Koenig & Bauer and Durst are increasing their commitment to the joint venture developing digital printing for packaging applications. The two have agree to increase R&D capacity in order to take advantage of accelerating opportunities in folding carton and corrugated box printing.
This comes almost five years after the joint venture agreement was struck and ahead of Drupa where the Varijet 106 and Delta SPC130 machines are expected to take centre stage. The latter was shown in embryonic form at the 2016 Drupa, the former has never been shown at a major exhibition. At Drupa 2016 an inkjet array using Xerox printheads was shown before that partnership dissolved.
Since then two beta machines have been installed at unnamed sites, at least one in Germany at a major packaging producer that already operates the HP T1100S press built by Koenig & Bauer. It has discussed the appeal of digitally printed packaging including traceability, interactivity and benefits of personalised print, making digital carton printing a logical interest.
The stepping up of the investment in Koenig & Bauer Durst is underlined by the appointment of Daniel Valema, who takes up the reins next month from Robert Stabler who has headed the venture since its outset in 2019. Stabler never moved from home in Surrey to either Dresden, home of the joint venture, or to the Durst plant in Brixen, Austria.
Valema joins from Xsys where he has been general manager prepress and one of the senior management team for the Flint Group spin off since May last year. Before that he had been VP corrugated, heading the Idea inkjet project since 2020 having joined Flint as strategy director in 2016.
He says: “Corrugated and folding carton printers/converters continue to digitise their production environment to increase efficiency, flexibility and to provide a better service to brands and retail. In the long term, this leads to significant cost reductions. Koenig & Bauer Durst’s machinery, software and services offering is well positioned to support and accelerate our customers’ journey.”
Stabler will remain involved for a handover period and will leave with the endorsement of the two shareholders. Durst CEO Christoph Gamper says: We see a huge opportunity to grow substantially over the next few years. Solid foundations have been laid with the successful launch of the VariJet 106 press, the most productive folding carton digital press on the market, as well as the adoption of our corrugated presses by some of the world’s most innovative and forward looking corrugated companies. Robert has been instrumental in developing and leading the joint venture team that has developed high end systems in fully automatic, industrial scale production. We want to thank Robert for bringing the joint venture from an idea to a vibrant, standalone company.”
The VariJet 106 arrives as converters are show increasing interest in what digital print can do, but also with growing competition including the Landa S10, Agfa SpeedSet and smaller format presses from HP Indigo, Fujifilm and Ricoh.
