Ipex is returning to Britain's capital city, opening its doors at the custom-built ExCeL International Exhibition & Convention Centre in London’s Docklands in March 2014. The return to London is adding up to be a welcome capital gain for exhibitors and visitors alike.

Businesses unlock faster turnarounds and greater control with the Epson SureColor T Series. The innovative Technical range brings A2 and A3 print marketing in-house to open up hidden business potential, with high-resolution large-format output made economical in an office environment.

With almost religious fervour, many in our industry believe that digital processes can accomplish anything…eventually. While digital’s track record in SRA3 sheetfed, wide format and labels is impressive; most attempts at breaking into the lucrative packaging sector have floundered; so far.

Fresh off its launch at LabelExpo a brand new Gidue M5 Excellence lands its first Australian install, touching down at Print Media Group in the new year. Boasting the latest advances in hands-free automation, the digital flexo press is touted to cover 95% of the PMS range with eight-colours.

Spandex rounded out 2013 by collecting HP’s Best Channel Partner of the Year award for its work as a reseller of the Latex L Series. Spandex has championed the technology in the Australian market, landing strong sales and winning praise for its work with the environmentally friendly HP Latex inks.

Swatch-books at the ready, global colour authority Pantone has unveiled its official colour of the year for 2014, a hue of purple named Radiant Orchid. Swatch number 18-3224 for the purists, Radiant Orchid spins the colour wheel a complete 180 away from 2013’s pick of Emerald green.

Strong print investment has helped boost Coles’ flybuys membership numbers by 47% and landed a win at the annual international Colloquy Loyalty Awards. Coles relaunched its loyalty program with a monumental print DM campaign reaching 17.3 million Australian households.

Label Makers is taking advantage of the generous hours of Perth sunshine – almost nine hours per day on average – by investing and installing a whopping 30kw photovoltaic solar power system on the roof of its factory in Karratha Street, Welshpool.

Book printing consolidation appears to have dealt a fatal blow to the venerable publishing industry production association as fewer professionals find the time to attend and contribute.

Reg Louden may be the oldest working printer in the world, and this Sunday 22nd December marks his 100th birthday. 100 years on and still working - raise the glasses, take to web, hit twitter, comment below and join the team at Print21 in wishing Reg Louden a very special happy birthday.

Women in Print ramps up for another series of business breakfasts, to run in March 2014. Now in its eighth year in Australia, this unique women’s-only industry forum will see a keynote address from renowned speaker and leading health commentator Dr Sally Cockburn, radio’s ‘Dr. Feelgood.’

We’ve all heard of the famous editorial, published way back in 1897 by the New York’s “Sun” newspaper, in response to a letter from a young girl, Virginia, doubting the existence of Santa Claus. Well, 116-odd years later, doubters and disbelievers still exist, about our very own printing industry.

Manufacturing in Australia is about to undergo the most significant upheaval since the 1940s. The announcement by GM Holden that it will stop making cars in Australia in 2017 is the latest in a series of blows to ‘traditional’ manufacturing that began with the 1980 exit of Chrysler.

Two new HP Indigo 7600s have cut out a niche in Blue Star’s Silverwater facility, with the high-speed digital engines driving business for the commercial printing giant. A $1.7 million investment for the business, capacity is already on the rise by up to 30% each month.

Richard Rasmussen continues his review of the year. In Part 2, he turns his attention to the major machinery that was reported as being installed or sold. This summary is by no means complete, but does provide a guide as to the volumes and type of machinery being sold.

There is more to improving productivity than simply running an engine faster. Reliability and continuous uptime can make all the difference. Paul McGarity is a convert to the improved performance of his new iGen4, not least because it gets him home earlier than expected.