletin entitled Chaos Reigns, to help sign and display printers deal with the fallout from the new casuals double dipping ruling.
Publishing giant News Corp is stopping the presses for the majority of its regional and community titles, with 76 moving online, and several dozen folding completely, as it takes the strategic decision to pivot into a digital media business.
NSW trade binding house Twin Loop has moved into bigger premises, which owner Wayne Rubin says will enable the business to continue with its steady growth trajectory.
PacPrint, the local four-day print solutions exhibition held in conjunction with Visual Impact and the Label & Packaging Expo, will now be held from 28 September through 1 October next year, in its usual Melbourne home.
Ovato NZ is launching a new publishing arm, aiming to resuscitate the Kiwi magazine industry, following the devastating closure of the country's biggest publisher Bauer Media NZ last month.
Technology innovator Screen GP is launching new print solutions for the packaging sector for folding carton, corrugated, and wide web flexo, setting itself up to be a major player in the field.
The Melbourne print industry is reeling as a plunge in sales due to coronavirus sends high-profile print business Bambra Press into voluntary administration. The business is trading on, with administrators looking to sell it as a going concern. Owner John Wanless says a restructure is necessary.
The April horror month for print saw two thirds of commercial printers experience falls in sales of at least 30 per cent, with a quarter experiencing falls of between 50-70 per cent, and 15 per cent seeing sales plummet by more than 70 per cent.
Casual staff who are paid a 25 per cent loading are also now entitled to receive leave and other benefits associated with full time staff, in a court ruling that means print businesses may be liable for back pay.
The print industry's campaign to have all government and taxpayer funded print produced on Australian presses received a boost, when a Queensland state minster raised the issue in Parliament, calling on it to pressure the Commonwealth to buy Australian.
Trade employers association Print & Visual Communication Association has seen its figures move into positive territory for the first time in three years, CEO Andrew Macaulay commending the board for their focus.
Dandenong-based Perfection Packaging has scooped the prestigious (North American) FTA Best in Show wide web category Award for Print Excellence, crediting the use of the Kodak Flexcel NX plates in large part for the award.
Brendan Hill, CEO of magazine giant Bauer, has signalled its intention to have its furloughed print magazines back on the presses by September, with big hitters NW, OK! and WHO all currently suspended.
Currie Group sales and marketing director Phillip Rennell says the closure of trade house Sydney Binding is an opportunity for more printers to bring binding back inhouse.
The federal government has told all its departments and agencies to pay suppliers more quickly than they are doing, and says invoices for less than $10,000 must be paid immediately. PVCA CEO Andrew Macaulay hailed the edict as “great news” for printers.
Bright Print Group has started a new trade perfect binding business, Twenty 20 Binding, stepping into the gap left in NSW when Sydney Binders decided to close its doors last week.
Amcor has raised its full year earnings per share outlook, as it released robust third quarter profits it said were due to virus-induced supermarket panic buying.
HP is launching an inline coating system for its high-speed inkjet webs, developed by Harris & Bruno and capable of both aqueous and UV coating, as part of its drive into the commercial market.
Imaging giant Kodak is doubling down on its investment in digital printing for its growth prospects, as its March quarter figures reveal its Sonora processless plates are experiencing surging demand.
Two perfect binding trade houses have written to Print21 to let the industry know they are open for new business in the light of the closure of Sydney Binding.
The German owner of Australia's biggest magazine publisher, Bauer Media, is reportedly in talks to offload the business, following a troubled few weeks for the company.
The Covid earthquake smashing the regional and community newspaper industry is seeing News Corp looking at restructuring all its non-metro titles, but the proposed deal to sell them to ACM is off.
Trade printer Sureprint is in liquidation, the move bringing to an end the eight-year-old business that came to attention in the collapse of the Media Options trade printer, which went down with multimillion-dollar debts in 2013.
With expos being postponed Visual Connections has stepped up to bring the trade show experience to the industry’s desktops, launching a new, online expo for print, sign, display and graphics.
The print industry is in shock as Sydney Binding closes its doors, the owners pulling the pin on one of the only two major perfect binding trade houses in the country.
The centrepiece Muller Martini Acoro A7 perfect binding line at closed Sydney Binding is heading overseas, but the buyer says it has smaller binders that would be well suited to the Sydney market.
The country's biggest trade printer CMYKhub has all five of its print sites up and running again, and is on the front foot with ideas and solutions for its resellers to drive print sales.
Online print giant Cimpress, which owns Vistaprint in Melbourne, saw its print orders plunge by 65 per cent at the end of March and beginning of April, recovering to 40 per cent down by the end of the month.
Shares in major heatset printer Ovato are in a trading halt, after they jumped by 81 per cent in morning trade. No reason has yet been given, nor any further details.
Major newspaper publisher News Corp has called in management consultants Deloitte to review and cut its costs, with printing, and its smaller and regional newspapers, in the spotlight.
The country's biggest publisher, Bauer Media, is suspending printing of some of its magazines and cutting 70 jobs as it deals with a fall in advertising revenue.
Orora has finalised the sale of its Australasian Fibre business to a subsidiary of Nippon Paper Industries for $1.72bn, with Orora's net proceeds after tax and costs amounting to $1.55bn.
Armed with a near 5000 strong Bring Back Print petition, Print and Visual Communications Association CEO Andrew Macaulay met with deputy prime minister Michael McCormack, with McCormack asking for a written submission, which Macaulay said will be submitted shortly.
The New Zealand print industry is open for business again, emerging five weeks after the country went into total lockdown to see off the coronavirus, but now facing a challenge in finding work for the presses.
HP is launching a new Brilliant Ink inkset with the new PageWide T250 HD continuous feed printer, which comes with inline coater, which it says will enable it to compete directly for offset work.
Close to 4000 printers have now signed the Bring Back Print petition, less than a week after it was launched with the aim of returning the $150m-$200m worth of government print back to Australia. It goes to the PM today.
The spend on outdoor print in Australia dipped by $10m to $86m in the first quarter as the Covid-19 virus hit March marketing budgets, which will likely continue to be depressed in the current quarter.
Machinery manufacturer Bobst has acquired a majority stake in Cito-System, a company that specialises in manufacturing creasing systems for fibre-based packaging.
Controversial signage operation Skope Group will have its second creditors meeting on Monday, which could spell the end for the tangled business, which at one point had revenues of more than $40m and operations across the country.
The New Zealand print industry will be operational again next Tuesday, with the Kiwi government easing restrictions from the heavily criticised Level 4, which closed down the industry, to Level 3.
Nine Media is reporting that national mail monopoly Australia Post was considering axing most of its mail delivery service, with a one day a week option on the table.
Heidelberg is launching a robot loading system for its Diana folder gluers, upgrading the speed, and launching a new version of its auto packaging system.
Chili publish has launched Chili publisher Online, a cloud-based software as a service solution for document creation and editing for web-to-print systems.
The AMWU, the PVCA, and Marvel Bookbinding & Finishing are joining forces to launch a campaign to call for all levels of government to immediately shift all the $150m+ printing it is sending overseas back to Australian print businesses.
Australian Community Media is suspending printing at four sites, halting production of many of its non-daily local newspapers. ACM publishes around 160 titles. Its 14 daily papers will continue.
Industry super fund CEO Graeme Russell has come out swinging against critics of super funds investing in illiquid assets, describing the comments as “politically motivated rubbish”.
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has updated the Fair Work Act to enable employees to take at least two weeks of unpaid pandemic leave. It also enables employees to take double their annual leave at half their normal pay, if their employer agrees. PVCA is welcoming the move.
Frank Hilliard, founder of Eastern Press and one of Melbourne's best known and respected print identities, has suddenly passed away, leaving family, friends, colleagues, customers and the wider industry in shock.
Rent relief is now available for hard pressed printers, with the Commonwealth government announcing a mandatory code of conduct for commercial landlords and tenants that allows commercial renters to pay reduced rent during the Covid-19 pandemic, if turnover falls by 30% or more.
Australia Post is temporarily relaxing some its rules governing Print Post, in particular insert weights, frequency, and volume, following representations from The Real Media Collective.
