With the P5 UV printer we are ahead of the curve
Durst’s versatile, nimble and unique e-commerce solution will continue to revolutionize our business
After investing in the 2nd Tau 330 RSC, The Label Makers talk about their experience with their 2 Tau 330 RSC UV inkjet presses and how the RSC technology pushed their digital print business
In-house digital printing is the future for Lillestoff: "We produce on our own.This brings us closer to our customers".
Masserdotti Group disguises the cathedral of Ferrara
Durst Rho series help kick-start business growth for EASTprint
In the end of February 2019, the first Durst P5 250 HS UV printer has been presented to customers at Arial in St. Petersburg during an Open House event. The Durst customer Arial, an advertising and production company, works with the P5 UV printer since September 2018 and has already ordered another P5 printer from the same type. One machine is installed and the 2nd one will be installed by end of May. Another P5 250 HS was installed in Moscow as well.
Arial produces a wide range of POS materials, posters, backlits, banners and PVC grids, various contact paper products as well as textile goods (soft signage, flags), etc. 80% of manufacturing range falls to interior goods (mainly corrugated cardboard), which makes high printing quality a key factor for any purchase decision. The P5 250 HS fulfills this important customer expectation.“We wanted to be ahead of the curve,” Olga Bolgar, the Chief Operating Officer of Arial advertising and production company, explains the reasons behind the purchase, “Generally, we work with advertising agencies and they are very sensitive to technological innovations that may improve product quality and order processing speed. When we found out about the development of the Durst P5 platform, it became clear to us that this device would be launched in Russia. And as we wanted to be at the top of the list, we immediately ordered a P5 machine”.Kirill Karelsky, the Chief Commercial Officer of Arial advertising and production company, told how he, on a trial basis, had printed some regular business cards with the Durst P5 250 HS and the print result “has exceeded all expectations”.
Bathurst Signs is a regional business and generates 60% of its business outside the Australia city where it is based, including to Sydney just over 220 kilometers to the south east. Durst software will ensure turnover grows by at least 25% in the next 18 months alone.
“Durst’s SmartShop solution has – and will continue – to revolutionize our business,” said owner David Berry. “It’s done everything and more. In the next two years the profits generated through our website will more than give us a return on investment. A wider benefit is customer loyalty; the software is enabling us to become virtually indispensable to our clients, who also rely on us for training and other resources.”
Bathurst Signs employs 12 people and has a turnover of AU$1.3 million. Its traditional sign-making business largely covered government departments and other regulated industries such as forestry and rail. In the old days, every job order needed at least some form of change.
“Change became so exhausting that we didn’t want to provide many of the services,” said David Berry. The software from Durst Professional Services has simplified order-making, with the addition of a fast-expanding online shop business where the public can also order custom-made signs and other products directly through the website.
Bathurst Signs’ extensive online libraries are accessible by logging onto the website and which has a powerful search function, developed by Durst Professional Services. For example, over 5,000 different bits of artwork for state rail alone can be searched and found almost instantaneously. Any designs can be tailored to individual requirements with a powerful tool, known as the smartEditor, provided by Durst Professional Services in large-format printing. Creator software is used for personalising anything from banners, wallpapering, signs, billboards and posters, as well as flexible packaging. Bathurst Signs has set up 15 sub-shops as a portal for larger customers.
“This is versatile, nimble and unique software,” said David Berry. “The time it takes to process orders now has been reduced from many days, sometimes weeks, down to just a couple of hours. The customer is in total control and uses smartEditor to create the final job, while we are left to print and dispatch in very quick time. I have never seen anything so sophisticated that gives the average person the ability to design with such powerful software.
“Personalization can be done to the nth degree – the options for our customers are limitless and cover endless applications. For instance, banners, wallpapering applications, stickers, posters and billboards, as well as packaging consumer goods such as lunchboxes and wine boxes.”
David Berry concluded: “It’s been a learning experience, but the support from Durst has been incredible and the staff are always extremely professional. Durst has been a true partner. It is a company that is constantly investing and improving the software solutions, making improvements on a virtual daily basis.”
Lillestoff, one of Germany's most successful international fabric retailers, is a future-oriented company that relies on Durst's innovative, high-performance Alpha 190 digital textile printer. This printer is suitable for printing on a wide variety of fabric types and provides the company with more efficient production, reduced storage capacities and considerably faster delivery times.
"Digital printing is our future. From small runs to industrial volumes, we now produce 90% of our fabrics ourselves, in the highest quality and with vibrant colors. Thanks to the Alpha 190 printer, we can now respond much faster to customer needs, be more independent, more flexible and really print only what we need”. Daniele Gencalp, owner, Lillestoff GmbH
From a small sewing café to an internationally recognized fabric supplier, the Lillestoff GmbH, founded in 2010, specializes in the sale of fabrics with special, Scandinavian designs for the fashion market. Lillestoff now employs 28 people, plus10 exclusive designers from all over the world, and delivers to 28 different countries and operates from premises covering over 2,000 square meters.
