To strengthen their position in the folding carton and corrugated board segments, German manufacturers K?nig & Bauer and Durst are investing in research and development for their joint venture K?nig & Bauer Durst.
Created in 2019, this joint venture specializing in single-pass digital sheetfed presses and software services currently offers a range of water-based ink printing machines that includes the CorruJET and Delta SPC 130 systems for corrugated board, and the VariJET 106 press jointly developed for folding carton markets and launched in October 2021.
This investment strategy will result in an increase in capacity at the Radebeul site in Germany, headquarters of the K?nig & Bauer Sheetfed division. No details of this increase have been released.
"To take the joint venture to the next level", says Ralf Sammeck, member of Koenig & Bauer's Board of Directors and CEO of the Sheetfed Presses segment, Daniel Velema, currently Managing Director of prepress activities at plate, sleeve and prepress equipment supplier XSYS Global, has been appointed as the new Managing Director. He will take up his new post in February, replacing. Robert Stabler, who has headed the joint venture since its inception.
The parent companies intend to exploit market opportunities to the full. Christoph Gamper, CEO and co-owner of the Durst Group, said: "We see a huge opportunity for substantial growth over the next few years. A solid foundation has been laid with the successful launch of the VariJET 106 press, the most productive digital folding carton press on the market, as well as the adoption of our corrugated presses by some of the world's most innovative and forward-looking corrugated companies."