Heidelberg is launching two new high-performance die cutting systems, as well as a short run solution for smaller printing companies that may use Heidelberg jobbing and cylinder presses.
Xeikon is unveiling its new-generation dry toner technology, which it says delivers higher speeds, reduced cost of ownership and further improved quality. It is also launching two new digital presses.
PVCA CEO Andrew Macaulay wants printers to know there is no government essential service list, with the association nonetheless lobbying government to ensure that the critical nature of print and packaging to all supply chains in our economy is known, and should form part of policy planning.
Canon Production Printing Australia is launching its new varioPrint iX-series, an advanced sheetfed inkjet press which will print 9,000 SRA3 images per hour, or 320 A4 images per minute, on a wide range of media including offset coated paper from 90 to 350gsm.
Heidelberg is launching robots and Push to Stop for its Stahlfolders, which it says increase efficiencies and address high labour requirements.
Printers looking to add a high margin revenue stream to their business will be more than interested in the Dimense one pass digital textured wall covering printer, now available in ANZ through Stick on Signs distribution channels.
The country's two big paper merchants say the rapidly falling value of the Australian dollar will inevitably mean paper price rises in the coming months if the value does not lift.
The world's biggest offset press manufacturer, Heidelberg, is launching a new Speedmaster range, which it describes as the most intelligent and automated ever produced.
Wagner Prestige Labels is now producing a third of its labels on its new Durst Tau 330 RSC E inkjet label press, and enjoying dramatically reduced waste levels.
The coronavirus pandemic is continuing to wreak economic havoc around the world, and the Australian print industry is not immune, with printers seeing a drop in trade.
The country's two big printers, IVE and Ovato, will now be working for the same major client, as the country's two big magazine publishers are joining forces on 9 April.
The country's biggest trade printer CMYKhub is outlining its virus plans to the trade as print comes under pressure in the Covid-19 pandemic.
TLC boss Barry Webster has told Victorian premier Daniel Andrews to back print in the current crisis, as Andrews looks to impose further restrictions on the population in order to battle the virus.
Regional newspapers are closing as they battle a fall-off in advertising since the coronavirus got serious, with fears also raised over the future of some of the major metro papers.
Small and medium-sized businesses can get up to $100,000 to help with cash flow so they can keep operating, pay their bills, and retain staff during the coronavirus pandemic.
The government is increasing the instant asset write-off threshold from $30,000 to $150,000, it is also expanding access to the scheme to include businesses with aggregated annual turnover of less than $500 million (up from $50 million).
The federal government is introducing a scheme that allows businesses to deduct 50 per cent of the cost of an eligible asset straight away, as part of its efforts to combat the economic fallout of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Australian government will make available loan guarantees for some small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as part of its effort to combat the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
To help businesses through the coronavirus pandemic, the Australian government is offering to pay half of an apprentice or trainee’s wages at an eligible business for the first nine months of this year.
As the coronavirus sweeps the globe and efforts to contain it cause economic stress, Australian printers are just beginning to feel the effects. But there is optimism and comfort in the knowledge that the crisis will end.
The country's two big paper suppliers Ball & Doggett and Spicers both say they have more than enough stock to cover all demand for commercial grades in the coming months.
Print & Visual Communication Association is running a series of crisis management sessions designed to enable printers to meet the myriad demands of the coronavirus environment.
Flood ravaged Imagination Graphics will be back up and running, with chuffed owner Emmanuel 'Budgie' Buhagiar successful in an insurance claim, which will see all kit reinstalled, including a new Konica Minolta B2 digital inkjet KM-1.
Xerox has put its hostile takeover bid for HP on ice, citing the need to focus on the coronavirus, and saying the pause in action has nothing to do with the plummeting stock prices of both companies.
Currie Group managing director Bernie Robinson says the company has a host of Horizon finishing, Foliant laminating and Cron CTP systems all available for less than the new $150,000 instant asset write down limit brought in to help business through the virus.
Two former Waratah Group execs caught up in a front-page World Vision print contract exposé, Stephen Kernahan and Brett Chalmers, have resigned from their roles at Finsbury Green. Monday was their last day.
Digital print solutions developer Durst is closing its factory in Italy until the end of the month as the coronavirus blitzes through the country, which is currently the worst affected in Europe. Supplies, ink and support will be unaffected.
The giant trade show drupa 2020, which would have attracted 250,000 printers, has been postponed – for the first time in its history – and will now run next April instead of this June, the move the inevitable result of the growing coronavirus scare which is closing down the world.
The federal government has unveiled a raft of packages created to help small and medium sized business – which includes the vast majority of printers – carry on working through the coronavirus scare, including a massive uplift in the instant asset write off.
Industry association PVCA is issuing advice to print businesses to enable them to minimise risk of their staff becoming infected, which in the main says don't panic and take sensible precautions.
Under-pressure controversial signage business Skope Group has seen trading entity Scream Visual issued with a winding up order, and Skope Group Holdings is now also in external administration.
Print21 wishes to clarify that Express Print & Mail on the Sunshine Coast is not in liquidation, contrary to the story that was on today's Print21 newsletter.
Konica Minolta chairman and managing director Dr David Cooke is set to move on from the business, seven years after breaking the mould and becoming the first non-Japanese to head one of the big Japanese tech companies.
HP says drupa will see the "most exciting launches in the history of Indigo" announcing a raft of new print solutions with eight new presses that include a 6000sph B2 press, an entry level SRA3, and software for its new range of label and packaging presses that will enable them to hit any spot colour within three minutes.
HP is launching a B2 6000sph duplex press that pumps out up to a million sheets a month, as it identifies two key markets for B2 printing – premium quality, and high volume, and releases two presses for those two markets.
With the labels and packaging market set for continued growth, HP is launching new presses for labels, flexibles, and cartons, including a narrow web digital press the V12 which will compete on speed with analogue presses, running at 120 metres a minute.
Controversial signage business Skope Group director Ann Orren registered a new trading name Skope Group Wholesale Manufacturing, just four days before placing Skope Group into voluntary administration at the end of last month.
The world's major wide format expo Fespa Global 2020, due to take place in Madrid in three weeks time, has fallen victim to growing coronavirus fears and been postponed.
The increasing global nervousness over the coronavirus is starting to impact print, with ink and equipment manufacturers among those dependent on China now looking at dealing with the looming Covid-19 shadow.
Print businesses in the areas most affected by Covid-19 are struggling, unable to get consumables in and jobs out, in what could be a precursor for the situation in Australia if lockdown is ordered.
As fears over the coronavirus sweep over the world, causing cancellations of major events in affected areas, giant international trade show drupa says it is all systems go for the June event, with no plans to cancel.
The Printing Industry Creativity Awards deadline has been extended by one week to next Friday 13 March, as printers focus on preparing their businesses for the impact of the coronavirus.
Controversial signage outfit Skope and its various associated entities are in administration, just six months after it managed to transform a $2.3m debt in a closely related manufacturing arm into a favourable DOCA, leaving rivals fuming.
Growth slowed in the out of home industry last year, with 2019 showing a total increase of 1.5 per cent on net media revenue last year – but spend on print fell by eight per cent, according to the figures from the Outdoor Media Association.
National print business Ovato (formerly PMP) struggled to make headway in the first half, with all figures on the slide on the back of the softer economic environment in Australia. Its share price fell by a quarter on the results. Outside advisors have now been brought in.
Sydney signage and large-format printer Easy Signs will move into a larger factory in April, tripling its floorspace, just a few years after its previous massive upgrade.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is approving Orora’s sale of its Australasian fibre business to Nippon Paper subsidiary Australian Paper.
Diversified marketing communications group IVE – which includes one of the country's biggest print operations – saw its half year performance metrics slip back from last year, but it still achieved a solid $40.1m EBITDA and paid out an ‘attractive’ dividend to investors.
National mail monopoly Australia Post group revenue for first half of 2020 was up four per cent year-on-year, but letters revenue plunged again, down by nine per cent, with CEO Christine Holgate warning “the time has come to transform these services".
Press manufacturer RMGT (formerly Ryobi) will present a cloud-connected smart factory concept at drupa, where the presses, post press, and other processes are all integrated with automated guided vehicles moving the paper around.
