Printer Review: Durst Rho 205
By Denise M. Gustavson
When
Pictura, based in Minneapolis, MN, needed to add capacity to its shop,
the decision to purchase the Durst Rho 205 was a natural fit. Established
nearly 30 years ago as a photo lab, Pictura has evolved to a full-service
wide-format graphics house. When the company first went digital back
in 1997 with the purchase of a Durst Lambda, there was no turning back.
Now, in addition to its two Durst Lambdas, Pictura has a complete complement
of wide-format inkjet printers along with a Durst Rho 160 and, the newest
addition, the Durst Rho 205 (now with white ink).
According to Paul Lilienthal, president of Pictura, the company was looking for quality and, as a long-time Durst customer, it was logical for them to look at the wide-format products Durst has introduced into the market. “We did a lot of research on all of the equipment from Durst and other companies and we still continue to do so,” says Lilienthal. “We looked at other flatbed printers, used trade shows to research the products, and made in-person visits to printer installation sites.”
Lilienthal
explains that they were looking to add capacity to complement the Durst
Rho 160 they already had installed. The Rho 205 was a good fit because
of its wider width and because of Pictura employees’ experience
with other Durst equipment. “We had the benefit of knowing the
Rho 160, so we were able to have the Rho 205 up and running jobs within
a week,” says Lilienthal. “We saw the Rho 205 as a compliment
to what we were doing. It’s built as a board machine and has much
better throughput with boards.”
The Rho 205 was initially installed the eight-head model approximately six months ago because of limited availability of the 16-head models, according to Lilienthal. Pictura has since followed Durst’s planned upgrade path, upgrading to 16-heads in this past summer, and finally adding the white ink option this fall. “The manufacturers keep R&D moving. You have to stay on top of the equipment and have a good compliment of equipment,” says Lilienthal. “We needed the white ink because we have begun competing against the screen industry which has been evolving over the last couple of years.” Typical applications for Pictura include portable trade show graphics and exhibits, retail, POP signage, and projects for museums and corporations as well as event signage.
Because of their familiarity with the Durst front-ends and the Durst equipment, fitting the new printer into their workflow was very seamless. “Most of the people who have purchased the Rho also had Lambdas, which makes it a much easier path,” says Lilienthal. “There’s an existing relationship and less of a learning curve. Workflow and color management is also much easier to control when you can use the same RIPs and processes.”
According to Lilienthal, a learning curve is based upon managing expectations. “It all comes down to money since we have to pay for the equipment. How much do we know and how much time can we invest in learning and testing equipment? In order to take a product to the next level—beyond its basic capacity—it is a function of the employee’s experience,” says Lilienthal.
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