"Lillestoff’s designs are special and they inspire our customers,” says Daniele Gencalp. “That made us grow very fast in the last years. Lillestoff's customers include big companies and retailers, but also many loyal DIY customers.”
Until recently, the fabrics had been printed in a factory in Turkey. "With the constantly growing order volume the production cycle simply took too long and became more and more unreliable. Long delivery times, poor quality, incomplete orders and too much waste - we couldn't serve our customers in a professional way anymore," says Daniele Gencalp.
There was only one solution for Lillestoff - to do the printing themselves. After doing their own research, the Gencalps visited the Fespa trade fair in 2017. "We were immediately fascinated by the Durst Alpha 190 printer but had no experience at all in dealing with printing.”
For Martin Winkler, Head of Durst Textile Printing, and his team, that was no problem. Durst provided Lillestoff with several employees to ensure successful installation and commissioning. "The support was great", says Daniele Gencalp. "Together with all the designers, we and of course our two new printers were trained.”
Example Lillestoff design
Durst Alpha 190 at Lillestoff
In autumn 2018, the first self-produced fabrics rolled off the press. "The best decision for Lillestoff. There are no more limits to our production.”
The Gencalps were rewarded with considerably lower production and storage costs after only a short time. "The Alpha190 printer is the ideal solution for us and brings us closer to our customers. Soon we will give up two storage rooms, an important cost reduction! In less than two years we want to reduce our storage space by one third," says Daniele Gencalp. "The investment in the Alpha 190 printer will pay off within only one year if business remains the same. This is important for our company from.”
In addition to many financial advantages, Lillestoff was also able to approach new markets. "We are now also printing for other dealers. This new business area is so successful that we will soon hire another employee to manage it.”
In the meantime, well over 1,000 metres of top-quality fabric per day roll from the Durst Alpha 190 printer at Lillestoff. In addition to the usual fashion fabrics such as modal and jersey, the Gencalps also try new applications, such as printing on denim. Further product developments will follow in the course of the year, so that customers can be curious!
Over 1,000 square meters of digitally printed mesh net, more than 600 kg total weight, 5 days for printing and packaging, 1 day and a half for mounting at over 30 meters height, 4 years of guaranteed durability. These are the statistics of the huge artistic tarpaulin that covers the exterior of the Cathedral in Ferrara, which has undergone intense restoration work.
It is one of the largest installations in Europe with the extremely rare peculiarity of being totally free of any logos or advertising images. The realization is the work of Gruppo Masserdotti Spa, chosen by customers for its long and consolidated experience in the field of wrapping buildings.
The Brescia-based Group has worked in close collaboration with the artist and the graphic designers of Eliotecnica. It was important to ensure excellent printing performance and maximum durability in the outdoor environment. Made of flame-retardant class B1 PVC, micro-perforated and weighing 510 grams, the sheet, divided into four parts, was printed by Masserdotti Group using the Durst Rho 512R Plus roll-to-roll system and transported to Ferrara for completion. The installation at the cathedral turned out to be a sartorial and at the same time acrobatic operation. The roof was fixed to the top of the scaffolding, more than 30 meters above the ground, and then lowered to the ground.
A total of five days were needed to carry out this exceptional order, which saw the work of a specialized team of 10 people to enrich the prestigious portfolio of installations of this kind undertaken by Masserdotti Group, including the Doge's Palace in Venice (covering 5,000 square meters), the Ghirlandina Tower in Modena (4,350 square meters), the palace of San Sebastiano in Mantua (1,200 square meters) and the Cathedral of Noto (1,000 square meters).
EASTprint, the experts for XXL digital prints in Dresden, Germany, has been a Durst customer since it was founded in 2005. It is the sponsor and advertising technology supplier of the second league football club Dynamo Dresden and prints XXL construction fence banners for numerous companies.
At the start of every season, the Durst Rho P10 200 is used to print the sponsor walls in the press room, mixed zone and interior of the stadium.
EASTprint was also involved in the redesign after the rebranding, which included renaming the football ground to Rudolf Harbig Stadium. EASTprint produced the illuminated advertising at the front of the stadium. "In 2019 we will focus on further expansion in banner printing," says Maik Vogel, Managing Director of EASTprint. The company employs 45 staff, including 8 trainees, and produces more than 4,000 sqm a year in Dresden's trade fair area.
Two new production presses were purchased by EASTprint last year: the Durst Rhotex 325 for fabric and textile printing and a Durst Rho 512R Plus, which have become a great support in daily business life. "We have not only been able to increase our efficiency while maintaining consistent quality, but we are now also able to offer our customers banners up to 5m wide without seams," says Vogel. Dresden residents have already experienced the quality. That’s because EASTprint produced XXL construction fence banners for numerous companies, which were attached to the scaffolding in the city.
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