BGS Printing has upgraded its finishing capability with investment in new Horizon kit, including a bookletmaker and three-sided trimmer, both supplied by Currie Group.
The owner of press giant manroland Sheetfed GmbH is instigating an aggressive pricing strategy for its Roland offset presses, in a bid to boost sales and keep the factory humming.
Avon Graphics is buying the assets and business of troubled laminating outfit Protectaprint, which went into administration at the back end of last year.
High profile print identity Theo Pettaras has sold his Digitalpress business to marcomm services outfit Bridgestone Investments in a strategic move, which will also see it enter wide format production.
An artists' collective is vandalising JC Decaux bus shelter printed posters across the east coast capital cities, pulling them out and replacing them with their own climate-change messages, in an attack on the quarter-of-a-billion-dollar sector.
The world's biggest offset press manufacturer Heidelberg is launching what it says is a new generation of Speedmaster presses, which it calls 'the most intelligent and most automated' to date.
Top Ovato executives, including chairman Michael Hannan (l) and CEO Kevin Slaven (r) welcomed customers to tour the expanded NSW printing site, one of the largest in the southern hemisphere, and unveiled the company’s latest $20m manroland Lithoman 80-page high-volume web press.
Innovative retail solutions business Dashing is combining its production facility and head office into one location, with its Lane Cove West premises now hosting all functions of the company.
With sunshine state Covid rates almost zero, the Lithographic Institute of Australia (LIA) Queensland branch is hosting its annual Golf Day next month.
Print business broker Ascent Partners is inviting printers to take part in a nationwide industry survey to assess the state of play in print, with the aim of helping print business owners plan ahead through the current uncertainty.
The drupa digital online platform will open next Tuesday, featuring a virtual conference, exhibition, and networking space; the organiser says it will provide a preview of next year’s drupa.
The most clicked story in the ANZ print industry over the past week was the Print21 report on Epson launching a slew of new digital products, all aimed at enabling print businesses to capitalise on new market opportunities as the commercial print market tightens.
The latest issue of the print industry’s biggest trade magazine, Print21, is out, with the feature-packed issue currently arriving on desks of print business owners and managers around Australia and New Zealand.
As Victoria emerges from Covid-19 restrictions The Real Media Collective has announced its Awards 2020 are still on, with entries and plans for awards flowing through.
Xeikon is about to send out invitations to its upcoming Xeikon Café TV on complete pouch production, supported by Xeikon fleXflow, which will show one pass print, laminate and convert for the fast-growing packaging product.
Australia Post is under fire for hiring a $3000-a-day PR company for reputation management as it looked to justify its move to alternate days postal delivery, a decision that caused uproar among the print and mail community.
Wide format print association Fespa is launching a new Coffee Break webinar series, bringing together industry experts to share knowledge and business advice and answer questions from printers on topics including process control, software, automation and sustainability.
The most read story in the print industry in the last seven days was the Print21 story on industry reaction to the business boosting budget, which saw industry leaders give a range of views on the treasurer's effort to drag the country out of the Covid recession.
This year’s meeting between printers and federal politicians will be an online live streamed event, as Covid caution precludes the usual Canberra face-to-face gathering.
Get ready for a double celebration – International Print Day and Girls Who Print Day go back-to-back, the online social media events scheduled for next Tuesday and Wednesday.
The latest Covid initiative from Durst sees the manufacturer of advanced digital printing and production technologies launch a Covid-countering air disinfection system: the Durst UVC-R.
A CCL printed wine label is a finalist in the New Zealand Best Design Awards, with the Brown Brothers’ limited edition BlazeAid Shiraz, which aimed to help rebuild communities affected by bushfires, up for a gong.
Digital print solutions developer Konica Minolta is the latest big name exhibitor to pull out of drupa, with the iconic exhibition now looking shorn of much of its star power.
The biggest story in print in the last seven days was the Print21 budget story, which reported to the industry on the extraordinary measures treasurer Josh Frydenberg is taking to pull the country out of the Covid recession.
Fespa Australia will be running a series of colour management online training sessions, hosted by certified instructors who have just been through a three-day intensive online training workshop led by Ray Weiss from Printing United Alliance in the US.
Nestlé is switching its Smarties chocolate bar to a recyclable paper wrapper, moving away from the film wrappers of the past as the company continues its drive towards more eco-friendly packaging.
The world's biggest web-to-print operation Vistaprint is expanding its portfolio, acquiring 99designs to offer clients a low-cost bespoke design service, adding to its standard templates and its user-uploaded layouts.
There are two recent examples of new technology that are harbingers of where the graphics industry is heading in automation and leaner businesses, controlled and managed for optimum efficiency with minimised emissions and waste, writes print environmentalist Laurel Brunner.
The industry’s first virtual trade show has closed its doors, with a visitor tally of more than 13,500 far exceeding the expectations of show organisers, Visual Connections, which opened the show on June 1.
Lobbying from employers' organisation PrintNZ and other associations has resulted in the government providing $4m in emergency funding for hard pressed community newspapers and magazines.
Yohei Konaka has taken on the role of managing director of Konica Minolta Australia, effective immediately, succeeding David Cooke, following a delay in taking the role due to Covid-19.
Industry suppliers' association Visual Connections is backing the Insight Series created by TRMC to counter anti-print claims, following the decision by Coles to stop its catalogues.
Digital imaging pioneer EFI is the latest major name to withdraw from the giant drupa trade show, following Kodak, and the biggest single exhibitor HP, out of the door this week.
The biggest story in the print industry this week was the Print21 article on the owner of Express Print & Mail signing for its new premises, two months before he sold the business to his mother, and then put the company that had owned it into liquidation with debts of $4m.
Konica Minolta is partnering with leading trend forecaster Michael McQueen to host a free webinar for printers on how to kickstart business post-Covid.
Press manufacturing giant Koenig & Bauer is implementing what it says is a far-reaching four-year restructuring plan, under the Performance 2024 moniker, as it deals with the ongoing effects of the pandemic, which is reducing press investment levels around the world.
Police in the UK have arrested a dozen gang members and recovered a haul of priceless rare books that have been buried under a Romanian garage for three years. The books were stolen in an Ocean’s 11 type heist.
Fundraising Institute Australia (FIA) and The Real Media Collective (TRMC) have achieved a further discount in negotiations with Australia Post across Charity Mail, to assist during the Covid-19 recovery period.
Printers around the country are signing up for the new printed corrugated caskets venture DaisyBox, which is being run by Greg Nicholls, and is he says set to disrupt the supply chain for caskets and coffins.
Digital print solutions developer Konica Minolta is running a print workflow automation webinar, which it says will show how it can help print businesses increase growth and profitability.
AAB Holdings, the owner of major Sydney print businesses Pegasus Print Group and SOS Print and Media, has appointed Andrew Davies to the position of group quality assurance and WHS manager.
The biggest story in print this week by far was Print21's report on the Sunshine Coast business Express Print & Mail, with the AAB to invest in digital, and Landa says nanograohy will become mainstream, the second and third biggest stories of the week.
Aussie and Kiwi printers are being advised to get their skates on to get through the doors of the world’s first virtual print exhibition, which has just one week left to run.
Personalised web-to-print coffin printing business LifeArt has taken out a silver at the global Fespa 2020 awards, for its Final Delivery project, in the Packaging on Paper and Board category.
Eleven of the world’s leading print technology developers are celebrating wins in the annual InterTech Technology Awards, with HP and Kodak both winning two awards.
Print environmentalist Laurel Brunner says the Covid-driven slowdown in work is the perfect opportunity to get your printing business on message with sustainability, in order to be ready to meet the new market demands when the crisis is over.
Perfection Packaging beat out competition from around the world to scoop the prestigious US Flexo Technical Awards Best in Show, in the wide web print excellence category, for its Eta Uppercuts Corn Tapas job, a remarkable achievement for the Dandenong-based printer.
Kodak has extended its partnership with German AI developer PerfectPattern in a deal which it says will enable “unmatched” levels of automation in its Prinergy On Demand workflow.
Mutoh Australia is launching two new benchtop UV printers, both with braille and raised effect capability, and which print and varnish in one pass. It will donate $500 to the Fred Hollows charity for every printer sold between now and Christmas.
