By Andreas Friedrich, Koenig & Bauer’s Vice President Sales, Asia Pacific

Thailand’s printing industry is thriving, with numerous brand owners serving both domestic and export markets. We’re excited to meet in person at Pack Print International in Bangkok, 17-20 September!

Koenig & Bauer is renowned for its offset machinery and engineering excellence. Durst is known for its advanced digital printing solutions. By combining their strengths, the two companies created a joint venture that developed the VariJET 106 –  a flagship single-pass inkjet folding carton press, unique in the global digital printing market for packaging converting. At this show, we can’t wait to bring this technology closer to our visitors in South East Asia.

Looking at data from the last three event, about 75% of attendees come from Thailand, with the rest representing international visitors across ASEAN and beyond. With such a strong audience, our team is eager to engage with packaging converters exploring digital printing. The VariJET won’t be physically on display, but it will be one of the key topics for discussion. We’ll have plenty of print samples to share and discuss, helping visitors see its potential and benefits firsthand.

With offset-like quality and a modular system combining digital and conventional Rapida offset technology, the VariJET gives converters the best of both worlds. They can choose which products to produce digitally or conventionally, and even add customized features to every sheet. Packaging converters are ready to meet the near-future demands of their brand owners, as already seen in European markets.

Do you want to find out more and be among the first?

Come meet us at our booth N02!

Guest blog by Thomas Goeke, Customer Experience and Marketing, Koenig & Bauer

Knowledge sharing, a celebration of achievements and future-forward approaches with partnerships based on trust… all among the overwhelmingly positive feedback to our recent Open House.

A heartfelt thank you to all the attendees at our ‘Expand Your Business Model’ event over two weeks at our Sheetfed division headquarters in Radebeul, Germany.

I have a strong belief in the need to inspire customers and provide value with our total one-stop shop approach.

It wasn’t just a showcase for die-cutting, folder-gluer and offset and digital printing processes, we were able to communicate our complete value proposition as a trusted partner.

Guests were able to see live demonstrations of integrated, innovative technology in an inspiring environment covering solutions in folding carton, label, commercial, and corrugated board sectors.

We covered everything from high-volume to short-run production, digital and showed the myKana digital ecosystem portal, including AI-supported products that add tangible added value for product optimisation.

One of the undoubted highlights was the “From Zero to Carton Hero” in 15 minutes, the timeframe it takes to complete a folding carton production value chain from sheet to finished product.

And of course, the VariJET digital production machine from Koenig & Bauer Durst was another!

Witnessing the positive reaction from a fully focused audience every day was truly awe-inspiring.

As a one-stop solutions provider, we enable our customers to be successful.

We help them to look beyond products, understand the pain points and develop a profitable business model to help them grow with good guidance.

If you missed our “Expand Your Business Model” Open House, you can find out more here or here.

• Koenig & Bauer presented a user case study encompassing digital printing and the new digitalization including the new installations of the VariJET 106 from Koenig & Bauer Durst in Europe 
• Attendees learned how current and future industrial digital printing technology, software and solutions will impact their business and investment decisions
• Showcased the impressive capabilities of Koenig & Bauer’s RotaJET digital web-fed printing system, the myKyana digital ecosystem, and groundbreaking Connected Packaging solution integrating the brand, the converter, and the consumer

Chris Lyons, President/Publisher Packaging Impressions & PPC (far left) and David Pesko, Event Director of the Digital Packaging Summit (far right), present Sandra Wagner, Vice President Digitalization at Koenig & Bauer, and Stephen Sanker, National Sales Director for Digital Web at Koenig & Bauer (US), with the award for the Best Folding Carton Case Study at the Digital Packaging Summit in Florida

Koenig & Bauer is extremely proud to accept the first-place award for the best folding carton case study at the tenth annual Digital Packaging Summit, held in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL in early November 2024. Its two top executives – Stephen Sanker, National Sales Director for Digital Web at Koenig & Bauer (US), and Sandra Wagner, Vice President Digitalization at Koenig & Bauer – successfully delivered a very compelling folding carton case study to the summit’s senior managers and business executives who want to understand how current and future digital production printing technology, software and solutions will impact their business and investment decisions.

Stephen Sanker says: “This is our second win in three years. We felt that we made a huge impact with converters showing them the impressive capabilities of Koenig & Bauer’s digital portfolio including the VariJET 106 digital sheetfed printing system, RotaJET digital web-fed printing system, the myKyana digital ecosystem, and our groundbreaking Connected Packaging solution. Our presentation of a real-life application fostered a lot of questions and interest, opening dialogue about planning and strategy. We were able to demonstrate how Koenig & Bauer has set itself apart and offer very effective tools.”

During the three-day event, experts presented cutting-edge digital solutions that are transforming the packaging industry. Sandra Wagner was one such expert who presented an analysis of how digital printing can open up new possibilities for companies of all sizes. She also shared valuable insights into how Koenig & Bauer is leveraging the latest technology to drive innovation and enhance the customer experience. Both Sanker and Wagner conducted a series of popular one-on-one meetings. Their message to converters was to embrace the future of industrial scale digital production while forging stronger connections between brands and consumers.

Koenig & Bauer’s massive knowledge in sheet and web-fed solutions fueled application developments  in the folding carton segment offering unmatched industrial production volumes and brand level color surpassing all standards in the category. Its RotaJET high-speed industrial digital inkjet web press prints and produces with superior image quality, substrate versatility, and print volume. The VariJET 106 from Koenig & Bauer Durst integrates all the know-how and expertise by combining digital and offset so customers can have the best of both worlds for the ultimate hybrid printing system. The central customer portal, myKyana, offers data-driven productivity tools with real-time production data analysis to help to make smarter decisions faster for positive impact.

“This is a very important event on the digital packaging marketing calendar,” says Sandra Wagner. “It offers strategic-level insights into what printing and converting industry leaders should do to improve and optimize their business. We felt that the tremendous positive reaction we received from the attendees lets us know that we have the correct approach. The Digital Packaging Summit is the leading event for digital printing and digitalization.”

Interesting website: www.digitalpackagingsummit.com

By Matthias Krautgasser, Senior Product Manager, Koenig & Bauer Durst

The corrugated printing market is evolving at breakneck pace. What worked yesterday will soon be outdated.

Your customers want everything, and they want it now. How will you keep up successfully?

The pressure isn’t just internal; it is external too: regulations, sustainability, environmental responsibility.

But this can be turned to your advantage. Meet the rockstar of corrugated printing!  The Delta SPC 130, the only machine flexible enough to keep up with the constant changes in the market.

I’ll be explaining our philosophy and market approach at next week’s TMV meeting in Seeheim on Monday Nov. 18^th in the Spotlights starting 11:00 am.

My presentation, entitled “Stronger together for an answer to your needs”, will cover many topics. These will include small print runs, large formats, campaigns, promotions, fast turnaround times. Whatever the customer decides, the machine delivers.

Our entry-level Delta SPC 130 is the Core model, which provides your flexible entry into the world of digital printing. If small isn’t enough… think bigger!

The Delta SPC 130 grows with you. Automatic feeding, stacking, additional colours, primer, white, (digital water-based primer, and digital water based white) your production capacity grows with your demands.

The Delta SPC 130:  modular, expandable, adaptable, this machine can handle it all. We are very flexible, growing to your needs and cope with the challenges.

Talk to us and shape your future before someone else does!