The inimitable Currie mobile showroom fills its tanks as it enters the third leg of its epic technology road trip. After Albury's turn-out marked a great start to the tour, the truck pulled into the heart of Bendigo for another busy couple of days getting hands-on with the latest equipment.

Gumshoeing the halls and aisles of London’s ExCeL centre cunningly disguised as a city banker, the Ipex Investigator, or "II" for short, is on the case and relays the feel of Ipex after the end of the first day.

Japanese digital manufacturer cites level of commitment to the printing industry as the motive behind its major presence at the challenged IPEX show. Support for the industry as well as for its UK customers sees the company emerge as the largest exhibitor in the Excel space.

French-based digital graphic technology business opens new distribution channel to the local market after its Ferrostaal cooperation ends. Agfa Australia has already sent two of its engineers to France to be trained in the servicing of MGI’s digital printing, varnishing and finishing equipment.

Heidelberg bites back as Kodak walks away from its five-year exclusive plate partnership. Heidelberg claims the split has been on the cards for some time and points the finger at Kodak "product issues" losing business for the German offset press manufacturer.

Kodak runs the play, ending five-year Heidelberg plate deal to go direct. Local Kodak top brass Steve Venn reveals he made the call to cut ties with Heidelberg as a distributor to nail down a competitive edge for the business, as plate war gears up.

Heidelberg chops and changes plate supplier for the second time in five years. The German offset press manufacturer cools with Kodak and switches to rival graphics provider Fujifilm, leaving printers with a choice tipped to spark a plate price war.

Graphic display heavyweight Sumo Visual Group quadruples its turnarounds with its new HP Scitex FB 10000 industrial press. The Melbourne-based large-format specialist makes its latest investment to target the spike in short-run retail jobs and streamline the business.

Avid webinar fans will hear from leading trade broker Mark Smith, of National Credit Insurance brokers, in the next session. Smith will give printers the inside running on avoiding debt and managing credit exposure in an in-depth 30-minute presentation on Wednesday April 9.

Having settled chiefly on the east coast of Australia so far, production inkjet technology is now on the march further west. The latest installations of colour presses in Adelaide and Perth signal the next stage of the technology’s expansion to the furthest corners of the country.

Ad revenue for magazines and newspapers continues a steady double-digit decline. Despite recent vocal support for print from leading ad buyers, monthly results for February saw newspaper ad spend cut by nearly a quarter to $56 million while magazines dropped 15.2% to just $19.5 million.

Ferrostaal Australia completes install of Australia’s first inline Baumann Basa automatic jogging and cutting line, going in at Access Print Solutions. The streamlined ‘horseshoe’ configuration is set to more than double productivity for the Sydney-based commercial print shop.

Catalogue printers can expect Norske Skog to ‘meet the market price’ with its new domestically produced LWC stock, Vantage. Newsprint declines lead the Norwegian paper manufacturer to launch the first LWC to be produced in Australia since PaperlinX closed its Wesley Vale mill in 2010.

The iconic Currie mobile showroom is back on the road again, picking up the second leg of its cross-country tour after a successful two day stint in sunny downtown Albury. The Currie team hitches a trailer packed with the very latest technology, stopping off in Bendigo, Adelaide and Perth.

Anyone traveling to London this week for Ipex should follow the links if they want to rock along to the Aussie-Kiwi party, locked in for the evening of March 27. Get in quick because spots are limited, and once venue capacity is filled we can't take any more.

Everything you wanted to know about 3D Printing but were afraid to ask. In association with 3D Print pioneers Melissa Fuller and Grace Turtle of Three Farm, and JDA Print Recruit; Print21 will hold the first of a planned five-city series of seminars, "3D Printing - What's in it for me?"