Durst has brought its printing production sites together at its headquarters in Brixen, northern Italy, moving its flatbed production from Lienz in Austria to join the webfed manufacturing in Brixen.

PES supplies Durst technology in New Zealand.

Durst says the original structure had grown organically over time but with the introduction of the P5 technology platform and the future development of hybrid printing systems it opted to dissolve this structure in favour of a more centralised one that would bring efficiencies in the daily dealings with customers.

Christoph Gamper, chief executive officer at Durst Group, says, “The reorganisation in the LFP segment brings together the building blocks we set in 2017 with the introduction of the P5 technology platform, the expansion of the Lienz and Brixen customer centres and the new headquarters in Brixen.”

The company has also promoted two long-term employees with over 20 years’ company experience to run the segment. Christian Harder becomes global sales director and Andrea Riccardi takes on head of product management. Matt Ashman, sales manager for PES, adds, “To have a unified management team is such a great step. I have worked with Christian and Andrea for many years at Durst in different roles and it is great to see them working together. Having two production and research and development facilities is an enormous strength but presents management challenges. Christian and Andreas are the dream team to support the large format printing departments and sales teams globally.”

Gamper says, “The new dual leadership has my fullest confidence and the best prerequisites for further developing the segment and consolidating our position as market leader. By concentrating the management function in the Group, we are also paving the way for optimal networking and integration with the relevant areas in development, software and services. The Lienz location will also benefit from the cross segment technology transfer.”

Durst says Harder and Riccardi have helped shape the evolutionary stages of Durst inkjet technology in all its facets. Harder held the responsibility for successful worldwide sales management for ceramics printing in recent years and, prior to that, for sales in eastern Europe and Latin America in the large format printing segment. Riccardi has spent many years in direct sales in the large format printing market in Italy and, since the end of 2016, has held responsibility for the product portfolio in large format web printing and the further development in soft signage and fabric printing.

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