Just three months to Drupa - Koenig & Bauer

31Contents

KBAEditorial 2

SheetfedGenius 52UV corners

niche markets in France 3

UV production with

Rapida 74G at Güse, Germany 6

Performa 74 at Alkemade

in the Netherlands 8

New departure with

Rapida 74G in Hamburg 10

4 over 4 in large format 12

UK: Rapida 205 a must

for POS printers 14

High-tech Rapida trio for Turin 16

Schur Pack, Germany:

ISO accreditation in packaging 18

DriveTronic boosts productivity 20

Brand protection 23

Aarhus, Denmark:

a KBA showcase 24

Rapida 105 at Dumoulin, France 26

Performa 74 at Arts Print, France 27

The power of print

in New Jersey 28

QualiTronic and inkjet tagging 29

CIPPI Award for Rapida users 30

Tour of large-format printers

in Italy 32

Web OffsetBook printing at Rotolito, Italy,

with Compacta 618 36

Compacta 818 at

Quebecor World, USA 38

Polestar in Hungary

orders Compacta 818 39

D’Auria Printing, Italy,

grows with Compacta 215 40

NewspaperCortina 6/2 for

M. DuMont Schauberg, Germany 41

Commander CT at Main-Post,

Germany 42

FanoTronic 44

Nussbaum takes second Cortina 45

Major Prisma order

from DNA in India 46

Shorts 47

CAM, digital, VLF, JDF, W2P, P2W and greenery too

Just three months to DrupaOn 29 May the 14th Drupa opens

its doors in Düsseldorf. And incoming months exhibitors bothlarge and small will be flooding themarket with revelations aboutspectacular innovations, record-breaking makeready and produc-tion speeds, all-digital networking,stunning new finishing options,new processes and materials andmuch, much more. Once againthere will be the usual hype sur-rounding products that fail to liveup to their promise, and once againthe true stars of the show willbe found elsewhere, revealing

Klaus [email protected]

With just three months to Drupa, the print media industry is getting in the mood

KBA received an early Christmas present in the form of PSO (Process Standardsfor Offset) accreditation for its customer showroom in Radebeul. Issued jointly byFogra and the Print and Media Association for Saxony, Thuringia and Saxony-Anhalt, the certificate confirms compliance with ISO 12647-2 process controlstandards for the production of half-tone colour separations, proof and produc-tion prints in offset lithographic processes.

Werner Seidel (left), head of KBA’s customer showroom, and sheetfed marketing manager Jürgen Veil proudly displaying the PSO certificate

KBA customer showroom now PSO-compliant

their potential only upon closerinspection.

At all events, this mammothtrade fair, at which almost 1,800exhibitors will be promoting theirwares, will be bigger than everbefore and is expected to drawsome 400,000 visitors. It will turnthe spotlight – if only for twoweeks – on the print media indus-try, whose significance in themedia arena is all too often under-rated, and provide a valuable boostto sales and innovation. Digitalprint production, conventional anddigital large-format printing, JDF

and CAM all played a major role in2004 and will do so again at Drupa2008, along with hot issues such asweb-to-print, brand protection andeco print production. Whatever theapplication, there will be any num-ber of different approaches andKBA will be up front with the bestof them. As usual on a 3,400m2

(36,600ft2) stand in hall 16 that ishard to miss. Read more about it inthe next issue of KBA Report, whichwill be published shortly before theshow.

P R O D U C T S | P R A C T I C E S | P E R S P E C T I V E S

w w w . k b a - p r i n t . c o m

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Report 31 | 20082

Editorial

Countdown to Drupa 2008

Print stays nimble on a shifting stage

Albrecht Bolza-Schünemann,president and CEO, Koenig & Bauer

By the time you receive this copy of KBA Report, the next Drupa will beless than four months away. In the print media industry and the tradepress this mammoth event has been casting its shadow for many monthsnow. While ever shorter innovation cycles mean that the big manufactur-ers no longer schedule all their new product launches to coincide withthis definitive trade fair, no electronic data and communication mediumcan eliminate the need for a direct dialogue among suppliers and users.Drupa 2008, which is expected to draw around 1,800 exhibitors and400,000 visitors from all over the world, provides an opportunity like noother event in the global media calendar.

Exhibitors both large and small often spend years preparing for thismega-show. Not all the major names from the past will feature in theDrupa exhibitor directory in 2008: some have been taken over, othershave merged or gone bankrupt. But many new names will be added to thelist. This structural shift is something that the print media industry andits suppliers have experienced at first hand over the past twenty years –and it is not over yet. But throughout this period of transition, some con-stants have stood firm by bending with the breeze. KBA is one of them.We have been present every year without interruption since Drupa’sinception in 1951, and will be exhibiting at the 14th Drupa in May to Junethis year on a 3,400m2 (36,600ft2) stand in hall 16, where you will be ableto see a smorgasbord of technological and process-related innovations andadvances relating to printing, finishing, quality management, workflows,MIS and customer services. Further details will be revealed in duecourse.

Workflow automation and digitisation right through to the customer;inline or offline finishing with new materials and processes; closed-loopcontrol of colour densities and registration; JDF compliance from pre-press to post-press; MIS, CAM, web-to-print, print-to-web and brand pro-tection; UV, digital, VLF, green and waterless printing – the list is almostendless. It would be a mistake to affix just one label to Drupa, as somehave tended to do in the past with Drupa 2000 (“digital”) or Drupa 2004

(“JDF”). In retrospect it became clear every time that, gauged by visitornumbers and contracts inked, it was the printing presses, pre-press andfinishing equipment that turned out to be the real stars of the show,drawing the biggest crowds. This has provoked a certain amount of criti-cism, but earning money is all part and parcel of being a star.

In 2008 the world’s biggest trade fair for the print media industry willagain present a kaleidoscope of the multifarious, almost immeasurableadvances that have been made in the printing sector. Not surprisingly,topics such as larger formats, web-to-print or print and the environmentare moving to centre stage on the back of global warming issues and mar-ket realities.

There have been complaints from some quarters about the sheer sizeof the show, about the noise, the crush and the heat to which visitors andstaff alike are subjected in the exhibition halls during the fourteen daysthat Drupa runs. But every four years the bubbling Drupa cauldron com-pellingly demonstrates that print is successfully squaring up to the chal-lenges confronting it in the 21st century from new media, changes in con-sumption habits and even from product piracy. Its response is to discovernew fields of application, for example RFID. Print is alive – and kicking.This will, I hope, be the message broadcast loud and clear both during andafter the show.

But emissions exposure notwithstanding, Drupa is a great event, ithas an infectious, sizzling atmosphere that makes it a pleasure to attend.Many print-related topics and trends, such as large-format sheetfed press-es and their capabilities, which are discussed in detail in this issue of KBAReport, will be the focus of live demonstrations combined with entertain-ment. After all, that is what a show is all about.

So why not pay a visit to Düsseldorf in late May or early June, wherewe cordially invite you to join us on our stand in hall 16. We can guaran-tee you won’t be bored.

Yours, Albrecht Bolza-Schünemann

Report 31 | 2008 3

Laralex in Baillet

Cornering niche markets with the Genius 52UV

In October 2003 in the town of Baillet

en France, not far from Charles de

Gaulle Airport in Paris, Daniel Bour-

geoisat started implementing a strat-

egy for offering customers an innova-

tive one-stop service. With over 40

years’ experience in the printing

industry he established his own print

enterprise, Laralex. Four years on it is

evident that this strategy, entailing

ongoing investment in tandem with

innovative products and marketing,

has been an unmitigated success. He

and his twelve employees currently

generate annual sales of around €1.5

million ($3m). His wife, daughter and

son-in-law work alongside him,

enabling the company to handle the

full gamut of processes from UV offset

printing to die-cutting, trimming,

laminating and binding etc. As a result

this small-scale yet highly skilled

operation can provide customised

products, a complete range of services

and rapid turnaround to boot – assets

that have been exploited to the full in

order to raise the company profile in a

competitive market.

