The print community is reeling, as it mourns the passing of industry titan Geoff Selig, executive chairman of IVE, who has died while on holiday in Europe.

A new digital can printing business is up and running in Australia, with Rippl offering print runs as low as 480, the company outsourcing outsourcing its printing onto a new locally installed $6m German digital printing line.

The Visual Media Association has released a bulletin for members, which it says will enable them to easily understand supply contract issues. It comes with essential steps to ensure printers are clear in what they are signing up to with their suppliers.

Some 30 industry professionals with the LIA Victoria delved into the heart of IVE’s expansive catalogue and magazine plant in Sunshine, in an exclusive plant tour.

The volume of commercial inkjet print and the market value will grow by 50 per cent over the next five years, according to industry research analyst Smithers.

The amount spent on outdoor print fell again in the first quarter of the new year, as marketers continue to invest in digital outdoor media. However the rate of print's outdoor decline appears to be slowing significantly.

The Visual Media Association is rallying print business owners to engage in a critical initiative aimed at enhancing apprenticeship programmes, by completing an online survey.

Mackay-based BB Print has installed the first Horizon StitchLiner Mark IV in Queensland, supplied by Currie Group, as the company beefs up its service to the mining and general commercial sectors.

Phillip Rennell has joined Ball & Doggett, with a brief to show printers around the country new opportunities available to them, through the company’s growing equipment portfolio.

Peacock Group is to acquire insignia, a 55-year-old family-owned company specialising in labelling, coding and data capture solutions, with the deal set to go through on 31 May. It is the third acquisition for Peacock in the last two years, after AMR Hewitts and OJ Holdings.

The world’s biggest offset press manufacturer Heidelberg will have a new CEO, Jürgen Otto, as current incumbent Dr Ludwin Monz leaves after two years in the job.

In a new strategic partnership, Ball & Doggett will supply Kornit’s range of DTG print-on-demand digital fashion and textile production technologies to print businesses across Australia.

The Visual Media Association has released an Audiometric Testing Requirements Advisory for members, responding to confusion across the hearing test requirements for printers in different states.

The VMA says the prime minister’s new Future Made in Australia plan has nothing in it for print, and is one of many organisations questioning what appears to be a return to the protectionist policies of the past.

All stands for the Visual Impact Expo in Brisbane in July are now 100 per cent booked, with a full house of suppliers ready to showcase their latest equipment, systems and services.

The Print21 Australia and New Zealand drupa party, for printers in Dusseldorf for the big show, will take place in the middle of drupa, on Friday evening 31 May, with the multi award-winning Frankenheim brewery the location. Tickets are now available.