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Manroland Australasia signed the deal at Ipex to distribute the heads, which are used in the Kodak Prosper press (pictured). Manroland will distribute the Kodak D and S Series heads across its web offset install base in Australia and New Zealand.

The tie-up continues a technology partnership announced at Drupa 08. The target is to integrate inkjet heads into Manroland web presses to add variable data capabilities to newspaper runs.

Manroland Australasia managing director Steve Dunwell told ProPrint: "I've always felt that we have market interest here and it's something I wanted to do from an Australian perspective.

"We knew that Manroland and Kodak were working together internationally and we thought we had projects locally that could happen sooner," added Dunwell.

He would not be drawn on customer names and said there were no beta sites as yet. However, Dunwell added that discussions were ongoing with local web printers and said he would hope to see the technology implemented by the end of the year.

Kodak Australia managing director Steve Venn said: "We are very excited about this new partnership, as the agreement is a great opportunity for Kodak to extend its reach into the web-fed print market."

The company added that Kodak would continue to supply consumables and service to existing S and D series customers. "However, Manroland Australasia will take over this responsibility in the long term."

It is the latest in a number of partnerships announced at Ipex that cross the digital-offset divide. Heidelberg ANZ has signed the agency for Konica Minolta's range of production presses in Australia, while KBA also used the show to announce its digital ambitions.

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