Durst establishes its own ANZ subsidiary
Digital inkjet print solutions developer Durst is setting up its own direct ANZ subsidiary, with current face of the company here Matt Ashman installed as its managing director.
Durst Oceania will operate nationally from a base in Tullamarine, where it has just moved into a new building. Ashman will run the business and manage the wide format, software and others sales, while Paul Sanelli will be sales manager for label print solutions.
Ashman told Print21, “Durst views Australia and New Zealand printers as entrepreneurial, progressive, and open to new solutions. Opening as a direct Durst subsidiary will be beneficial to our customers, and will enhance the communication between local printers and the factory. Durst has a range of new solutions for new applications in the pipeline, which are going to be good news for printers, and which we can now service directly."
Durst has been increasingly active in ANZ since Ashman came over from the UK four years ago to work as Durst country manager with then distributor Photo Electric Services (PES). Its recent sales include a €750,000 250HS 600sqm an hour wide format printer to Mezographics, and a $1m+ Tau 330 RSC E to Wagner Labels.
Ashman told Print21, "Durst will be increasing its application solutions. We will be entering the packaging market, and other sectors. This is part of the reason for setting up our own subsidiary." Durst is already in partnership with press giant Koenig & Bauer to develop a sheetfed digital packaging print system, which is expected to be launched at drupa next year.
Durst has now bought all the assets it had with PES and brought all the engineers over to the new business. PES had been its distributor for the past two decades.
Ashman said, “We will be bringing the Durst family ethos to the business. Durst managing director Christoph Gamper was here for PrintEx, and he takes a keen interest in all our customers.”
Durst is based in northern Italy. Last year sales topped €650m, or more than $1bn. It competes in the wide format sector against industry heavyweights Fujifilm, EFI, HP and Inca, and in labels against a host of established and new players. At Fespa earlier this year it lauched its new P5 digital eco-system, comprising hardware and software. Durst Oceania will be the twentieth Durst subsidiary, joining others in the region including Singapore and China.
Ashman himself has been involved with Durst for 20 years, initially as printer in the UK buying a Durst, then working for the company over there, and since 2015 heading sales over here.