The companies have signed an agreement to develop, manufacturer and sell piezo electric-based digital inkjet machines for the commercial, newspaper, packaging and security sectors.

Through the partnership, KBA has licensed RR Donnelley's Apollo digital technology to use in its own presses. The culmination of this operation will debut at Drupa 2012.

According to KBA chief executive Helge Hansen, the manufacturer has spent the past 18 months assessing "both current and future digital printing technologies from around the world".

He added: "In our analysis, it was clear that RR Donnelley was uniquely positioned to partner with us from a digital print technology, experience, and scale perspective.

"It's more than a sales and service agreement for existing technology. We look forward to jointly reinvigorating this industry with new digital imaging platforms."

Thomas Quinlan, president and chief executive officer at RR Donnelley, added: "We look forward to having the combined R&D resources of nearly 1,000 engineers and imaging scientists bring forward the next generation of digital imaging technologies.

"This relationship will benefit the customers we serve today and enable RR Donnelley innovations to be introduced to customers in segments that we do not yet address."

The announcement comes less than a week since Kodak and Konica Minolta signed a new expanded global distribution agreement that will allow the two companies to sell products from their combined production digital printing portfolio, and last week's announcement of Heidelberg's partnership with Ricoh.

This week's deals are the latest in a long-line of tie-ups between print industry manufacturers and follows Canon's acquisition of Océ in March 2010, Océ's partnership with Manroland, which was signed in December 2010.
 

Comment below to have your say on this story.

If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.  

Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter