Durst Group has officially opened the “Durst Kraftwerk” – a new 5,300 square metre facility which sits beside Durst’s stunning headquarters and factory in Brixen, Italy and serves as a home to spin-offs and start-ups of the Durst Group and Technicon Holdings.
“Born out of the need to give our US acquisition Vanguard Digital Systems a home in Europe, the idea for the “Durst Kraftwerk” was born,” Christoph Gamper, CEO and co-owner of the Durst Group, said.
“A powerhouse that brings together our spin-offs and start-ups and offers them a new home. In this way, we provide a creative environment where the companies can fully concentrate on their respective areas of expertise – without the “burden” of integration into an established structure.
“I am grateful and proud of the individual co-founders and their teams and convinced that top performance and business success will go hand in hand in the Durst Kraftwerk.
“In fact, we’ve already created 35 highly qualified jobs by the time of the opening – in the final expansion stage, more than 100 employees will be researching, developing, designing, optimising and teaching at the Kraftwerk – helping to shape tomorrow’s production processes and methods.”
Technicon Holdings is owned by Harald Oberrauch.
“Technicon Holding unites internationally successful companies such as Durst Group AG and Alupress AG under its umbrella,” Oberrauch said.
“At the same time, we act as an incubator to promote new business ideas that arise in our companies’ environment. From a bird’s eye view, we can clear hurdles more quickly, accelerate development processes and connect teams.
“We aim to create a true innovation centre for specialised service providers at the Durst Kraftwerk.”
Kraftwerk is also home to Vanguard Europe, the European branch of the US company, Vanguard Digital Printing Systems, which Durst Group acquired in 2020. Vanguard Digital Printing Systems manufacturer equipment for signage, decor, corporate, industrial and packaging sectors.
Kraftwerk is also home to the Durst Academy training centre which includes facilities for online and offline seminars and green-screen presentations to provide customised training for process technology, hardware and software to customers and service partners from around the world.
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.
Another operation working from the Kraftwerk is D3-AM GmbH, a company involved in the field of additive 3D manufacturing. This Durst spin-off specialises in the pinnacle of materials and technical ceramics with applications in the automative, electronics, energy, aerospace and medical technology sectors.
DMC GmbH (Durst Media Company), an agency specialising in B2B marketing communications/new storytelling, is also moving into the Kraftwerk, 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.
Durst Oceania Managing Director Matt Ashman welcomed the new Durst Kraftwerk.
“This is the vision of Christoph Gamper and Harald Oberrauch, and incubator for new start-ups and business innovators in the heart of the Tyrol, next door to the the little big company we all know so well – what inspiration,” Ashman said.
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