The Lithographic Institute of Australia (LIA) has invited members and non-members to a site tour later this month of the Fairfax plant at North Richmond, one of the most modern newspaper and commercial print plants in Australia. The tour will include Prepress, Press and Post Press production areas.

Environmental legislation that applies to printing companies is working hard to keep the world a safe and pleasant place. But some laws seem to be working hard to slow business down, distracting us from the daily grind of generating revenue, producing goods and providing services.

As the deadline issued to the PIAA for today looms nearer, Andy McCourt calls on the Board to resign and hold elections. The Association has not indicated its response or course of action yet. The industry waits for the next move. (The opinions expressed in this article are those of its author and not necessarily those of the publishers of Print21).

Australia’ first manroland eight-colour ROLAND 700 Evolution sheetfed press with coater will be up and running at Labelmakers’ Victorian plant later this year. Founded in 1987 Labelmakers is the largest label manufacturer in Australasia.

Circa $5.0 million turnover. GP: $3 million. A2/A3 digital work. Goodwill includes trading name, client list, web site, contact details, smooth transfer of clients / files. Owner willing and wanting to assist. Good steady client base that has and is still providing very good returns. Sell Price: $900,000.

Labelmakers will have Australia’s first manroland eight-colour Roland 700 Evolution sheetfed press with coater up and running in Melbourne later this year. "This technology needs to perform at a different level than previously required to adapt to the evolving Australasian market," said Paul O'Sullivan, MD, Labelmakers.

Signarama has thrown its support behind the NSW government’s first free Pre-Apprenticeship Course at the Sydney TAFE in Ultimo. Up to 20 spots are available, free of charge to students, and the course includes five weeks of training and one week of work experience in a Signarama store.

An online auction has sold off the complete catalogue of assets from failed Canberra printer Paragon, which collapsed in December owing $3 million and leaving more than 50 staff out of work. Heavy demand was reported from both local and international buyers.

The regular deadline has now closed for New Zealand’s 2016 Pride In Print Awards but entrants still have until an extended deadline of 29 February to submit their work. This year’s event features a revised structure more closely aligned to the print-buying community.

Angry Queensland printers are leading the charge of frustrated Printing Industries members in demanding immediate termination of CEO Jason Allen's employment, a temporary halt to all Association operations and re-employment of some former staff, otherwise they will call for a Special General Meeting to vote no confidence in the Board.

BJ Ball’s Ross Black has been named the new president of the PIAA board following last week’s shock resignation of former head David Leach. The revamped board includes a new president, deputy and honorary secretary and shifts the board’s power balance away from Sydney.

Schawk Australia has hired six prepress experts and installed a new Epson wide format printer to oversee the packaging and graphic requirements for its newly equipped onsite facility at Woolworth’s Sydney headquarters. The retailer is already a major client of Schawk’s parent, SGK Australia.

Organisers have extended the closing date for entries in this year’s Media Super National Print Awards until tomorrow. There’s no time to lose, so check the information on how to enter, including category details and judges tips.

Roland DG Australia has donated a state-of-the-art Soljet Pro4 XR-640 printer cutter to the signage department at TAFE Illawarra. The XR-640 will be used in conjunction with the department’s VS-640 printer cutter that was donated by Roland DG five years ago.

Early adoptor Picton Press, the first printer in Australia to implement EFI PACE MIS, says the software is now crucial to its operation. “Pretty much nothing happens in the business now without EFI PACE being involved,” said data manager Brad Hall.

It’s been about a month since the COP 21 meeting in Paris came to a close and what happens next matters almost more than the agreement itself, but do we know what to expect? And will it make much difference to the printing and publishing industries? Laurel Brunner reports.