Wide format inkjet printer and printer cutters manufacturer Roland DG is launching a new proprietary VW-S1 densitometer, which it says will make colour matching between its printers easier, and less expensive.
The harsh restrictions shackling the Victorian economy was the biggest story in print this week, with the Print21 report on the easing of restrictions in regional Victoria, and the muted responses to it from industry leaders, getting the most clicks.
The first trade fair to run at the Düsseldorf Messe Centre since the onset of Covid attracted 107,000 visitors over the ten days of the show. The Messe Centre is due to host postponed global mega show drupa in April.
Industry association The Real Media Collective has released a Commercial Tenancy Report, which provides detailed information for printers in every state on the current status with commercial leases in the Covid era, as federal and state government legislate various support packages for commercial tenants.
Agfa is to host a virtual event for aspiring as well as experienced inkjet printing companies during original Fespa time frame during 6-8 October.
The annual face-to-face meeting between printers and politicians in Canberra, Print2Parliament, has now moved to a live streamed event, with a zoom conference call with leading politicians planned.
A new survey is being launched by suppliers’ association Visual Connections seeking important information from sign makers to map the multi-million-dollar local sign industry.
The biggest story in the print industry this week was the Print21 report on the backlash to the Daniel Andrews roadmap out of Covid, which has seen Melbourne cop some of the harshest lockdown measures in the world, including a curfew that was not health or police driven.
Wide format inkjet printers and printer cutters manufacturer Roland DG is launching a new Roland Academy Online Training course, designed to support customers in lieu of face-to-face training.
The country’s biggest printable media supplier Ball & Doggett is releasing its new Display & Visual product catalogue, which features a full range of media for the display sector.
Labelling the Dan Andrews roadmap "a devastating blow", the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell has called on the Victorian government to cover the costs associated with small business closures, including break-lease fees on equipment.
The postponed drupa is launching a new online platform next month, the drupa preview, which it says will offer exhibitors and visitors an additional channel for touching base with the sector, discussing trending themes and presenting product portfolios.
Canon Production Printing Australia is today launching a new ColorWave and PlotWave printer and plotter series, with eight new models in total being released.
A survey of senior leaders in Sydney demonstrates strong support for the economic and health response to Covid-19 by NSW government, but flags concern about the broader impact of the pandemic.
Ball & Doggett Group CEO Craig Brown is moving from the merchanting side of the business to join paper manufacturer Sappi as its Australasian managing director, with Luke Wilkinson becoming CEO of Ball & Doggett Australia, and Richard Hislop promoted as the new CEO New Zealand.
IVE Group national sales director web offset and distribution Natalie Taylor is calling time on her 25-year career in print, opting for a lifestyle change to run paddock-to-plate experience venue Milk Haus on the NSW South Coast.
The first show since the onset of Covid at Düsseldorf’s Messe centre – the home of drupa – opens today, with international caravanning expo Caravan Salon taking place over the next ten days.
Epson is launching its first-ever 76-inch large-format printer, the SureColor F10060, a dye-sublimation machine for textile production including soft signage, fashion, sportswear, home furnishings and décor.
Brother is launching the new GTXpro Pouch direct-to-garment desktop printer, which builds on Brother’s existing GTX technology by combining the advantages of the previous model, with an improved print head, and a whole range of other features.
Canon Production Print is promising a 20 per cent uptick in productivity with the launch of its new mid-volume Arizona 2300 flatbed UV printer, thanks to its patented air Flow table, which does away with the need for tape or masking.
The Patrons Panel – the inaugural webinar of the refreshed Women in Print network – was oversubscribed and well received by all attendees, delivering a strong message around the importance of community and support in the current Covid-19 crisis.
Press manufacturing giant Heidelberg is launching a new printing industry platform called Zaikio that it hopes will become universal and is inviting other developers to invest in the project.
The offset solutions division at imaging giant Agfa fell by a 25 per cent in the Covid quarter (April-June), while sales in the digital print and chemicals division fell by even more.
An independent national audit of recycling information on consumer products and packaging reveals what the Australian Council of Recycling (ACOR) said is a situation that is “confusing for consumers and does not support better recycling”.
Celmac NSW state manager Jonny Rumney has just achieved Fogra DPP (Digital Print Partner) certification, making him one of only two people in Australia and New Zealand that can help Fogra certify a business for the PSD (Process Standard Digital) certification.
Embellishing solutions developer Kurz has become the latest big name to confirm its attendance at the rescheduled mega-show drupa, now set for 20-28 April at the Messe Centre in Düsseldorf.
The prestigious Asia Pacific and Japan HP Digital Print Excellence Awards is back with a new name: HP Inkspiration Awards 2021, two new categories covering Covid print, and are now open to entries
Packaging giant Orora took a Covid hit, posting lacklustre results for the 2020 financial year results with decreases in nearly all financial metrics, in stark contrast to last year's performance.
The most clicked news story in the industry this week was the Print21 coverage of the fallout from the decision by grocer Coles to axe its seven million weekly printed catalogues.
Exhibitions are exempt from the extended ban on large gatherings introduced by the German government at the weekend. The ban will now run until the end of the year.
Press manufacturing giant Komori is launching a new series of what it says are self-learning sheetfed presses. The company says they have improvements from feeder to delivery and will use a robot to feed into folder and guillotine.
The world’s biggest press manufacturer Heidelberg has eased its debt and sold off a non-core asset, revealing its first quarter orders had taken a hit with Covid, but picked up in June and July.
Revenue at digital direct to textile print systems manufacturer Kornit slipped in the Covid quarter, but the company issued a bullish outlook for the full year.
Digital print solutions developer Ricoh is refurbishing its showrooms around the country, with Melbourne and Sydney already completed, in order to accommodate its growing product range.
Australia’s largest fabric signage manufacturer AFI Branding has received Australian Made certification for its range of ReFrameÒ products, which are now bring used for hand sanitising units.
Ball & Doggett has released its new 2020 Graphics catalogue, an easy-to-use buyer’s guide for pressroom consumables, with a wider selection of products and technologies from the world’s leading manufacturers, all in one handy place.
The first event for the newly relaunched Women in Print group is taking place this afternoon (Thursday), with registration free and available for the nationwide webinar.
Tasmanian Oyster Co has developed a new CO2-based laser etching process to etch a brand mark on shell, helping to identify and trace shellfish products across global markets.
Women in Print is settling into its new home, with the organisation announcing a date for its first Patron Panel event, a webinar discussion with the Patrons from each state, which will be held on Thursday afternoon.
The latest issue of the print industry’s biggest trade magazine Print21 is being mailed and arriving on desks of print business owners and managers around Australia and New Zealand this week.
The Out of Home (OOH) industry half year net media revenue results showed a 35 per cent slump in spend for the first half of 2020, as Covid took a lump out of marketing budgets.
Screen GP Australia is launching the new Truepress Jet520HD mono,a specialised high speed continuous feed inkjet system for monochrome printing directly onto offset stocks.
The print industry's first actual exhibition since the onset of Covid six months ago will take place in Seoul, with K-Print scheduled to open its doors next month.
The world's first virtual print expo has now broken the 10,000-visitor mark, little more than two months after the launch of the show by local suppliers' association Visual Connections.
An introduction from Currie Group NSW account manager Will Currie led to innovative garment printer Vicon Transfers donating printed aprons for the Food for Change charity MasterChef cook-off, which raised $30,000 for the charity.
Full year revenue for News Corp newspapers slumped by 18 per cent for its global portfolio, while EBITDA for the newspaper division plunged by 71 per cent.
The biggest story in the print industry this week was Print21's breaking news on Monday revealing the business smackdown ordered by Dan Andrews, with the fact that printing could carry on, albeit with the need for a Covid-safe plan.
Former marketing services powerhouse Salmat is calling it quits, asking its general meeting at the end of the month for approval to delist, wind itself up, and appoint liquidators to end its 41-year journey.
All print businesses in Victoria now need a Covid-safe plan to stay open, and it must be in place by 11.59pm this Friday. The government has a three-stage plan to follow – so what is it, and how do you do it?
Continuing uncertainty over Covid has pushed EFI to move its popular user conference Connect from its regular Las Vegas home to an online event for the 2021 experience.
