Label-Form expands digital output with Durst

Label-Form has reiterated its trust in Durst, a top manufacturer of advanced digital printing and production technologies, through another investment in its Tau platform.

The first commercial job conducted on its new Tau 330 RSC E single-pass inkjet 5-color press (CMYK and white) with a chiller unit catered to a new client, Henley Distillery, a local drinks producer in need of labels. These would have been impossible to produce without the new machine, which has introduced new markets to the company.

'We felt that Durst had made significant progress with the digital inkjet technology and they were clearly the preferred choice,' said Label-Form's commercial director Stewart Serls. 'With the inkjet, it's the closest you can get to screen printing - the quality difference is minimal. We see many benefits from our investments. Firstly, the 1200 DPI makes a significant difference in terms of quality, and the white provides opacity, allowing other colors to stand out.

'The Durst complements other technologies, can easily align with other machines, and now prints applications that account for around 35 percent of our business in terms of sales. Another commercial advantage is Durst's Ink Save Mode, which we believe will lead to significant cost savings over a traditional CMYK press as we continue to expand into digital production.'

Stewart, managing director Debbie Mellett, and operations production manager Paul Holder form the backbone of Label-Form. Together, they have accumulated more than 100 years of experience at the Maidenhead, Berkshire-based company. Label-Form's markets include cosmetics, industrial, homeopathic, and food and drink.

The Durst Tau RSC 330 E was also furnished with a chiller unit from Durst, expanding the range of printable substrates, including challenging ones like clear on polypropylene.

Mellett, a 47-year veteran at Label-Form, said: 'Technology and the markets have evolved so much that we started considering investing in new machines three years ago, but (Covid-19) slowed down the process. We were never pressured into the change but took the time to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the market. We examined three other machines, two failed at the demo stage because they didn't meet our standards, and the other was also no match to the Durst.' She added: 'Service is also crucial. So much can now be done online. If we ever encounter a problem, online support is quickly available, and in the rare event that we need an engineer from Durst, one arrives very promptly.'

Simon Cosh, labels business development manager at Durst UK and Ireland, said: 'Customers today can choose to what extent they expand their solutions with Durst. We are thrilled that after an extensive market review, Label-Form decided to reinvest in our leading Tau platform. I am confident this will help the company become even more profitable by furthering its expansion into the growing digital printing markets. Minimizing production waste, stock obsolescence, reducing power consumption and time to market are all crucial factors in today's rapidly changing markets where every label can now be unique with digital production.'