Daniel Bourgeoisat invested ina Genius 52UV in November2006 after setting his sights

on a new, high-potential niche mar-ket: printing on plastics such asPVC, PC, PS, ABS, PET etc. Awaterless UV sheetfed offset pressbuilt by KBA-Metronic, the Genius52UV can print not only on syn-thetics such as PVC, polypropyleneand other plastics, but also onpaper. The press at Laralex is a five-colour version with keyless inkingunits and the ability to apply spe-cial colours in the fifth printingunit. The prints can be coated in aseparate coater, which brings outthe brilliance of the colours andenduringly protects the surface ofthe sheets by making them com-pletely rub-resistant. The Genius52UV is also configured with dry-

Laralex proprietor Daniel Bourgeoisat (right) and production manager Vincent Batilliot (left) checking a sheet offthe company’s Genius 52UV watched by KBA-Metronic sales manager Thomas Arnegger

The Genius 52UV waterless sheetfed offset press can print a wide choice of materials including soft and hard film, cartonboard and paper ranging in thickness from 0.1 to 0.8mm (4 - 32pt). The photo shows cinema posters and DVD covers

Report 31 | 20084

Sheetfed Offset | France

Sabine Krä[email protected]

ers after the printing unit andcoater to minimise processingtimes by allowing immediate fini-shing.

Fast responseto specialised needsLaralex’s biggest customers areadvertising agencies and firms thatrequire wide-ranging specialistservices yet ultra-short deliverytimeframes. Print runs range fromjust a few to 20,000 sheets. Thesewere previously printed on variousconventional offset presses.

Drawing on decades of experi-ence in the print media industryand an exhaustive analysis of themarket, Bourgeoisat ran a rule overa number of presses on the market,but was won over by the Genius52UV’s unique qualities after justa few test prints. Its consistentquality and quick job changeoverswith minimal proof waste make theGenius 52UV highly productive.“The keyless inking units have nodistributor rollers or dampeningunits, which eliminates as much as70% of the problems associatedwith normal offset printing andalso saves time on cleaning at theend of the shift. The press’s UVoffset technology delivers a needle-sharp, uniform image quality withno visible colour fluctuations, evenwhen totally different colour

patches are printed side by side.Waterless UV offset technologyeliminates all risk of ghosting. Itcan even print a flawless image onpaper weighing just 70 grams persquare metre,” explains Bour-geoisat enthusiastically.

Daniel Bourgeoisat responds toevery enquiry the company re-ceives. He holds up a ruler printedon PVC lenticular film: “Agencies

come to us because they know wecan also print short runs and smallformats. About three or fourmonths ago we received our firstrequest for lenticular film printing.Everyone is familiar with the “flip-flop” images that were so popularsome years ago and, thanks to theGenius 52UV, we can now addressthis revived trend by offering ourcustomers the relevant technology.

It’s great to see children’s eyesshine as they joyfully make a scoopof ice-cream laugh or jump up anddown by tilting it backwards andforwards.” The Genius 52UV canprint both flip-flop images, whichsimulate movement by switchingbetween two or more images, and3-D images that employ zoomeffects to deceive the human eye.By adding another dimension,lenticular film printing brings spa-tial depth and movement to stan-dard print products.

KBA-Metronic’s Genius 52UVis easy to operate, highly automat-ed (plate change included) andunites innovative technology withversatility and cost efficiency –qualities that are not always easy tofind in the B3 (20in) format. Itallows small family enterprises toexpand beyond standard productsand services, while larger opera-tions will find it an invaluable assetfor broadening the product spec-trum to embrace plastic printing orfor handling rush jobs entailingshort-run work.

Rulers printed on lenticular film in the Genius 52UV. Tilting them back and forth makes the ice-cream scoops jump up and down and laugh

The Genius 52UV’s extended delivery has an integrated UV dryer

Report 31 | 2008 5

1

2

3

Printers of plastics are not the only ones who appreciate the low waste rate and easy handling of the Genius 52UV, shown here with a coater and extended delivery

UV Offset | Innovation

More print jobs per shift

New quick-changeink chamber for theGenius 52UVThere is a widespread shift in the print media industry towards shorter print

runs and consequently more frequent job changes. The unparalleled speed with

which the Genius 52UV, KBA-Metronic’s ultra-compact sheetfed offset press, can

be made ready for the next job makes it uniquely capable of accommodating

this shift.

Thanks to its keyless inkingunits, makeready on theGenius 52UV is already 40%

shorter than on a conventional off-set press. Now KBA-Metronic isoffering an ingenious new inkchamber that reduces ink changesby half again, which can boost pro-ductivity enormously.

Unlike standard offset inkingunits with their numerous distribu-tor rollers, the Genius 52UV key-less inking unit consists of just oneanilox roller and one forme roller,both of which have the same cir-

cumference as the plate cylinder.This not only eliminates ghostingbuts also reduces cleaning times toa minimum. With the new quick-change ink chamber the time sav-ings are even greater.

When an ink change is about totake place in a conventional offsetpress, the on-press inks mustbe removed – a time-consumingprocess – and the inking unitswashed. Similarly, the ink ductsmust be manually cleaned andrefilled. If the production scheduleentails frequent changes of ink this

Sabine Krä[email protected]

With the Genius 52UV, switching from process to spot colours with the optional quick-change inkchamber could not be simpler. Since the UV inks do not dry out they can even be stored in the inkchamber, which can be sealed

1 The new quick-change ink chamber mounted on the screen roller2 The open chamber in the working position on the anilox roller3 The closed chamber ready for removal

The Genius 52UV’s keyless inking units, which have just one anilox roller and a forme roller,can be cleaned quickly and easily

can materially impair productivityand cost efficiency.

The Genius 52UV is complete-ly different. Here, even the stan-dard doctoring system offers sub-stantial time gains compared toconventional ink ducts. The newquick-change ink chamber goesone better: no matter how full it is,it can be removed from the print-ing unit at any time without havingto be emptied of ink beforehand.This is because it can be sealed toprevent spillage. And since themovable sealing blade wipes off vir-tually all traces of ink, no inkresidue is left on the anilox roller.

What is more, the press consumesUV-curing inks which do not dryout, so they can remain in thechamber and be reused later. Thismakes both economic and ecologi-cal sense. While the Genius 52UVis printing, other quick-change inkchambers can be filled ready forthe next job, for example oneentailing spot colour in the fifthprinting unit. They are thus readyto use the moment the print run iscompleted.

The new ink chambers, whichare available as an optional extra,can also be retrofitted in existingpresses.

Report 31 | 20086

Güse becomes first user of KBA Rapida 74G UV in Germany

Gravuflow UV technology for top-quality plant labelsA KBA Rapida 74G waterless, keyless sheetfed press with Gravuflow inking units and UV capability has been in

operation for two years at Güse Verlag in Karben, near Frankfurt am Main, printing plant labels and a slew of other

marketing products in a quality second to none. It has enabled the company to achieve its objective of slashing the

volume of waste generated compared to conventional UV offset.With plastic media at a premium, the bottom-line

benefits delivered are substantial.

Güse describes itself as a “part-ner in plant marketing”,printing plastic signs, stem

labels and swing tags along withbrochures and dictionaries. Its cus-tomers are plant and tree nurseriesof all sizes and other plant growersin German-speaking markets, theNetherlands and Denmark.

Specialist printer of plastic display labelsEstablished in 1955, the companymade the transition to four-colourUV offset in 1982 and thus looksback on a wealth of experiencewith this process. Johannes Güse,who was born in 1965, joined thecompany as managing director fol-lowing the death of his fatherAugust, the founder. A qualified ITengineer, Johannes now employs45 staff and one offset apprentice.

In 2004 Johannes Güse wentlooking for a new press that couldprint short runs of up to 500sheets cost-effectively. Initially heinclined towards an Indigo digitalpress, but was deterred by the highcost of the inks. It was then that hecame across a KBA Genius 52, butat that time a UV version was notavailable and it could only be con-figured with one coater. So atDrupa 2004 he took a closer lookat a KBA Rapida 74G that was capa-ble of handling a bigger sheet size,520 x 740mm (201/2 x 29in). Beingwaterless and keyless, this affordedthe same benefits as the Genius 52with regard to waste reduction andfaster job changes. What is more,its unit-type design offered theadded advantage of much greaterflexibility in processing film, paperand board, and it could also be con-figured with a dedicated aniloxcoater.

November 2005 saw the instal-lation of a Rapida 74G press linewith four printing units for UV andconventional printing, a coater forboth aqueous and UV coatings anda double extended delivery. How-ever, at that time the light-resist-ance of the waterless UV inks onthe market was not as good as thatof the wet offset UV inks previous-ly used. If plant labels are toremain legible after two years outin the open, the inks used to printthem must have the maximumlight-resistance possible, which is 7

to 8 on the blue-wool scale.Johannes Güse therefore formed atechnological alliance with KBAand ink manufacturers for the pur-pose of testing and optimisinglightfast inks on his Rapida 74G ina real production environment.

