The most clicked news story in the industry this week was the Print21 coverage of the fallout from the decision by grocer Coles to axe its seven million weekly printed catalogues.

Heiko Riecken from trade print operation Industrial Print Co has been named the NSW LIA Heidelberg Graduate of the Year, receiving his award on site at the Lithgow NSW factory in a special ceremony attended by industry leaders.

With company collapses at an all-time low, there are fears that JobKeeper, Covid commercial leasing rules, and creditor limitations, are opening the way to unscrupulous operators taking advantage of credit lines, and to unsustainable pricing pressures in print.

Press manufacturing giant Komori is launching a new series of what it says are self-learning sheetfed presses. The company says they have improvements from feeder to delivery and will use a robot to feed into folder and guillotine.

The world’s biggest press manufacturer Heidelberg has eased its debt and sold off a non-core asset, revealing its first quarter orders had taken a hit with Covid, but picked up in June and July.

The latest issue of Print21 is out, and in it Starleaton CEO Ben Eaton says printers can reinvent themselves as advanced manufacturers with their existing equipment, including the Zünd cutter the company supplies.

Well-known industry leader Rob Mesaros has joined Currie Group in the newly created position of strategic executive advisor, moving from HP, where he spent 15 years in a variety of senior executive roles.

Supermarket giant Coles is copping a widespread lashing for its decision to dump printed catalogues in favour of an online version, stopping Australia’s biggest print job, with critics hitting out at both the marketing and environmental rationales.

In a decision strongly welcomed by the business sector, a High Court judgement has come down in favour of employers in the case of personal leave and shift times, overturning last year's heavily criticised Federal Court ruling, which opponents said would have been devasting for businesses.

Digital print solutions developer Ricoh is refurbishing its showrooms around the country, with Melbourne and Sydney already completed, in order to accommodate its growing product range.

Roland DG is launching a new solution on its website designed to assist customers with creating high-demand Covid-19 related signage, including free-to-use downloadable ready made templates with images.

Ball & Doggett has released its new 2020 Graphics catalogue, an easy-to-use buyer’s guide for pressroom consumables, with a wider selection of products and technologies from the world’s leading manufacturers, all in one handy place.

Tasmanian Oyster Co has developed a new CO2-based laser etching process to etch a brand mark on shell, helping to identify and trace shellfish products across global markets.

Innovative garment print business Vicon is doubling the size of its floorspace, with a move from Sydney to Brisbane, and is investing $600,000 in additional print equipment as part of the move.

The latest issue of the print industry’s biggest trade magazine Print21 is being mailed and arriving on desks of print business owners and managers around Australia and New Zealand this week.

Screen GP Australia is launching the new Truepress Jet520HD mono,a specialised high speed continuous feed inkjet system for monochrome printing directly onto offset stocks.