News

Fespa Digital 2014, which will be held in Munich next May, is already almost 5% bigger than the last Fespa Digital event, held in Barcelona in 2012. Nearly a third of exhibitors are set to increase the size of their stand compared to that event, and 23% of contracted exhibitors are newcomers to Fespa.

Chime Communications company Icon has been named the official provider of look, wayfinding and signage services for next summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow. Icon, which becomes a sponsor of the games, will be responsible for dressing all the venues - in the host city and beyond - with a distinctive Glasgow 2014 design. As such it has already begun its search for Scotland-based manufacturing and crewing companies to help it deliver.

Roland DG UK has started a wide-format machine rental programme. The idea is to help SMEs, start-ups and other businesses to move into the wide-format arena by renting a Roland printer or printer/cutter for a one, two or three year period, without the need for up-front investment or financing. Available to rent are some of Roland’s most popular machines, including the VersaCamm SP-I, new VS-i series of printer/cutters, the VersaArt RE-640 and also the recently launched VersaUV LEF-20.

Online sales operation Plot-It has added HP’s new Designjet Z5400 to its product portfolio.

The first IdeAlliance Europe Symposium ‘Future of Printing: New ISO Printing Standards’ will take place in Lyon, France on 4 November.

Esko has put a Kongsberg XP Auto digital cutting table into HP’s demo centre in Barcelona where it will run alongside the HP Scitex FB10000 Industrial Press to show those in the corrugated packaging sector an efficient end-to-end workflow.

Sappi Fine Paper Europe will raise its SBS board prices by 75 Euro per ton on 15 November. It blames the “continuous and sustained increases in costs of raw materials.”

The Sign and Digital UK show website is now live. The new website (www.signanddigitaluk.com) has direct links through to the latest show news and features, and includes a list of the 70 plus exhibitors already booked for the vent which takes place at the NEC, 29 April to 1 May next year.

Hollanders is now shipping the ColorBooster DS-320, a 3.2m-wide machine that prints simultaneously onto both sides of the media with either the same or a different image. The system incorporates two print engines and an integrated fixation unit, and is designed for industrial-level production in 24/7 working environments where unattended operation is desired. In duplex mode throughput speeds of up to 72m2/hour are quoted.

Colourgen has promoted Piotr Tumilowicz to the role of senior field service engineer.

HP has brought out the Designjet T2500 eMFP that can print up to up to A0 size (1189 x 841mm). The device, which scans, prints and copies, is aimed at architects, engineers, construction (AEC) and geographic information system (GIS) firms, as well as government agencies. It features HP Designjet ePrint & Share, a web service that makes it easy to access, view and print large-format documents using an android or Apple tablet, a smartphone, a notebook or an ePrinter touch screen.

Mimaki is to target those involved in the digital manufacturing of plastic and rubber products at K 2013, an international trade fair for plastics and rubber. At the event, which takes place in Dusseldorf on 16-23 October, the company will unveil the PrintRobo, a LED UV-curable printing system that prints up to 1,800dpi in full colour (with a minimum 4 picolitre drop size) and on materials up to 150mm in thickness.

Ipex 2014 will include Future Innovations zones that showcase examples of printed products and technologies that are set for rapid expansion over the next few years; photo products, digital print on packaging, 3D printing and printable electronics have been earmarked.

Patrick Martell, CEO of St Ives Group and the president of Ipex 2014, has provided the following overview on how he sees print and the role it will continue to play in the world of marketing in an omni-channel environment: