Articles posted by Lambrini Zambeli
Durst Group installs 500th Durst Workflow Software at customer site
Brixen, Italy – April 19, 2022 – Durst Group, manufacturer of advanced digital printing and production technologies, announces the 500th customer installation of Durst Workflow Software. This milestone highlights Durst Group’s transformation from a press manufacturer to a solutions provider (“Pixel to Output”) in the digital printing industry. Founded in 2019, the Durst Software & Solutions Division now has more than 60 employees and has developed Durst Workflow, the most comprehensive software solution in the market that is also open to third-party providers, and successfully integrated it into its customers’ production.
Michael Deflorian, Business Unit Manager, Durst Software & Solutions explains:
“We are proud that more than 500 customers from different sectors rely on our workflow solution. With the help of their feedback, we try to improve our products every day to offer the best software ecosystem for the digital printing industry.”
Durst Workflow is the high-end solution for fully automated management of prepress and production tasks. Originally developed to provide the highest print quality for Durst printing systems, it is now also available for third-party printing systems. The complete browser-based solution has a user-friendly interface that allows the entire PDF workflow to be fully automated. Durst Workflow integrates seamlessly with the customer’s existing software environment, enabling a higher level of automation than comparable stand-alone products. Thanks to preconfigured corrections, data preparation is faster and more efficient, and the integrated, powerful color engine guarantees exact color accuracy right from the start. With Durst Workflow, it is possible to print more while using less ink, thanks to predefined color saving profiles that can be applied with just one click.
Serge Clauss, Product Manager, Durst Software & Solutions, explains:
“We develop software solutions that help our customers make their prepress and production processes more predictable and productive. Reaching 500 users with our Durst Workflow solution is a clear statement that we are meeting our customers’ expectations.”
Repacorp invests in SEI Laser Labelmaster to maintain maximum uptime and reliability
To maintain its reputation for reliability, speed and quality, Andy Heinl, vice president of digital labels at Repacorp has a robust equipment and facility contingency strategy. Heinl’s investment in a Labelmaster from SEI Laser is an important part of this plan. SEI Laser equipment is sold and serviced in North America through Matik.
Headquartered in Ohio with additional facilities in Wisconsin and Arizona, Repacorp Quality Labels and Packaging is a pioneer, adopting digital printing and laser cutting technology before many of their competitors. As a reliable reseller of stock and custom labels, tags, RFID, flexible packaging, shrink sleeves and wide-format products, Repacorp is dedicated to efficient, fast turnaround. To maintain its reputation for reliability, speed and quality, Andy Heinl, vice president of digital labels at Repacorp has a robust equipment and facility contingency strategy. Heinl’s investment in a Labelmaster from SEI Laser is an important part of this plan. SEI Laser equipment is sold and serviced in North America through Matik, Inc.
Founded in 1974, with its headquarters in Ohio and additional facilities in Wisconsin and Arizona, Repacorp has grown to a multimillion-dollar organization through acquisition and its strength in digital and flexographic printing. The company’s diverse capabilities allow them to deliver small to large orders. Primarily loyal to one brand of laser equipment since 2007, the company recently experienced downtime because of maintenance problems with their existing laser systems. In addition to lost productivity, some of the laser parts are being discontinued and maintenance costs in recent years have been expensive.
‘One of our workhorses is a laser machine we purchased in 2012 that contains SEI Laser components,’ says Heinl. ‘When we began experiencing issues with our other lasers, we reached out to SEI Laser and Matik, Inc. to get a quote on a new system. Matik has provided service for us previously, and we appreciate their fast response and dependable services.’
In addition to being well-known for reliability, SEI’s Labelmaster has a look similar to Repacorp’s digital printing equipment. Heinl ordered the new laser system with a modular finishing station for flood and spot varnishing as well as laminating. Its user-friendly interface makes it easy for operators to learn. A roll-to-roll and roll-to-sheet laser system, Labelmaster provides fast make-ready and on-the-fly cutting. It offers maximum web speed of 330ft/min(100m/min); web widths up to 13.75in (350mm) and roll diameters up to 24in (610mm); and can process a range of materials, such as PET, PP/BOPP and paper. Additionally, the Labelmaster is modular and can be modified for future capabilities with additional digital and conventional processes such as hot-foil stamping, slitting and sheeting.