Cutting the consumption of costly consumablesIn view of the high cost per kilo ofsynthetic printing substrates it iseasy to understand why Güse waskeen to take up the challenge ofdeveloping the right inks. He prints

on polypropylene (PP), polystyrene(PS) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC)film which varies in thickness from0.2mm (8pt) to the standard 0.35and 0.55mm (14-22pt). “Thesmaller volume of waste generatedby the Rapida 74G was not its onlywinning feature: the absence ofwater and ink keys also makes iteasier to handle. So the reproduc-tive accuracy is much better whenswitching between UV and conven-tional mode.”

Thick ink film poses a challengeIn order to master the keyless,waterless Rapida 74G under nor-mal pressroom conditions the oper-ating staff started off using paperand ink suitable for a 74 Karat dig-ital offset press, and then graduallyprogressed to UV production onfilm. Because Johannes Güse printshis plant labels with a higher inkdensity than in standard offset, theformulation of the more lightfastUV inks had to be tweaked still fur-ther to make them suitable for thekeyless Gravuflow system. Withthe Rapida 74G the density is set

The plant marketing services introduced bymanaging director Johannes Güse address aniche market

Sheetfed Offset | UV

Güse Verlag’s premises in Karben,near Frankfurt am Main

Plant images and signs, which often take someoriginal shapes and forms, must be printed inlightfast ink as defined by the blue-wool test

7Report 31 | 2008

Dieter [email protected]

to standard values by adjusting thevolume of ink transferred by theanilox roller. Within specific toler-ances it can be increased ordecreased across the entire sheetvia the temperature controls forthe anilox roller and plate cylinder.However, the aim is to standardiseinking without pushing up wasteby allowing too much manual inter-vention. To achieve still higherthicknesses Güse changed thecolour sequence to yellow (withintermediate drying), black, cyanand magenta. The subsequent stan-

dard UV coating is applied as a fullsolid via a blanket. The UV lampssupplied by Grafix have a powerrating of 1x 160W/cm (150W/in) inthe interdeck dryer and 2x160W/cm in the end-of-pressdryer.

While the Rapida 74G wasbeing installed the company con-verted its pre-press technology tocomputer-to-plate, so that now aFujifilm Luxel T6000 thermalplatesetter exposes the waterlessToray plates. Keyless Gravuflowtechnology demands precise, stan-

dardised repro. With the Torayplates, the image created on thefilm has a higher resolution than inconventional UV offset and har-monises well with the UV inks.

Big productivity boostThe Rapida 74G is now run in oneor two shifts, with a single opera-tor. Production speeds for the rela-tively short runs that are its breadand butter range from 7,000 to9,000 sheets per hour, dependingon the substrate material. Runlengths on film average 2,500 to

3,000 sheets, the spectrum rangesfrom 100 to 25,000 sheets. Printruns on paper vary between10,000 and 200,000 sheets. Thefilm is cut into labels on a letter-press machine fitted with stripmetal cutting dies.

A job change on the Rapida74G generally takes no longer than15 minutes. “Previously the press-es created a bottleneck in produc-tion, now that is no longer thecase,” says Johannes Güse happily.“Our productivity has improvedenormously.”

The proportion of paper jobsprinted using conventional water-less inks is currently 20% andfalling, so there are fewer modeand format changes needed. Andeven though the cleaning clothshave to be changed, the washingsystems help to shorten modechanges because the rubber blan-kets do not have to be cleaned indi-vidually with liquid cleaner. Inorder to avoid the need for time-consuming switches between UVand conventional offset, somequick-fire jobs on paper are printedusing UV inks. Even if aqueouscoatings are applied the UV lampsremain in the press, since theyemit sufficient heat.

50% less wasteJohannes Güse has found thatwaterless UV offset with the Rapi-da 74 has cut waste by as much as50% compared to conventional UVoffset. So despite the higher costof waterless inks and Toray platesthe KBA Rapida 74G delivers per-ceptible bottom-line benefits. Andother Rapida 74G users will profitfrom Güse’s efforts in developinglightfast waterless UV inks. Con-sumables for conventional UV off-set may be cheaper, but theabsence of water, in conjunctionwith Gravuflow inking units,makes the entire printing processmuch more stable, and this can sig-nificantly reduce overall costs.

The KBA Rapida 74G four-colour UV coater press installed at Güse is the first of its kind in Germany

Horst Hörning (right), KBA regional sales manager for Hesse, thanking Johannes Güse for his commitment to optimising the light-resistance of waterless UV inks on the Rapida 74G

An UV dryer after the first printing unit ensuresthat the inks and coatings subsequentlyapplied can adhere firmly to the substrate

The ink ducts are automatically filled with ink from cartridges

Jürgen Schenk, one of three offsetprinters who operate the Rapida,commends the consistent printingconditions promoted by Gravuflowtechnology

www.guese.de

Report 31 | 20088

Sheetfed Offset | Netherlands

Alkemade Printing thrives with Performa 74

Production in just one passFollowing a fact-finding tour through the USA, Alkemade Printing’s owner and managing director

Rémon Alkemade faced a dilemma: should he invest in a high-performance digital colour printer

or go for a new litho printing press? His management team helped him reach a decision by urging

the need to walk the talk in terms of quality, which meant opting for the press. And not just any

press but a four-colour coater version of the Performa 74.

Based in Lisse, south of Am-sterdam Schiphol airport,Alkemade Printing is typical

of many printshops in the Nether-lands: founded by the parents ofthe present managing directors orowners a quarter of a century ago,21 employees on the payroll and acomplete range of services, frompre-press to post-press, under oneroof. Rémon Alkemade joined hisparents’ company in 1996 aftertaking a diploma in graphic art atthe technical college (HTS) inTilburg. In 2003 he became thenew owner.

“When I was at primary school,all my friends wanted to be fire-men or lorry drivers. But I always

used to say that I wanted to be agraphic artist like my father.”Nonetheless, Rémon carefullyweighed up all the arguments forand against following in his par-ents’ footsteps: “I knew I would bestepping into a ready-made job,

and I kept wondering whether itmight not be more interesting towork elsewhere. But once I hadmade the decision all my doubtsevaporated. Now I can’t imagine amore satisfying and rewardingoccupation.”

Well consideredBut however satisfying and reward-ing printing may be as an occupa-tion, it is not a bed of roses, andAlkemade Printing had its share ofups and downs. Rémon’s parentsset up in business in 1983 at atime when the printing industrywas in recession. The Alkemadespersevered nonetheless, buildingup the business until there weresixteen staff on the payroll. Butwhen Rémon took over the compa-ny, he found that history wasrepeating itself. “That was a reallybad time, and I had to considercarefully what direction I wantedto take. Selling print via the inter-net seemed a good idea, but thereyou’re competing against price-breakers. I decided to conduct asurvey among our existing and for-mer customers. And the result?They didn’t come to us because weoffered the lowest price butbecause we delivered high-qualitywork punctually, and used our ini-tiative. So we focused on thesestrengths.”

He continues: “At that time alot of advertising agencies were lay-ing off staff, so there was a wealthof valuable know-how going towaste – at a time when digital PDFfiles were beginning to be widelyadopted. I acted as consultant tomany of these agencies and theyhave remained loyal to this day.”

Just do itAlkemade was asked whether thefirm created websites and couldprovide digital printing services.“Naturally we can offer such serv-ices, but they are not the onlyones. I realised that, year on year,the demand for digital print wasrising faster than for conventionalprint. So I went on a fact-findingtour to the United States and washugely impressed by the high-per-formance colour printing systems Isaw. They were part of a networkand delivered fantastic prints in asuperb quality. When I got back toLisse I called my management teamtogether and suggested we offer a

The Performa 74 four-colour coater press is what Rémon Alkemade’s father alwaysdreamed of having

Delivered in August and running ever since – the Performa 74 at Alkemade Printing in Lisse

Report 31 | 2008 9

Sylvain Louis is delighted with the Performa 74’s level of automation

similar service. The team com-prised production manager SylvainLouis and plant manager Ron vanBerkel.”