Out of Home signs across Australia this week are highlighting and profiling missing people, during what is National Missing Persons Week, donating $1m worth of signage to the cause.
Diversified trade print company Lamson Group is celebrating 30 years in business, with founder Arthur Frost joining his son and current managing director Rodney Frost in toasting the success of the business.
Clarke Murphy Print has donated $6634 to mental health charity Gotcha4Life from its innovative and successful Fan In The Stand project, which saw it create a whole new market during Covid.
Sydney sign and display operation VFX has installed its third HP Latex 3.2m wide format printer – supplied by Celmac – as the business increases its capacity.
The first thing sailors arriving in Newcastle now see is a huge new welcome sign, printed by local operator Broadley Signs and visible from the shipping channel and from all along the foreshore.
The Penrith Print Museum is open for visitors after a four-month closure due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Volunteers at the museum are also working on the restoration of an 1841 Columbian printing press.
An out-of-home campaign printed by Cactus Imaging took home an Outdoor Media Association Award in the best use of multi-format category.
Canon Oceania is releasing its 2020 Sustainability Report, which provides an overview of how the company is addressing issues around sustainability in its business.
Press manufacturer Koenig & Bauer has developed Visual PressSupport, an App-based live video streaming service for sheetfed presses and other business units.
Specialist floor, wall and window graphic media supplier Visionary Digital has new distribution deals with suppliers in South Australia and New Zealand, making it easier for printers there to access its products.
Digital print solutions developer Konica Minolta is running a webinar next Wednesday on the benefits and opportunities that come with entering digital label printing.
Kurz Australia is celebrating half a century of operation and hosted a series of staff events at locations around the country to mark the momentous occasion.
Print industry business broker Ascent Partners is putting on a free webinar next Thursday to discuss options for print businesses in Covid – the webinar is titled Regroup, Sell or Close.
Major exhibitor Windmöller & Hölscher has confirmed its participation at the rescheduled drupa next year, joining Koenig & Bauer as major names that will be at the Messe Centre.
The most clicked news story in the print industry this week was our coverage of the government's JobKeeper extension, which was on the Print21 news website on Tuesday morning immediately following the prime minister's press conference. The news had printers thankful wages will now be supported until March.
Newly acquired publishing giant Bauer Media is printing magazines again in New Zealand, with the presses at Webstar NZ rolling once more, following a near four-month hiatus from its biggest customer. The new Bauer owner also owns Webstar NZ.
Bauer Media is permanently closing eight of its big Australian magazine brands that have been off the shelves since May, as it battles a severe and ongoing downturn in advertising revenue, and restrictions on travel and transport.
Canon Production Printing is providing a Kick Start package of up to $40,000 with all new Arizona flatbed printers, in what it says is an initiative designed to assist Australian printers adapt to new market trends.
Well known Sydney printing identity Stan Halkeas – who founded, and then ran a major print business for 50 years in the latter half of last century – has died, aged 91.
Alex Commins, CEO of Jamestrong and former CEO and owner of Colorpak, pays heartfelt tribute to his Colorpak/GPI colleague David Johnson who passed away last week: “40 years a one company man. A great life taken too young.”
Paper, media, and hardware supplier Spicers is reorganising its business into two sales divisions – paper and packaging; and sign and display – with the aim of optimising its technical expertise for printers.
Offset press manufacturers Komori and manroland Sheetfed have joined rival Heidelberg to withdraw from global mega print show drupa next year, as the show itself cuts its duration, from 11 days to nine.
Press manufacturing giant Koenig & Bauer is among the manufacturers looking to the German government for support during Covid, requesting a €120m loan to help implement its Performance 2024 plan.
A&O Print Mail production manager Steve Hulme is aiming to slash an hour and a half off his time in his second 100-kilometre ultra-marathon, and raise funds for an under-privileged youth centre from the run.
Nationwide signage franchise business Signarama is looking to drum up new business under its new Power Up campaign, with a $5000 voucher for signage up for grabs in a prize draw.
Currie Group company EVOK3D has won a contract to supply Industrial-grade HP 3D printers to the Australian Defence Science and Technology Group.
Improving the carbon footprint of a company is always a work in progress, no matter the size of the business, and it is the same for supply chains, writes print environmentalist Laurel Brunner.
The industry's retirement fund Media Super is one major step closer to merging into Cbus, in a potential deal first revealed by Print21 two weeks ago.
Press manufacturer Koenig & Bauer says its participation at next year's rescheduled drupa is “not in question” as the industry reacts to the withdrawal of rival Heidelberg from the iconic event.
Signage industry supplier Fairview Architectural, which numbered one of controversial outfit Skope Group's entities Clear Skies among its clients, is in voluntary adminstration.
The global packaging market size during the Covid-19 pandemic is projected to surge from US$909bn to US$1trn by next year, according to Covid-19 Impact on Packaging Market – Global Forecast to 2021, a new report from Research and Markets.
The Pure Zone laminates, manufactured and distributed by Hexis, have just been certified by several laboratories as effective in combating the concentration of coronaviruses on surfaces, presenting new business opportunities to printers.
Kyocera is launching into the production print market with its first commercial printer, a 150 A4-pages-a-minute cutsheet inkjet printer: the Taskalfa Pro 15000c.
Organisers of the world's first virtual trade exhibition, the Australian Print, Sign, Display & Graphics Virtual Trade Show, say strong visitor numbers and resulting sales bodes well for business sentiment into the new financial year.
Epson is launching its new Premium Partner Program, which it says comes with significant business creation opportunities, and rewards for all members, including commercial, display, and direct to garment print businesses.
The Print & Visual Communication Assocation is launching a Proudly Printed in Australia campaign, with free artwork logo for printers to use on their print to show it has been printed onshore.
Online print giant Vistaprint is receiving a lashing in the US following a mighty mix-up, which saw a customer who ordered Black Lives Matter posters also receive All Lives Matter print.
The big wide format show Fespa Global has been moved again – this time to March next year, from its October date. It is also in a new location, swapping Madrid for Amsterdam, as the organisers battle with the impact of Covid-19.
The biggest story by far in the print industry in the last seven days by number of clicks is the Print21 report on Print Logistics being knocked back by the FWC in its bid to have a redundancy payment cut by 80 per cent.
Michael Hannan, chairman at print giant Ovato, has delivered a strong message calling for government support for manufacturing once JobKeeper expires at the end of September, warning that if nothing is forthcoming “absolute carnage” will follow.
Roland DG is launching the IU-1000F large format UV-LED flatbed printer in Australia, its first flatbed printer. It can print onto sizes up to 2.510 x 1310mm on a wide variety of substrates.
Canon Production Print is celebrating 1400 installs of its high-speed inkjet ColorStream digital print system, a fair number of which are in Australia.
Tainui Press Design & Print graphic designer and digital printer Vanessa Hooton has been named the New Zealand Print Industry Apprentice of the Year.
Logick Print & Graphics was effectively named best printer in New Zealand, winning the Pride in Print 2020 Supreme Award, for its Bee NZ Premium Packaging for Manuka Honey, entered in the Paper & Board Packaging category.
The B1 VariJet 106 inkjet press being developed by the Koenig & Bauer and Durst joint venture will be ready for beta testing by the end of the year, while its corrugated press has now finished beta.
Runaway Australian online graphic design success story Canva is seeing its valuation skyrocket, its latest fundraising round giving it a paper price tag of $8.6bn.
Konica Minolta will be supporting charity partner Breast Cancer Network Australia, by matching donations dollar for dollar, to help raise $55,000 during the 55 Hours of Giving campaign, which runs until 3pm on Friday.
Covid-19 has sent this year's Print Industry Creativity Awards online, with all state awards being live streamed tonight, at 8pm, via the PVCA Facebook page.
On what would have been the opening day of drupa Kodak has released a tranche of new technologies for offset printing and digital flexo printing with plates, platesetters and workflow solutions.
Esko and AVT Inspections Systems are officially integrating their operations in a move designed to incorporate automated quality inspection into the connected packaging and labelling value chains.
