Wagner wins world's best Durst label with Tau Truce job

Aussie label operation Wagner Prestige Labels has won first prize at the International Durst RSC Label Awards, beating off global competition to win the accolade in the live-streamed event.

The awards were part of the Durst Digital Days Presentation which came live from the Durst Campus in Brixen Italy.

Matt Ashman, CEO at Durst Oceania said, "Well done John Galea and the team at Wagner. It is a tremendous result. Competition was strong, but the quality of the job was outstanding."

Wagner Prestige Labels captured the RSC Combination Print category for its Truce Wine of Australia label, which was designed by Helene Chassay. The label was printed four-colour on the company’s new Durst Tau 330 RSC E inkjet label press, onto Avery's Estate 8 media, and finished on screen with black, varnish and high-build.

Speaking to Print21 John Galea, managing director of the Wetherill Park business said, “The quality we achieve with the Durst inkjet printing 1200 x 1200dpi is remarkable. I think the judges would certainly have been impressed with the detail in the roses, and with the finish.

"Wine is a passion of mine, I have been involved with wine printing for 25 years, I understand the demands. While it makes up only around five per cent of our work it is an important sector for us."

Wagner Prestige Labels is now producing a third of its labels on its new Durst, and enjoying dramatically reduced waste levels. It installed the Tau 330 RSC E a year ago, along with ABG converting equipment.

The Durst Digital Days included a virtual tour of the Customer Experience Center and headquarters campus in Italy. Together with partners and customers, experts from Durst’s label and flexible packaging segment provided updates on latest developments and an experience of the new Tau RSC platform, its printing solutions, and ink systems.

Topics covered progress on the Tau RSCi beta test, Durst RSC Low Migration Solutions, and hybrid label production with the new Omet XJet – powered by Durst.

Wagner’s choice of Durst’s RSC technology was driven by speed, quality and environmental considerations. “We decided to ramp up digital colour capacity to the highest we could, and the Durst Tau 330 RSC E came up trumps,” said John Galea, managing director of Wagner Prestige Labels, of Wetherill Park, Sydney.

“In only six months it has really proved itself, to the point that digital is now between 30 and 35 per cent of our business. The quality of the labels is right up there with flexo and letterpress.

“Another important benefit is that waste is greatly reduced, with the threaded meterage on the Durst Tau 330 RSC E even being able to be drawn back and printed. Waste is a big issue for label printers, especially with multiple versions, so anything we can do to reduce it is good for the environment.”

Helmuth Munter, Durst segment manager, Label & Flexible Packaging, said: “The Tau RSC is a gamechanger for us as a company and for all our customers. With that in mind, we challenged them to take part in the Durst RSC Label Masters awards. There were an impressive number of entries. They were all inspiring, making it a difficult task for the judges to choose the winners.”