Brother wins iF Design Award

Brother Industries, a parent company of Brother International South Africa, one of the leading global manufacturers of laser and inkjet printing devices, has won the “iF Design Award 2018” for four product categories. The iF Design Award 2018 received 6 401 entries from 54 countries and regions. This is the 11th consecutive year Brother has been named as an iF Design Award winner and has now received a total of 66 awards, including the 4 won this year.
Dale de Villiers, marketing manager at

Staff Writer, 14 May 2018

MEPCO receives award, declares higher profits

The Middle East Paper Co. (MEPCO), has been recognised by Great Place to Work in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The organisation’s research and management consulting firm assess award applicants from over 100 companies on a variety of parameters before choosing the company most deserving of the title in each market. MEPCO was shortlisted among the top 20 companies across all sectors, including SMEs and large corporates in the private sector, as well as public sector and non-profit companies.
Sami

Staff Writer, 18 April 2018

Danish packaging firm expands into the Middle East market

Field Advice, Scandinavia’s  supplier of food packaging, has recently signed a partnership agreement with Alpha Sky as part of its international expansion plans in the Middle East and to meet the increasing demand for environmental friendly disposable containers in the region.
Mark Remmy Sali, managing director of Field Advice, signed the Memorandum of understanding with Ayman Al Hilali, CEO of Alpha Sky,  in the presence of Denmark’s Minister of Environment and Food Esben Lunde Larsen.
Under the

Staff Writer, 18 April 2018

Trelleborg unveils Vulcan metal-back blanket for Middle East

Trelleborg’s printing solutions operation has announced the launch of a major addition to its range of metal-back offset blankets for newspaper printing with the introduction of Vulcan Metal Times for Middle East and Global market.
Talking about Middle East market, Matthias Horn, regional director for EMEA, Trelleborg, said, “With the new developed Vulcan Metal Times Trelleborg provides a new solution for high demanding Newspaper Printing in the Middle East region especially for all Manroland

Staff Writer, 15 March 2018

OKI Europe receives BLI Buyers Lab award at SGI

OKI Europe has received the 2018 pick award from BLI Buyers Lab for the ColorPainter M-64s printer during the SGI Dubai.
Talking about the award, Frank Janschke, senior manager, EMEA WFP product management, commented, “BLI is an unique body that checks on the demands of the end customer needs and based on the requirements they take several test on dimensional stability, print speed, colour gamete, pantone colour production, and many more. Earlier, the same M-64s has won the best innovative award

Staff Writer, 14 February 2018

Flexofit group holds three seminars in Africa

With three Flexofit seminars in Port Louis, Mauritius on 20th October, Johannesburg, South Africa on 24th and in Windhoek, Namibia on 27th October, Flexofit answered to an ever rising demand to professional education in the printing industry in Africa. The local expert audience in all three countries attended the seminars with industry speakers from international companies like Chespa, DuPont, Esko, tesa, Renzmann and Windmoeller & Hoelscher among others.
The first Flexofit Seminar took

Staff Writer, 11 January 2018

Naturepak invests more

Naturepak Beverage Packaging has moved to continue its success and business expansion by investing in additional Heidelberg Intro web-fed printing technology. Naturepak Beverage Packaging serves dairies, beverage and dry foods companies in the Greater Middle East, Africa and India Subcontinent from its two packaging plants in Damma, Saudi Arabia and Casablanca, Morocco.
The Casablanca plant was launched in 2011 as brand-new, state-of-the-art, greenfield operation encompassing the latest

Staff Writer, 11 January 2018

MEPCO highlights environmental sustainability thru 3 initiatives

Paper manufacturer, Middle East Paper Co. ‘MEPCO, highlights its commitment to economic sustainability through three operational initiatives - MEPCO recycles 70% of its water in the production process, use of captive power generation to reduce power usage and lower operational costs  and 90% of MEPCO’s raw materials are locally-sourced by WASCO, its wholly-owned integrated subsidiary.
Sami Safran, CEO MEPCO commented: “Our resource-efficient measures see our overall production costs reduced

Staff Writer, 19 December 2017

PartServe ties with Samsung

PartServe has been appointed as the authorised spare parts distributor for Samsung printers in South Africa. This is an extension of an existing agreement with Hewlett Packard prior to its acquisition of Samsung’s printing business.
Samsung printer spare parts will now be available to repair agents through PartServe’s carry-in centres countrywide. PartServe offers spare part distribution, centralised warranty services, remanufacturing services and outsourced repair capabilities for a large

Staff Writer, 19 December 2017

SGI Dubai to attract printing industry stakeholders from Africa

SGI Dubai to attract printing industry stakeholders from Africa. “We are eagerly waiting to welcome the trade visitors from Africa to our show as we have a huge turnaround from the Africa region each year. The African economy is poised to hit a new high and set to grow to the next level. As per our research, there is a tremendous demand for state-of-the-art printing equipment in the growing African markets. A focussed approach from the African print industry can consolidate the sector further

Staff Writer, 19 December 2017

Manipal International Press invests in Lombardi from Vinsak

Manipal International Press from Africa invests in Lombardi SYNCHROLINE 530 narrow web UV flexo press from Vinsak. It is a full servo multicolour press and can print on an extensive range of materials.

Talking about their investment, Pritam Choudhary, managing director at Manipal Africa, said, “We are moving to a new city and have invested in 10000 sq. meters. Printing plant as our production capacity has increased by 50%. As of now, we are having three Flexo and two gravure machines producing

Venkat Raghavan, 08 November 2017

Canon launches new printers in Africa

Canon, a manufacturers  of imaging and optical products, has launched its new range of Printer products onto the Ghanaian market.
The company introduced the new products in partnership with its Ghanaian distributor, Oman Fofor with a pledge to shore up its investments in Ghana.
At the unveiling of the new digital products in Accra, Amine Djouahra, the sales manager, Canon Central and North Africa, said the products with cutting-edge technologies were designed to add a whole new dimension to

Staff Writer, 16 October 2017

Amman Fair to have all books

The 17th Amman Interna-tional Book Fair will kick off on October 4 with a “specialised cultural programme”, Jordanian Publishers Union (JPU) Chairman Fathi Al Biss said at a press conference.
Biss said that the 10-day fair, which will host representatives from the United Arab Emirates as the guest of honour, will feature Amman as the 2017 capital of Islamic culture, under the patronage of his Majesty King Abdullah.
“The book fair is a cultural, educational, enlightening and professional event

Staff Writer, 16 October 2017

Afra International and Edale joins hands to offer better service

Afra International becomes the exclusive distributor of Edale for the Middle East region and Africa. Edale is a supplier based in UK for narrow-mid web flexographic and digital printing presses and converting equipment. Afra will be selling their FL3 for flexible packaging, FL-5 for carton as well as flexible packaging.
Talking about the partnership, Vinay Krishnan, general manager of Afra, said, “We have been looking up for a supplier like Edale and have been preparing us to offer better

Venkat Raghavan, 14 September 2017

Fespa opens up membership to non-association countries

Wide-format body Fespa has launched Fespa Direct, a new service that allows printers outside of its 37 association countries to access the benefits of membership.
The service, which costs €250 per year, was launched in June, shortly after its main Fespa expo in Hamburg and at the same time as the body launched a new website.
Fespa head of marketing Sarah Farrell said that the opportunity for individuals or companies to join Fespa from countries outside the Fespa network had existed for many years

Staff Writer, 30 August 2017

Printing SA and Konica Minolta’s skills development initiative

South Africa’s printing industry and Konica Minolta together brings skill development intiatives. Konica Minolta’s partnership with Printing SA began in 2014, when they both created and facilitated a comprehensive training programme for 20 female business owners. Showing their contribution to the industry, Konica Minolta recently employed Brian Chauke, one of the graduates from the Printing SA Commercial Digital Printing programme.
South Africa’s printing industry is working hard to help develop

Staff Writer, 16 August 2017

Lexmark’s print programme

Lexmark International’s print cartridge recycling programme ‘The Lexmark Cartridge Collection Programme (LCCP)’ has picked up speed in South Africa where over 60,000 cartridges have been collected and recycled over the past year. The programme is voluntary and enables Lexmark customers to contribute to an environmentally friendly initiative where all types of Lexmark print and toner cartridges are collected by the company for free for total recycling.
“The programme has been running for the past

Staff Writer, 16 August 2017

HP Inc. outlines plans to disrupt African markets

In 2015 HP’s separation into two entities, HP Inc. and HP Enterprise, heralded a new chapter in the company’s development. HP Inc. has used an 18-month reassessment period to define a marketing strategy for Africa that it believes will entrench its position and disrupt markets
According to the HP Inc. Q2 2017 earnings announcement, the company reported net revenue of US$12.4 billion, up 7% from the prior-year period, with the EMEA region contributing 34% of net revenue.
HP Inc. has offices in

Staff Writer, 13 July 2017

Colourtech becomes the first in Africa to get Screen Jet520 HD

Bapsfontein-based Colourtech Design & Print is the first company in Africa to purchase the latest technology in inkjet web printing with the installation of the Screen Jet520 HD. The company uses the press in combination with an Ibis book-on-demand machine and Hunkeler cut-sheet line, all purchased from Ipex Machinery, to process a range of educational and publishing materials.
Sonja Groenewald, Colourtech CEO, first saw the Screen Jet520 HD at drupa in 2016, and made a site visit to

Staff Writer, 18 June 2017

Xerox opened branch in Zambia

DIGIprint, the exclusive Xerox distributor in Zambia, has opened the first Xerox Showroom and Service Centre in Zambia. The initiative is supported by Bytes Document Solutions (BDS), the authorised Xerox   distributor in 26 sub-Saharan      countries and apart of the Telecommunications, Multi-Media and Information Technology (TMT) organisation of Altron, the parent holding company. The new centre, officially presented by Yese Bwalya, director of communications, further positions Xerox as the

