This article was originally published in the June 2023 issue of ProPrint magazine. To read the full story (with testimonials from each person in the group), click here.
Visitors to Durst’s factory in Brixen, Italy pre-FESPA were initiated into the defining qualities of a ‘Durst’ler’ as they toured the company’s magnificent premises and witnessed first-hand how digital printing systems are built from the ground up.
I was fortunate to be part of this throng of industry players who came away impressed by the processes and interactions of this ever-evolving institution that puts perfection and people at its core.
Durst Oceania managing director Matt Ashman defines the term ‘Durst’ler’ as “a great attitude and a desire to work with Durst and our customers”, and as we spent two days with him as our host, accompanied by Durst Oceania sales manager of large format print and textiles Julian Lowe, we came to understand the expression first-hand.
The tour is standard practice which the company bestows on visitors, not only to immerse them fully into the Durst experience, but also to lay on lavish hospitality. In our case, we enjoyed a myriad of memorable experiences extending across Italy and Austria, before going on to Munich where FESPA 2023 was held.
(Hero image: l-r) Visitors from down under at Durst Brixen: John Carr, Ambrin Naaz Begum, Ewan Donaldson, Durst’s Julian Lowe, Aaron Grigg, Mark Brooks, Alasdair & Kim Wilson, and Bianca Martin
Brixen factory tour
Third-generation family business Durst is a leading manufacturer of industrial digital printing machines in the fields of large format, label, textile, ceramic and packaging printing. The company, which started in 1929, develops its products entirely in-house, manufactures them at its headquarters in Brixen and Lienz, and then sells them to customers all over the world.
Durst also offers software including backoffice enterprise resource planning, digital workflows and B2B/B2C online store front solutions and owns several other companies, including Alupress, a producer of high-grade aluminium.
Durst Group is majority owned by the Oberrauch family with CEO Christoph Gamper who is a co-owner.
On our tour of the sleek and striking spaces of the Brixen location, we were taken through Durst’s Kraftwerk, the company’s in-house spin-offs and startups incubator which opened last year, born out of the need to give the company’s 2020 acquisition of US Vanguard Digital Systems, manufacturer of digital printing systems for signage, decor, corporate, industrial and packaging sectors, a home in Europe.
We were told that Vanguard Europe’s next-generation UV flatbed printer, the VK3220T-HS, would be unveiled at FESPA Munich.
Then it was on to Durst’s gallery of history, where we saw examples of Durst’s past technology, before being led to the factory floor where the company’s engineers were building machines from the ground up. The huge industrial CNC machines, which allow popular choice for printers to pick and choose what they want to add to the core unit, are built on site at Durst to ensure that every part of fabrication and manufacture are controlled by engineers.
Excursions and experiences
As well as an extensive tour of the Durst premises, we were provided with comfortable contemporary accommodation, exquisite meals and experienced a walking tour of the city, followed by the Durst-sponsored Watertight Festival.
A visit to the Bergisel Olympic ski jump in Innsbruck and dinner at the historic 400-year-old Auracher Löchl in Kufstein, with its secret cave bar, on the way back to Munich ended the two-day excursion on a high note.
And the camaraderie didn’t end there –throughout the four days of FESPA, when we bumped into each other, we felt a closeness and a kind of ‘Durst’ler’ connection.
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