Jeff Wettersten, VP Packaging, Keypoint Intelligence

In der Vergangenheit war der Digitaldruck für hohe grafische Anforderungen auf weißer Wellpappe ausgelegt. Die Technologie war nur für etwa ein Drittel des Marktes ideal geeignet – bis jetzt.
Die Einführung von Druckfarben auf Wasserbasis und die Möglichkeit, weiße Tinte auf Kraftpapier zu drucken, ist ein wichtiger Schritt für die Branche, der die anderen zwei Drittel des Marktes anspricht.
Sie wird die Akzeptanz und Förderung des Digitaldrucks auf dem gesamten Markt beschleunigen.
Sie wird nicht nur für den Wellpappenverarbeiter, sondern auch für die Marke einen großen Nutzen bringen.
Sie wird ein Katalysator oder ein potenzieller Katalysator sein, um diesen Markt voranzutreiben.
Ein Sektor, in dem seine Anwendung einen bedeutenden Einfluss haben könnte, ist die Lebensmittel- und Getränkeindustrie, wenn es um einzelhandelsgerechte Verpackungen geht, die in die Regale kommen.
Wenn man Kraftpapier verwendet, braucht man eine Bildqualität, die überzeugt. Damit wird Kraftpapier als kostengünstige Alternative für viele Anwendungen im Einzelhandel wieder ins Spiel gebracht. Und dies wird sich weit über die Lebensmittel- und Getränkeindustrie hinaus auch auf die Industrie ausweiten.
Auch die Nachhaltigkeit wird eine Rolle spielen. Die Verfügbarkeit von weißer Tinte und weißer Tinte auf Kraftpapier wird sowohl für Marken als auch für Verarbeiter ein positives Zeichen für Nachhaltigkeit sein.
Es wird kein eigenes Material mehr verwendet, etwa chemisches oder gebleichtes Weiß, bei dem die Nachhaltigkeit nicht so positiv ist wie bei Kraftpapier. Durch das Deinking und die Rückgewinnung der nativen Kraftfasern wird dies auch Auswirkungen auf das Recycling und den Abfallstrom haben.Die Verarbeiter müssen anfangen, sich für den Digitaldruck zu interessieren. Er bietet einen Wettbewerbsvorteil auf dem Markt.
Wir sind sehr optimistisch, was die Zukunft des Digitaldrucks angeht, und das gilt auch für die Marken.

By David Zwang, Principal Consultant, Zwang & Company

Historically, there has been much “quiet” intercompany collaboration in the manufacturing of press and finishing equipment. However, lately we have seen more outward collaboration between equipment manufacturers. Often, the collaboration ensures that they leverage each other’s strengths, while each of the companies retains their visibility and yet allows for a quicker development and go to market outcomes.

Koenig & Bauer, a leader in printing press manufacturing, and Durst, a manufacturer of advanced digital printing and production technologies, signed a 50/50 joint venture agreement in 2019. The signing of the agreement paved the way for the joint development and marketing of single-pass digital printing systems for the folding carton and corrugated fiberboard industry, with the resulting company being Koenig & Bauer Durst GmbH. The joint venture has its registered office in Würzburg and cooperates closely with both parent companies’ global network.

The JV

Historically there has been much “quiet” intercompany collaboration in the manufacturing of press and finishing equipment. There have been a few companies like Koenig & Bauer, Komori, Miyakoshi, Fujifilm, and others who have supplied transports or even complete machines to other equipment manufacturers to sell under their own brand. There have also been companies like Durst, Kodak, and others who supply imaging engines to transport manufacturers. However, lately we have seen more outward collaboration between equipment manufacturers. Sometimes it is through acquisition or merger, like the recent acquisition of Hunkeler by Muller Martini, or it is more complex, like Agfa’s acquisition of INCA, which already had a joint development relationship with BHS and SCREEN. Sometimes it is just a collaboration like those between HP and Koenig & Bauer on the HP T1100 and T700i presses or between Durst and OMET on a hybrid flexo label press, amongst others. Often, the collaboration ensures that they leverage each other’s strengths, while each of the companies retains their visibility and yet allows for a quicker development and go to market outcomes.

The Koenig & Bauer Durst JV is very interesting and almost unique in that both companies have a history of working with other companies, sharing their individual strengths. Each of the two are very innovative in their individual areas of skill and application and also aware of their limitations. As a result, their experience, drive, and current portfolio puts them in a very good position for growth and success.

The Portfolio

Today the joint venture portfolio currently comprises what was originally the Koenig & Bauer CorruJET 170, the Durst SPC 130 digital corrugated press as well as the VariJET 106 folding carton press, including all associated services and the ink business.

I had an opportunity to speak with Daniel Velema, who is the Managing Director of the JV, appointed in February, 2024. He confirmed that when he was appointed back in February, the strategic intent “was really about building a standalone independent organization while, if needed, obviously pulling knowhow and resources from the mother companies.” The organization is being built for folding carton and corrugated with a focus on digital print. For example, the VariJET 106 integrates inkjet technology into the platform of the highperformance Rapida 106 offset press. He currently sees the flagship VariJET 106 as offering the most initial opportunity for the JV and their customers.

