Future Links October 16th
Here are our daily links with the most important news from the printing industry. Today they feature 3D printing functional and flexible structures, communication changes and their impact on printers, Saxoprint’s partnership with Pureprint, print advertising’s power, UK grocers turning waste into packaging, Label Academy’s expanded curriculum and researchers getting a step closer to 4D printing.
Cornell University prints soft structure similar to octopus muscles
Flexible filament has opened up a whole new field of 3D printing. Lifelike robotic structures are no longer impossible even though the research is still in its infancy. Researchers at Cornell University have successfully 3D printed a tentacle-like actuator that mimics the muscle properties of octopus tentacles, showing that a combination of flexible and functional is possible.
More at 3ders
Communication changes have big impact on printers
In a video, printing expert Jennifer Matt discusses the changes in ways that products and information is delivered and the impact this has on printers’ businesses. “The pay-per-page business model is outdated,” she states. This transition is impacting all aspects of the printers’ businesses.
More at What They Think
Saxoprint partners with UK-based Pureprint Group
After announcing that the company found a UK-based partner a few weeks ago, Saxoprint has now revealed that the partner is the Pureprint Group. The German web-to-print specialist Saxoprint chose Pureprint for fast turnaround digital print work and for its quality and environmental standards.
More at Print Week
Electrical contractors rely on print advertising
The effects of print advertising are usually hard to measure. This makes a survey among 833 subscribers to the publication Electrical Contractor especially useful. It shows how its print advertising drives purchasing decisions in a $131 billion industry. According to the survey, 93 % of subscribers regularly read its print publication. Of those, 80 % read at least three out of the past four issues. Almost half (45 %) said they purchased a product or service directly from an Electrical Contractor print ad over the past year.
More at Business Wire
UK grocery retailers turn waste into packaging
British grocery chains Tesco and Waitrose have launched upcyled packaging at their stores. Beginning this month, Tesco shoppers could get their groceries in recycled plastic bags made from back-of-store waste plastic, such as pallet and multi-pack wrapping. Recycling firm Eurokey is collecting and sorting Tesco’s plastic waste, and plastics recycler Papier-Mettier is processing it and turning it into single-use carrier bags.
More at Sustainable Brands
Label Academy expands its curriculum
To keep up with recent development and to respond to requests from the industry, two new self-study modules have been added to the Label Academy’s syllabus. ‘Label dispensing and application technology’ and ‘Codes and coding technology’ join the online learning program’s four existing modules for label and package printing industry training.
More at Labeling Blog
Researchers get a step closer to 4D printing
As 3D printing is taking off, 4D printing is also making advances. The next dimension in fabrication is really just 3D printing accentuated with the use of smart materials such as shape memory polymers (SMPs). Researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem are in the process of integrating SMPs into the flexible electronics field, using 3D printing.
More at 3D Print