Print21+PKN’s LIVE industry forum in Sydney next month will showcase an advanced new augmented reality (AR) app from software innovator DreemAR that’s designed to add value to printing and packaging businesses by measuring ROI.

Former Fuji Xerox Printers Australia GM Tony Grima has been appointed the new sales director at OKI Data Australia, the local arm of the Japanese-based manufacturer of wide format printers, business printers and multi-function devices.

WA printer Scott Print revamped its prepress department with a new Screen PlateRite CtP device from Fujifilm that replaces two older machines and provides a boost in production.

Ball & Doggett has launched an innovative new website, following last year’s merger of two of the largest commercial print suppliers in Australia - K.W. Doggett and BJ Ball. A blog post on the site describes how design agency For The People created the new B&D brand.

The AMWU says the ‘devastating’ closures of Fairfax newspaper printing plants at Ormiston in Brisbane and Beresfield in Newcastle could be just the beginning, with the Fairfax site at North Richmond site next in the firing line.

Direct Paper, one of Australia's largest paper suppliers, has launched 'The Complete Packaging Solution' – a swatch kit with more than 50 paperboard samples to showcase its range of packaging grades.

Russell Cavenagh, general manager of Mutoh Australia, has welcomed Motoshi Suzuki as the new managing director. Suzuki comes across from Mutoh's Singapore office, where he has served as a director. He will assume the role of MD of Mutoh Australia as soon as he arrives.

The great and the good in the Australian printing industry turned out at Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art last night for an event showcasing the supplier's range of Accurio digital presses. Konica Minolta staff and clients came from across the country to see the latest Accurio technology.

Brisbane-based QLM Label Makers enters the garment label market in Cambodia with a new $A1.5 million purpose-built facility in the capital Phnom Penh. The factory will run Cambodia’s first HP Indigo Label Press.

The Federal Government has set up a new Phoenix Hotline for whistleblowers to combat increasing phoenix activity by dishonest directors and their companies.

Blue Star Group CEO Cliff Brigstocke will be the guest speaker at next month’s Lithographic Institute of Australia (LIA) site visit to Blue Star Display and Blue Star Promote at South Granville in Sydney.

Registration is open for the Flexible Packaging and Label Manufacturers' Association's (FPLMA) annual conference and awards, to be held in Melbourne from August 30-31. This year, the conference will focus on automation and integration across printing industries.

Fairfax Media and News Corp have announced a ‘landmark’ consolidation deal that will see the once-bitter rivals sharing each other’s printing networks in NSW and Queensland. Two Fairfax printing sites will close with the loss of at least 100 print jobs. 

Yaffa Media, publisher of the leading industry magazine, welcomes industry media veteran as he moves over to take the helm of the premier graphics arts publication and news service.

Prominent Sydney CBD printer Posh Printing has gone into voluntary administration and a creditors’ meeting has been called for next week.

Trade printer CMYKhub has opened a new digital and wide format production facility in Cairns, investing in two HP Indigo presses from Currie Group and two Mimaki printers from Spicers to serve its expanding Far North Queensland market.