Rondo Ganahl installs Koenig & Bauer Durst’s Delta SPC 130
Rondo Ganahl has unveiled plans to celebrate its 50th anniversary milestone and official opening of a digital print production plant in a 25 million EUR investment. The company in Styria, Austria, is determined to capitalize on continued business growth where digital production volumes continue to rise by 25 to 30 percent a year.
Taking center stage in the dedicated digital production facility is Koenig & Bauer Durst’s Delta SPC 130 single-pass press with water-based ink technology that is driving business growth and providing the food packaging industry solutions demanded by brands. The Delta SPC 130 has been successfully transferred across to the new plant and production has started as planned from the start of April.
The official opening ceremony for the new building together with the 50th anniversary celebration of Rondo St Ruprecht will be in September. The firm, which is part of the Rondo Group that has eight plants across Europe, invested in the Delta SPC 130 three years ago to start digital production – and has never looked back. About 90 percent of the Rondo digital printing business is for the food industry.
With lead times continuing to go down, Rondo says it must further develop the digital technology where the excellent print quality already matches litho production.
Karl Pucher, managing director of Rondo Ganahl St. Ruprecht, said, ‘It has been an incredible success story. Digital printing was a big step for us three years ago with an unknown future, but we have never looked back. The transformation is being driven by brands who need to get products to the market quickly, and with digital printing we are very fast from development to getting the products to customers, among them Lindt & Sprüngli who are very big in display products and have been with us on our digital journey from the start.’
Digital printing is the future and is really helping us get a whole raft of new customers. Quality is no longer a topic of conversation. Digital is a very important development for us because we now have a total solution for our customers that has been integrated into our whole plant process. We are running the SPC 130 very well in a two-shift operation, sometimes even in three shifts. We have a lot of customers in the food industry and one of the main reasons for going with Koenig & Bauer Durst is because of its food-safe inks. They provided all permissions we need for the food industry.’
Pucher added, ‘The interaction with Koenig & Bauer Durst is excellent – we are very happy with the support. We didn’t just buy a machine. We bought a complete system. The software is the main part because it helps us to optimize the printing and make the right decisions for customers.’
Robert Stabler, managing director, Koenig & Bauer Durst, said, ‘In a true partnership approach, we have been with Rondo every step of the way from its start in digital printing. Investing heavily in a dedicated digital production plant speaks volumes about where markets are heading – all driven by brands. “Converters increasingly recognise that they need a highly automated, reliable, versatile, and all-in-one digital solution for fast turnaround of jobs. Rondo is also a perfect example of how companies ensure jobs run seamlessly through their plants by investing in complete workflows and colour management systems.’
DURST Success Stories: Lift ERP – “It was love at first sight”
“We have a system which stands above all and which is accessible from anywhere and by anyone” explains Mr. Oehne “It is really smart and helped us become more competitive and more sustainable”.
Founded in Frankfurt in 1929, Edel Messereklame Digitaldruck is an established large format printer that worked over the last 25 years to achieve the complete digitalization of the company. The last step that has been taken was the implementation of Durst Lift ERP that enabled the company to achieve the complete digitalization, from quote to delivery.
By combining it with Durst Workflow, the high-end RIP and prepress solution from Durst, Edel achieved the highest level of automation.
Yingcai transforms to digital with Durst
Fan Fengzai, general manager of Yingcai Printing, says the Chinese’s label converter’s decision to transition to digital technology ‘will power the future transformation and development of our company’.
