Australian print companies won six categories at the 8th annual PIXI Awards, including Inkjet Printing, Digital and Offset Printing, Self-Promotion, Direct Marketing and Leaflets. Singapore’s iSuccess Digipress took the Best in Show prize.

Melbourne trade supplier expands to include ‘one-stop-shop’ finishing as part of a $million equipment investment upgrade. A new trade lamination service will start on Monday on the back of the installation of a Sagitta 76 laminating machine at the Mount Waverly plant, supplied by Neopost.

Australia’s largest independent finishing trade house Marvel Bookbinding has moved the entire hard case infrastructure from M&M Binders into its factory in Melbourne. The installation has been “extremely challenging” but Marvel’s new Hard Case Division is now operational.

HP has signed the biggest labels and packaging press deal in HP Indigo history with Rako-Group, a Europe-based label company. Rako has purchased two HP Indigo 20000 digital presses and nine HP Indigo WS6800 digital presses to build on its existing fleet of HP Indigos.

Leading Auckland print companies Soar Printing and CCL Communications Group have teamed up to target the expanding NZ print services market. Soar is purchasing the goodwill of CCL and will acquire key personnel, including CCL director Richard Davy. Five CCL workers will lose their jobs.

A revamped IPEX print trade show will return to Birmingham in 2017 after last year’s disappointing event in London, sparking a trade show war with the new Print Show currently running at the NEC. "Gerald Inchcape-Farquar-Harrharr-Brine!" raises some concerns about the move.

Australia Post has launched a new division focused on e-Commerce after blaming the collapse of mail services for its annual loss of $222m.

A new Epson SureColor SC-T7200 wide format printer has helped to lift business at long-standing Melbourne printer Dinkums Print & Design by 30% in just six months. “In printing, you’re only as good as your product and I wanted to make sure we had the best machinery," said owner John Wilson.

Outdoor media company oOH! Media has unveiled interactive advertising panels that combine multi-touch screens, gesture control, voice recognition, web-cams and audio. “The opportunities of how this can be used are limited only by the imagination,” said Brendon Cook, oOH! CEO.

Making solid metal and hardened steel rotary dies for the packaging industry is not easy. Neither is the manufacturing of flexible dies for label converting. Rebecca and Cain at RotoMetrics in Melbourne spoke with Print21 magazine.

Canon launched two new wide format printers it describes as the fastest digital 42’’ (1.06m) wide format colour printers on the market. The Océ ColorWave 810 and 910 succeed the ColorWave 900 and run at speeds up to 1,000sqm an hour, regardless of image complexity, ink coverage or media.

The ImagePerfect media range from Spandex has grown over an 18-year period of close dialogue with graphics producers, whose feedback and creative ideas are fundamental to the brand’s development. Print21 talks to ImagePerfect category manager Steve Jacques.

Packaging suppliers including Spicers, Jet Technologies, Colorpak and Orora have picked up early accolades in the Packaging Design Awards to be presented next month. The Packaging Council named the ‘Highly Commended’ winners as it announced finalists for the major awards.

The country’s largest paper mill says a policy backflip by the federal government could cost hundreds of jobs and threaten the future of its recycling plant in the Latrobe Valley. “We’re very surprised the government is walking away from its commitment to recycled paper."

HP Indigo has won the major innovation award at the Label Industry Awards at the close of Labelexpo 2015 in Brussels for its HP SmartStream Mosaic software. Over 500 guests gathered to find out which of the 17 finalist companies would be walking away with a coveted industry gong.

The printing industry has been too ready to see threats shimmering on the horizon, like some kind of spectre, intent on bringing about our total annihilation, says James Cryer. In an open letter to new PIAA CEO Jason Allen, Cryer outlines new directions the association may wish to explore.