Digital print was again a recurring theme when SWUG Australia’s Darwin conference got down to business for its second day.

Steve Dunwell presented manroland’s web finishing systems for the technology – in use in Italy and China – Oliver Baar discussed a KBA case history from the Germany’s Main-Post, and Müller Martini’s George Riva expanded product options.

Three of the country’s biggest newspaper publishers are working on the introduction of digital printing, with News Corp Australia having announced plans for a Brisbane installation for which GXpress understands a shortlist of three vendors is being scrutinised. We’ll see a press in Australia “very soon”, Dunwell says, and delegates were left to speculate whose kit would be installed.

Ferag Australia managing director Daniel Faesser also raised product options with technology ideas from his own company and partners Planatol and Tolerans.

With the growing use of automation, co-founder of QI Press Controls Menno Jansen explained his company’s density-based closed-loop colour controls, now in use at News Corp Australia and Fairfax Media print sites, and was on hand to answer technical questions in the afternoon “engineers’ session”. The system takes charge of the 1358 variables involved in printing a typical edition, often returning its investment cost in as little as 20 months.

And as on the previous day, delegates got to know their industry colleagues better with personal backgrounders – complete with holiday and family snaps – from DIC’s Meredith Darke, Petone (NZ) print site manager Ricky Baker, Matt Richards of News Townsville and Samoan SWUG New Zealand 2013 apprentice of the year Edmond Huch. Introduced to newspapers by his uncle, Huch worked as a reel hand at Ellerslie for five years until becoming an apprentice printer in 2009.

An Asian perspective came from Sim Yong Liang (right), chief executive of Malaysia’s United Borneo Press, a Chinese-language newspaper publisher which had expanded heavily into commercial printing with four sites printing two Chinese, six Malay and two English daily newspapers. He also drew interesting parallels between press freedom and the growth or decline of print newspapers in the region.

With digital print on the agenda, competition from digital (online) publishing was never far from mind, and Dunwell and GAMAA executive director Karen Goldsmith tackled the subject head-on, introducing the Two Sides print and paper lobby group to delegates. “Digital always requires energy,” Dunwell says. “We need to counter inaccurate statements and tell people the facts of the print and paper industry.”

The Newspaper Works-owned Publishers National Environment Bureau is also about to weigh into the environmental debate with a ‘Trees are hugging back’ consumer press campaign fronted by ambassador Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, SWUG president Bob Lockley – who is a PNEB board member – announced. Two Sides is also preparing a print effectiveness campaign.

Both Lockley and Goldsmith urged delegates to nominate candidates for their respective development scholarships: GAMAA has chosen West Australian Newspapers’ Derek Williamson as the recipient of its $15,000 bursary, but SWUG – with $20,000 to give away – is still looking for applicants.

SWUG’s apprentice of the year winners – two of them – and print quality awards were announced at the group’s gala dinner last night. Click for details.

On our homepage: Karen Goldsmith and Steve Dunwell