The world's first virtual print expo, the Australian Print, Sign, Display & Graphics Virtual Trade Show, has smashed expectations, with more than 5000 visits clocked since its launch just two weeks ago.
The most clicked story on the Print21 news website over the past seven days was our report of the print business that was robbed of $100,000 in the so-called CEO email scam.
All slots in the Currie Group Horizon by Appointment immersive experience, taking place next week at the company's NSW showroom, are booked out.
The Xeikon Cafe TV broadcast for Australia and New Zealand focused on the digitised production centre, with the live interactive event coming from Belgium.
Trade label printer Guru Labels is making its marketing collateral available to printers, to help them grow their label service in the Covid era with its high demand for labels.
Wide format solutions developer Roland DG is launching its first printer only TrueVis, the VF2-640, which it says takes printers into an “uncharted” colour gamut thanks to the addition of its new green ink.
The most clicked news story on the Print21 website over the past seven days is Soar Print winning the World Label Award, our report on the Auckland-based business taking out the award for Digital Labels – Wines & Spirits, its entry beating off gold winning competition from around the planet.
The main printing awards event in New Zealand will be an online event this year, as organisers decided against running the event that was initially scheduled for 8 May, but postponed in the Covid crisis.
Local printers are invited to join the global international standards for the graphics industry development process, writes Laurel Brunner.
The latest issue of the nation's biggest and best-read print industry magazine Print21 is arriving on the desks of print business owners and managers around Australia and New Zealand.
Soar Print has taken out the World Label Award best printing of Digital Labels – Wines & Spirits, its entry beating off gold winning competition from around the planet.
Mail Boxes Etc (MBE) Manuka is celebrating twenty-five years of ‘making business easier’ for the Canberra community; the long-standing MBE store opened its doors on 19 June 1995, with original franchise owners Arthur and Marilyn Gray still at the helm.
Manroland will launch a new version of its large format Roland 900 press in the next few weeks, based on the B1 R700 Evolution technology.
Spandex says car wrapping is now less costly, with its new ImagePerfect 2578PA 2D Wrap SuperGlide printable wrap film enabling single-person application of vehicle wraps.
Nascent digital technology developer Landa has a new CEO, as the company begins to ramp up its installation programme for the nanographic print technology.
Among the raft of new stimulus packages that came in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis is the $150,000 instant asset write-down. But it runs out in just four weeks, on 30 June.
Local newspaper the Canterbury Bankstown Torch is back in print following a seven-week shutdown that began when an ad sales rep contracted Covid-19, and just in time to celebrate its 100th anniversary next week.
Epson is allowing the virtual show attendees to view its latest range of solutions for signage, dye sublimation, direct-to-garment, and technical printers.
Lamson Paragon boss Rodney Frost will be among the CEOs sleeping outside for the night as part of the Vinnies CEO Sleepout, and he is encouraging other print bosses to do the same.
Print, processing, and converting giant Bobst is implementing a new customer experience strategy, which will see it focus on its own competence centres and eschew the traditional industry trade shows.
Esko has unveiled its Innovation Hub, an interactive always-on tool to enable the industry to explore the Esko 2020 portfolio of new and upgraded products in a virtual environment.
Chili publish is releasing Version 6 of Chili publisher, the software to simplify and automate graphics, which comes with new features that facilitate the online editing user experience and speed up what it says is the flawless production of on-brand visuals.
Imagination Graphics is back up and running, three months after the summer floods ravaged the premises, with the country's first Konica Minolta AccurioPress C14000 taking centre stage at the Marrickville business.
Nine has sold its former Fairfax NZ newspaper business Stuff for the princely sum of $1, and a Kiwi dollar at that, but is keeping its printing plant, which it will lease back to Stuff.
The Real Media Collective has gained a major win from AusPost, lobbying the mail monopoly to agree a relaxation of terms across Charity Mail, with Promo Post concessions next in the association's sights.
GJS has signed a deal with Schulze to begin distribution of its German-engineered, automatic pre-treatment solutions for direct-to-garment (DTG) digital textile printers, with two models available.
Sandra Duarte is the new CEO at Centrum Printing, saying she is proud to accept the high profile role at the large format, display and packaging printer, and says she will use the role to promote young women into print.
Personal videos of this year’s PrintNZ Apprentice of the Year Top 5, recorded while they were in lockdown, have been progressively uploaded to the association’s Facebook page this week.
Currie Group is the latest leading industry supplier to confirm its participation in Australia’s first virtual trade show for print, sign, display, and graphics, taking out the largest presence at the online show.
The CorruJet digital carton press from the joint venture between Koenig & Bauer and Durst has been voted the winner in the prestigious Drucker des Jahres (printer of the year) awards for the manufacturer category at Druck & Medien magazine in Germany.
Cactus Imaging took out an Honourable Mention in the OMA Big Bold and Bright quarterly awards for its Schweppes roadside job.
Perceptions that flexo is bad for the environment and produces grubby output are changing, and rising numbers of print buyers embrace this print method, writes print environmentalist Laurel Brunner.
Agfa saw its first quarter plate sales hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, and says the remaining quarters are also likely to see lower levels of production, while inkjet system hardware sales fell, but ink sales remained steady.
Innovative award-winning Sydney print business Carbon8 is using its technology and expertise to produce thousands of protective face visors for front-line workers.
Bob Gardner, one of the founding directors of pioneering Sydney company SOS Print + Media has passed away at his home in Perth following a long illness.
The Outdoor Media Association (OMA) has released its 2019 Annual Report, which reflects on the out of home industry’s achievements and contributions to Australian communities last year – the final one before the Covid crisis.
As Covid-19 restrictions begin to lift across Australia, printers are turning their attention to helping business get back into operations, with Cactus Imaging one of those looking forward, coming up with a Social Awareness Pack.
Focus Print Group CEO Mark Singh Shergill is finding a new way to release the tensions of running a business in the Covid era, taking up boxing – and fighting his way to a national title.
Currie Group is helping labels and packaging printers that use its HP Indigo presses up-skill their sales practices during the Covid downtime, through a series of small group webinars.
Digital inkjet solutions developer Durst is back in production, following the Italian government's introduction of Phase 2 of its lockdown.
Ravenwood Packaging is establishing a new subsidiary in Australia, appointing Sam Aloschi to be the company’s Asia-Pacific managing director. The UK-based packaging and labelling company specialises in linerless labels and pack inspection systems.
Press manufacturers Komori and KBA have both taken a hit from the effects of the virus, with both recording losses in the March quarter.
AB Graphic International (ABG) will provide Digicon Automation modules to deliver high-speed finishing in both nearline or inline configurations for the new high speed HP Indigo V12 Digital Press.
The Bring Back Print petition is gaining traction, as the Print and Visual Communications Association takes it to government and opposition figures, aiming to get them to take government and taxpayer funded print off Chinese presses and into Australian printshops.
The Australian launch of the new Konica Minolta AccurioPress C14000 digital colour cutsheet print system is taking place on Tuesday, in a live streamed event hosted by comedian Joel Ozborn.
Press giant Heidelberg is expanding its subscription model, which sees printers not pay for the press but rather the sheets they produce, to create four distinct contract packages.
The rush to buy supermarket products has seen demand for Jet Technologies' label and packaging materials for FMCG goods skyrocket by 500 per cent.
The latest drupa global Spotlight report says a survey of printers and suppliers revealed challenging conditions – and that was before the impact of the coronavirus.
Shrinking print volumes combined with the housing affordability crisis may send some printers to new areas, with one US company developing a 3D house printer.
Business insurance premiums are on the rise for printers, and the Print and Visual Communications Association (PVCA) wants to hear from you about it.
Print & Visual Communication Association is opening a mental health support line to help under-pressure printers receive support in these difficult days.
The Real Media Collective is hosting a series of webinars, Re-Build Together, aimed at helping printers to get back on their feet, and deal with various aspects of the coronavirus crisis. They will run throughout May and June.
Digital print solutions developer Durst is releasing the IP on the masks to its Rhotex users around the world, including those in Australia. It has been producing masks in its demo centre at its Italian headquarters, using its filter technology developed for its inkjet presses.
PVCA and virtually every other business grouping is backing the government's new downloadable CovidSafe app, which indicates when you have been in contact with an infected person, as a key tool to get the country working again.
Sign industry associations Asga and Fespa are running the first of their webinars tomorrow (Thursday). It will cover the JobKeeper allowance and associated topics.
Franchise print group Minuteman Press is launching a Covid-19 initiative aimed at engaging with the local business community, offering a free poster, and a free advert on its newly created Bounce Back website.
Procter & Gamble is launching an all-paper, plastic-free deodorant packaging for its Old Spice and Secret brands, as the pushback against plastic packaging grows.
Print environmentalist Laurel Brunner is calling on drupa to show its green colours during the 11 days of the mega show next April, to provide leadership to the global industry.
In this time of pandemic, printers such as Guru Labels are adapting to the shifting business environment and helping in the fight with the coronavirus at the same time.
Fujifilm Australia is moving into new headquarters in Macquarie Park, leaving its past digs on Old Pittwater Road in Brookvale, with the graphic arts division included in the move.
The one-year countdown to drupa is back on, with the reset show now slated to open its doors on April 20 next year, and the organiser saying virtual shows that are attempting to muscle into the gap don't cut the mustard.
Clarke Murphy Print has put its POS expertise to new use and come up with an innovative solution to a big problem for some who are self-isolating in this time of the Covid-19 pandemic: the new recyclable Build-a-Desk.
EFI is hosting a series of global live streams this evening and tomorrow, highlighting applications from its range of wide format printers with experts on hand to answer all questions.
The Print and Visual Communication Association is continuing through next week its popular series of webinars that outline advice for printing and packaging industry players.
Advance Press based in Perth was one of the winners of the Kodak Sonora Green Leaf, joining a record number of printers around the world in what is a growing recognition of green printing.
GSP Print, the company responsible for printing ads for leading out-of-home advertising company JCDecaux, is marking 50 years of operation.
Epson has established the Epson X Investment Corporation (EXI), a new CVC subsidiary to accelerate collaboration and open innovation, grow existing businesses, and create new ones, with ¥5bn ($72m) to invest.
PostNet Broadway in Sydney has become the first store from PostNet to join forces with MBE (Mail Boxes Etc), rebranding to become part of the larger more successful MBE network.
Len Lauer, CEO of innovative inkjet developer Memjet, has passed away unexpectedly at his home in California. He was 62 years old. Former Fuji Xerox Australia CEO Sunil Gupta is taking over the role.
The Print & Visual Communication Association (PVCA) is set to run webinars every day this week on the government's rent relief mandate, also covering the FWC's new edict. Today's webinar is oversubscribed already.
Foxcil, a leading Sydney label manufacturer to the print trade, has taken up the call by the Australian government to manufacture PPE, specifically face shields, and which are available to the trade.
Large format and display printer Coleman Group is using its new 3D Massivit printer to produce coronavirus visor masks to supply to various services.
PrintNZ has announced the Top 5 finalists in this year’s prestigious Apprentice of the Year Award, with each of the five now set to make an introductory video about themselves, as the awards ceremony has been cancelled.
The Print & Visual Communications Association is up in arms over taxpayer-funded print that is still going to China while Australian presses sit idle as a direct consequence of the coronavirus Covid-19.
With the Covid-19 virus impacting around the world Konica Minolta managing director Dr David Cooke will remain in his post past his scheduled departure date, until his replacement from Japan can make the journey down under.
Inkjet specialist Regis Thienard says we are at a clear tipping point for inkjet to become a dominant technology, and says its certain success is down to the nature of its process.
Sista Girl Sign & Print is launching today, with its co-founder Raquel Todd making it clear she has a determination to do great things for the Aboriginal community.
Demand for the $1500 assistance webinar run by PVCA yesterday was strong, causing the association to run it again today, with repeat sessions planned for next week.
The Real Media Collective is releasing its 28-page report it submitted to government this week, it provides key evidence that supports the paper, print, and mail industry as an “essential service supply-chain provider” during the coronavirus pandemic.
The largest magazine publisher in New Zealand, Bauer Media, is closing its business with immediate effect, following the government's refusal to undo its Covid-19 ban on magazine printing.
CPH Group is launching Blue Sky, a free, online resource centre that provides signwriters and the digital print industry with creative concepts, different thinking, and new potential target-market opportunities.
The PVCA is running a special webinar today (Thursday) which will focus entirely on the government's new $1500 employee wages assistance package.
The New Zealand government has banned the printing of non-daily newspapers and magazines, leaving print association PrintNZ “gobsmacked” with the decision, made as the country goes into lockdown in its attempt to thwart Covid-19.
The Real Media Collective has published research which shows that the coronavirus is unlikely to live long enough on mail to be transmitted, and which shows cardboard carries the virus for much less time than plastic packaging.
All Blue Star sites in New Zealand are now Toitū enviromark gold certified. The prestigious certification confirms that a business has developed a comprehensive plan to help it achieve its environmental goals.
Xerox has dropped its unsolicited US$35bn bid to buy HP, citing the coronavirus as the reason for pulling the pin on the strongly opposed takeover.
The mega-merger between the two biggest magazine publishers in the country may not go ahead after all, with Bauer reportedly looking to restructure the deal and slash the buy price.
The latest issue of the nation's best read print industry magazine Print21 is arriving on desks, delivering a host of rich content covering key issues in the ANZ print industry, with exclusive interviews, analysis and insight.
The public's enormous demand for hand sanitisers is causing a shortage of IPA press alcohol as dampening-solution providers find their alcohol suppliers switching to meet unprecedented need.
The packaging industry has been classified as an essential service by the US department of Homeland Security, while printers and packaging companies here are being urged to tell their MPs that their industry should likewise be classified as essential.
Print production kit from Australian Community Media and EPM Central Coast is up for auction, with the auction dates set for March 30 and April 15, on site and live streamed.
The HP board says the Xerox deal could be “disastrous” and is asking its shareholders to give the Xerox bid short shrift to enable the management team to focus on dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.
Aldus Graphics has appointed industry veteran Shaun Pullen as its general manager for South East Asia. He will be based in Malaysia to serve the whole region.
Nippon Paper Industries has received approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board to go ahead with the acquisition of Orora’s Australasian Fibre Business.
Packaging demand across the world reached US$917.1bn in 2019 and is expected to grow in the coming four years, according to the latest data from industry analyst Smithers.
The state PICAs will be presented online this year, with the dinner events scrapped, and the National Print Awards postponed, as the country battles the coronavirus pandemic.
The director of drupa Sabine Geldermann is on the front foot explaining why the print mega show had to be postponed, and why it has been rescheduled to next April.
The world’s premier wide-format expo, Fespa Global Print Expo 2020, will take place 6 - 8 October, but not everyone thinks the rescheduling for just six months time is such a smart move.
A free business seminar for small and medium sized business will be running this Friday, at which the organisers say, Australia's best business experts will be uniting to help SMEs conquer the Covid-19 crisis.
Iconic men's magazine Playboy is ceasing its US print edition with immediate effect, bringing to an end a near 70-year odyssey that reflected changing society across the decades.
Global and regional print trade shows organisers are scrambling to reschedule their events planned for for next year, all of which will be impacted by the rescheduling of drupa to April, including PacPrint.
New Zealand print business owners' association PrintNZ has issued a comprehensive guide for Kiwi companies to access support and assistance during the growing coronavirus crisis.
With print business owners and managers operating in a high-pressure environment, and now the coronavirus Covid-19 to contend with, mental health advocate Steve Gamble says there are simple steps we can all instigate to ensure we are well grounded.
Print environmentalist Laurel Brunner says the industry needs an overarching method for quantifying the carbon footprint of print media production systems, in order to highlight the remarkable sustainability strides made by print.
Print industry association PVCA is issuing members with business continuity guidance, which it says will enable printers to keep supplying jobs to their clients if their staff are sick with the virus and unable to work.
Pride in Print has been postponed, the New Zealand print awards night falling victim to the coronavirus scare which has seen gatherings of more than 500 people banned.
The Visual Impact Expo which was to be held at the Gold Coast at the end of April, has been postponed in light of the Federal Government’s response to the rapidly evolving coronavirus.
