druck.at partners with Canon to transform its print production through innovation

Learn how druck.at, one of Austria's most personalised online print shops, partnered with Canon to transform its production capabilities through innovative inkjet technology, achieving enhanced quality and efficiency.
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Nikolaus Waldhauser, Head of Production (left) and Markus Graf, Managing Director (right)

Over the past 20 years, druck.at has established itself as Austria's fastest and most personalised online print shop. Based in Leobersdorf, the company employs 300 staff and serves a diverse customer base of agencies and organisations.

Since it joined the Cimpress group in 2015, druck.at has continuously expanded its product range and now offers more than 200,000 printed products, which are produced digitally, offset and in large format. Customers can order online 24 hours a day.

Maintaining a strong commitment to fast service, high customer satisfaction and individual advice, Markus Graf, Managing Director, has led druck.at since 2022.

Watch: druck.at and Canon case study

Hear from Markus Graf, Managing Director, and Nikolaus Waldhauser, Head of Production, druck.at, on how Canon inkjet technology helped them shift production from offset to digital and boost flexibility, without compromising on quality.

druck.at’s key objectives for the partnership

Objective #1: Meet growing demand with automation

Facing increasing volume demands amid challenges finding skilled labour, druck.at needed a solution to streamline production while maintaining consistent quality. The solution needed to be easy to use to reduce competency requirements.

Another key requirement was dependable technology that could deliver high uptime and throughput and seamlessly integrate into existing workflows.

Objective #2: Ensure consistent quality across technologies

A major challenge for druck.at was maintaining colour consistency and standardisation across different printing processes.

The company needed technology that could match offset quality and colour accuracy yet still offer the flexibility of digital printing for its diverse product range.

Objective #3: Progress sustainability initiatives

With sustainability becoming increasingly important, druck.at sought to reduce its environmental footprint while maintaining production efficiency.

The business was looking for highly automated inkjet presses with water-based inks to reduce waste and energy consumption without compromising print quality or productivity.

Why Canon

The relationship between druck.at and Canon first began when druck.at invested in a mono varioPRINT 6000 TITAN toner press. Based on very positive experiences of the press, and recognising the opportunity to migrate production work from offset to digital printing, druck.at evaluated Canon’s inkjet printing technology and ran several rigorous tests and simulations.

Satisfied with the results, druck.at invested in the varioPRINT i300 sheetfed inkjet press, and then later in two varioPRINT iX3200 sheetfed presses, and a webfed ProStream 1800 press.

Canon convinced us with innovative solutions such as inkjet technology, which integrates seamlessly into our workflows. Thanks to our partnership with Canon and the installation of its digital printers, we have been able to expand our production capacity and consistently deliver first-class quality.”

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Since investing in the varioPRINT iX3200, we have been able to increase the flexibility and efficiency of our production enormously and to offer our customers a wider variety of high-quality print products. And the webfed ProStream 1800 perfectly complements the sheetfed solutions while its versatility allows us to efficiently combine both offset and digital technologies.”

A partnership built on innovation

druck.at's investment in Canon technology includes the varioPRINT iX3200 and ProStream 1800 – a powerful and versatile combination of sheetfed and webfed printing capabilities that enhance the business’ print workflows. The varioPRINT iX3200 uses iQuarius iX technology to deliver exceptional media flexibility and produce offset-like print quality at 1200 x 1200 dpi, resulting in pin-sharp printed products with intense colours and a flat finish.

The webfed ProStream 1800 complements sheetfed printing solutions, offering high-speed production with consistent quality. Ideal for books, calendars, and stationery, it enables druck.at to combine offset and digital printing efficiently. The webfed system can print up to B2 if the print is positioned lengthwise along the roll. druck.at can also use its existing sheet-based equipment for finishing while benefiting from ProStream productivity. Digital printing allows for sequential sections on the same roll, speeding up the finishing process dramatically compared to offset. Finally, the Canon PRISMAlytics Dashboard provides full visibility of production for continuous optimisation.

In production, we rely on Canon to offer us the latest technologies – presses of the highest speed and quality – and the cooperation between us results in the joint optimisation of our processes to collectively offer the best for our customers.”

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The Canon technology has been fully integrated into druck.at’s JDF (Job Definition Format) workflow. The advantage of this is, of course, the great flexibility that it gives us as a result. It also delivers very high process quality and excellent stability, which means our lead times have been greatly reduced and we’ve met almost 95% of our deadlines.”

Benefits of the druck.at and Canon partnership

druck.at’s decision to invest in Canon technology has led to several benefits.

Enhanced production efficiency

Canon's technology has cut production times and manual touchpoints, ensuring fast delivery and consistent quality. The ProStream 1800 and varioPRINT iX3200 offer high speed, uptime, flexibility, and low maintenance, boosting throughput and efficiency. Increased speed means more square metres and sheets produced per hour, all with consistent quality.

Superior print quality

The ProStream 1800 and varioPRINT iX3200 offer high resolution and colour accuracy, delivering crisp details and vivid colours comparable to offset quality. This print consistency enhances druck.at's short and medium print run capability.

Nikolaus Waldhauser remarks: “The Canon presses’ print quality is so close to the offset technology that no great differences are evident anymore.”

Increased workflow automation

The integrated PRISMAlytics Dashboard provides complete production visibility, enabling real-time monitoring and optimisation. This reduces downtime and improves operational efficiency across all printing systems.

A futureproof partnership

The collaboration with Canon positions druck.at for continued innovation and growth, ensuring it stays at the forefront of printing technology.

Canon service and support

Throughout the implementation and beyond, Canon has provided comprehensive support, from initial testing and simulations to the ongoing optimisation of processes, ensuring maximum uptime and efficiency. As Markus Graf remarks, “Canon has always provided great support.”

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I see us in the future as a leading provider of printed material in Austria, always staying relevant and on trend and, in terms of technologies, always using the latest. Our partnership with Canon will therefore be a key part of achieving that.”

Related solutions

Learn more about Canon’s technology.

varioPRINT 6000 series TITAN

Ultra-reliable, energy efficient and super productive, the varioPRINT 6000 series TITAN helps high-volume print operations deliver quality applications, reduced production time and increased uptime.

varioPRINT iX3200

Discover the proven, market-leading sheetfed inkjet press and experience more profit and more business.

ProStream 1000 series

For high volume, commercial print environments, the webfed ProStream 1000 series (ProStream 1000 and 1800) combines the print quality and media flexibility of offset with the production efficiency and versatility of digital inkjet to deliver a level of performance that matches your passion for print.

PRISMAlytics Dashboard

Gain a comprehensive overview of your Canon print portfolio and optimise its performance with our simple and secure cloud-based management information tool.

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