BUSINESS / NEWS 10 email: editor@printmonthly.co.uk January / February 2025 - Issue 352 PrintMonthly printmonthly PrintMonthlyMagazine Print-on-demand company Gelato has announced an integration of its online platform with Amazon, and TikTok Shop, the latter allowing creators and ecommerce sellers to offer print-on-demand products directly on TikTok. The Amazon integration, which is currently only available to merchants selling on the Amazon US marketplace, allows users to design and launch products including wall art, calendars, tote bags, and sportswear. Once an order is placed, Gelato takes care of production, shipping, and delivery. Gelato announces Amazon and TikTok integrations Document Data Group purchases Hire Tech Photocopier and printer supplier, Document Data Group (DDG), has acquired the assets of Fife-based machine supplier Hire Tech. The deal reportedly brings in the region of 100 new customers to DDG which now has a turnover approaching £5m. DDG has experienced steadily increasing sales since consolidating its operations and moving into new headquarters at Strathclyde Business Park in 2020. It currently has 35 employees. HEIDELBERG and Canon have met at HEIDELBERG’s new ‘Home of Print’ headquarters in Wiesloch-Walldorf, Germany, to sign contracts confirming their collaboration. HEIDELBERG will incorporate the new Jetfire 50 B3 inkjet printing system with its Prinect workflow, incorporating it into its range of hybrid production solutions that includes offset printing. There will also be a B2 version dubbed the Jetfire 75 which will be added to the portfolio in the future. HEIDELBERG and Canon sign partnership deal Friedheim confirms new partnership with Tecnau Friedheim International will distribute Tecnau's complete product portfolio in the UK and Ireland, reigniting a partnership which originally ran from 1997 to 2011 Under the new deal Friedheim will distribute Tecnau's unwinders, rewinders, cutters and stackers, dynamic perforations and punching equipment, as well as its high-speed book solutions. Following this new partnership with Friedheim, IFS will continue to supply Tecnau products from January to June 2025 to allow for a transition of sales and service activities without affecting service and product availability for customers. As of July 2025, IFS will exclusively supply Tecnau equipment connected with Horizon and Smyth systems, including for stitching and folding solutions, and digital sewn binding. IFS remains the exclusive distributor of these products in the region. Another new deal means that Friedheim is now the exclusive UK distributor of Heripack's packaging equipment and automation technologies. Decisions made since Müller Martini's purchase of the Hunkeler organisation in December 2023 are also set to affect Friedheim's offerings from 2025. In the months since Müller Martini's acquisition of the finishing solutions provider, a series of changes have been implemented at different levels within the two companies including changes to the companies’ distribution plans within the UK and Ireland. As part of these changes, Müller Martini is taking over responsibility for the sale of new Hunkeler equipment from Friedheim International for UK and Irish markets, and will also offer spare parts and servicing for these solutions. Tecnau provides a range of integrated solutions for the digital printing industry Major changes at Koenig & Bauer Koenig & Bauer (K&B) has announced a series of group realignments including eliminating a senior position and reducing its company segments from three to two. The changes were reportedly initiated by K&B chief executive officer Dr Andreas Pleßke in close consultation with the company’s supervisory board. The position of central chief operating officer is to be eliminated after Michael Ulverich left the company by mutual agreement. Ulverich left K&B and stepped down from the executive board, effective from November 30th. The new executive board has therefore been reduced to two: Pleßke and chief financial officer Dr Stephen Kimmich. The company’s previous three divisions of Sheetfed, Digital & Webfed, and Special will also be consolidated into two new segments, namely Paper & Packaging Sheetfed Systems (P&P) and Special & New Technologies (S&NT). The S&NT segment will consolidate previous activities from the Special and Digital & Webfed divisions. The changes were initiated by K&B CEO Dr Andreas Pleßke Printful and Printify announce merger Printful, an on-demand print and fulfilment company, and Printify, a print-focused technology business, have announced they have merged in order to deliver “pioneering innovation for ecommerce sellers around the world.” According to the two companies, the merger has satisfied regulatory review and received overwhelming support from shareholders. The company will now use both Printful’s in-house production facilities as well as Printify’s network of more than 85 third-party production partners. Printful was founded in California in 2013 and is headquartered in Riga, Latvia, and has fulfilment centres in Spain, Australia, Brazil, the US, Japan, and the UK. [L to R] Anastasija Oleinika, chief executive officer at Printify, and Alex Saltonstall, chief executive officer at Printful By Jonathan Pert
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