Anthony Locicero, Associate Editor02.01.21
Durst is a family-owned company headquartered in Brixen, South Tyrol, Italy. Founded in 1936, Durst started with pioneering photo enlargers and continued its innovation journey with a multitude of different photo products such as cameras (e.g. Durst Automatica) and digital developers (e.g. Lambda 130).
With the digital disruption of the photo business in the mid-1990s, Durst had to re-invent itself, said Stefan Kappaun, Durst Group’s executive VP Inks & Fluids.
“Remaining true to the core competency of ‘reproducing images,’ Durst entered the field of industrial inkjet printing and initiated an impressive growth story,” Kappaun said.
“Soon, the company realized that a pure focus on machine engineering and printheads/electronics is not enough, so further know-how in the fields of applications and ink chemistry was established. Owning and optimizing this ‘magic triangle of inkjet printing’ is still considered a key success factor for bringing inkjet technology to industrial markets. In this context, the foundation of two R&D centers at the production sites in Brixen and Lienz, Austria played an important role.”
Offering an excellent ink portfolio is crucial, Kappaun said.
“Not just optimizing the corresponding ink towards your hardware,” he added, “but especially towards the particular application is required. Here, Durst runs its own ink development teams for UV and water-based inks. Additionally, [having its] own ink manufacturing sites are part of the Durst Group.”
The organizational structure of Durst comprises four top-level business areas:
• Graphic Business: Large Format Printing, Industrial Textile Printing and Decoration.
• Label and Flexible Packaging: Digital Label, Hybrid Label and Specialty Packaging.
• Special Solutions: Ceramic Tile Printing, Digital Glaze Printing and Industrial 3D.
• New Businesses: Summarizing Durst Professional Services (software ecosystem) and other ventures such as the JV Koenig Bauer Durst GmbH (corrugated and cardboard printing).
“Each business area brings together the required Durst competencies of machine engineering, applications and inks supplementing it with Durst’s software and service competencies. This ‘Pixel-to-Output’ approach is defining the DNA of the Durst Group,” Kappaun said.
According to Kappaun, even though Durst is classically perceived as a machine engineering company, the in-house ability to handle machine engineering, applications, inks, software and service is the key differentiator between the company and its competitors.
“With our ‘Pixel-to-Output’ philosophy, a holistic go-to-market approach is pursued,” he said. “By focusing on the close alignment and interdependence of the relevant disciplines, Durst is able to differentiate itself from other suppliers.”
Innovation is central to Durst’s corporate philosophy, Kappaun noted.
“High R&D investment rates (approx. 8-10% of revenue), ongoing nurturing of competencies and capabilities, long-term orientation and family-business values define the Durst innovation approach,” he said. “This is not limited to pure machine or ink developments. It also holds true for software and service innovation. With the foundation of Durst Professional Services, Durst has made a clear statement for thinking holistically and in ecosystems.”
Durst recently introduced the P5 350 and P5 350HS and, according to Kappaun, the company is geared up for driving innovation in any of its business areas.
“While impressive machine platforms in the Graphics area such as the P5 350 or P5 350HS have been introduced recently, the highly successful TAU RSC label platform and Alpha textile platform complement the industrial machine portfolio,” the EVP said. “With the introduction of our Digital Glaze equipment, Durst has brought further innovation to the mature ceramic market. In the field of Corrugated printing, we are proud of our single pass line SPC 130 running our ECOLOGO-certified Water Technology Ink.”
Going forward, Durst is further driving its developments in UV inkjet and Digital Glaze technology to meet the requirements of additional industrial applications, Kappaun said.
“Aside from that, a strong focus is put on further market penetration of our Water Technology Inks in different industrial fields (e.g. folding carton within the JV with Koenig & Bauer, Industrial Textiles, etc.),” he added.
Durst Phototechnik AG
Julius-Durst-Str 4
39042 Brixen
Italy
Tel: +39 0472 810111
www.durst-group.com
Specialties: UV and water-based inkjet inks.
With the digital disruption of the photo business in the mid-1990s, Durst had to re-invent itself, said Stefan Kappaun, Durst Group’s executive VP Inks & Fluids.
“Remaining true to the core competency of ‘reproducing images,’ Durst entered the field of industrial inkjet printing and initiated an impressive growth story,” Kappaun said.
“Soon, the company realized that a pure focus on machine engineering and printheads/electronics is not enough, so further know-how in the fields of applications and ink chemistry was established. Owning and optimizing this ‘magic triangle of inkjet printing’ is still considered a key success factor for bringing inkjet technology to industrial markets. In this context, the foundation of two R&D centers at the production sites in Brixen and Lienz, Austria played an important role.”
Offering an excellent ink portfolio is crucial, Kappaun said.
“Not just optimizing the corresponding ink towards your hardware,” he added, “but especially towards the particular application is required. Here, Durst runs its own ink development teams for UV and water-based inks. Additionally, [having its] own ink manufacturing sites are part of the Durst Group.”
The organizational structure of Durst comprises four top-level business areas:
• Graphic Business: Large Format Printing, Industrial Textile Printing and Decoration.
• Label and Flexible Packaging: Digital Label, Hybrid Label and Specialty Packaging.
• Special Solutions: Ceramic Tile Printing, Digital Glaze Printing and Industrial 3D.
• New Businesses: Summarizing Durst Professional Services (software ecosystem) and other ventures such as the JV Koenig Bauer Durst GmbH (corrugated and cardboard printing).
“Each business area brings together the required Durst competencies of machine engineering, applications and inks supplementing it with Durst’s software and service competencies. This ‘Pixel-to-Output’ approach is defining the DNA of the Durst Group,” Kappaun said.
According to Kappaun, even though Durst is classically perceived as a machine engineering company, the in-house ability to handle machine engineering, applications, inks, software and service is the key differentiator between the company and its competitors.
“With our ‘Pixel-to-Output’ philosophy, a holistic go-to-market approach is pursued,” he said. “By focusing on the close alignment and interdependence of the relevant disciplines, Durst is able to differentiate itself from other suppliers.”
Innovation is central to Durst’s corporate philosophy, Kappaun noted.
“High R&D investment rates (approx. 8-10% of revenue), ongoing nurturing of competencies and capabilities, long-term orientation and family-business values define the Durst innovation approach,” he said. “This is not limited to pure machine or ink developments. It also holds true for software and service innovation. With the foundation of Durst Professional Services, Durst has made a clear statement for thinking holistically and in ecosystems.”
Durst recently introduced the P5 350 and P5 350HS and, according to Kappaun, the company is geared up for driving innovation in any of its business areas.
“While impressive machine platforms in the Graphics area such as the P5 350 or P5 350HS have been introduced recently, the highly successful TAU RSC label platform and Alpha textile platform complement the industrial machine portfolio,” the EVP said. “With the introduction of our Digital Glaze equipment, Durst has brought further innovation to the mature ceramic market. In the field of Corrugated printing, we are proud of our single pass line SPC 130 running our ECOLOGO-certified Water Technology Ink.”
Going forward, Durst is further driving its developments in UV inkjet and Digital Glaze technology to meet the requirements of additional industrial applications, Kappaun said.
“Aside from that, a strong focus is put on further market penetration of our Water Technology Inks in different industrial fields (e.g. folding carton within the JV with Koenig & Bauer, Industrial Textiles, etc.),” he added.
Durst Phototechnik AG
Julius-Durst-Str 4
39042 Brixen
Italy
Tel: +39 0472 810111
www.durst-group.com
Specialties: UV and water-based inkjet inks.
