The two largest printing companies in the region are set to become one following the buyout of the Hannan-family’s Independent Print Media Group (IPMG) by publicly listed PMP.

Heidelberg has reorganised its management board, appointing Rainer Hundsdörfer as its new CEO and Dr Ulrich Hermann as a regular member.

Ron Patterson, former Victorian state secretary of the PIAA, will return to the association following his election to the Board as representative for Victoria. Patterson won the Victorian seat at this year’s election, defeating Finsbury Green CEO Peter Orel 33 votes to 28.

In the latest round of industry consolidation, the Packaging Council has called an EGM next month so members can vote on a plan to join the PIAA. "The industry has changed and developed and we need to keep up to get the best value for our members," says PCA CEO David Carter (pictured).

There’s a photo studio out at Malvern in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs packed with the latest wide format technology from Epson. Part of a two-day event for printers and photographers, the Epson Large-Format Product Expo is the first of a nationwide tour.

HP has released four new 30-inch PageWide Web Presses powered by high definition nozzle technology that will produce high-quality colour prints for publishers. “It expands options for any company in the publishing space or commercial printing," says HP's Steve Donegal (pictured).

With Australians throwing away more than 18 million printer cartridges every year, Roland DG has launched a new Cartridge Recycle Program designed to reduce the company’s impact on the environment.

APN's $268 million purchase of the remaining 50 per cent of outdoor ad company Adshel will accelerate its push into the lucrative digital outdoor advertising market, with plans to convert another 1500 static printed panels to digital in the next three years.

Northern Beaches print and signage business Pivot Creative has established a base in Sydney’s inner west with the acquisition of 50-year-old Balmain Signs. Pivot MD Clayton Ockerby (pictured) says the move allows the company access to customers based closer to the city.

Small devices accounted for 96 percent of the digital printer import market in 2015-16, according to industry bible Pulp & Paper Edge. Large commercial digital printers, which weigh over 500kg, accounted for just 0.01 percent of devices imported in 2015-16 - slightly less than 600 in total.

Technology and commercial transformations of the market often catch printers on the wrong foot. For Kelvin Gage of Dominion Print, the demands of the marketplace and the advent of new technology are less warnings of what’s to come but rather signposts towards future success.

A Dame Edna impersonator will host this year’s annual WA PICAs held in Perth next month, where the dress theme will be 'Gold Logie'. Those interested in attending the long-running event have until this Friday to RSVP. Meanwhile, limited seats are still available for the Queensland PICAs.

International and local speakers from Landa Digital, Mark Andy and Currie Group have been lined up for the first Annual Conference & Print Awards Dinner of newly merged industry group the Flexible Packaging & Label Manufacturers Association (FPLMA), to be held in Melbourne next month.

“Industry support for the event is strong, with exhibition space filling fast and new sponsors coming on board. Currie Group and Pozitive Signs & Graphic Supplies have joined HP and Graphic Art Mart as Gold Sponsors while Spicers is now a Silver Sponsor, with EFI and Mimaki,” says Peter Harper, VisCon.

The EFI Midmarket Print Suite is a comprehensive portfolio of solutions with end-to-end certified workflows that provide out-of-the box value. "We are already able to process double the work with the same number of people."

Reports of substantial redundancies in Fuji Xerox Australia are coming in from all states as management makes ‘no comment.’