Established in 2008 and located in Qingpu District, Shanghai, Yingcai is a comprehensive PS label manufacturer integrating R&D, production, sales and technical services. The company has been focusing on high-end label products in the cosmetics industry, and mainly serving the world’s Top 500 cosmetic brands and relevant OEM manufacturers, such as Cosmax and many others.
Quality first
The rise and development of China’s label printing industry has benefited from the so-called ‘demographic dividend’ – a vast consumer market and an abundant labor supply, which together have promoted the continuous development of cutting-edge industrial technologies.
On the other hand, the continued expansion of small and medium-sized label printing enterprises has made competition in the label industry more and more fierce. In addition, the rising cost of raw materials and the tightening pressures of environmental protection are adversely impacting the development of the label printing industry.
‘Based on current business volume, Yingcai Printing can only be regarded as a small label printing company. So the question is how to survive, and even make long-term progress, in this increasingly competitive market environment?’ comments Fan Fengzai, general manager of Yingcai Printing.
‘The key point is to fully understand our own advantages, find out the overall positioning of the company, constantly optimize the company’s production and service level, deeply explore the needs of the market, and provide the label products with best quality for customers.’
When starting his company, Fan Fengzai thoroughly investigated different end use markets for labels and discovered the huge market and future development potential of labels for the electronics and cosmetics industries.
After considering the very special requirements for labels in the electronics industry, he decided to focus on label products for the cosmetics sector, which then became the primary business field for Yingcai Printing.
“The question is how to survive, and even make long-term progress, in this increasingly competitive market environment?”
Today, Yingcai Printing has 20 employees and a workshop with a floor area of 1,800 sqm, which is divided into conventional printing, digital printing, post-press finishing, storage and delivery workshops. The company is equipped with conventional printing equipment including Hontec 12+1 and 6+1 satellite letterpress machines, Reborn high-speed die-cutting system, Rhyguan die-cutting machine, Zhongheng inspection system, as well as digital equipment which now includes a Durst Tau 330 RSC digital press and Polly DGi-330 digital die-cutting system.
The cosmetics industry has very high quality and process requirements for its label products. The quality of the label not only directly affects the shelf appeal of cosmetics products, but also highlights the brand power. ‘So we always put product quality in the first place. We are trying to create additional value for their product packaging, so as to achieve a win-win outcome with our customers,’ Fan Fengzai tells Labels & Labeling.
Yingcai Printing has a wide range of quality control equipment in its print lab, including a light box with standard light source, adhesive tape peel strength tester, constant temperature and humidity test chamber, QD-3055 initial adhesion tape tester and QD-3056 tape retention tester.
This focus on quality over many years has allowed the company to gradually accumulate a number of very loyal global brand customers.
Digital
The investment in digital printing equipment is a milestone in the history of Yingcai Printing.
Considering the current production scale of Yingcai Printing, we have to say that a Durst Tau 330 RSC digital press represents a stunning scale of investment. ‘Many peers in the industry had doubts once they heard about our investment plan: why would such a small label printing enterprise invest in such high-end digital printing equipment? What supported such a bold investment?’ L&L had the same questions.
This is the third Durst Tau 330 RSC digital press installed in China, only two months after the first installation at Shandong Golden Realm.
‘To be honest, it was me who took the initiative to contact the supplier and bought this Durst press, and it only took me a very short time to make this decision,’ ’Fan Fengzai says. ‘I’ve never seen this device before installation, and I’ve never even seen any sample of its production. However, with years of experience in the beauty and cosmetics label market, I am very clear about what kind of label products we need to produce and accordingly what kind of digital printing equipment we need to introduce.’
For this investment, he is clearly focused on two points: first, digital transformation is the inevitable direction of the future development of Yingcai Printing; second, the company’s mainstream product is the label for the cosmetics and beauty industry.
Fan Fengzai continues, ‘At present, Durst does not have much of an installation base in China, but I do know that they have installed more than 20 systems in South Korea, where the cosmetics and beauty industry is well developed.’ This was a key factor contributing to Yingcai Printing’s investment in the Durst press.
