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DURST PRE-FESPA TOUR
Immersed in Durst
Durst Oceania hosted its third pre-FESPA European tour, providing three days of networking, ideas sharing, and an exclusive look at the latest Durst equipment and technology.
Durst, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of digital printing and production technologies, has hosted its third pre-FESPA European tour, providing three days of networking, ideas sharing, and an exclusive look at the latest Durst equipment and technology.
Led by Matt Ashman, managing director of Durst Oceania, the three-day delegation also included stops in the historic old towns of Kufstein in Austria and Brixen in northern Italy.
Designed to be an immersive experience in all things Durst, attendees, which included delegates from Easy Signs, Cactus Imagining, Lamont Print & Signs, ImageBox, and VMG Media Group, were given an exclusive tour of Durst’s global headquarters in Brixen, Italy.
“We are always open to welcoming guests from Australia and New Zealand to come and visit us at any time,” said Ashman.
“We welcome the industry to come and see our technology and see how we collaborate with our customers and our prospects to develop solutions tailored to their needs.”
Durst Group is a third-generation family business which is co-owned by Harald Oberauuch and Christoph Gamper, Durst Group CEO. The company started in 1929 and now boasts 880 employees worldwide and a solid reputation for the quality and reliability its advanced digital printing technologies provide in the global graphics, ceramic tiles, labels and packaging and commercial corrugated packaging markets. Durst also offers software including backoffice ERPs, digital workflows and B2B/ B2C online store front solutions.
The Brixen site showcases high-end design and cutting-edge innovation. Presenters during the tour included Andrea Riccardi, head of product management for the Durst large-format division, and Oskar Lanz Guarienti, sales management, labels and flexible packaging, Durst Group.
We welcome the industry to come and see our technology and see how we collaborate with our customers and our prospects to develop solutions tailored to their needs.
– Matt Ashman, Durst Oceania
Riccardi discussed the latest updates on Durst’s large-format division, including how the Vanguard acquisition fits into Durst’s portfolio of devices, while Lanz Guarienti shared updates on Durst’s label and flexible packaging initiatives including Durst Hawk Eye, which utilises camera vision systems and artificial intelligence to automate print quality, as well as the company’s recent application expansion of in mold labels, shrink sleeves, and wine capsules.
Showcased machines included the P5 TEX iSUB, dubbed a ‘game changer for soft signage and fabrics’ as well as the P5 350 – a hybrid solution for roll and board printing up to 3.5m and reaches in the high speed version a productivity up to 708 sqm/h (7,620 sq.ft/h) – all of which have proved extremely popular in both Australia and New Zealand.
Keith Ferrel, general manager of Cactus Imaging, said Durst is at the forefront of the latest print technologies, with the tour providing valuable insights to attendees on the future of printing.
“It gives you food for thought about not only where the industry is heading, but where your business needs to be in the next one to two years, and not just where it should be today.”
‘A new space to challenge old rules’
Delegates also toured the Durst Kraftwerk innovation incubator – a 5300sqm facility which sits beside Durst’s headquarters and factory and serves as a home to spin-offs and start-ups of the Durst Group.
The Kraftwerk innovation incubator is home to D3-AM, the brainchild of Durst owners Christoph Gamper and Harald Oberrauch. D3-AM is a corporate startup within the Durst Group that leverages the crossindustry expertise of its parent company to transform additive manufacturing (effectively industrial 3D printing), with cutting-edge solutions such as Micro Particle Jetting. It offers industrial production solutions optimised for various functional and application domains.
Kraftwerk also houses Vanguard Europe, the European branch of the US company, Vanguard Digital Printing Systems. Also located at Kraftwerk is the Durst Academy training centre which includes facilities for online and offline seminars and greenscreen presentations to provide customised training for process technology, hardware, and software to customers and service partners from around the world.
Nigel Spicer, general manager of Cactus Imaging, said touring Durst’s factory as well the Kraftwerk innovation incubator, reinforces Durst’s innovation and diversification in the marketplace.
“We talk about diversification in our business and making sure that we’re staying ahead of the curve. The tour reinforces that Durst is more than just a print company. It gives us confidence that we are partnering with the right business.”
