Durst makes LFP management changes following Schulz departure

Durst has reorganised its large format printing (LFP) segment management following the departure of Barbara Schulz, EVP sales.

“Barbara Schulz decided to leave the company in the first quarter for personal and family reasons. We are grateful to her for her five years of hard work and dedication and wish her all the best for the future,” said CEO Christoph Gamper, who has taken over the commercial management of the group’s Lienz operation on a temporary basis. A statement from the company said a new dual leadership has been formed for the LFP/fabric division, and the “historically grown structure will be dissolved in favour of better efficiency in the daily dealings with Durst customers and the business unit will be controlled from the Durst headquarters in Brixen, northern Italy.” The LFP/fabric division is now being led by Christian Harder as global sales director, and Andrea Riccardi, head of product management. Both are based at Brixen. Harder has cross-segment know-how and has been responsible for worldwide sales management for ceramics printing in recent years. Prior to that, he was responsible for sales in Eastern Europe and Latin America in the LFP segment. Riccardi has worked for many years in direct sales in the LFP market in Italy, and since the end of 2016 has been responsible for the product portfolio in LFP web printing and the development in soft signage/fabrics printing. Product manufacturing will remain as is - with web-fed machines made in Brixen and flatbeds in Lienz - P5 machines being made at the latter, bar the P5 320 hybrid model which is built at Brixen. Durst has also confirmed that the P5 200HS and P5 320 printers - expected to hit the market before the end of 2018 - are still in development. "The reorganisation in the LFP segment brings together the building blocks we set in 2017 with the introduction of the P5 technology platform, the expansion of the Lienz and Brixen customer centers and the new headquarter in Brixen," said Gamper. "The new dual leadership has my fullest confidence and the best prerequisites for further developing the segment and consolidating our position as market leader. By concentrating the management function in the group, we are also paving the way for optimal networking and integration with the relevant areas in development, software and services.” He added: “The Lienz location will also benefit from the cross-segment technology transfer, with the focus on corrugated printing and new technology developments in new business areas.”