“Many industry peers had doubts once they heard about our investment: why would such a small label converter invest in such high-end digital printing equipment?”
Digital printing and processing equipment is a supplement to the existing conventional production equipment at Yingcai Printing. Its role is to effectively improve the overall production capacity and service level of the company and provide technical capabilities and support for innovative label products.
‘As more and more millennials, Generation Z and Generation α become the main consumer force, the benchmark brand owners in the cosmetics industry put forward higher requirements for the production process, delivery time and technical innovation of label products. Investing in digital printing can not only meet the needs of customers, but also provide them with more personalized and variable creative products and solutions.’
The ‘Qingpingle’ series of label products produced by Yingcai Printing also won the Gold award in Durst’s 2020 RSC Label Masters competition and were exhibited at the Durst Customer Experience Center at Bressanone, Italy.
Ready for future
‘I know clearly that Yingcai Printing does not have the scale advantages in terms of equipment, personnel, capital and so on compared with some leading label converters such as CCL, All4labels, Cymmetrik, Jiangtian and Meikei. If we try to strive for some large orders – for example, those with a value of more than 5 million RMB (7.75m USD) – we will not give full play to our unique advantages and may also expose ourselves to shortcomings in service and delivery of long-run orders,’ admits Fan Fengzai.
One cosmetics brand owner, for example, needs both big volume label orders to support popular products and small orders of personalized and innovative niche label products. The target business of Yingcai Printing is just these small, bespoke label orders.
The investment in digital printing and finishing equipment is the first step of Yingcai’s digital and intelligent transformation for the future. In 2021, the company’s investment in new equipment will reach 30 million RMB (over 4.5m USD). Today the company is building its own plant in Songjiang District, Shanghai, which will focus on digital printing and contract packing. The new plant is expected to be in full operation this month, and a newly purchased HP Indigo press will become the first equipment to be installed there.
‘Moreover, we also hope that this new digital printing and processing technology can attract a group of young workers in this industry so we can develop a reserve of future talent and ensure the future development of the company,’ concludes Fan Fengzai.
P5 PRODUCTION EXCELLENCE
With P5 Production Excellence Durst pursues a holistic solution to make your production cycle as efficient as possible, from pixel to output. The innovative P5 printing systems convince in every printing environment with high flexibility and versatility and enable combined with the Durst Software solutions to get the maximum out of your printing production.
DURST SUCCESS STORY: Gramann Digitaldruck GmbH produces products for the POS market
SUCCESS STORIES
Gramann Digitaldruck GmbH produces products for the POS market. This includes everything around the shelf, ceiling hangers, floor stickers, shelf wobblers, posters and displays. Especially in the field of packaging and cardboard displays and overall in the corrugated sector, the demand from customers is constantly increasing. With the flexible P5 printing system, this trend can be served perfectly, and even complex projects can be implemented without any problems.
With a daily production volume of up to 50,000 square meters per day, Gramann supplies trading companies from Norway to South Africa, from Portugal to Dubai. However, the company not only handles printing, but also takes care of prepress, 3D design and product development. Thanks to digital production, customer projects can be implemented comprehensively and served from a single source. Even pilot runs or short runs can be produced with ease.
“Every day, customers come to us with challenges that at first seem unsolvable. But as soon as we have successfully implemented the projects, we think – cool, what we can do!” emphasizes Antonius Gramann, CEO Gramann Digitaldruck GmbH.
Gramann recently invested in the P5 350 hybrid printing system and is thrilled. Above all, the machine convinces in the following 5 points:
- Roll-to-roll function – The perfectly working roll-to-roll function of the hybrid printing system is in no way inferior to that of a pure roll-to-roll press.
- White printing – Especially the possibility of 5-layer printing.
- Corrugated printing – The ability to process corrugated printing is a medium of the future. Above all, printing brown corrugated board with white represents a clear trend.
