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Roman Ceramics
Digital Ceramic Print "Made in Indonesia"

Should you ever experience the pleasure of visiting Roman Ceramics in Indonesia, you are likely to
spend a night in the worlds largest "showroom" of a ceramics producer. Roman Ceramics belongs
to one of the countrys major holdings, the Lyman Group. In addition to the BNI Tower, Indonesias
highest building and one Jakartas landmarks, the Lyman Group is also a shareholder of the 5-star
Shangri-La Hotel. The real showroom at Roman Ceramics plant resembles an antique Roman temple
with statues and various marble-, granite- and wood reproductions. Roman Ceramics portfolio has
far more to offer and is mostly known for its diversity in design, which was made possible with
Dursts inkjet technology.

In the early 70s, the construction materials

division of the Lyman Group founded the
company PT Metropole Megah in Eastern Java,
with the aim of producing wall tiles for the local
market. All processes, from the production of
required materials, to the finished product, were
structured to be carried out by a single source.
In the 90s, a further company, PT. Satyaraya
Keramindoindah in Tangerang, close to Jakarta,
was founded. Both locations started producing for
the international market and joined forces under
the new name Roman Ceramics, with a focus on
quality orientation and acquired the ISO 9001
certification. Today, Roman Ceramics produces in
excess of 26 million square meters and exports
its wall- and floor tiles to 50+ countries. Its core
market though remains in Indonesia, because the
continuous economic growth has created a huge
demand, where even Roman Ceramics, with its
great production capacity has a mere 6% market
share. The internationalization was supposed to
create new growth for Roman Ceramics; nobody
was able to predict Indonesias positive economic
development at that stage. The focus on quality
orientation, at the beginning of the economic boom,
was crucial for Roman Ceramics, to quickly establish
a position as premium manufacturer of tiles.
The development of Roman Ceramics as a major
global ceramics producer has Lie Poteng, today
General Manager of PT. Satyaraya Keramindoindah
accompanied over the decades. After studying in
West Berlin, the industrial engineer began his career
working for Citibank in Jakarta, and was appointed
by the Lyman Group as Manager for tiles production
in the early 80s.
"At first, our annual production averaged around
400,000 square meters", reflects Lie Poteng. "Today
we are a large producer, but our objective was
never, to be the quantitatively largest producer
in Indonesia, but the market leader in design,
innovation and quality."

In keeping with this management philosophy,

Roman Ceramics invested in rotary screen printing
as early as 1995 and so became a first mover
in ceramics decoration, at a time, when other
producers were still contemplating this technology.
By 2008, the company had installed more than 100
different printer systems in both locations. Being
an innovation- and technology driven company,
Roman Ceramics followed the development of
digital print from an early stage on and intensively
analyzed the new possibilities.
"The introduction of digital print technology was
mainly about timing", says Lie Poteng. "We had
already recognized the immense potential of this
technology, and were aware of the fact, that we
could reach a new level for quality, color variation
and design options. We knew, this is the future and
the alternative to replace all traditional production
methods."
The conception of new designs and photo-realistic
motifs for conventional print processes is timeand cost intensive and limited to some extent. The
indirect work processes do not necessarily lead
to the desired consistency and quality. Therefore,
defining all parameters, including the required ink
amount, becomes a game of trial and error. There
are no such obstacles with digital print, only fast
and efficient processes, from conception to the
final product.
In 2007, Roman Ceramics decided to acquire inkjet
technology. Back then, the company had analyzed
the inkjet technology of various manufacturers, but
due to unsatisfactory industrial testing results, no
investments were made.
At the same time, Durst and the ink producer
Torrecid presented the Durst Gamma 70, which
fulfilled all of Roman Ceramics criteria. Because
the reliability of the new technology was a key
factor, Roman Ceramics decided, to observe all
relevant further developments of Durst. By 2010,
Roman Ceramics was fully convinced of Durst and
its ceramics printers. No other manufacturer could
match their productivity and reliability. Within
three years, Roman Ceramics had invested in six
Durst printer systems, among them the Gamma 70,
Gamma 75 HDS/HDRS, and is currently planning to
replace other rotary screen production areas with
digital systems.

Durst digital ceramics printers are technologically

and functionally superior to other systems. Add
to that, the excellent reliability and outstanding
technical support," says Lie Poteng. "For us,
Dursts added value was decisive. This combines
the efficiency of work flow software, transparent
maintenance costs, close cooperation with the ink
producers, the ink systems certification, the service
availability, and the continuous training of our staff,
as well as the systems production capabilities."
Today, the six Durst systems produce respectively
an average of 5,000 square meters per day.
Other printer manufacturers and ink suppliers
have caught up to Durst, comments Lie Poteng.
Therefore he appreciates Dursts focus on the
Asian-Pacific region, with a local service branch and
24/7 support. Additionally, the design of Gamma
Ceramics Printers as open systems provides the
required flexibility for Roman Ceramics to run
different ink systems. Lie Poteng is confident of
Dursts innovative capacity, and is hoping to soon
test-run Dursts latest project, the `Digital Glaze`
technology. It combines printing and glazing
processes and will define the new standards, to
put Durst and its customers one step ahead of the
competition again.
For further information about Roman Ceramics,
please visit: http://www.romanceramics.com
and http://www.romangranit.com

Roman Ceramics
Durst Ceramics Printing

http://youtu.be/xz3TMJVppKU

Rafael Royo, Durst

Durst Phototechnik
AG
Ceramics Printing
Julius-Durst-Strasse 4
39042 Brixen/Bressanone, Italy
P.: +39 0472 81 01 11
F.: +39 0472 83 09 80
www.durst-online.com
info@durst.it

Durst Phototechnik
S.p.A.
Divisione Vendite Italia
Via Julius Durst 4
39042 Bressanone (BZ)
P.: +39 0472 81 01 21
F.: +39 0472 81 01 89
www.durst.it
dvi@durst.it

Lie Poteng, Roman Ceramics

The latest technical developments are constantly

being incorporated into Durst products. Illustrations
and descriptions are therefore subject to modification.
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Durst is a Registered Trade Mark
Copyright Durst Phototechnik AG
05/2014