Leonhard Kurz, which mainly supplies coatings, has taken over the print finishing division of Steinemann Technology, with the intention of running this as an independent subsidiary.
Steinemann will continue to operate out of its base in St. Gallen, Switzerland, which Kurz aims to expand. Kurz plans to use the Steinemann brand alongside its own Digital Metal product family. Kurz will continue to support the full range of Steinemann print finishing machines, including the Colibri full surface varnishing unit with roller coater for UV varnish, as well as the dmax digital inkjet varnishing unit for spot and relief varnishing, which can be extended with the dfoil module for digital metallization.
Ljubisa Drinic, head of Business Area Application at Kurz, explains: “Kurz is a pioneer in digital print finishing. We developed the first machines and introduced them to the market long before there were solutions from other manufacturers. The incorporation of Steinemann is the next step in our pioneering work. Steinemann machines deliver exceptional product quality, and digital print finishing results of a high industrial standard that we consider to be market leading. The new Kurz subsidiary will combine this Swiss engineering expertise with our comprehensive know-how in coating technologies.”
Kurz already offers two solutions for digital metal effects: the DM-Jetliner series for in-line print enhancement, and the DM-Luxliner for independent, offline metallization before or after color printing. This acquisition will allow it to extend its portfolio to include offline systems for finishing B1 and B2 format sheets. The dmax machine with dfoil module also allows the sheets to be varnished and metallized in a single pass.
Stéphane Royère, head of Business Area Industrial at Kurz, commented: “Print finishing is an effective answer to declining print orders. We are pulling in the same direction as all manufacturers of finishing systems to raise the importance of printed material.”
He added: “By extending our product offerings we don’t compete with other manufacturers. We have simply expanded the range of available print finishing solutions and are jointly working towards making the added value of print products visible and tangible.”
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