- Flexibility – The roll-to-roll function can be preloaded while the press is running. This enables an uninterrupted printing process. With board printing, on the other hand, small runs, many motifs, changing print runs on the same medium and different board formats can be handled easily without having to retool or change over the press each time.
- Cost-effectiveness – The press can be used in a very wide range of applications and impresses with its low ink, energy, and power consumption.
“For us, the future clearly lies in the corrugated sector. Here we are talking about packaging in short to medium runs” explains Mr. Gramann “The trend is that customers want to move away from plastic. Corrugated board is paper – you almost can’t get more sustainable than that.”
Learn more about the P5 350/HS large format printer in our virtual showroom:
DURST NEWS EDP AWARD WINNERS P5 TEX iSUB & P5 350 HS
The EDP Awards are the printing industry’s leading technology awards in Europe and are an open competition for all products announced and launched in the period of one year. In two categories, Durst was able to win in 2022 for its flagships, the P5 TEX iSUB and P5 350 HS.
For the jury, the P5 TEX iSUB is the best roll-to-roll textile printing system with an integrated inline finishing unit. The abbreviation iSUB stands for “inline sublimation”, suitable for direct printing, which enables to eliminate the process of calendering, resulting in a significant increase in quality and efficiency for the user. However, the printing system can also be used for transfer paper printing. The P5 TEX iSUB is a real game changer in the growing soft signage market.
The high-performance P5 350 HS hybrid printing system for roll and board media with a printing width of up to 3.5 m (11.48 ft) was able to assert itself asthe best UV printing system for the corrugated packaging market.With a speed of up to 710 sqm/h (7,620 sq.ft./h) and the ability to change materials quickly with multi-roll and multi-track options, the P5 350 HS makes the printing process much more efficient. Of course, not only corrugated but many other materials can be produced on the press, and further increase productivity with the integrated Durst Workflow and Durst Analytics software.
It is not without reason that the Durst P5 series is one of the most successful printing systems on the market.
“We are delighted to receive the EDP awards, as it shows that the continuousdevelopment of our modular P5 platform is marking out a new path in the worldof digital printing aimed in making production flows increasingly efficient, also thanks to our own software solutions fully integrated into the platform.” saysAndrea Riccardi, Head of Product Management, Durst Group. “At thisyear’s FESPA in Berlin, interested visitors can see for themselves the performance of the P5 printing systems and also expect further innovations from us.”
SEI Laser – laser innovation since 1982
SEI S.R.L. was born 40 years ago thanks to a strong culture of engineering, to main values of loyalty and passion together with working methods based on innovation and excellence.
In 1982 the genius, the professionalism and the intuition of SEI founders (now owners and strategic operative guides of the company) started a new company for the design and development of machinery and automation systems with custom electronic control and for the design, development and production of industrial electronics with the aim of becoming an industry.
During its continuing growth and evolution the company has become an important reference in the field of laser technology and a good partner for customers in order to give them innovative solutions, to create value and to think of, develop and meet the new demands of the international markets.
Nowadays SEI Laser S.p.A. is an Italian large industrial company which manufactures in Italy and exports worldwide laser systems designed and developed by the R&D department and which offers a wide range of solutions in order to meet its customers’ application needs both in the vertical and in the horizontal markets. Thanks to constant precise investments, SEI laser systems enable relevant performance with regard to costs, energy saving, sustainability, operator’s health, efficiency, product quality and above all innovation and variety of business..
40 years of precise goals, choices and changes, constant efforts and a lot of satisfaction. Anyway this anniversary is just a stage of the route for SEI Laser S.p.A., since a lot of other goals have to be achieved with the same enthusiasm, the same strength and the same values shared by the precious collaboration of the second generation.
With the utmost will and passion for following the same route, Sei Laser S.p.A. would like to celebrate this anniversary with its team in Italy and all over the world, with its managers, employees, sales agents, customers, dealers, suppliers and all the people who have helped us to achieve this goal.
Sei Laser S.p.A. is proud and thanks the contribution of everybody, the initiative and the skills of lots of people.