Future Links January 16th 2015
Here are our daily links with the most important news from the printing industry. Today they feature digital printing opportunities for challenger brands, Quad/Graphics plan to install more HP inkjet web presses, an increasing number of commercial printers offering signage, a partnership between 3D Systems and the National Institutes of Health, new substrates to enliven print campaigns, L’Oreal Americas and Avery Dennison’s attempts to reduce the environmental impact of labels and an Australian study on the effectiveness of catalogues.
Digital printing opens up opportunities for brands
Digital printing has a great impact on how brands interact with their customers. Personalization and cross-media integration are just two examples of successful campaigns that have been carried out with the help of digital printing technology. Innovation in digital print is offering a wealth of opportunity especially for the smaller, challenger brands. Due to the prohibitive cost of large print runs, the smaller brands are actually the ones leading the way.
More at The Dieline
Quad/Graphics to install 20 HP inkjet web presses
The U.S. print giant Quad/Graphics has announced a strategic investment plan that includes the installation of „20 or more“ HP inkjet web presses in the next three-years as it looks to transform its book printing capability. The new presses are part of a shift to a zero-inventory order-on-demand strategy.
More at Print Week
More commercial printers add signage to their services
Using wide format inkjet printers, commercial printers have expanded their services to include signage in recent years, a category that includes point-of-purchase signage, exhibition or trade show signage, banners, flags and backdrops, decals and wraparound signs, among others. In an opinion piece, ProPrint shows the synergies and advantages that this portfolio expansion offers.
More at ProPrint
3D Systems and National Institutes of Health form partnership
3D Systems and the National Institutes of Health have announced a partnership to advance medical innovations through the use of 3D printing. The demand for 3D printed medical devices is believed to be enormous with many opportunities for true innovations.
More at 3D Print
Creative use of substrates enlivens print campaigns
Digital printing technology has created new possibilities for print campaigns. An article on FESPA’s website details how the creative use of new or uncommon substrates such as linoleum and mirror boards can enrich a campaign.
More at FESPA
Avery Dennison and L’Oreal Americas to reduce environmental impact
The two companies are collaborating to identify and reduce the environmental impact of labels throughout their entire lifecycle. Their collaboration has already resulted in the Avery Dennison Greenprint assessment showing how thinner label materials can reduce environmental impact. By switching from Avery Dennison’s global co-extruded film product to global MDO, L’Oreal has reduced environmental impacts from 7 to 19% across the categories of fossil material, water use, energy use, GHG emissions and solid waste.
More at Labels & Labeling
Catalogues attract Australian shoppers
Research by Roy Morgan reveals that more than 10 million Australians aged 14 and older read at least one printed catalogue in an average week in the year to September 2014, with more than half buying a product as a result. Supermarket catalogues are particularly popular, with 8 million or 41 per cent of Australians looking at their catalogues for a bargain in an average week, with a 58 per cent strike rate in people who then go out and buy.
More at i-Grafix