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Designers: Zanzotti Industrial Design, Studio Zanzotti, Munich, Germany
Manufacturer: Durst Group, Brixen, Germany

The P5 is the result of a partnership between Studio Zanzotti and Durst, a manufacturer of advanced digital printing and production technologies.

From a company point of view there was a need to “modernize” this family of heavy duty digital presses to retain Durst standards – which stand for 24/7 operation, build excellence and no compromise in quality. Behind the design there have been many changes including the GUI, the way to handle materials. Best of all, the new design has been tested and approved by the most critical voice of all - onsite at some of Durst’s top customers.

The P5 design is a new approach to improve a machine design originally developed in the 1990s by Otl Aicher, and the work systematically looked at every aspect. The resulting improvements are intended to be deployed across a large number of machines and product segments and guarantees their recognition despite varying requirements. The machine sizes can measure between 5m and 45m.

A systematic construction was developed upon which all future Durst printer machines will be organized. Thanks to a rationalized common parts strategy, quality and quantities are increased, while special components, and associated cost expenditure are minimized at the same time. Recurrent cladding elements on the different machines lead to reduced logistic expenditure for the manufacturer and for the client.

Both the machine and its application have been thoroughly analyzed during intensive dialogue with customers. The insight gained from this serve as a basis for the new design of essential machine elements.

Particular attention was paid to the design of the operator area. This is now defined by a larger interface zone as well as integrated drawers for storing both tools and personal possessions. The newly-developed bulletin board creates a further level of personalization with its wide selection of magnetic hooks. These have many uses: mounts for tools, hooks for keys or adhesive tape dispensers make handling the machine easier.

Another feature of the P5 development addresses the industry-wide problem of the mess created when changing ink cartridges. The newly-developed changing system enables the cartridge to be changed directly on the machine and creates a separate storage area in the machine for the active ink tanks. That means the periphery around the machine and also the machine itself remains permanently clean.