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In business, the stepping stone to the next plateau can be recognizing your limitations: knowing where your efforts have been surpassed by a superior solution and embracing it for a strategic advantage.

That’s part of the story of Typico Megaprints GmbH & Co., a highly regarded Austrian company and one of the dominant large-format digital print specialists in Europe. In the early and mid 1990s, Typico helped establish large-format digital services there with its proprietary digital-print systems. In 2001, the company invested in its first digital press, the VUTEk UltraVu 3360. Ever since, the quality and reliability of VUTEk systems have been one of the driving factors in the company’s enviable growth and prosperity, according to management.

Typico’s clients range from internationally recognized artists to multinational corporations. All need super-sized graphics without compromise in quality or color. Its work adorns exhibit halls and public spaces, roadways, buildings and airports across the continent. In 2008, Typico was awarded a FESPA Digital Prints Award for Decor for an installation at Dublin’s Irish Museum of Modern Art showcasing the work of artist Michael Craig-Martin with super-sized digital prints.

GRAND-SCALE SERVICE
“We can do the printing, finishing and installation of our prints, along with the necessary constructions, frames and suspension systems for indoor and outdoor applications,” says to Walter Klocker, co-CEO and founder of the company with Markus Graz. They oversee operations with Thomas Konig, the third CEO, who joined Typico two years ago.

Klocker says Typico has the resources to deliver almost any size print and a daily printing capacity of 4,000 square meters at maximum resolution. The business’s facilities are located in the cities of Lochau and Hörbranz in Austria with 40 employees. Lochau is home to administrative and sales offices, pre-press and printing departments in a 2,500 square meter facility.

The Hörbranz facility features 3,000 square meters for the finishing department to seam and weld super-sized prints and a metal workshop for building the frames and structures required for its larger installations. Installations are so much a part of its full-service approach that Klocker estimates the company relies on an additional 20 to 30 independent installers to complete its projects.

Typico often is called on to print and install unique interior graphics. This huge mural above the escalators at the railway station in Graz, Austria, features another Peter Kolger design. The graphic coversthe 16 meter high inner walls and a 25 x 38 meter ceiling, features an invisible fastening system and was printed on Deco 221 material from Ferrari.

STARTED WITH SIGNS
Not bad for a venture that began as a modestly sized sign company. Unlike most competitors at the time, Typico’s founders were early believers in the potential of digital printing for sign applications. “We developed our own digital printer, based on digital airbrush technology, similar to the first VUTEk series,” notes Klocker.

“When we began, there were only two other companies in Europe (doing large-format digital printing). Because we had built our own printers, we learned a lot and had the chance to try out everything at a very early stage.”

The company relied on those proprietary systems until 2001, building a total of five, with width capacities ranging from three to five meters. It made Typico an early player in a developing market, attracting clients like BMW, Skoda and GM.

While building its business, Klocker and Graz kept an eye on the evolving digital print technology, focusing on the new systems that major vendors were bringing to market.

In 2001, they were made the strategic decision to purchase a VUTEk printer. “VUTEk had developed the UltraVu 3360,” a solvent-based, grand-format inkjet printer,” he notes. “We decided to buy a printer instead of developing our own next-generation model.” He says the system delivered the consistent high-quality digital prints that European clients were starting to demand.

As more clients learned of Typico’s high-resolution capabilities, its customer base broadened and demand for its large-format services followed. Consequently, Typico continually re-invested in VUTEk systems. “We stuck with VUTEk and purchased at least one more printer every year,” he says, even after the company was purchased by EFI.

“The printers are easy to operate, fairly reliable and easy to maintain, due to the maintenance philosophy of VUTEk. “Today, Typico has seven VUTEks; three 3360s; three 5330 grand-format, roll-to-roll printers; and its most recent purchase, an EFI/VUTEk QS3200r 32 meter-wide, UV-curing, roll-to-roll printer.

DESIGN AND INSTALLATION
Typico’s grand-format capabilities have been complemented by its expertise in sign fabrication and installation, as well. “We offered more services over time, starting with printing and tailoring, then developing our own aluminum rails and tensioning systems,” he says.

Today, Typico is a highly diversified large-format digital solutions provider. “We are able to cover most needs a customer has in various fields,” notes Klocker. Fifty percent of annual sales are now in exhibition graphics for trade shows and other events; 30 percent in architectural applications, such as building facades, interior design and illuminated ceilings; and 10 percent for outdoor advertising, such as billboards and 3-D constructions.

He says most competitors approach the business from the printing side while Typico can offer integrated printing and engineering solutions. “We can deliver almost any digital print at very high quality, running state-of-the-art machinery,” he continues. “Besides that, we develop all kinds of suspended constructions—cylinders, squares, free forms from aluminum, steel or wood—and we have an engineering department that works mainly in architectural solutions.”

Light-hearted graphics cover scaffolding surrounding the historic government building in Gratz while it was undergoing renovation.

QUALITY CONSCIOUS
This is a competitive advantage in the European market, where clients can be more demanding than in the United States, he says. “European clients are much more quality minded and very keen on getting nicely developed solutions. If, for instance, walls or wall systems are realized using fabric, they do not want to see any tensioning systems.”

While client expectations may differ, Klocker says European companies are grappling with the same issues as its American counterparts. The biggest challenge, Klocker says, “To stay alive and be able to maintain quality in spite of low prices on printed products.” This year the company has seen a decline in demand for exhibition and trade show graphics while other market sectors are more stable.

He’s confident Typico’s diversified approach will allow it to weather the current economic storm better than competitors that are focused on only one aspect of business.

“It is of crucial importance to be able to provide a wide array of services,” he says. “This will be the future—to compensate for the losses and sagging prices in printed products.” He expects to see some companies disappear if they are not prepared for this situation.

For its part, Klocker says his company will “intensify our effort on architectural/textile applications. This is a rapidly growing market with almost no competition, due to the complexity of the application, he says.

“Textiles make it possible to realize almost 3-D-shaped facades,” he explains. “Architects have a new freedom in shaping their buildings. You can add printing or realize geometric figures on fabric are almost impossible to achieve with standard materials used on facades, such as sheet metal.”

Here, as in all its endeavors, a “full-service commitment” will guide Typico’s future. “One of the main reasons for our success is that we are constantly learning and trying, not being afraid of anything,” he says. As a result, the company plans to be there for its customers with “the right product and the right people at the right time.”