At that time Alkemade wasrunning three printing presses: atwo-colour B2 (29in), a relativelynew two-colour B3 (20in) and afour-colour B3. My managers said:“Look, we’ve invested an awful lotof money in CTP, and our workflowis fine. The finishing department isalso running well. What’s missingis printing capacity. Virtually all thework we print is four-colour, so we

First Performa four-colour coater press in the Netherlands

Operators at the GrafiControl console have both the press and the print quality firmly under control

Leon van [email protected]

have to run a second pass justabout every time. And if we wantto coat the sheets a third pass isnecessary. But our customers wantfast turnaround as well as a highprint quality, so if we’re going toinvest in new kit, we suggest we gofor a four-colour B2 press with acoater. We’re familiar with thistype of machine and can earn goodmoney with it.” They were right.And a digital printing system canstill be added at a later date.

Following this strategic deci-sion Rémon Alkemade soon made

up his mind what he would do.“Wifac in Mijdrecht had suppliedthe CTP system and one of ourpress operators had worked fortwenty years with a KBA press. Sowe thought, why not order a Per-forma 74 from KBA? Why go forsomething complex, when it canbe so simple? Wifac submitted anacceptable offer and we took asmall team to KBA’s productionplant in Radebeul. We werestunned by the quality of the engi-neering. Also, the Performa is out-standing value for money. The

press was delivered in August andhas run almost continuously eversince.”

Two presses goneOne of the Performa’s many assetsis its CIP4 compatibility. “That willdo to be getting on with,” saysRémon Alkemade. “I’m still waitinguntil presses can be embedded in anetwork as easily as digital printingsystems. CIP4 offers this capabilityfor production, but in future Iwould like to have much more real-time management data from thepress. This would enable us to seewhich orders offer the biggest prof-it margins and which ones tend toconsume more time and moneythan has been scheduled, withoutthis being obvious.”

Following the installation ofthe Performa 74, two pressesbecame superfluous and were rap-idly disposed of. In addition to thePerforma there is now just the onefour-colour B3 press. “Our threepress operators work four days aweek, so I have twelve printingdays a week, which is more thanenough to keep the two pressesrunning at capacity. Not long agomy father dropped by on a briefvisit and said that his dream presswas now standing in the pressroom. He had never been able toafford the investment. As he said,it’s easy to dream of buying newpresses, but first of all you have toearn the money. With the Performa74 we’ll have no trouble doingthat.”

Alkemade Printing in Lisse opted for a Performa 74 four-colour coaterpress with a maximum rated hourly output of 13,000 sheets measur-

ing 520 x 740mm (201/2 x 29in). Standard press features include anautomated washing system, nonstop feeder and delivery, and a CIP4interface. A semi-automatic plate change takes less than 60 seconds.The print parameters for as many as 4,000 repeat jobs can be stored atthe GrafiControl console, where the press operator can also keep aweather eye on registration, control the colour and set paper thickness.The settings for the next job can be keyed in while the current job isstill running.

“We deliberately opted for a printing press and not a digital printing system.”Sylvain Louis, Rémon Alkemade and Jaap van Dam (l-r) of Alkemade Printing

Just as modern on the outside:Alkemade Printing in Lisse,Netherlands

Report 31 | 200810

Sheetfed Offset | New processes

Nienstedt in Hamburg switches to keyless technology with KBA Rapida 74G five-colour coater press

New departures and innovation key to success

Hamburg-based printer Nienstedt’s

investment strategy is driven by a

determination to maintain a keen

competitive edge by providing en-

vironmentally friendly processes,

services and products in a quality sec-

ond to none. A little less than a year

ago management decided to replace

its conventional two- and four-colour

Speedmaster 74s and a mono SORM

with a KBA Rapida 74G waterless, key-

less five-colour coater press.

Established in 1889 as Krüger &Nienstedt, a book and lithoprinter, the firm has pursued a

tradition of ongoing evolution thathas transformed it into a one-stopshop for customer communicationsin the Hamburg area. In 1965Buchdruckerei Albert Ferd. C.Nienstedt, as the company wasthen known, was taken over byRolf-Hagen Lyer. In 2000 he wassucceeded as proprietor and man-aging director by his son ThomasHennig. This family business nowemploys 13 staff and specialises inthe production of exclusive, high-end business reports and promo-tional literature for media andindustrial enterprises.

Squaring up to the challengeSays Thomas Lyer: “To survive insuch a competitive environmentwe must constantly change, adopt-ing new departures and, on occa-sions, making some courageousdecisions. The products and servic-es available on the market are fastbecoming interchangeable. Theonly way we can differentiate ourproducts on a sustainable basisfrom those of our competitors is toimplement a compelling strategy,with the technology to back it up.It’s better to stand out throughinnovation than merge into themainstream. And to do this it isvital to spot emerging business ortechnological opportunities and tocontain potential risks and conse-quences.” Matching the deed to

A successful team (l-r):press minder Mathias Gubsch, master printerManfred Merten, managing director ThomasLyer and head of KBA’s north German salesbranch Ralf Engelhardt

Easy handling: the Rapida 74G five-colour coater press has an innovative operating concept and an ergonomic design

Nienstedt moved to its present premises in Bargkoppelweg,Hamburg, in 1975

Report 31 | 2008 11

the word, early last year Lyer tookon board the Rapida’s innovativeGravuflow™ waterless, keyless ink-ing technology.

Following a meticulouslysmooth installation and fine co-ordination of all systems compo-nents the Rapida 74G was soonembedded in the corporate work-flow. Continual process optimisa-tion and adherence to definedstandards safeguard a high level ofproductivity, quality and customersatisfaction.

Since the beginning of August2007 the Rapida 74G has primarilyprinted four-colour products suchas brochures and leaflets. Preciselydefined and consistent ink transferfrom the anilox rollers, and the factthat the ink-forme rollers and platecylinders have the same diameter,guarantee a high-quality printedimage on a wide range of differentsubstrates, even in solid areas.More specifically, non-absorbentmaterials such as metallised orcoated paper and film can be print-ed cost-effectively in a superiorquality. The fifth printing unit canprint special inks, including metal-lic ones. It is also possible to simu-late a large number of specialcolours using CMYK. “The Gravu-flow short-train inking technologydelivers a stunning colour fidelityand precise reproduction,” con-firms press operator MathiasGubsch.

Customer benefits are what count“Our sole benchmark for the suc-cess of any project is the benefitdelivered to the customer,” saysThomas Lyer, “and the Rapida 74Gis an invaluable tool for addressingcustomer demands for qualityenhancement, continuity anddependability.” Gravuflow technol-ogy has certainly won hearts andminds at Nienstedt. With printruns averaging between 500 and5,000 sheets, the substantialreduction in makeready times andwaste has been a huge bonus: theRapida 74G has eliminated theneed for the time-consuming

adjustment of inking and dampen-ing rollers and the ink/water bal-ance. And even if a print run has tobe interrupted for any reason, orjob-related delays occur, the inkretains its optimum setting. On top

of this, with the Rapida 74G thereis no need for regular cleaning andcare of the inking and dampeningrollers. The impact-based washingsystem with premoistened cleaningcloths ensures that the ink-forme

Anja [email protected]

Time savings and efficiency gains:automatic plate changing cuts changeovertimes for short runs

rollers and blanket cylinders are asclean as a whistle while minimisingthe consumption of water andcleaning agents. “The Rapida’s sim-ple, self-explanatory handlingmeans that even first-time userscan quickly get the hang of theGravuflow keyless inking units,”says master printer ManfredMerten.

“By dispensing with dampen-ers and ink keys the Rapida 74Ghas enabled us to standardiseprocesses and optimise our qualityassurance. Because there are fewerparameters, physical and chemicalinteraction within the printingprocess is much less complex. Nomore adjustments, trials, fumblingand fiddling! The perfect co-ordi-nation and control of all the variouscomponents is a fundamental pre-condition for process reliability,”stresses Mathias Gubsch. “Themanufacturer’s professional com-petence, coupled with our motiva-tion and enthusiasm for innova-tion, are the key to our success.”

The Rapida 74G’s manifold capabilities were the focus of an open house organised at Nienstedt in mid-November by KBA’s northern office

Report 31 | 200812

Sheetfed Offset | Trends

4 over 4 with large-format Rapida 142 at Koelblin Fortuna

One press takes on the workload of two

At one time Ernst Koelblin in Baden-Baden, a former printer of books for the German aristocracy, printed news-

papers on a 1928-vintage Koenig & Bauer press. However, those days are long past. Since merging with Fortuna-

Druck in 2000 the company has substantially expanded its sheetfed operations and under its new name, Koelblin

Fortuna, now has five litho presses and one letterpress machine on 5,400m2 (58,000ft2) of production space. Its

most recent acquisition is a Rapida 142 eight-colour perfector press for 4 over 4.

