GO LARGE OR GO HOME:
A report about a cooperation between pioneers in Large Format Printing.
Durst is a leading manufacturer of digital printing and production technologies: LFP & Graphics, Labels & Flexible Packaging and Ceramics. Trevision and Durst have been working together for over a decade. The close collaboration is characterized by mutual trust and open communication, in which it is perfectly acceptable to voice criticism in order to push each other forward.
We met CEO Christoph Gamper for a digital interview across several time zones and talked about milestones and future chunks, the special features of production in the midst of the Tyrolean mountains, and the fact that stubbornness doesn’t necessarily always have to be negative.
Christoph Gamper, a native and likeable South Tyrolean, has spent half his life in technology companies all over the world before becoming CEO and member of the Board of Directors of the Durst Group, headquartered in Bressanone, South Tyrol. For 10 years now, Christoph Gamper has been leading the company, which for Trevision stands not only for excellent technology, but also for honesty, transparency and absolute reliability.
A hidden champion who performs worldwide.
“Exciting, technology-driven, somewhat stubborn in the most positive sense and very familiar – a “hidden” champion who enjoys innovation and values that are lived.” With these words, Mr. Gamper describes the technology company with no bullshit policy. Here, instead of pretending a lot, things are done simply and customers are seen as partners at eye level. Moreover, it remains a family business, even though more than 800 employees worldwide now develop and market high-end systems.
Durst was founded in 1929 by the Durst brothers. In the 1930s, they were still repairing photographic equipment – in the years that followed, they specialized in machines for producing picture postcards, before Durst made a name for itself as a pioneer in photographic technology.
For Gamper, the biggest milestones cannot be summarized so quickly, because there were many formative phases such as the switch from analog technology to digital solutions or the development of ceramic 3D printing.
Christoph Gamper also reminds us during the short excerpt from the company history of the time when photos still had to be developed, but quickly turns his gaze back to the challenges of the future. Because Durst Lambda marked the entry into the digital era and the later Gamma series led to great successes in efficient tile production and laid the foundation for ceramic 3D printing. Things have been going from strength to strength for Durst ever since, and the company’s future path remains exciting for Gamper. For example, he classifies the Durst Workflow software ecosystem as a “revolutionary all-in-one solution that combines all steps of the pre-press and production process in one application.” Trevision, by the way, has long been a satisfied user of the RIP software.
Current projects are many – and each worth mentioning. These include the expansion of the P5 family, from which Trevision is already benefiting with the latest P5 TEX iSub model, and the further development of the WT series, a water-based technology for flatbed printing.
Durst can also point to recent successes: “In recent years, we have built up a large software force that will increasingly come to the fore with front-end and ERP solutions. In packaging printing, together with our partner Koenig & Bauer, we have just presented the Varijet (editor’s note: inkjet technology integrated into a high-performance press for digital sheetfed printing on the folding carton market) to the international press with great success, which must now of course meet the set standards. Furthermore, we have founded a spin-off in the field of ceramic 3D printing.”
When asked about his favorite project, the CEO tells of the impressive project “The Rock”. Dwayne Johnson has nothing to do with it, rather it is about a particularly sustainable printing technology. The 10 years of development and research were unusually long for someone in this field, but the patience has more than paid off for Gamper and nature: “We can use it to create ceramics that are as unique as nature – without destroying nature in the process.”
"We are more than a company: we are Durstlers."
CEO Christoph Gamper is relaxed about the future. Of course, there would be enough challenges such as the prevailing pandemic and the associated travel difficulties, but by constantly pushing digitalization and the early use of technical aids, Durst sees itself more than up to the challenges of the future. Furthermore, Gamper emphasizes his employees:inside and the hardware: “Highest quality -100% use of material and employees to bring added value to the customer. We are more than a company: we are Durstlers.” It is precisely these Durstlers who ensure that new technology developments are always being scouted to integrate.
The visionary knows that pioneers don’t have to do everything on their own. In the area of “predictive maintenance”, Trevision is therefore collaborating with the University of Bolzano on a project. Here, too, Trevision is already using Durst’s sophisticated technology with the Durst Analytics tool to have all the data from the printing and production environment evaluated by intelligent algorithms in order to increase production output.
"Trevision is a pioneer in large format printing and we are happy to be a part of this success story."
When asked what makes Trevision and Durst’s collaboration special, Gamper emphasizes the open interaction that would spur the company to develop even better and even more efficient systems for the LFP market. The two companies have a pioneering spirit in common and therefore support each other’s developments: “Trevision is generally always among the first to invest in innovative and novel technology. Accordingly, we were also allowed to carry out some field tests at Trevision in Großhöflein – a close cooperation automatically developed over the years.”
Durst and Trevision also agree on the keyword sustainability and see sustainability not as a freestyle, but as a duty: “We live, work and produce in the middle of the Tyrolean mountains – sustainability is not a buzzword here, but a simple necessity.”
Ultimately, the entire market could benefit from this close cooperation. Together with Trevision under the leadership of Jürgen Marzi, the most innovative production technologies are to be brought to market. The fact that the CEO of the partner company speaks of Trevision in the superlative is a further affirmation of the existing and future cooperation.