Future Links March 4th 2015
Today our news roundup from the printing industry covers Mimaki’s print with compassion campaign, Cimpress’ acquisition of Exagroup, art work created on Epson printers at the Royal Academy, Metromail’s investment in Canon technology, new funding for a 3D human tissue printing company, Heidelberg’s purchase of PSG and signs of healthy innovation in the packaging business.
Print with compassion campaign to benefit communities
Mimaki USA has launched “Print with Compassion,” a series of educational sessions and hands-on training using Mimaki products that will produce real-world objects and materials for use by local communities and organizations throughout the U.S. In the program, participants learn digital printing techniques. The stickers, posters and play mats they produce will benefit local daycare centers and other community-based institutions.
More at My Print Resource
Cimpress to acquire Exagroup for 102 million USD
Cimpress, formerly known as Vistapress, signed an agreement to buy 70 percent of the European web-to-print company Exagroup for 102 million USD. This acquisition will expand Cimpress’ operational platform and supply chain. The deal is expected to conclude in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2015, subject to antitrust approval.
More at Nasdaq
Artwork produced on Epson printers on display
The Royal Academy Schools, Great Britain’s most prestigious art school, exhibits new work by the artists at the interim point of their three-year postgraduate fine art studies. Several of the works on display were produced using Epson wide-format printers and projectors.
More at Graphic Repro
Metromail invests 9 million USD in Canon technology
As part of a major overhaul of its digital production environment, Metromail invested 6 million British pounds (about 9 million USD) in new equipment made by Canon. The investment follows a series of purchases of new Canon equipment to speed up operations and to increase Metromail’s efficiency.
More at Print Week
Japanese company raises 12 million USD to print human tissue
3D printing is believed to bring great progress to the medical field. The Japanese company Cyfuse Biomedical has raised 12 million USD to further develop their 3D printer for accurately producing synthetic 3D printed human tissue.
More at 3ders
Heidelberg’s acquisition of PSG to expand service and consumables
Heidelberg has signed an agreement with the investment company CoBe Capital to acquire Europe’s Printing Systems Group (PSG), a provider of print technology for industrial and commercial printers in Europe. This is in line with Heidelberg’s strategy, which stated as a medium-term goal that services and consumables should account for more than 50 percent of total group sales. The figure currently stands at around 40 percent.
More at Labels & Labeling
Innovation in the packaging business gains momentum
Several patents filed by brand owners shows a healthy rate of innovation in the packaging business. The patent applications filed by companies as diverse as Procter & Gamble, Kraft and L’Oreal range from a container for vitamin-fortified food to foamed bio-film.
More at Packaging Digest