Looking back to the time whenthe large-format Rapida 142perfector first came on stream,

managing partner Ulrich Göllersays: “What had previously beenhandled by two adjacent sheetfedpresses was suddenly produced byjust one.” However, before thiscould happen Koelblin Fortuna hadto make a lot of organisationalchanges both in pre-press and post-press. A week prior to the press’sarrival an AGFA Avalon VLF 60 CTPsystem – one of the first of its kindfor process-free plates in Germany– was installed to support large-for-mat print production. A guillotineand a large-format folding machinesupplied by MBO were added inthe finishing department.

Fewer limitations than expectedThe decision to take large formaton board was made eighteenmonths ago and was preceded by along succession of tests. Initially,not every aspect of production wasrunning to the satisfaction of Koel-blin Fortuna’s management team,but within just a few weeks oflaunching into operation the Rapi-da 142 eight-colour had exceededall expectations. It can handle anytype of stock from 60gsm (16lbbond) upwards, whether matt,gloss or uncoated. This confoundsthe widespread misconception thatit is impossible to print gloss paper4 over 4 on a large-format press.Even books with a high colour con-tent and 6 to 7 point reverse typeon a black background can beprinted with no quality impairmentwhatsoever. The only proviso, inKoelblin Fortuna’s experience, isthat it must possible to fold thesheets in the relevant format. Atfirst technical operations managerUdo Bucherer was not surewhether it would be necessary,when printing complex substratesand forms, to adjust the printlength in pre-press so as to avoidregistration problems. But this con-cern, too, proved to be unfounded.

At present the Rapida 142 runsat a little less than its maximumproduction speed in four-colourperfecting mode, though the speedwill be steadily increased over thenext few months. This is because

the operators are still having tofamiliarise themselves with itscapabilities. So far progress hasbeen excellent and Udo Buchereris delighted with his press crew’sdedication.

Cost efficiency a boon in winning new contractsCost calculations determine whichjobs are assigned to the variouspress formats. Short-run work issent to the B1 (41in) presses, big-

The Koelblin Fortuna management team,from the left: managing partner UlrichGöller, joint managing directors GerhardWeinelt and René A Kühn and technicaloperations manager Udo Bucherer

Koelblin Fortuna in Baden-Baden has over 200 employees, 5,400m2 of production space and almost 3,000m2 of office space

Report 31 | 2008 13

ger jobs entailing longer runs or ahigher pagination are scheduled onthe eight-colour Rapida 142 andusually perfect printed. UlrichGöller envisages a second Rapida142 for 4 over 4 and also a furtherB1 straight printing press. Then,for example, an eight-page bro-chure with a print run of 5,000copies could be worked and turnedon the recto press, and would onlyrequire four or five printing plates.But he reckons that it would becost-effective to print virtually allthe more sophisticated work onthe Rapida 142.

Ulrich Göller and managingdirectors Gerhard Weinelt andRené A Kühn have already set theirsights on additional business fortheir company. “We can nowaccept work that we previously hadto turn down, so in this respect thenew press is undoubtedly bringingin new work,” says Ulrich Göllerwith conviction. When typical B1contracts are put out to tenderthere are around twenty printersputting in bids for 4 over 4. SoKoelblin Fortuna is not always thelowest bidder. But once longerruns or a higher page count comeinto play the figures look quite dif-ferent. During the quieter monthsat the beginning of this year man-agement will be able to see for thefirst time whether the company istruly competitive for jobs like that.

Most of the customers on theorder books are magazine and bookpublishers, industrial enterprisesand public institutions, not just inGerman-speaking countries butalso in the Netherlands. KoelblinFortuna is also one of the printers

of choice for the German parlia-ment and government, whosework entails specific technologicalcapabilities, with skeleton agree-ments regulating, say, productiontimes for specific volumes of workalong with quality and perform-ance profiles for the entire produc-tion chain.

Quick-response colour controls cut wasteKoelblin Fortuna staff have beenpleasantly surprised by the colourcontrol system on the Rapida 142.Measurement and control withDensiTronic S are much faster thanexpected, so saleable sheets areproduced much sooner and withfar less waste. The short-train KBAinking units also respond withoutdelay to new settings, so changesare apparent on the sheet almostinstantly. In Ulrich Göller’s experi-ence, “The operator can rely one

hundred per cent on the system.”Colorimetric quality control elimi-nates the risk of errors that caneasily creep in during a subjectivevisual scrutiny by the operator, andprovides an objective quality logfor the customer.

The online transfer of preset-ting data from pre-press, in con-junction with automatic platechanging, shortens job changes, sonew jobs can be run on the Rapida142 in a minimum of time. Ink isautomatically pumped to the pressfrom big vats, so it is always fresh.

Everything but the kitchen sinkKoelblin Fortuna is a full-serviceenterprise with an awesome rangeof equipment. It can provide anyservice from layout generationthrough to warehousing and distri-bution. Addressing and frankingmachines, polywrap tunnels, strap-

ping and inserting machines and afinished goods warehouse with2,000 pallet slots give some idea ofthe company’s huge capacity aboveand beyond print production andfinishing. In the bindery there areseven folding machines for all cur-rent types of fold. There is also aglue-binding line with downstreamgatherer and PUR capability, twogang stitchers, a guillotine, anddrilling and banding machines. Inall, Koelblin Fortuna employs 130permanent full-time staff and 30part-timers. In the attached bookand press shop there are up to 80more.

With such a wide range ofequipment it is not surprising thata lot of other products are printedalongside brochures, magazines(both glue-bound and wire-stitched) and books. Some produc-tion lines even comply with GMP(Good Manufacturing Practice)regulations and guidelines govern-ing the control, management, man-ufacture and quality testing offoods and pharmaceutical prod-ucts. In February and March thecompany is aiming to add FSC (For-est Stewardship Council) accredita-tion to reflect its commitment tothe use of sustainable resources.

Martin Dä[email protected]

www.koe-for.de

No communication problems between the operators at the feeder and the delivery on the long Rapida 142 perfector press: they use an intercom

Sven Schupp at the Rapida 142’s control console preparing for one of the fewsingle-sided print jobs that are run on the press

A large-format MBO folding machine has been installed in the finishing department, but the Rapida 142’s high output will soon make it necessary to install a second one

Report 31 | 200814

Sheetfed Offset | Superlarge format

Eight Rapida 205s up and running in the UK

Rapida 205: the POS printer’s “must have” pressKBA’s competence and market leadership in large format is undisputed and since Drupa 2005 has extended by industry

demand into the superlarge, jumbo or XXL format.

Nowhere is this picture moreevident than in the UnitedKingdom, where the arrival

of the Rapida 205 has heralded asea-change in a sector previouslydominated by wide-format screenprinting. Today for those in thepoint-of-sale (POS) sector, servingthe ultra-competitive big brandsretail supermarket trade, the KBARapida 205 is the “must have”press to compete and survive.

At the moment there are eightRapida 205s operating in the UK,all five-unit UV presses in a sectorled by Capital Print & Display,the London large-format specialistswho have recently moved to abrand new purpose-built factory atBeckton Waterfront in East Lon-don.

London-based Augustus Mar-tin, a company established for aneven longer time at the top of thetree in POS, was the first to investin KBA superlarge format technolo-gy, installing a Rapida 205 at theend of 2005. Then came Capitalwith its first jumbo, followed byOdessa Offset, NSL, St Ives SPGroup, B&P Group and Show-card Print.

NSL, Newcastle, was the firstprinter to bravely jump straight

from screen to superlarge formatand the move has been so success-ful that additional KBA pressinvestment is on the cards.

NSL managing director DuncanHesse says that his Rapida 205 isperfectly designed to the formatused by screen printers and willeasily allow the transfer of workfrom one process to the other.

Les Thomas, managing directorat Cheshire company B&P Group,had to think big when it came to

his company’s need to add litho toits existing screen and digital oper-ation. “We needed to think big andstand out from the crowd,” hesays. “We also needed to handle acampaign with litho and screensharing the work all under oneroof.”

Big beast by any standardsThe Rapida 205 is a big beast byany standards. Printers takingdeliver of this jumbo press will seeup to twenty trucks making thehardware delivery and note thatthe sheet pile alone will weigh overthree tonnes! With a massive sheetsize of 1,510 X 2,050mm (591/2 x803/4in) the press incorporates allthe benefits of the long tried and

Two Rapida 205 press lines are in operation at Capital Print & Display’s new production plant in London

“In today’s tough market we all need to work harder and smarter and

to find improved efficiencies within our operations. Our Rapida 205 is

a prime example of low waste, fast makeready and high automation

efficiency operating in a dedicated market segment.”

