Future Links February 1st
Today our news roundup from the printing industry covers Xerox’ plans to split into two companies, the Body Shop’s announcement to reduce oil-based plastic packaging, the impact of 3D printing on people’s lives, a new metal printer using filament rather than powder, the growing newspaper industry in India, smart packaging’s cybersecurity risks and new on the drupa blog: Printed nanowalls for better touchscreens.
Xerox to split into two companies
Xerox plans to split into two separate businesses, with one focusing on its production printing and the other on housing services. The transaction is expected to be complete by the end of the year. Xerox also announced a three-year restructuring program expected to save 2.4 billion USD. Since a strategic review last year, billionaire US investor Carl Icahn had revealed that he has taken an 8.1 percent stake in Xerox, making him its second-largest shareholder.
More at FESPA
The Body Shop plans to turn greenhouse gases into plastic packaging
It sounds too good to be true but Newlight Technologies, a company in Costa Mesa, California, has found a way to make plastic virtually out of thin air. The company uses capture technology to produce high-performance thermoplastics, known as ‘AirCarbon’, from methane and carbon dioxide. The Body Shop plans to use AirCarbon in its packaging as part of a wider plan to reduce the use of oil-based plastic packaging by 70 % by 2020.
More at Metro
Neri Oxman says 3D printing will usher a new age for humanity
The renown architect and designer Neri Oxman has outlined her vision of the future in her essay at the World Economic Forum in Davos. By using modern technology like 3D printing in our digital age, Oxman believes a fourth industrial revolution, what she calls the biological age, is fast approaching. She envisions a world in which the intersection of 3D printing and synthetic biology will start to yield some striking creations: photosynthetic building façades that convert carbon into biofuel, wearable microbiomes and 3D-printed contraptions for repairing damaged tissue.
More at 3ders
New metal printer uses filament rather than powder
Most 3D metal printers use the process of laser sintering to create solid objects out of metal powders. Now, a Chinese manufacturer is working with Florida-based 3D Makerjet to create an as-yet unnamed printer that will print metal from extruded filament rather than powder. Not much detail has been released at this time, but the printer will use wire-like metal alloy filament, such as copper, that will be fed into the printer and extruded like a resin filament would be.
More at 3D Print
Newspaper circulation is growing in India
A recent study from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry suggested that the value of the Indian newspaper industry has grown considerably in the past six years, according to consultancy EY. In 2005, the total industry was worth 2.64 billion USD, the figure rose to 4.37 billion USD in 2010.
More at Forbes
FDA: Smart packaging may pose cybersecurity risks
Smart packaging is a major trend in the packaging industry. It is useful and can improve consumer experiences and product safety. Yet it comes with a variety of risks, according to a recent report by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Medical device cybersecurity has been identified as a potential concern by FDA. In an expert interview, Ali Youssef, Senior Clinical Mobile Solutions Architect at Henry Ford Health, shares his perspective on the issue.
More at Packaging Digest
New on the drupa blog: Printed nanowalls for better touchscreens
The areas of digital inkjet printing, 3D printing and printed electronics are increasingly overlapping. Case in point: A novel nanoprinting process developed by researchers at the ETH Zurich. The team of scientists managed to print a new class of transparent, highly conductive electrodes for use in sensitive touchscreens.
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