Durst opened the “Durst Kraftwerk”, located in the former DUKA building at Julius Durst St. 2, Brixen, the 5,300m2+ hall will be the new home of the company’s in-house spin-offs and start-ups.
“Born out of the need to give our U.S. acquisition Vanguard Digital Systems a home in Europe, the idea for the “Durst Kraftwerk” was born,” says Christoph Gamper, CEO and co-owner of the Durst Group. “A powerhouse that brings together our spin-offs and start-ups and offers them a new home. In this way, we provide a creative environment where the companies can fully concentrate on their respective areas of expertise – without the “burden” of integration into an established structure. I am grateful and proud of the individual co-founders and their teams and convinced that top performance and business success will go hand in hand in the Durst Kraftwerk. In fact, we’ve already created 35 highly qualified jobs by the time of the opening – in the final expansion stage, more than 100 employees will be researching, developing, designing, optimizing and teaching at the Kraftwerk – helping to shape tomorrow’s production processes and methods.”
“Technicon Holding unites internationally successful companies such as Durst Group AG and Alupress AG under its umbrella,” says Harald Oberrauch, owner of Technicon Holding. “At the same time, we act as an incubator to promote new business ideas that arise in our companies’ environment. From a bird’s eye view, we can clear hurdles more quickly, accelerate development processes and connect teams. We aim to create a true innovation center for specialized service providers at the Durst Kraftwerk.”
With Vanguard Europe GmbH, Kraftwerk is home to the European branch of the U.S. company Vanguard Digital Printing Systems, which Durst Group acquired in 2020. The manufacturer of digital printing systems for signage, decor, corporate, industrial and packaging sectors, manufactures for the European market at this location and also has its own customer center.
Kraftwerk is also home to the Durst Academy, a modern training center for the group, with facilities for online & offline seminars and green-screen presentations to provide customized training for process technology, hardware & software to customers and service partners from around the world.
A specialized service provider is adddam GmbH, which uses high-end 3D/AM printing technologies to manufacture precision components from metals and plastics. One focus here is certified training and education for AM design. At Kraftwerk, adddam presents itself as a full-service provider, offering its services from consulting and development to the final product to all companies in the region.
With D3-AM GmbH, Kraftwerk is home to another company in the field of additive manufacturing (3D). The Durst spin-off specializes in the pinnacle of materials, technical ceramics. These high-performance ceramic components are used in the automotive, electronics, energy, aerospace and medical technology sectors.
DMC GmbH (Durst Media Company), an agency specializing in B2B marketing communications/new storytelling, is also moving into the Kraftwerk, offering the full range of services from conception to audio-visual implementation from a single source, and has a professional film studio at its disposal.