KBA (UK) managing director Christian Knapp

Report 31 | 2008 15

tested Rapida 162 such as theproven seven o’clock cylinderarrangement and double-sizedimpression cylinders. The pressalso offers shaftless feeding, pressspeeds up to 9,000 sheets perhour, ultrasonic double-sheet sen-sors and a swing infeed that allowsgentle acceleration. The press alsohas an exceptionally short inkingtrain with just sixteen rollersaffording low wastage, short wash-ing times and unrivalled rollingpower. Excellent substrate flexibil-ity concludes the benefits list theRapida 205 brings to handlingpaper, display board, microflute,plastics and metallised stocks from0.1mm to 1.6mm (4 - 63pt).

Leading print buyers are in-creasingly demanding “litho quali-ty” but the successful POS printerneeds to offer a three-process mixof screen, digital and litho.

With its origins in Chinese andJapanese stencilling, screen print-ing is often labelled the most cre-ative of all the processes and foundadherents in the US in the early1900s and in the UK in the 1920s.Mechanisation – the handling ofthe screen itself and the control of

the squeegee – transformed screenprinting into a commercial optionin the 1940s.

Originally a single-colour pro-cess, screen’s hand-operated earlydays were a far cry from today’sultra-wide screen lines from manu-facturers such as Thieme and Sve-cia. Costing up to £1.5 million($3m), such sophisticated screenprinting lines are still half the priceof an average Rapida 205 andalthough brilliantly productive byscreen standards, they still fallshort of the powerhouse of VLFoffset.

Wounding but not killing a resilient screen sectorPeter Kiddell, leading consultantand current president of the UK’sDigital Screen Printing Association,admits that in many areas screennow takes second place to large-format litho. He says: “The screenindustry has changed over the pastten years and dramatically so overthe past five. Large-format lithopresses such as the KBA Rapida205 are being used very success-fully indeed in the high volumepoint-of-sale sector.”

Screen, he admits, is under firefrom offset at the top end, fromdigital for smaller quantities andmaybe there is another adversarycoming over the horizon – high-speed inkjet. However, on otherfronts screen is making rip-roaringprogress – in electronics circuitprinting, in pharmaceuticals and inmany areas of outside graphics.

And with eight Rapida 205sinstalled and in production in theUK, has KBA reached saturationpoint? KBA (UK) managing director

Terry [email protected]

Christian Knapp, a devotee ofpressrooms going both long andwide, feels that there are still UKopportunities to be had. He says:“In today’s tough market we allneed to work harder and smarterand to find improved efficiencieswithin our operations. Our Rapida205 is a prime example of lowwaste, fast makeready and highautomation efficiency operating ina dedicated market segment.”

Screen printing presses, one of them (on the right) a Thieme 5070, operate alongside the two Rapida 205s at Capital

A high level of cost efficiency, even in short-run production, is prompting many former screen printers in the UK to switch to VLF litho

Report 31 | 200816

KBA-Italia managing director Joachim Nitschke (left) presenting SAN president Carlo Carmagnola with a work of art and an illustrated book by the Italian artist Giorgio Milani

Sheetfed Offset | Italy

New medium- and large-format Rapidas at Stamperia Artistica Nazionale in Turin

Gearing up for growth with high-tech trioOn 28 November 2007, Stamperia Artistica Nazionale (SAN) in Trofarello, near Turin, celebrated a major landmark

in its history with the official inauguration of a new production plant and new medium- and large-format press

lines in the Moncalieri industrial park. SAN, which was founded back in 1926 by Giovanni Carmagnola, commem-

orated the event with an open house to promote its cutting-edge technology.

The association between SANand KBA’s agency for Italy,KBA-Italia, dates back to 1998

and the delivery of a large-formatpress. The most recent contract,which included a four-colour and afive-colour version of the Rapida162a for a sheet size of 1,200 x1,620mm (471/4 x 633/4in), alsoembraces medium format for thefirst time in the shape of a 740 x1,050mm (29 x 411/2in) Rapida105 six-colour coater press withhybrid capability.

Five KBA presses since 1998Including the three Rapidas, in lessthan ten years SAN has installed atotal of five new-generation KBApresses. And the Rapida 105 is notonly the first press at SAN to printa B1 format but also the first to fea-ture hybrid capabilities. As a resultthe company is able to offer amuch broader choice of inline fin-ishing options. SAN now has sixsheetfed production lines with agrand total of 28 printing units.

As its name indicates, Stampe-ria Artistica Nazionale specialisesin the production of unusual, artis-tic and beautifully crafted print-work. Now in the fourth genera-tion, the company has establisheda reputation for excellence thatextends far beyond Piedmont andthe Italian frontier.

SAN’s bulging order books fea-ture prominent national and inter-national book and magazine pub-lishers such as Mondadori and DeAgostini, and global brand names

such as Fiat and Ferrero, forwhich SAN produces catalogues,brochures, business reports andother top-of-the-range publica-tions. Its customer base extendsto Germany, Belgium, France,Switzerland and Canada. Exportsaccount for approximately 20 percent of the company’s output.

SAN’s own sales force caters tocustomers both at home andabroad, bringing them up to speedon new product options.

New home for cutting-edge technologySAN has paved the way for futuregrowth with an investment pack-

age worth €16 million ($23m),€10m of which was spent on build-ings and €6m on new kit. The new20,000m2 (215,000ft2) companypremises are located within easyreach of the motorways to Savona,Piacenza and Brescia. With11,000m2 (118,400ft2) of produc-tion space, they provide ideal

Stamperia Artistica Nazionale’s new premisesin Trofarello near Turin offer ideal productionconditions

The 81-year-old company held an open day to promote its new technology

General manager Francesco Ricci (second left) with Lea Carmagnola (sales), Pietro Carmagnola(production), Giovanni Carmagnola (administration/finances) and KBA-Italia managing directorJoachim Nitschke at the new Rapida 105 hybrid press

Report 31 | 2008 17

working conditions for the pre-press, press, finishing, bindery andmailroom departments.

Traditional values and virtuesAs a token of KBA’s appreciation, atthe open house KBA-Italia manag-ing director Joachim Nitschke pre-sented the Carmagnola family witha work of art and an illustratedbook by contemporary Italian artistGiorgio Milani. The president ofStamperia Artistica Nazionale,Carlo Carmagnola, looked back ona company history that has wit-nessed some great successes butalso some war-related setbacks.From its origins as a small back-street printshop in the Via CarloAlberto, SAN has evolved into ahighly industrialised operation,

with the move to its present prem-ises being but the latest of sever-al relocations to accommodategrowth. The family’s love of artand uncompromising commitmentto quality have remained centralpillars of corporate philosophythrough each generation. This phi-losophy is what has enabled SAN toachieve its high market standing.

Market-focused investmentBut general manager FrancescoRicci, who will guide StamperiaArtistica Nazionale on its futurecourse, emphasises that while tra-ditional values and virtues must bepreserved, it is also important tokeep a weather eye on the marketand respond with agility to emerg-ing trends. Ongoing investmentand innovation are indispensable.

The purpose of the most recentinvestment was not just to expandproduction capacities but also tocreate a more flexible and produc-tivity-focused workflow capable ofaddressing customer demandsrelating to product design, runlength and turnaround time.

Says Ricci: “Since 1998, whenwe took delivery of our first KBApress, KBA with its innovative tech-nology has proved to be the idealcompanion in our pursuit ofgrowth. While it is unusual toinvest in three presses at the sametime, we were determined to senda clear signal to the market with anew generation of large- and medi-um-format presses. Alongside theirsuperior image quality and highproduction speed the new KBApresses are easy to operate and can

be made ready in a minimum oftime. They thus form a solid basisfor cost-effective production.”

Joint production startInline finishing with hybrid inks,UV coatings and UV/IR dryers, sup-ported by a DensiTronic S qualitymanagement system, have enabledSAN to expand its product portfo-lio and raise its production stan-dards. According to FrancescoRicci, KBA met every one of theagreed deadlines. The three newRapidas, which all came on streamat the same time in September2007, fulfilled every expectationright from the start. Now, with theexpanded press fleet, the companyhas all the technology it needs forfuture growth.

