Future Links December 8th 2014
Today our news roundup from the printing industry covers erasable paper that can be reused more that 20 times, HP’s partnership with Autodesk, a new printed biometric jersey, post offices in the UK that offer 3D printing services, a new food safe filament, car wrap workshops across the U.S. and an extended value proposition for label converters.
Promising prototype for erasable paper
Remember the dry erase boards you had as a kid? Imagine what it would be like to have paper, sheets of plastic film or glass that could be used over and over again. Scientists at the University of California at Riverdale have developed a special kind of material that can be reused more than 20 times. The paper requires a special printer that can print and erase the content.
More at Fast Company
HP announces 3D printing partnership with Autodesk
HP has announced a partnership with Autodesk to integrate Autodesk’s Spark Platform into HP’s Multi Jet Fusion 3D Printers that will be available in 2016. Spark is an open 3D printing software platform. HP aims at making it easier for users, manufacturers and developers to contribute to and benefit from the technology.
More at Juniper Research
Biometric jersey debuts at printed electronics conference
One of the new products that attracted a lot of attention at the Printed Electronics USA 2014 conference was a biometric smartwear jersey from Canada’s OMSignal. The jersey uses the biometric technology to track heart rate, breathing, activity intensity, calories burned and steps walked.
More at Printed Electronics
3D printing comes to UK post offices
Even though one of the scenarios for the future is an economy with distributed manufacturing in which every business owns its 3D printers, this is not the case yet. Instead, businesses offering 3D printing services are increasingly popular. The finished 3D printers are then shipped to the clients. In what seems a natural fit, the Royal Mail has now partnered with 3D printing specialist iMakr so that businesses and consumers can have their own designs produced at a central London delivery office.
More at The Telegraph
KeyTech introduces first food safe filament
PLA-filament has many advantages; durability and impact-resistance are, however, not among them. The Italian manufacturer KeyTech has now improved PLA so that it not only retains its original biodegradability and sustainability but is also more durable and heat resistant. To top it all off, the new PLA called PLA LAYER has been certified as food safe.
More at 3D Printing Industry
Car wrap training classes offered across the U.S.
Mutoh America, Inc., a leading manufacturer of wide-format inkjet printers and cutters, today announced its partnership with Avery Dennison to offer the Car Wrap Training Program in ten cities across the United States and Canada in 2015. The two day workshop will focus on the critical steps needed to improve the quality and speed of car wrap installations.
More at What They Think
Label converters to offer packaging solutions
At a conference session of the South China Labelexpo show, Ramon Lee, managing director of finishing systems specialist Brotech, told delegates to look at post-press equipment as an opportunity to transform themselves into packaging solutions providers. This may include RFID, QR code, or booklet functionality.
More at Labels & Labeling