Papermaking giant UPM and the Paperworkers' Union have agreed on a deal to end the 110-day strike at five UPM mills in Finland, which caused paper shortages across Europe. Employees will return to work immediately and UPM says it will restart customer deliveries as soon as possible.

Print giant Xerox recorded $1.67 billion of revenue for the first quarter in 2022, down 2.5% year-over-year, with an operating loss of $56m compared to a profit of $39m in Q1 2021. In response, Xerox shares fell by more than 15% to $16.87 and have declined 25% this year.

The Australian Sign & Graphics Association (ASGA) will be exhibiting at the 2022 Adelaide Careers & Employment Expo on the 6th & 7th of May to promote career and training options in signage.

Members of cyber-hacking group Anonymous are protesting against the war in Ukraine by sending a flood of anti-war messages to vulnerable printers in the Russian Federation, reports industry researcher Keypoint Intelligence.

“As a result of the continued rising costs, Flint OPS has no choice but to announce further price increases,” said the global printing inks manufacturer. Flint also plans to close its newspaper printing ink facility in Wolverhampton, UK due to “the accelerating move towards on-line news content.”

US-based General Formulations, a manufacturer of pressure sensitive films for signage and labelling, has signed a new distribution deal with Spicers Australia and become a member of the New Zealand Sign & Display Association (NZSDA).

Following our news-breaking report on Agfa's proposed acquisition of Inca Digital, Fujifilm Japan has kindly provided an official statement concerning the surprise announcement and is re-assuring Australian and New Zealand customers of its full on-going support for Inca Onset users.

The UK's Digital Printer Magazine reports that Fujifilm has responded to the announcement of Inca Digital Printers’ sale to Agfa to the effect that it will no longer resell Inca machines and will focus on its own range of wide-format printers, though it will continue to support existing customers with Inca Onset devices that it supplied.

Leading Melbourne-based label specialist, Sticky Labels, has boosted its digital operations by upgrading to the latest digital inkjet label production system – the Screen Truepress Jet L350UV SAI. Supplied by Jet Technologies, it is the latest of several installations that are taking colour and productivity to new heights in digital label production.

The Agfa-Gevaert Group has announced it will acquire Inca Digital Printers, a Cambridge, UK based developer and manufacturer of advanced inkjet printing and production technologies for sign and display applications as well as packaging, currently owned by Screen of Japan with worldwide sales handled by Fujifilm.

Well-established sign company Rhino Signmakers of Keilor Park in Melbourne's north-west has appointed a liquidator to wind up the business after 25 years in operation.

Fujifilm Business Innovation Asia Pacific says its new partnership with Solimar Systems will provide a comprehensive suite of workflow solutions for production printing and digital communications to the Asia Pacific region, including Australia and New Zealand.

Canon Group product designs has won a total of nine prestigious 2022 iF Design Awards – including for its large format imagePROGRAF TZ-30000 printer - handed out by the iF International Forum Design group. 

General Formulations, a leading manufacturer of pressure sensitive films, has launched GF 765 Rainbow Holographic Film - compatible with solvent, latex and UV curable inks - adding “a whole new dimension of colour to graphics.”

printIQ, the Queensland-headquartered workflow cloud-software developer, has made ‘significant investments’ in UK-based sales, marketing and operations teams as it expands into the United Kingdom and Europe.