Flourishing full-service enterpriseFollowing the official inauguration,general manager Francesco Riccigave a guided tour of the new pro-duction plant. Underway it soonbecame evident to the many guestswho attended the event that Stam-peria Artistica Nazionale’s high-tech fleet of Rapida presses hasmoved it up into the champions’league of Italian sheetfed printers.A modern CTP pre-press, a sub-stantial printing capacity and ahighly automated bindery and fin-ishing department are the main-stays of this flourishing full-serviceenterprise.

Gerhard [email protected]

The six-colour KBA Rapida 105 is Stamperia Artistica Nazionale’s first hybrid press

SAN has expanded its large-format fleet with a four-colour and a five-colour version of the Rapida 162a

Alongside prominent book and magazine publishers SAN’s customer base also includesbig industrial concerns

Stamperia Artistica Nazionale’s high-tech Rapida fleet has moved it up into the champions’ league of Italian sheetfed printers

Report 31 | 200818

Sheetfed Offset | Packaging

A first for Schur Pack Germany:

ISO 12647-2 compliance now for packaging tooSchur Pack Germany now complies with internationally acknowledged standards for offset printing. Members

of the packaging industry will be particularly interested to hear that the company is the first in Germany to

achieve this coveted accreditation for the production of packaging made of chromo duplex board. The biggest

beneficiaries of the reliably reproducible print quality delivered are the many brand manufacturers on the

company’s books.

Based in Büchen, near Ham-burg, Schur Pack Germanyhad been working steadily for

some time towards accreditationunder ISO norm 12647-2 (Graphictechnology – process control forthe production of half-tone colourseparations, proof and productionprints – offset lithographic process-es). Following an exhaustive andcomprehensive review the VerbandDruck und Medien Nord (thenorthern branch of the Printingand Media Industries Federation)confirmed that the company com-plied with the rigorous specifica-tions laid down in the standard.The fact that Schur Pack Germanyis the first packaging printer in thecountry to achieve ISO accredita-tion for chromo duplex cardboardreflects the company’s focus oninnovation. The packaging is print-ed on three Rapida 142 large-for-mat presses with six units and onecoater apiece, and on an eight-colour Rapida 105 with twocoaters and dryers, ie a twelve-unitpress.

Precisely defined production processISO 12647-2 embodies a “modernphilosophy for print production” inthat it furnishes a basis for rational-ising and stabilising the productionchain from data generation to thefinished print, and for guarantee-ing consistent production condi-tions that can be reliably repro-duced at any time. For this reasonit is not only heavy on theory butalso contains concrete workingdirectives that must be implement-ed step by step. The reference val-ues specified in the standard arechecked during each and everyproduction run. At Schur Pack thisrigorous process control guaran-tees consistent and ongoing qualityassurance.

Whether a printing plant com-plies with the ISO process standardfor offset must first be ascertainedby subjecting it to an exhaustivevetting procedure that encompass-es checking the data, scanning theoriginals, producing the proofs,making the plates and completing atest print run of 5,000 sheets. Theprinted images are subsequentlyscrutinised to see whether theyconform to the specified values

and tolerances. If that is the casethen a certificate is awarded. InGermany, the assessment is madeby a member of the Fogra GraphicArts Research Institute and of thecompetent local branch of theBVDM, the Printing and MediaIndustries Federation. For SchurPack this was the Hamburg-based

northern branch. ISO accredita-tion, like an MOT certificate forvehicles, is only valid for two years,after which the testing proceduremust be completed again. Thisensures that the enhanced stan-dard of production is properlymaintained and is not allowed tolapse.

The ISO standard for offsetitself is by no means set in stone:on the contrary, it is continuallyupdated with the aid of input frombodies such as the BVDM andFogra. This ensures that provisioncan be made for new generationsof presses, or changes in produc-tion methods and workflows.

Standard begins in pre-pressAt the instigation of plant managerand assistant vice-president JanBollweg, Schur Pack started re-engineering its production process-es to comply with ISO specifica-

Schur Pack Germany is part of afamily-run Danish group, Schur,which alongside the production offlexible and carton packaging alsobuilds plant and machinery. Thegroup has around 1,500 employeesworldwide. Schur Pack Germany inBüchen is headed by managingdirector Klaus Madsen, a Dane, andcurrently has a payroll of around210. The company prints boardpackaging, primarily for the foodindustry, in compliance with therigorous hygiene standards stipulat-ed by the BRC/IOP (British RetailCorporation/Institute of Packaging).

Schur Pack Germany

Stefan Brunken (2nd l) of Verband Druck undMedien Nord, presenting the ISO certificate to(l-r) Schur Pack Germany managing directorKlaus Madsen, production scheduler CarstenSchröder, pre-press manager Karl Lederer, plantmanager Jan Bollweg and printshop managerMichael Verch

Schur Pack's three Rapida 142 large-format presses (pictured here) and Rapida 105 eight-unitmedium-format press all comply with the specifications laid down by ISO 12647-2. The Rapidas each bear individual names on the drive side

Report 31 | 2008 19

tions in April 2005. Support andassistance was provided by thecompany’s longstanding partner,IPM Müller und Resing. The firstplace to be converted and stan-dardised was the pre-press depart-ment, where the foundations werelaid for total colour management –a key aspect of the ISO norm. Theaim was to achieve a predictablecolour quality for images through-out the production process, fromthe original to the final print. Withthis in mind, Schur Pack Germanyinvested heavily in high-poweredequipment, new-generation com-puters and uniform, calibratedmonitors for all the pre-press work-stations.

Continuous colour manage-ment means that customers andprintshop staff can tell from theproof how the colours will appearin the final print. At this stage it isrelatively cheap and easy to makeany corrections that may be neces-sary, thus eliminating the risk ofunpleasant surprises during printproduction. The colour densitieson the proofs are also measured, soprecise reference values are onhand. This facilitates external com-munication with agencies and cus-tomers. The internal workflow alsobenefits from clear specifications.Schur Pack uses IPM’s Print-ProcessControl software for ongo-ing process analysis. Among otherthings it controls chromatic values,dot gain, dot spread and grey bal-ance.

Uniform printing conditionsAll the KBA sheetfed presses inoperation at Schur Pack areequipped with an additional start-up software package which wasalso developed by IPM. Thisenabled the presses to be embed-ded in the printing plant’s individ-ual workflow during commission-ing, and optimised for the specificsubstrates they would print. Butfirst Schur Pack had to key in arange of different types of board toobtain print-true characteristicswhich would allow the relevantpress settings to be made. All thepresses and their peripherals wereharmonised to create identical pro-duction parameters. The benefit tothe customer is that the images

delivered are always identical, irre-spective of the press on which theywere printed and whether theyform part of the first run or arepeat run. The benefit to theprinting plant is that work can beassigned to the first suitable pressthat is available. This freedom andflexibility make job schedulingmuch quicker and easier since,technically speaking, any job canbe run on any press with the appro-priate configuration.

Well-trained staffThe high quality standards that theISO norm guarantees would not bepossible without highly qualifiedstaff. For this reason Schur Packprovides basic and further trainingfor its staff on an ongoing basis, sothat they are always at the cuttingedge of technology. When the com-pany first initiated moves toachieve ISO 12647-2 accredita-tion, press room and pre-press staffreceived tuition outside produc-

tion hours in the individual keyparameters and their interdepend-ence, and were given hands-ontraining in the use of measuringinstruments. Alongside the barefigures they were also taught howto apply the results in practice.

Uniform brand imageThe ISO process standard for offsetdelivers innumerable benefits inrespect of order fulfilment. Un-equivocal specifications makemutual collaboration and commu-nication much easier for all thoseengaged in the production process.Although generating standard-com-pliant data entails a higher input byrepro studios and agencies, theconsistency and reproducibilityduring print production make thiswell worth while.

A further decisive advantagefor the customer is that, with anISO 12647-2-compliant workflow,it is possible to achieve an imagequality in packaging that is compa-rable to commercial print. This isparticularly important where pack-aging is produced by one plant thatmust conform with brochures, cat-alogues, flyers or advertising dis-plays printed by another. If allthose concerned comply with thestandard, then the colours willmatch on all the printed items.This is vital for brand uniformityand recognition.

ConclusionSchur Pack Germany has not justaspired to and achieved ISO12647-2 accreditation but hastransformed its entire productionroutine and workflow in order toassure consistent quality excel-lence. The ISO process standardfor offset provides more than aclear framework of specifications:it provides the basis for simple,transparent and total quality con-trol. This gives customers reliable,reproducible prints – even on chro-mo duplex cartonboard, thanks tothe efforts of Schur Pack Germany.

