Page 22 - Print21 Nov-Dec 2020

Labels
Durst expanding boundaries
The digital print systems developer Durst is encouraging printers to look outside the box with its labels and packaging systems.
Technology developer Durst is at the heart of industrial printing. It is headquartered in Italy, equidistant between the industrial
powerhouses of Munich and Milan. The company has spent the better part of a century developing precision technology to push the boundaries of what has been possible. And, for the past 30 years, Durst has focused on digital inkjet printing.
Durst manufactures wide format print systems, label printing systems. Had drupa gone ahead, visitors would have seen Durst’s new water-based digital package printing systems. The water-based technology means the print can be applied on primary casing – in other words, it can touch the food. The first systems are now in alpha testing in Europe.
New print
opportunities
Matt Ashman, CEO of Durst Oceania says, “There is a printer in Austria that is printing on the trays for strawberries. That tray, including the ink, is recyclable. The print is a new opportunity.”
The corrugated technology is based on the Durst Delta 250 WT and the Delta SPC 130 platforms. They were developed to print on corrugated, a driving force for the new joint venture with press giant Koenig & Bauer.
“Koenig & Bauer Durst would have been a big story at drupa, delivering quality at speed for low cost onto corrugated,” Ashman says.
Printing on corrugated has traditionally been achieved by litho laminating with sheets printed
on litho presses them laminated
onto corrugated board. The Durst technology prints directly onto the carton, making a two-step process just one step. It means only print that is needed is actually printed. Ashman says it also enables the use of lighter- weight corrugated, for lower cost. “There is no waste, it is on-demand printing, in short runs or long runs,” he says.
When it comes to labels, Ashman says Durst believes the sector is at a
similar point to that of wide-format a dozen years ago. That was when digital direct to media took over from screen printing, consigning the latter to a fringe technology.
“Label printers who are looking to implement digital technology are those that will be well-placed to capitalise on the evolving market,” Ashman says.
“Conventional label printing with flexo and gravure has a place, but
in today’s market it is digital which will see growth. Just as it was with the entrepreneurs who took direct to media wide format and ran with it and then realised real growth
Multiple applications: Durst Tau technology
opportunities, so it will be with the innovative label printers who see the benefits of digital, and Durst digital with its robust performance.”
Cost-efficient
label printing
Ashman says the price of the hardware and the inks from Durst makes the move into on demand label printing cost efficient.
“Brands are increasingly looking for on demand printing, rather than having one large batch of labels printed and stored to be drawn down on,” Ashman says.
“Digital enables print service providers to give customers exactly what they want when they want
it, which is lower volumes more frequently. It is the same as when wide format went digital. And with Durst there is zero waste.”
Printing on a Durst Tau reel fed digital inkjet press could mean printing labels, it could also mean printing toothpaste tubes or cartons. Ashman says Durst has close relationships with finishing solutions suppliers to ensure a seamless end to end production.
He also says just as the equipment can now produce a broader range of product than just labels, it is targeted at a broader range of printers than just label businesses.
“The boundaries are coming down,” Ashman says.
“Any print business knows how
to handle files, understands colour management, understands customer service. The move into labels for a commercial printer or a wide format printer is not a huge leap.”
The new Durst Tau RSCi has a 52cm web width, compared with the regular 33cm, and will produce 3300sqm an hour. “And it will print 2pl text, so small the human eye can’t see it, for security, that is the level of quality you can achieve,” Ashman says.
Technology from Durst is driving the move to a new type of printing industry, where silos crumble and opportunity abounds, limited only by the user’s imagination. 21
22 Print21 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020