Innovative flexo label press founder Dieter Arabin (67) has been killed riding one of his vintage motorbikes in his home town in Germany.

Together with his brother Siegfried he won a reputation for developing pioneering flexo label printing solutions based on a modular approach, which have influenced the entire global label printing industry.

They began by developing what were considered innovative printing press solutions for the then fledgling flexographic label printing process This led to the pair founding the Arsoma company in 1992, which was bought by Swiss label giant Gallus just six years later. Their press concepts led to the Gallus EM280, which was the first modular label platform ever released by Gallus.

The Arsoma brand was subsumed into Gallus in 2004. Heidelberg is now the 100 per cent owner of Gallus.

Gallus describes Dieter as a friend of the company, and says the relationship and business partnership between Dieter, Siegfried and Gallus remained friendly and cooperative. “Dieter – along with his brother Siegfried – made a lasting impression on the development of Gallus and the label-printing industry, in many different ways.”

Dieter and his brother Siegfried made a hobby of restoring old motorbikes and had entered motorbike races for many years. It is believed the fatal accident occurred during a racing competition.

Dieter Arabin was 67 years old and leaves behind a wife, Maria, and sons.  

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