(Watch David Zwang’s video interview with Bobst’s Matt Bennett here.)

I recently went to the Bobst US open house in Alpharetta, Ga., where I got to catch up on some of their latest short- and long-term developments. The Bobst Group is one of the world’s leading suppliers of equipment for substrate processing, printing and converting equipment, and services for the label, flexible packaging, folding carton, and corrugated industries, with over 30,000 machines installed globally.

Historically, they have been using flexography and gravure imaging technologies, and while the company has been mulling the digital approach since 2008, Bobst has taken a measured approach to entering the digital print fray. Mr. Bobst often states that he prefers to wait for market entry until he has products that are deserving of the Bobst name and will deliver against the high expectations customers have about the company. Their early attempt at digital, using Kodak Prosper inkjet technology, was a good learning exercise, but didn’t meet the expectations laid out by Mr. Bobst and was ultimately abandoned. In June of 2017, Bobst created Mouvent, a joint venture with Radex, a company with a long track record in the field of DOD inkjet digital printing. At the end of 2020, Bobst took full control of Mouvent.