Try as you might to ignore it, 3D printing doesn't look like it's an idea that is going to pass quietly into the ether any time soon. This realisation dawned on me the other day when I was watching Lisa Harouni's compelling and thought provoking TED talk about how this disruptive technology might change the manufacturing model as we know it.

In the 1960s a music listening post constituted a sound proof booth equipped with a turntable that shoppers could play records on. Over time these posts evolved into digital MP3 players replete with headphones capable of storing thousands of songs. But what will a listening post of the future look like?

Do you think a furry nose on a brochure can increase print sales?

It may seem strange, but there was a hamster that managed this for one print company. It was a company pet. But one day it was featured on the company brochure. The hamster started to build its own following. And sales began to rise.

It's been a very busy and exciting couple of weeks for me. With FESPA Asia less than two months away, the marketing campaign is in full swing and we are working hard to stage the ultimate Asian digital print exhibition in Singapore in October. I recently travelled to Thailand and Singapore to observe the Asian market in action and speak to members of the industry about their hopes and expectations for the Asian print sector in the coming months and years.

Art and print have been happy bedfellows for years, with the likes of Andy Warhol through to Gilbert and George using the printed form as a means of artistic expression. This noble tradition is being continued at the moment in the French city of Arles as part of the annual Les Recontres photography exhibition. In an abandoned warehouse French artist JR – backed by a $100,000 prize fund from the creative non-profit organisation TED – has created a participatory art project called 'Inside Out' that's enthralling visitors.

The environment is a hot topic, especially in light of the natural disasters that have happened this year.

 

The print and paper industry has a reputation for being un-environmentally friendly and the perception is that, if you print on paper, you are "killing a tree".

The advertising and wide format print industries have been collaborating for years to try and make greener billboards, but no one has been able to master the trick – until now. With the unveiling of Europe's first 'eco-board' at a site next to the M4 motorway in London in late June, Ricoh has set the digital signage bar high for others to follow.

 

For investors looking to make an acquisition in the printing industry, the obvious choice appears to be wide-format digital.

 

Whether you're a manufacturer looking to add an important capability to your portfolio, or a printer wanting to keep pace with the times, the numbers bear it out: Wide-format digital printing (primarily 30" and above) will lead our industry in growth.

 

Here are 5 reasons why any investor, big or small (and that you means you, Mr. Mom-and-Pop Shop), should consider a merger and acquisition (M&A) as a potential growth strategy:

The countdown has begun. It’s less than a year until the 2012 Olympic Games in London gets underway and over the course of the next few months a raft of printed paraphernalia will be produced for games organisers and official sponsors alike, providing a welcome shot in the arm for the UK printing industry. The intensity of activity will continue to build as the Games approaches with the weeks leading up to the event itself set to see the nation’s printers involved in a whirlwind of activity.

Welcome to the house of the future. The hallway floor features a large map of your local area, in the living room the leather sofa is emblazoned with your favourite work of art, the wall is covered by a decal portraying the self-same view of the foreign beach that you enjoyed from your honeymoon suite, the bathroom shower curtain shows you scuba diving in a coral reef during your sun-kissed Caribbean break last year and the kitchen blind is covered with a giant image of your pet dog. That’s not forgetting of course the bespoke canvases dotted about various walls of the house featuring a mixture of family members and holiday snaps.