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“Industry is facing a downturn of historic proportions, forward orders have collapsed, and yet the Federal Government won’t commit to spending our taxpayer money on buying Australian made to support Australian workers and businesses,” says Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) national secretary Paul Bastian. The union has joined the Print & Visual Communications Association (PVCA) In a campaign to pressure governments to buy Australian-made products. 

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Screen GP Australia has announced the global parent company’s plans to target the package printing field as a strategic business area and progressively strengthen its inkjet digital product line-up and solution development for this market.

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The manufacturer of digital printing solutions for textiles posted a Q1 2020 loss of $13 million due to COVID-19 but said it was “very well positioned to seize the market opportunity ahead of us.”

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User-generated messages of love and unity are being displayed on digital out-of-home (DOOH) screens worldwide, with social media amplification ensuring the messages are seen by millions at home. Outdoor company QMS Media is delivering messages to people in Melbourne via the Grand Visuals platform.

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Covid-19 has had a dramatic effect on many service providers to our industry, not the least David Crowther's Colour Graphics Services who help printers maintain ISO, G7 and other critical colour standards. He has been unable to travel into production sites and is giving limited assistance via phone and Zoom, but needs to clear some stock in a once-only below cost sale that ends on June 30th.

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HP Australia’s webinar titled Expand your Large Format Horizon with HP Latex will focus on unique water-based HP Latex inks and applications they deliver. The Zoom session will also look into thermal printhead technology. (Thursday 28 May 11am (AEST), 1pm NZ)

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Note: It has been pointed out that all of Adherettes' physical assets were sold off by liquidators Pitcher Partners in February, using Hilco APAC. The Port Melbourne premises are vacant and for lease, no manufacturing or staff exist there.

Good news is hard to find right now, so the news that the renowned Adherettes trading name has found a buyer in Joey Bacic's dynamic seven-year old OMG! group is a breath of fresh air and could be a sign of greater things to come.

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Epson will use its patented Dry Fibre technology, the same technology used in its PaperLab A-8000 system, to start producing face masks for its employees and medical institutions.

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Employer association Ai Group called for urgent legislative reform "to restore fairness" after a full bench of the Federal Court ruled that regular, ongoing casual workers may be entitled to paid annual leave. “The potential cost impacts on employers…for annual leave alone, are between $5.7 billion and $8 billion,” it said. The AMWU tweeted: “Huge win for workers.”

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Downloads will soon be available of a white paper prepared in the US by the International Sign Association (ISA) and Keypoint Intelligence, and sponsored by Avery Dennison and Roland DGA, titled Reaching Today’s Customers: A Guide for Wrap Shops.

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Fuji Xerox Australia, Visual Connections, Media Super, Ball & Doggett, Flint Group and Starleaton have all lined up to support The Re-Build Together Webinar Series produced by industry group The Real Media Collective (RMC). This week’s session looking at Mental Wellness - one of its most popular webinars to date - has been released by the RMC on Vimeo.

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Social distancing has become standard practice across the world in recent weeks and as businesses and public spaces reopen it's essential to provide guidance in the form of graphics says Drytac, the self-adhesive materials manufacturer for large format print and signage markets - distributed in Australia by Shann Digital Print Media (DPM).

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Visual Connections’ Virtual online trade show continues to expand its exhibitor list as the show’s opening on June 1^st draws near. The latest participants are Eurotech, Euro Poles and, on the largest ‘stand’ – Currie Group.

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Two thirds of Australian commercial printers expect an average drop in sales of 50% over the next six months compared to pre-COVID 19 sales, according to a new survey by industry adviser Ascent Partners. About 64% of companies intend to trade on and adjust staff levels to match sales, 9% say they will look for acquisitions, 10% will downsize, 12% will look to amalgamate, merge or collaborate, and none expect to close their doors.

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Konica Minolta saw a dive in sales of products and services as COVID-19 spread across the world in March but says overall profitability remained stronger than expected. The company revised its revenue forecast down 4.8% for the fiscal year, from ¥1,045 billion to ¥995 billion.  Its Professional Print business reported a significant decline in sales of digital printing equipment.

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“oOh!media’s Kindness campaign captured the COVID-19 zeitgeist,” said Charmaine Moldrich, CEO of the Outdoor Media Association (OMA), announcing the Q1 2020 Creative Collection competition awards. “oOh!media was quick to react in a time when people needed to be reminded to be kind and act with everyone’s best interest at heart.” oOh!media's wide format print business Cactus Imaging took home an Honourable Mention.

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Roland DG’s new website introduces many creative activities undertaken by Roland employees around the world, including Australia, to assist customers in continuing or restarting their businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. "The power of a single ‘Creative’ idea may be small but...is capable of unlocking immense power with infinite possibilities."

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As Xaar exits thin film printhead development, Meteor Inkjet, a supplier of electronics and software for industrial inkjet, has expanded its product portfolio by offering solutions for Epson’s new S1600 and S800 PrecisionCore printheads.

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Less than a year after acquiring Spicers, Japanese paper giant Kokusai Pulp and Paper (KPP) is on the acquisition trail again, having signed a binding option to purchase the majority control of Antalis, the France-headquartered global  paper, packaging and visual communications distributor with annual sales of around AUD$3.8 billion.

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Canon’s new UVgel Wallpaper Factory is a fully modular workflow solution consisting of a motorised Fotoba Jumbo Roll media loader (JRL) which is connected to the front of a Colorado large format roll-to-roll printer.

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“As far as the pandemic is concerned, we are convinced that people will still want to meet in person to exchange their products – and perhaps more so than ever after this crisis year,” says Heimtextil 2021 organiser Messe Frankfurt.  “Personal contacts are the best prerequisite for good, long-term business. Personal meetings and the experience of touch, especially in the field of textiles, will remain essential.”