Another specialised service operating out of Kraftwerk is adddam GmbH which uses high-end 3D advanced manufacturing printing technologies to make components from metals and plastics. adddam also offers certified training and education for advanced manufacturing design.
Also housed at Durst Kraftwerk is DMC GmbH (Durst Media Company), an agency specialising in B2B marketing communications/new storytelling, offering the full range of services from conception to audio-visual implementation from a single source, and has a professional film studio at its disposal.
Stephen Lamont said the tour highlighted Durst’s passion for print.
“What we saw exemplified a company that is passionate about producing the best possible quality machinery that they can, with the culture and professionalism of a family business,” said Lamont.
“[Durst] has created a true ecosystem where they are not only manufacturers, but they develop minds as well as machines.”
Customer-oriented innovation
Following the tour, the Durst Group announced the launch of the P5 350 HS PACK, a highly automated solution for digital corrugated and display printing.
The P5 350 HS PACK expands Durst’s P5 series, which is specially tailored to the production of corrugated displays and packaging.
Ashman said further innovations from the team at Durst HQ are exciting and the P5 350 HS PACK does not disappoint.
“The new P5 PACK series is tailored to the needs of a corrugated packaging environment with, new automation, new inks, and more software integration. What is particularly exciting is that this will be available to Durst Oceania customers from Q3 this year.”
The P5 PACK series is equipped with all the functions that enable efficient print production of corrugated boards. The width and height are set automatically by simply selecting the media channel in the software, which significantly reduces set-up time. In addition, the P5 350 HS PACK vacuum system increases the suction power on the print belt by up to 40 per cent compared to the conventional systems.
The P5 PACK series includes the sensor-controlled Multitrack six function. Managed by six independent printing queues, this enables up to six corrugated boards to be printed in parallel by manual feeding.
To maximise production potential of the printing system, the P5 Pack series, as all P5 printing systems, can be equipped with the proprietary Durst Workflow RIP/Colour Management and Analytics software. In this context, the P5 350 HS PACK can be combined with the Durst Automat MT.
With this new solution for the automatic feeding and stacking of boards, up to four lanes can be processed in parallel. The multi-lane operation of the Automat MT works together with the Multitrack 6 function of the P5 350 HS PACK. Finely tuned movements of the suction elements in combination with a reinforced blow and brush bar result in clean and fast media separation, even with difficult synthetic boards and thin substrates.
Continuous and stable production is ensured by pneumatically controlled flaps that prevent the materials from slipping during the loading and unloading process. The entire printing process is continuously monitored by surveillance cameras. The feed and delivery tables have also been further developed to ensure smooth transportation of the boards.
As part of the P5 PACK series, Durst is also introducing a new ink set that is specially tailored to the requirements of display and packaging printing. The LUVERA LED ink is characterised by low odour and high abrasion resistance. The LUVERA inks are also IKEA and IOT-Mat compliant. The LUVERA LED ink is the result of a holistic ink development program that Durst has undertaken in the last years, which will expand the Durst ink portfolio during 2024 to cover a wide range of applications and market requirements.
Inside Out project shines spotlight on Durst employees
Durst Group recently engaged South Tyrolean artist Klaus Pobitzer as ‘Artist in Residence 2024’. One of the first fruits of the collaboration is the installation “Inside-Out”.
This focuses on Durst Group employees, whom the artist shows in large-format individual and group portraits, as well as technical details of the printing systems produced.
“The Durst HQ is an iconic and futuristic building and testifies to the importance of the company in digital printing technology,” said Klaus Pobitzer.
“But hardly anyone in the region knows what is behind the ‘world’s leading technology manufacturer’.
“Inside-Out” reveals the secret and brings the company’s greatest assets, its employees and technology, to the outside world.”
Christoph Gamper, CEO, and co-owner of the Durst Group said Pobitzer’s large-scale installations in public spaces, human-computer interaction, design and architecture projects – all of these are also Durst Group-specific themes.
The Durst Group plans to continue its collaboration with the artist at its site in Lienz. The Durst Austria branch is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
