Success for JMB Labels in Africa with MPS Flexo Press
Features of their MPS EF press include eight UV ink stations and two hot air driers for water-based ink, double die station, delam-relam and web turner bar, laminating and cold foil station and a film package for unsupported films. JMB Labels is currently printing self-adhesive labels and unsupported BOPP film, and are in the process of printing on PVC and PET film for the shrink label market.
Located in Johannesburg, South Africa JMB Labels has customers from leading South African and Southern African companies, with exports to Mozambique, Angola and Malawi, in various sectors including food, beverage and pharmaceutical.
Novel Technique to Develop Cheap and Flexible Plastic
Scientists at the University of Iowa and colleagues at New York University are moving a step closer to develop inexpensive computers, cell phones and other systems that substitute flexible plastic for silicon chips. They have come up with a new technique that will help overcome a major obstacle in the development of such plastic devices.
Effective way to store information inside computer chips in most efficiently done by using magnetism as it ensures the information to survive for years without any additional power. But, to encode information in light for fiber optic transmission is relatively cheap and easy procedure.
Michael Flatte, Prof. of physics and astronomy in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (CLAS), said, “Critical issue is how to convert information from one type to another”.
3D Printing Technology Emerges in South Africa
“A lot of people have gotten ideas for new products and it’s very difficult for them to turn those ideas into prototypes which can then go into samples for products, Pieter Cilliers, Cape Craft and Design Institute project support coordinator told CCTV Africa.
Affordability and the ease of learning the operational aspects of 3D printers is increasing the popularity of housing them within design firms. According to the video report, costs for 3D printers in South Africa starts around $1,000. One 3D printing shop is aiding small enterprises across industries to capitalize on business through reliable product development.
“The 3D printing is a very quick — and actually neat — way for them to realize these physical products,”
How plastic bottles could solve Africa's lighting issues
Despite all the advances in technology, the problem of lighting up rural Africa after darkness falls is still very real. It was this thought that inspired South Africa-based Michael Suttner to start developing the Lightie, a solar-powered LED module that can screw into any bottle neck measuring 22mm across -- the worldwide standard.
The patented Lightie prototype was released in South Africa last October, where Suttner entered it into several design and innovation contests -- all of which he went on to win. The Lightie was also shortlisted as a finalist in the international Designboom Awards, but Suttner was not eligible to win as the prize could only go to a yet-to-be-released product.
It took three years of research into the situation for Suttner to get to this, though.
