Appearing at its fourth Fespa, imaging giant Ricoh launched new roll to roll printers, a new UV flatbed printer, and a new direct to garment printer.

Océ has launched the Colorado 1650 roll-to-roll printer, expanding the application capabilities of its growing UVgel wide-format family.

Kornit CEO Ronen Samuel says four mega trends are converging for commercial printers to exploit with the range of Kornit textile printers, three of which were on show at Fespa.

Esko is launching two new hardware solutions at Fespa: the Motorised Roll Feeder for soft signage applications, and the Kongsberg C Edge, the upgradable digital cutting table.

Centre stage at Agfa is the Jeti Tauro H3300 LED hybrid printer, which is running with manual input and output tables at 450sqm an hour.

Abe Weiszberger, managing director of Stick on Signs, has signed a deal to bring the Dimense textured printer to Australia, with the Latvian manufactured machine expected to begin shipping at the turn of the year.

General manager at Cactus Imaging Keith Ferrel was one of the select number of presenters at the Fespa Theatre, and told his audience that diversification and automation were essential for business growth.

General manager of Mutoh Australia Russell Cavenagh says Fespa marks a new phase in the renowned Japanese engineering company, as it focuses on becoming a market driven operation.

Durst is moving to a new print platform, the P5, which includes hardware and software, plus a white label web-to-print textile solution that print businesses can use.

Swiss technology developer swissQprint has launched Karibu, its first roll-to-roll printer, which local supplier Phil Trumble of Pozitive says will provide flexibility and quality to print businesses.

Shown on the Roland stand is its latest technological innovation, the TrueVIS VG2 Series, which the company says is the next generation of printer/cutters.

Epson launched two new SureColor SC-S signage printers which come with bulk ink systems for high volume printing, and said it was going to OEM its PrecisionCore technology.

HP launched into the digital textile market at Fespa with the introduction of its HP Stitch S1000, a super wide dye sub production printer designed for high productivity and simplified operation.

The Print21 Aussie Kiwi Fespa Party is on in Munich tonight, with all Australians and Kiwis at the Fespa Global wide format trade show invited for a stein in the world's most famous pub, Munich's Hofbrauhaus, courtesy of sponsors Visual Connections and Starleaton.

Industry supplier Starleaton is focused on bringing end-to end solutions from Fespa for a range of applications to Australian printers.

Industry consolidation continues in Queensland with Cross & Hamilton Printers joining the growing Eckersley Print Group as its latest acquisition.