The VariJET 106 is positioned to replace offset with a modular press platform that is capable of offering digital, offset, and flexo functionality. To date there are two installed and a third press going in. Like many of the transformational press manufacturers, analog or digital, they want to make sure that the first couple of customers are really successful, and that they get the product stable before a full rollout. Then they can also start thinking about what additional things need to happen with the product to make it even more successful. These could be changes in the specifications, market to positioning, etc.

The Delta SPC 130, is a food-safe water-based inkjet press designed for non-impact corrugated printing which was initially released by Durst in 2019. When released it was a bit ahead of its time. However, there are a couple of “cool things” that they have introduced, which should broaden the appeal of the machine. One is a water-based digital white, which should help to move more flexo work onto a digital press. The other thing is that they took a hard look at the way they structure the portfolio.

They always had an “eco plus” configuration which was a slimmed down version of the “all in” automatic solution. However, now they want to drive the initial cost down even further so that people can start with digital printing with a lower-cost entry-level configuration with less automation, but with the capability to grow the configuration as they do. So, if a converter sees that the volumes are picking up and they get a better understanding of what applications they may be running, they can add new features to the press. For example, they may need a digital white or maybe they may need a primer or more colors, with this go to market model the converter can start building up their deliverable products and grow the press with it. “This way K&BD lowers the CapEx and gives it infield upgradeability,” said Velema.

At this time, Velema sees the CorruJET 170, which can print corrugated board up to 8mm thick, as a “bit of a niche product in that it is really after big volume digital printing on sheets,” and quite frankly the market is not really there as we can see generally in on-demand corrugated packaging at this time, but should be expected grow over time.

The Organization

As they look to build their organization for current and anticipated growth, they are investing in people, although they need to balance new hires against redundancies in the mother companies. Both Koenig & Bauer and Durst have extensive and talented teams. They are currently hiring application engineers to support their customers in the field, and looking for a technical program manager to support the VariJET. There’s a new service manager coming on board, and they are looking into expanding their capabilities in inks and software.

Geographically, they have been focused on North America and Europe to date. However, they are seeing a lot of interest in Asia Pacific and Latin America, so they are opening those areas up as well.

With the strengths of Koenig & Bauer, Durst and the JV, and if drupa traffic was any indication of the general interest, they can expect a strong future.

First published in:

Die VariJET 106 revolutioniert die Branche als hochmoderne hybride Single-Pass-Bogendruckmaschine, die speziell für Faltschachteln und wasserbasierte Anwendungen entwickelt wurde.

Durch die Kombination der neuesten Innovationen mit bewährter Technologie von Durst und Koenig & Bauer stellt sie den nächsten Sprung in der Druckexzellenz dar.

In diesem Video bieten Maik Laubin (Vice President Digital Solution, Koenig & Bauer) und Tom Sander (Produktmanager, Koenig & Bauer Durst) einen exklusiven Blick aus unserem Demo-Center in Radebeul, Deutschland.

Erfahren Sie, wie der VariJET 106 die Zukunft des Druckens gestaltet:

Wir laden Sie ein, die bemerkenswerten Eigenschaften in unserem Democenter in Radebeul persönlich zu erkunden.

Wenden Sie sich für weitere Informationen an Ihren Händler vor Ort!

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

The time for digital printing is now.

That is one of the main takeaways from a white paper by Markus Witthaut, a senior scientist at Fraunhofer IML, Europe’s largest research organization covering all areas on logistics.

He said the benefits of digital printing are already there and will just become more and more relevant. He added: “Don’t wait. Go for digital printing now.”

The white paper on the complete supply chain management and logistics was created on behalf of Koenig & Bauer Durst.

It clearly showed digitization that comes with digital printing delivers benefits for converters and brand owners. Processes can be made faster by the quick exchange of information about new packaging designs, new print, as well as the status of the production order.

This approach delivers three major advantages for brand owners – the lead time is considerably quicker, design changes can be made rapidly and there is a greatly reduced risk of obsolescence.

These advantages can be very quickly introduced and capitalized on with the right software tools.

Efficient production with optimal results in the shortest possible time is delivered by the browser-based Durst Software Solutions. Durst Workflow combines data preparation, colour management and output preparation and allows multiple users with customizable permissions to work in parallel on the same database.

Production results are made more transparent by Durst Analytics. It gives users an at a glance overview of their printing systems via a web browser or an automatically generated email report. They can monitor production data such as material, ink consumption and productivity.

The complete processing of print orders and the sale of products and services is managed by the online Durst Smart Shop. The all-in-one solution digitizes and automates the sales and marketing process from the first customer contact up to the transfer of a print ready file to the production floor.

Individually or collectively these solutions can enable digital production to be responsively scaled up to meet demand.

They can also help generate increased profitability through the provision of the most highly automated and productive single-pass digital printing solutions on the market.

To discover more about how converters and brand owners can enjoy the benefits of digital print read the full white paper here: Supply-chain-improvements-with-digital-printing.pdf