Rob van den Braak
We have heard rumours for at least 10 years, but printing giant Heidelberg has now bought its top distributors from investor CoBe Capital. The price they had to pay for it has not been made public, but Heidelberg expects that this takeover will increase its turnover in supplies and services by 130 million Euros a year. Hartmann Spain, Macchingraf and Auxilia Italy, BTI-Hellas Greece and Grafimat Belgium, in short all members of the PSG Group are included in the mega deal which will completely change the landscape of suppliers country. The takeover will be a relief for the distributors´ customers as it will guarantee continuous service and supplies. The takeover also implies a clearer European price regime and hopefully lower prices.
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Twenty companies and the Centre of Expertise Biobased Economy will work together in the search for sustainable pigments which would be suitable for ink and other uses.
The parties are joining efforts in the KLAC (Colour Application Centre) at the Green Chemistry Campus in Bergen op Zoom. The Centre of Expertise Biobased Economy is a cooperation between the Avans college of higher education and the HZ University of Applied Sciences.
Dorien Derksen, lecturer at the Centre of Expertise Biobased Economy is head of research at the KLAC. Together with other researches, teachers and students of Avans and HZ she conducts research into obtaining and processing biobased pigments.
Examples are red pigments from corn, a black pigment from broad beans, yellow pigment from onion waste and plants and a blue pigment from algae. One of the challenges is to produce pigments which are suitable for ink, paint and bioplastics.
The initiative includes companies working in synthetic materials, coatings, leather, textiles, paper and cardboard. Many companies want to make their products greener and more sustainable, but lack the knowledge, materials or time to develop and test pigments. By bringing these parties together more focused research and development becomes possible. The KLAC experts are available to answer questions about materials and any other issues which help the companies. (bron: SignPro)
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The prayer book of duchess Maria van Gerle is one of the few medieval books which have been saved. The monk Helmich de Lewe made the book which is already 600 years old. It has 1200 pages and the velum pages have very detailed illustrations. Professor Johan Oosterman (historic Dutch literature at the Radboud University in Nijmegen) was able to hold the book for a while and saw that some of the pages are in very bad shape. The book is currently stored in the Staatsbibiliothek zu Berlin in Berlin. Oosterman is of the opinion that the book needs to be restored. The cost for that will be 150,000 euro, including research into the historical value of the book. Oosterman is now trying to get crowdfunding for 25,000 Euro to start the restoration. The research is also designed to show how the book was made and what kind of materials were used. If it all goes according to plan the book will eventually be exhibited at the Valkhof museum in Nijmegen.
Just as with 2D printing, the choice of media for 3D printing is enormous. And, just as with other print technologies, the materials influence cost, quality, colour, strength and usefulness of the printed objects.
Bridget Butler Millsaps visualized the current choices for 3Dprint.com. Useful tables give an insight in strength, flexibility and heat deflection of all materials. Follow this link for the article.
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Net als bij 2D print media is de keus aan materialen voor 3D printing gigantisch. En net als bij andere afdruktechnieken bepalen die materialen de kwaliteit, prijs, kleur, sterkte en gebruiksmogelijkheden van het geprinte object. Bridget Butler Millsaps bracht voor 3Dprint.com de huidige keus in beeld. In overzichtelijke tabellen krijg je inzicht in de sterkte, buigbaarheid en hittebestendigheid van een aantal materialen. Bekijk haar publicatie via deze link.
Het moet de nieuwste digitale hype worden, de Apple Watch, maar om de hype op gang te brengen zet Apple een vertrouwd en bewezen medium in, print advertenties. Maar liefst 12 advertentiepagina’s kocht het bedrijf in het superdikke maartnummer van de Amerikaanse Vogue. Daarmee maakt Apple van zijn Watch een ‘must have’ luxeproduct dat bovenaan de lijst van modebewuste consumenten moet komen te staan. Hoe Apple in Europa gaat adverteren is nog niet bekend, voor tijdschriftuitgevers en drukkers is het wel een opsteker, die terechte aandacht voor print.It is supposed to be the newest digital hype, the Apple Watch, but to start the hype Apple is using a trusted an proven medium, printed advertising. The company bought no less than 12 pages in the very big March edition of American Vogue. Apple hopes to make its Watch the ´must have´ luxury product for all fashion conscious consumers. How Apple intends to advertise in Europe is not known yet, but this is definitely a positive impulse for magazine publishers and printers.
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One of the most surprising announcements during the Hunkeler Innovation Days came from Xerox: the Rialto 900. The Rialto 900 is a narrow web production inkjet solution for companies who produce 1.5 to 5 million impressions a month. Especially interesting is the standard roll-to-cut sheet feed which lowers paper costs and enables continuous production. The Rialto 900 has the smallest footprint of all narrow web solutions, only 3.58×1.55 meters. With a width of 250 mm, a resolution of 1000×1000 dpi and the VHQ (very high quality) resolution the Rialto 900 is suitable for direct mail and book production. The Rialto 900 is the first machine which Xerox has produced together with Impika which was acquired two years ago and is available immediately.Een van de verassendste aankondigingen op de Hunkeler Innovatie dagen kwam van Xerox, de Rialto 900. De Rialto 900 is een smalle baan productie inkjet oplossing voor bedrijven die tussen de 1,5 en 5 miljoen afdrukken maken. Bijzonder aan de Rialto 900 is dat hij standaard geleverd wordt met rol naar vel invoer/uitvoer waardoor papierkosten verminderd worden en ‘continu’ productie mogelijk is. De Rialto 900 heeft ook de smalste ‘footprint’ van alle smalle baan persen, hij heeft slechts 3,58 x 1,55 meter vloeroppervlak nodig. Met een baanbreedte van 250 mm, een resolutie van 1.000 x 1.000 dpi en de VHQ, very high quality, beeldkwaliteit kan de Rialto ingezet worden voor full colour direct-mail en boekproductie. De Rialto 900 is de eerste machine die Xerox samen met zijn twee jaar geleden overgenomen dochterbedrijf Impika heeft ontwikkeld en is onmiddellijk leverbaar.
Ikea gaat lampen en meubels verkopen die ereaders, tablets en smartphones draadloos op kunnen laden. De devices moeten dan wel voldoen aan de Qi standaard die ondersteund wordt door bedrijven als Asus, HTC, Huawei, LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung en BlackBerry, helaas nog niet door Apple. Ikea gaat ook een Qi oplaadpad verkopen zodat je zelf een meubel kunt maken met een draadloos oplaadpunt. Ikea gaat eerst in Engeland de Qi lampen en tafeltjes verkopen, prijzen zullen starten rond de 40 euro. Lees meer over Qi op Wikipedia via deze link.
Ikea will sell lamps and furniture which will wirelessly charge e-readers, tablets and smartphones. The devices have to comply with the Qi standard. Companies such as Asus, HTC, etc. are Qi standardized. Unfortunately Apple isn´t yet. Ikea intends to sell a standalone Qi charge pad which will allow you to make your own furniture with a wireless charger. Ikea will start in the UK and prices will start at around 40 Euros. Read more about Qi on Wikipedia via this link.Lees verder....
De trainingen voor 2022 staan gereed. Kijk voor het volledige online aanbod van bestaande- en nieuwe trainingen op de website.
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