Former Waratahs CEO Jason Allen will replace Bill Healey as CEO of Printing Industries, effective 20 July 2015. Healey, who is retiring after four years in the job, said Allen’s background would complement the board’s vision for the future of the association.

Heidelberg says its new partnership with Chinese manufacturer Masterwork Machinery (MK) is part of a plan to extend its reach into the folding carton market. Heidelberg dismissed suggestions it might be ‘diluting its brand image’ by allying with an Asian manufacturer.

Blue Star is pressing ahead with its aggressive expansion strategy in the wake of last month’s cancelled ASX float by parent company IVE Group and has signed a Heads of Agreement deal to acquire leading Sydney digital and sheetfed printer Oxygen.

Looks count and first impressions matter. It will probably be a spot color, a distinctive font, or the artful application of a metallic ink on the exterior of the pack that initiates the relationship between a brand and a consumer, says industry analyst Des King, in the latest expert article from drupa.

Fairfax has sold its former newspaper printing plants in Sydney and Melbourne to property fund manager Charter Hall Group in a deal worth $55 million. The deal reflects 'a strategy to pull back from print as the main distribution platform for the company’s papers,' according to a newspaper report.

Sydney printer Innovative Print Solutions has bucked the shift to digital by ordering a new Heidelberg XL 75 six-colour offset press to compliment its digital and wide format work. "It is going against the current industry trend somewhat but there’s a huge amount of offset work out there."

Digital readership of Australian newspapers has exploded over the past year with more than 450,000 additional readers, according to a new survey. Mobile readership is heaviest among people aged 25-39, with 38% consuming newspaper content on their mobile in the last four weeks.

Xerox has unveiled the iGen5 colour press, its latest digital colour cutsheet press that features an expanded colour gamut with an optional fifth colour. The machine is the first in the iGen range to offer a fifth colour option alongside CMYK. The optional fifth colours are orange, green or blue dry ink.

Mimaki and Esko have teamed up in a joint project to simplify digital packaging production for converters and commercial printers. The Original Good Package System aims to streamline digital packaging production for samples, small packing runs and personalised packaging goods.

Patrick Howard is in Israel attending a HP customer event where over 300 customers, partners, journalists and analysts have gathered to learn about the company’s future plans.

Printers should focus on managing energy to cut their power bills, according to experts from leading business services company, Ernst & Young (EY). Speakers from EY will feature in a Printing Industries webinar next week that examines exactly how printers can cut their energy costs.

Nominations have opened for this year’s Tasmanian Apprentice & Young Executive of the Year Awards. Printers in Tasmania are being encouraged to nominate their best young apprentices for the Media Super-sponsored awards that that are being held in conjunction with the Diemen Awards.

Patrick Howard is in Israel attending a HP customer event where over 300 customers, partners, journalists and analysts have gathered to learn about the company’s future plans.

EFI has targeted the booming textile printing market with a $140m acquisition of Italian industrial inkjet provider Reggiani Macchine. "The acquisition gives EFI an immediate leadership position in one of the world's largest industries undergoing the transformation from analog to digital."

The Pacific Area Newspaper Publishers' Association has named the finalists for its Advertising and Marketing Awards, with Fairfax and News Corp titles dominating the list. “The Awards allow us to recognise the outstanding work that is reshaping how the newspaper industry markets and sells itself."