Already installed in over 30 locations across Europe as part of the Avery TrafficJet turnkey road signage printing system, the VKR3200 HS as shown at Fespa has an updated industrial design and prints CMYK plus white, with a further varnish option. The printer operates at up to 317sqm/hr in two-pass draft mode, which is also suitable for mesh work, and typically between 120 and 140sqm/hr in production mode.

The VKR3200 HS  can handle two rolls of up to 1.6m width, with independent control of each via a ‘novel’ user interface, as well as single rolls of wider media. Priced from €120,000 for the single row of Kyocera printheads version, the mesh kit and dual roll option may be added, and aa twin-row printhead version is also offered.

Unusually for a printer at this price point, it also offers full integration with Durst’s workflow and analytics software ‘ecosystem’, as well as being driven by Durst’s DFE, which offers preflighting as well as Ripping capabilities.

Distribution in the UK and Ireland is via Durst’s UK operation and distributor ArtSystems; Vanguard Europe has also struck deals with Netherlands-based Pixia for the Benelux region and most recently with Grup Transilvae in Romania.

Fabian Sottsas, managing director of Vanguard Europe, said, ‘Just a week after confirming Grup Transilvae’s partnership in Romania, we are preparing to share news of a new collaboration in France in the next few weeks, proving how committed we are to growing our operations quickly and efficiently. Our mission is to continue to replicate the success of our parent company, which has installed over a thousand LFP printing systems across the Americas.’

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The deal between Vanguard Europe – the European subsidiary of Vanguard Digital Printing Systems Corporation based in Brixen, Italy – and Stibo is also in collaboration with local partner Antalis.

The VK3220T-HS, first launched at Fespa 2023 in May, has been installed at the Stibo Complete headquarters in Horsens, Denmark. With three factories in Denmark and two in Sweden, Stibo’s configuration comprises three rows of CMYK and three white printheads.

‘I have tested different brands in the flatbed market, and the Vanguard VK3220T-HS came out strong in all tests – quality, productivity and on the drying characteristics at high output,’ said Henrik Mølgaard, production manager at Stibo. ‘With between 45 and 70% higher output in the flatbed segment than today, it gives us the opportunity to significantly increase sales of flatbed products and at the same time reduce the use of external suppliers.’

‘Stibo Complete has utilised Antalis services for many years, they are a serious supplier and are developing a similar reputation for many products within large-format printing. Vanguard was not known to Stibo beforehand, but with the print tests we made and the fact that Durst is behind Vanguard, we were not nervous at all about starting a collaboration.’

The company considers digital to be a significant growth market. Although it has its roots in traditional printing, today Stibo describes itself as the ‘leading graphical supermarket in Scandinavia’. It is owned by the Stibo Foundation.

Søren Henriksen, CEO of Stibo Complete, said, ‘Over the years, customers have experienced new needs, and Stibo has been allowed to create the solutions. An investment in this market-leading digital technology from Vanguard gives us even more peace of mind to concentrate on the customers and on delivering the right opportunities.’

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The launch marked the worldwide introduction of a new compact, user-friendly product design for the Vanguard Europe portfolio. The changes, a result of a collaboration with Zanzotti Industrial Design, aim to bring a more ‘intuitive, ergonomic and optimised’ experience for machine operators.

The  VK3220T-HS is designed and assembled at the European headquarters of Vanguard Europe in Brixen, South Tyrol, Italy, next to Durst’s global HQ. A 3.2 x 2m flatbed, it uses up to three rows of the 4 picolitre drop size Kyocera print heads at up to 1800dpi resolution, with output at up to 360sqm/hr.

Fabian Sottsas, managing director of Vanguard Europe, said, ‘We are incredibly excited to be at Fespa for this world launch of the Vanguard VK3220T-HS next-generation UV flatbed printer. Together with a new modular design with user-friendly design changes that are more intuitive, ergonomic and optimized for the operator, we know this will be of huge interest to visitors at the show.’

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According to the company, the Vanguard range of flatbed UV printers, which are designed in the US and assembled in Europe, represents the latest in sustainable print hardware. The range offers six colours (including light cyan and  light magenta) plus white ink and varnish alongside an ‘advanced’ media handling feature designed to maximise productivity.

ArtSystems’ technical director Mark Lambert said, ‘We’re extremely pleased to be able to announce such an excellent set of companies to join us in bringing the Vanguard family of printers to Britain and Ireland. Each company has a superb reputation for service, applications knowledge, and a driving desire to get the best solution for their customers.’ 

Diatec will address the Irish Republic and Northern Ireland markets whilst Papergraphics, Pyramid Display Materials and SEDO will have responsibility for England, Wales and Scotland. All four partners will be running open days and product briefings for their customers in the opening months of 2023. Details will be announced shortly.

Peter Bray, managing director of Durst UK & Ireland, said, ‘It’s great to see the completion of the reseller network. We are looking forward to working with this team in the coming months and years.’

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European staff are now based adjacent to the headquarters of Durst Group in Brixen in the 5300sqm ‘Kraftwerk’ premises, which was officially unveiled in September 2022. The company says it has set its sights on becoming a leader in the digital flatbed and UV production entry- and mid-level markets by replicating sales successes of its parent company in the US.

Target sectors include signage, decoration, corporate industrial and packaging. Since it was set up less than a year ago, more than 25 installations of digital flatbed systems have taken place across Europe. Latest products include the VR6D-HS and VK300D-HS UV flatbed machines covering the mid-and high-end performance range. These had their first European public showing at Fespa in May 2022.

Vanguard Europe is currently led by Fabian Sottsas, who has worked for the last 20 years with Durst, which acquired Vanguard Digital Printing Systems in October 2020. Alongside him is Yiannis Apostolidis, business development director.

Mr Sottsas said, ‘We have had an extremely strong start and organically grown the business thanks to a solid relationship between our core staff, distributors and resellers. With unlimited passion at the forefront of global technology, we are working to grow business together with customers within entry- and mid-level markets. We are providing true digital flatbed and UV production printers from a company in the Durst Group that are designed in the US and assembled in Europe.’

Mr Apostolidis said, ‘Formed seven years ago when only one printer was sold in the first 12 months, what a transformation it has been. Now Vanguard Digital Printing Systems is producing over 200 machines a year, and we are determined to replicate that success in Europe. We expect to make more announcements soon.’

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Vanguard, which is headquartered in Lawrenceville, Georgia, manufactures printing technology for the signage, decoration, business equipment, industrial and packaging sectors. The establishment of Vanguard Europe means that its wide-format portfolio is now available across the continent. The official launch of the Vanguard printing systems in Europe will take place in October at the Viscom 2021 trade show in Milan and at Fespa 2021 in Amsterdam.

The new headquarters, which is adjacent to Durst’s own, has more than 5000sqm of factory space and is intended to leverage technical and administrative synergies between the two companies. Despite this, Vanguard remains an independent company under the leadership of founder and CEO David Cich.

‘With the formation of the European branch, we are bringing the Vanguard printer portfolio, which has been extremely successful in the US, to the European markets and are opening up new customer segments,’ said Christoph Gamper, CEO and Co-Owner of Durst Group. ‘Despite the difficult pandemic period, this is a clear signal to the market for large format printing systems. With this step, we offer our customers new opportunities for production excellence and, in combination with innovative workflow and ERP solutions, a complete production chain from pixel to output.’

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