Staff Writer, 18 June 2017

SE Litho expands digital service with Xerox Versant 2100

SE Litho has expanded its digital printing services with the purchase of a new Xerox Versant 2100 digital press from Digilogix and Bytes Document Solutions.
 SE Litho’s Andrew Armstrong says the printing market has evolved to the point where designers are no longer interested in the limitations of litho printing and expect equal or better printed products from their digital suppliers.
 “When we first entered the digital printing market a few years ago – also with a Xerox machine – litho printing

Staff Writer, 16 May 2017

Organisers join hands in Iran

Organiser of leading international trade fairs for the printing and packaging industries,  Messe Düsseldorf  will extend its portfolio to include a promising event in the Middle East: IPAP Tehran powered by drupa will be held for the first time from 12-15th October 2017 at Iran Shahr-e-Aftab (Exhibiran International).
Staged in cooperation with the Iranian organiser BRP, the trade fair targets all suppliers along the entire value chain for printing technologies from the segments of

Staff Writer, 16 May 2017

Konica Minolta SA moves into label and packaging market

Konica Minolta South Africa, a division of Bidvest Office, has announced that it is breaking into the local label and packaging industry.
“The world of labels is one of the most rapidly growing and fastest changing sectors in the entire printing industry, returning above GDP growth year-on-year for at least the past 30 years,” states Leon Minnie, manager: production print solutions at Konica Minolta South Africa.
“We’ve found that most of this growth has come from self-adhesive (or

Staff Writer, 20 April 2017

Asset Print with Xerox

Asset Print, one of Cape Town’s established full-service print shops, has opened the doors of its second premises in the city’s southern suburb of Rondebosch. Built around the quality and volume capabilities of the company’s all-new Xerox Versant 80 Press, Asset Print Rondebosch has taken the same blueprint that made its original CBD store so successful and reproduced it on a smaller but equally effective scale in the heart of the city’s university district.  
Asset Print founder, director and

Staff Writer, 20 April 2017

Konica Minolta exhibits versatile printing at Expo

Africa Print expo platinum sponsor, Konica Minolta South Africa, exhibited its production range at the East London expo, which took place on 15th February at the East London ICC.
    The bizhub Pro & Press C1060/C1070 are aimed at print providers in a light- to-medium-level production environment, as each provides an easy transition into the digital print field, offering in-line finishing, precise colour consistency and image quality, alongside high media flexibility. The bizhub Press C1100

Staff Writer, 15 March 2017

Canon launches campaign

Canon has announced that it has launched a ‘Celebrate Africa’ campaign through an online competition where Canon is encouraging people from across the continent to submit images captured by them under any of the three categories: People of Africa, Africa’s Citylife or Africa’s Landscape and Wildlife.
More details can be found at www.Picfair.com/CelebrateAfrica.  The competition will run from February 7, 2017 till April 15, 2017 and has a range of prizes to be won by those who send the most

Staff Writer, 15 March 2017

Canon ‘Room to Read’ books reach African schoolchildren

The first books printed by Canon as part of the Room to Read literacy programme have reached school children in South Africa. 3,300 books have been delivered to 176 schools across South Africa as part of the Room to Read literacy programme, in partnership with Canon.
Canon began working with Room to Read and German-based publisher Goloseo, who initiaited the scheme at Drupa, in a bid to eliminate waste from print samples at trade shows. Canon sustainability director Stuart Poore said: “We are

Staff Writer, 16 February 2017

Academy Press invests $ 636000 in 6-colour Concepta from MM

Lagos based Academy Press has invested N 2b (approx. USD 636,000) in upgrading and modernising its press. The 51-year old print shop purchased a  a six colour press, Concepta from Muller Martini,  with output of 40,000 impressions per hour, and the Dimuken hologram applicator machine for applying hologram seal and hot foil stamping for security print and other sensitive documents, reported The Nation.
The Minister of Infor-mation and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed commissioned the state-of-the-art

Staff Writer, 16 January 2017

FESPA Africa, Sign Africa report good attendance

The FESPA Africa and Sign Africa Expo  reported satisfactory visitor turnout with 5592 unique visitors from South Africa and international countries, 941 return visitors and 6533 total visits to the expo. Eighty-two percent of visitors were owners or senior management and 79% are involved in decision making  claimed the organisers.
 The top 10 countries from Africa, outside of South Africa included: Botswana, Zambia, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Kenya and Nigeria

Staff Writer, 22 December 2016

Digital Packaging buys digital press from HP

Kenya-based packaging provider, Digital Packaging Innovations Ltd (DPI), has purchased an HP Indigo 20000 Digital Press, marking the first purchase of this press in the African continent.
The installation is set to be completed in late 2016, and as the company’s first digital press, will allow DPI to enter entirely new markets.
“As leaders in the field, HP became the obvious partner for us to promote digital growth and disrupt the African print market,” commented Kunal Chandaria, sales

Staff Writer, 14 November 2016