No Software No Print · Michael Deflorian · Director Business Unit Software & Solutions · DURST

At Durst Group’s joint Open House with Koenig & Bauer in Radebeul, I speak with Michael Deflorian, and it’s a reminder that no matter how impressive a press looks, it doesn’t run without software.

And in many cases, that’s exactly where the real value is created.

Michael explains how Durst has built its software business from the ground up since 2018, scaling to thousands of installations and a dedicated team of around 100 people. That’s not a side project anymore, it’s a core part of the business. And when you look at it, it makes perfect sense. The bottlenecks in production are rarely the presses themselves. They sit before or after, in data preparation, workflow, integration, and how jobs move through the system.

That’s what the “pixel to output” strategy is about.

Not just delivering machines, but connecting everything around them, automating processes, integrating workflows, and ultimately removing friction. Because if you don’t, even the most advanced press won’t perform as it should.

What’s interesting is how this ties into the broader Durst story. A company that has reinvented itself multiple times, from photography to digital printing, now also moving into areas like additive manufacturing. There’s a mindset here of constantly challenging what you do and where you go next.

And that mindset shows in software.

We also talk about something very practical, the growing complexity in production. More jobs, more variation, more data. Especially with digital, where variable data becomes part of the value proposition. Without the right software, handling that complexity becomes almost impossible. With the right software, it becomes manageable, even efficient.

That’s a big shift.

Another point Michael raises is people. Skilled operators are harder to find, and the next generation expects something very different from the tools they use. If the interface isn’t intuitive, if the workflow isn’t logical, you’re creating friction not just in production, but in recruitment and retention. That’s why user experience is becoming just as important as functionality.

And then there’s the technical side, which often goes unnoticed. A machine like the variJET 106 processes enormous amounts of data, especially when you talk about variable content. The way Durst approaches this is through scalable architecture, distributing the workload across multiple systems, so performance matches the application. More variation, more power. Simpler jobs, less demand. It’s flexible, and that’s exactly what digital production requires.

What I take from this conversation is simple. Software is not an add-on. It’s the enabler.

If you want to get the most out of a digital press, this is where you should probably start.

Watch the interview with Michael Deflorian, this is the part of the story that doesn’t always get the spotlight, but without it, nothing really works.