Melbourne-based Bambra Press has become the only Australian print business to be certified by the Arjowiggins Academy of Certified Printers.
Creative software solutions provider Workflowz is launching version 12 of the Elpical auto image software, which comes with auto enhancing, auto deep etch and auto tagging.
Australian supplier for the print, finishing, food packaging, and industrial manufacturing industries, Jet Technologies, has made the switch to renewable energy at its Sydney HQ, reducing its carbon footprint and slashing its energy consumption.
Printers need to get their skates on if they want their best work considered for State PICAs and National Print awards, with deadline day for entries today, and the first one free to members.
The Australia & New Zealand Photobook Award 2019 winners were announced at the opening night celebrations of the Photobook/NZ festival. The awards are sponsored by Sydney printer Momento Pro.
Finsbury Green has suspended its former Waratah executives Brett Chalmers and Stephen Kernahan over the World Vision corruption allegations, which claim Waratah Group paid a World Vision advisor $3000 a month for the contract, unbeknown to the charity.
Nine Media is reporting that collapsed Waratah Group was paying major charity World Vision's printing advisor a hidden $3000 a month kickback in return for its annual $2.5m printing contract.
Durst is ramping up the ink and parts it is sending its distributors around the world, including to the newly opened Durst Oceania, in order to be ready for any tightening of supply lines in the wake of the ongoing and unpredictable coronavirus outbreak.
Print shows around the world are being pulled as the coronavirus spreads, with expos in the US, UK, and Thailand the latest to be postponed, although a major Chinese sign show, slated for February but cancelled, has now been rescheduled for July.
Industry software developer Chili publish, known for its Smart Templates, has cancelled its presence at drupa on fears of the coronavirus, becoming the first company to do so.
Printing press manufacturing giant Koenig & Bauer is heading to the flagship trade fair of the print and media industry with a raft of digitalisation solutions, product innovations, and a completely new machine design.
Waratah Group businesses Embassy Print, MW Assets and Waratah Digital are officially in voluntary liquidation, four months after the group went under with debts of at least $12m.
A US research report showed that many American printers saw revenue growth last year and many are optimistic about prospects in 2020.
Konica Minolta is launching a new digital embellishing system, the MGI JV 3D One. It is targeted at commercial printers, and it enables them to bring embellishing in-house. General manager Sue Threlfo describes as 'perfect for our Aussie market'.
Australian Associated Press (AAP), the national news agency supplying stories to national and regional newspapers, is closing, unable to compete with the free information on the internet used by newspapers as they all struggle with costs.
Xerox has officially launched its hostile takeover bid for HP, asking HP shareholders to sell their stock at $24 a share, and giving them seven weeks to do so.
Plans for local trade show Visual Impact on the Gold Coast next month are progressing unabated, with organisers saying that the Covid-19 outbreak is not expected to prevent the industry’s largest sign and display expo opening as planned 30 April – 2 May.
Penrith Print Museum finds a safe haven for its overflow of printing exhibits with the industry’s largest paper merchant able to store the heritage items in Sydney, writes James Cryer.
Flexible packaging printer ePac has broken the production record on its fleet of HP Indigo 20000 digital presses operating around the world, pumping out 20 million impressions in January.
Australian company Aldus has acquired foilmaker API Foils Europe (excluding its Dutch and Asian subsidiaries), creating a new company, API Foilmakers.
The Gold Coast is proving a popular choice of venue for the first Visual Impact expo for 2020, with visitor pre-registrations for the show up 50 per cent on the last iteration of the event, the 2018 Brisbane show.
Techkon’s ChromaLT – a lite version of the Chroma software – is now available in Australia, from the local distributor of Techkon colour-measuring instruments, Colour Graphic Services.
Fujifilm is launching a new flatbed LED UV print system, the Vybrant UF10, which has been designed for printers looking for a cost-effective entry or capacity upgrade to flatbed printing with Fujifilm quality.
Currie Group label and packaging exec Wayne Quayle was among the 50 global distributors who went to the UK for a week-long training and workshop session with AB Graphic International, during which they were also privy to the new drupa releases.
Komori is acquiring the MBO Group, the German company specialising in post-press equipment, it will be "business as usual" in Australia and New Zealand.
The Real Media Collective is to sponsor the Cannes Young Lions Australia, Marketing category, which calls on young marketing professionals to develop campaigns that include print as a powerful marketing tool in the broader marketing mix.
PVCA CEO Andrew Macaulay says simple attention to hygene will help stop any spread of the deadly coronavirus in the workplace, based on his experience of Sars and the Bird Flu while working in Asia at the time.
The rapid growth of digital textile printing will see the drupa launch of Touchpoint Textile, a new special show for digital textile printing applications, in Hall 4 of June’s giant show, complete with micro digital textile factory.
The first Print21 magazine of the year is out and arriving on desks this week, with the bumper issue packed with compelling engaging content for the nation's print business owners and managers.
The team at Soar Print is supporting the Waste-Not Kitchen by printing their soup packaging for free.
Currie Group has a new special offer for print businesses looking to implement HP Indigo digital print technology, offering a bundled deal with a reconditioned HP Indigo 7r, and free Horizon creaser folder or perfecting binding system.
The industry’s media hub Print21 is growing, appointing a deputy editor, Ian Ackerman, to join the senior editorial team of editor Wayne Robinson, editor-at-large Patrick Howard, and publisher Lindy Hughson.
Digital wide format solutions supplier Roland DG Australia has announced the dates around the country for its rip software training course, VersaWorks: Beyond the Basics.
Several industry events in China, including Sign China 2020, have been postponed due to the outbreak of coronavirus in the country. The event was to be held from 24 – 26 February at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Centre.
The Head Above Water 24-hour Swimathon is returning to Sydney’s Northern Beaches, after raising more than $80,000 for mental health programmes at the inaugural 2019 event.
The drupa Cube forum for 2020 will include 40 sessions, including keynotes from star designer James Sommerville and digital transformation influencer Michael Gale.
Registrations are now open for Visual Impact Gold Coast 2020. The event will be held at the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre from 30 April to 2 May.
Mimaki is offering zero interest repayments on a range of printers including roll-to-roll, flatbed, and tabletop UV, available through Spicers.
Epson Australia is set to debut its first industrial direct-to-garment (DTG) printer, the SureColor F3060, in Melbourne next month.
Entries are now open for the 2020 Printing Industry Creativity Awards, which will culminate at the National Print Awards in July and incorporate a number of new categories.
The Australian Sign & Graphics Association (ASGA) and Fespa Australia have launched a conference for sign and display professionals, with the inaugural event to coincide with Visual Impact on the Gold Coast.
Melbourne print community The Papyrus Club is throwing its doors open as the venerable 60-year-old club seeks to welcome new members.
The battle for control of HP is in full flow, with a war of words between the HP and Xerox boards as they attempt to coalesce HP shareholders to their respective sides, but what does it mean for local printers?
The man behind the Xerox bid to buy HP, and the same man who blocked the Fujifilm bid to buy Fuji Xerox and then effectively sacked the Xerox board, is 83-year-old billionaire Carl Icahn – one of the kings of corporate raiders.
Gary Starkweather, the man who invented the laser printer, which then linked into the emerging desktop computers and enabled desktop publishing, wreaking havoc on the print industry, has passed away aged 81.
All the latest jobs in print are on the Print21 website, hit the button top right on the menu bar.
A successful entry into the Asian market for the rapidly growing HP Indigo packaging printer is a forerunner for an attack on the local flexible packaging sector.
Currie Group has won a global WorldStar 2020 Award for its industry-first #rhinosdownunder printed execution that featured on the PKN Packaging News magazine cover in March last year.
The iconic oOh! Media 400sqm billboard at Sydney Airport, known as The King for its giant size, has gone digital, the unmissable 400sqm billboard is now one of the largest digital airport advertising screens in the southern hemisphere.
The most clicked story in the print industry this week was Print21's report on the annual financial results of heatset print giant Ovato, which showed a $130m fall in sales, with the company now on collision course with the union over restructuring costs.
Mary is the pet name given to a direct-to-garment printer that not only kickstarted one man's entry into digital printing, but is also taking him on a growth journey and causing a stir in the Freemantle Markets of WA.