Pre-press manager Karl Lederer (l) with printshop manager Michael Verch inspecting a sheet at the Rapida 142 console

Sandra Hö[email protected]

Nadine Detjen and Martin Holz checking a sheet layout in pre-press

Thomas Bleek measuring the colour densities on the Rapida 142 using a DensiTronic Sclosed-loop colorimetry system

Report 31 | 200820

Job change program (1 minute)

Sheetfed Offset | New Technologies

DriveTronic SPC direct plate-cylinder drives

Simultaneous plate changes boost short-run productivityIn September last year some 600 trade professionals attended demonstrations in Radebeul and Mödling (Austria) of our new

direct drive system for plate cylinders, DriveTronic SPC, which delivers impressive productivity gains in short-run production

by supporting simultaneous plate changes.

The demonstrations, on high-performance Rapida 105presses, were the culmination

of a two-year intensive test phaseat ten European printers of packag-ing, books, commercials and publi-cations whose press configurationsand production specificationscould scarcely be more varied.Whether they were printing phar-maceutical packaging on a six-colour coater press, books on afour-colour perfector for 2/2 orcommercials and publications on aten-colour perfector for 5/5, everyone of the pioneering users report-ed a perceptible increase in netoutput and confirmed the depend-ability of the DriveTronic SPC drivesystem, whose market launch hasbeen deliberately slow-paced sothat supporting data could be col-lected. More than 200,000 auto-matic plate changes and over 140million sheets printed at highspeed speak for themselves. Withthe average length of print runssteadily diminishing, the com-pelling economic benefits deliv-

Comparison of makeready times for a Rapida 105 eight-colour press with and without DriveTronic SPC. The time gained by running processes simultaneously during job changes (including change of substrate and format) totalled nine minutes

What a stunning performance: four perfecting jobs of 500 sheets apiece entailing three plate changes plus a change of format and substrate (with conversion of perfecting unit and automatic suction-ring positioning) were printed in just under 24 minutes on an eight-colour Rapida 105 featuring DriveTronic SPC direct drives

Rapida 105 eight-colour perfector without DriveTronic SPC

Automatic plate change (7 minutes)

Pile change (4 minutes)

Suction-ring positioning (1 minute)

Job data download (1 minute)

Blanket washing (4 minutes)

Impression cylinder washing (4 minutes)

Roller washing (4 minutes)

Ink run-up (1 minute)

First proof register/colour (3 minutes)

Sheet-run adjustment (2 minutes)

Second proof register/colour (3 minutes)

Minutes


Automatic plate change (1 minute)



Automatic suction-ring positioning (ASP) (1 minute)

Job data download (1 minute)

Roller washing (4 minutes)

Impression cylinder washing (4 minutes)


First proof register/colour (3 minutes)

Sheet-run adjustment (2 minutes)

Second proof register/colour (3 minutes)

Rapida 105 eight-colour perfector with DriveTronic SPC

1 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 1 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 2830 Minutes30

Report 31 | 2008 21

ered by direct drives have resultedin further orders for high-perform-ance medium-format Rapida 105presses featuring DriveTronic SPC.

KBA: pioneering dedicated drives for the past thirteen yearsKBA has unparalleled experience indirect drive technology, and is atrailblazer in developing dedicateddrives for print-related applica-tions. The first newspaper press toincorporate them was a Comet in1995, and they have been a stan-dard feature for the past ten years.In 1997 we launched the world’sfirst shaftless commercial web off-set press, a Compacta 215, whichwas quickly followed by high-vol-ume presses for up to 80 pages A4.In 2000 we introduced shaftlessDriveTronic feeders for all ourmedium- and large-format Rapidasheetfed presses, and are still theonly press manufacturer world-wide that can offer such a capabili-ty. DriveTronic feeders not onlydispense with abrasion-prone com-ponents but also reduce vibration.As a result the timing of all thefeeder sequences is more precise,pile transport and sheet decelera-tion on the feed table are smootherand jerk-free, and sheet positioningat the at the front lays is also moreprecise.

At Drupa 2004 we unveiled yetanother unique feature for sheet-fed offset presses: our DriveTronicSIS (Sensoric Infeed System) no-

sidelay infeed system. Since thena succession of presses has beenequipped with this highly effectivesystem. DriveTronic SIS aligns thesheets laterally via a directly drivengripper bar on the feed drum.Because there is no makeready andthus no risk of operator-related set-ting errors, infeed registration ismuch more precise. Now Drive-Tronic SPC represents a furtherKBA milestone in the history ofpress engineering.

DriveTronic SPC incorporateselectronically controlled high-torque motors, each of whichdrives a plate cylinder in place ofthe gears that were previouslyused. This drive system combinesthe dual benefits of a low running

speed and a high level of torquewhile at the same time reducingpotential sources of interferenceand abrasion.

High-speed job changeoversWith DriveTronic SPC, platechanges are cut from the threeminutes commonly required on aconventional six-colour press, say,to less than one minute. On itsown however, with no additionalautomation modules, simultaneousplate changing delivers only a min-imal reduction in makereadybecause the time gains deliveredare largely cancelled out by down-stream processes. To preservethese gains, DriveTronic automaticplate changes are run simultane-ously with other activities such asblanket washing.

The enormous productivitygains possible in a productionschedule encompassing frequentjob changes can be seen in thecomparison of makeready times onthe previous page, which under-pins the economic benefits thatcan be reaped in such a scenario byadopting DriveTronic SPC directdrives. The figures confound thedoubts expressed by less techno-logically advanced competitors asto the economic benefits accruingfrom direct plate-cylinder drives.The comparison is based on the fol-lowing data for a Rapida 105 eight-colour perfector press for 4 over 4:• 1 press operator and 1 helper• 3 shifts• 7.4 working hours per shift

Work sequence for printing a brochure with 48 pages of content plus cover.The demonstration print run was finished in less than the scheduled 25 minutes

“It’s when we’re printing short

runs that we notice just how much

faster we can print with the Rapida

105 SPC. We now consume up to

120 plates per shift.”

Norbert Primke, production manager at Stürtzin Würzburg, Germany

“Since the Rapida 105 with

DriveTronic SPC came on stream,

faster plate changes alone have

given us around 450 extra

production hours.”

Hans-Jürgen Katzer, managing director of rlc-packaging group, Berlin, Germany

• Capacity utilisation 300%• Availability 85%• Makeready time per job 18 min-

utes with and 27 minutes with-out DriveTronic SPC

• Maximum output 15,000sph inperfecting mode and 18,000sphin straight mode

• Average run length 10,000copies

• 1 pass• Profit less production costs and

overheads = 10%These figures reveal that withoutDriveTronic SPC annual productionoutput is around 36.1 millionsheets, whereas with DriveTronicSPC it is 41.4 million sheets. Sowhile a press with conventionaldrives can theoretically handle3,609 jobs per year, a press withsimultaneous plate changing could

“Thanks to DriveTronic SPC we

can print as much as two more

hours per press per day.”

Göran Gustafsson, managing director of Landströms in Lidköping, Sweden

On the Rapida105 with DriveTronic SPC the plate cylinders are driven directly by high-torque motors which are synchronisedelectronically with the utmost precision andsupersede the gears and couplings used in conventional drive systems


DriveTronic SPC (1 minute)

Job data download (console)

First proof register/colour (21/4 min.)


DensiTronic S

Production / 500 sheets


Automatic suction-ring positioning (1 minute)


Conversion to perfecting

Production / 125 sheets cover (net)

Rapida 105 eight-colour perfector with DriveTronic SPC

1 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 Minutes30

Report 31 | 200822

Austrian commercial printer kb-offset Kroiss & Bichler in Regau also reports that netoutput on its Rapida 105 eight-colour press with DriveTronic SPC is much higher than

on its previous press line

The ten-colour (in the background) and eight-colour Rapida 105 perfector presses at Swedish print enterprise Strokirk Landströms have DriveTronic SPC direct plate-cylinder drives which deliver a high level of productivity despite frequent job changes

with 16 pages apiece) – in otherwords four different print runs of500 sheets each, in just under24 minutes! These involved threeplate changes for the contentsheets and a full makeready withsubstrate, format and platechanges for the cover. The contentwas printed on 135gsm (36lbbond) LuxoArt Silk sheets measur-ing 630 x 880mm (243/4 x 341/2in),after which the press was convert-ed for printing 250gsm (92lbcover) sheets measuring 650 x920mm (251/2 x 361/4in).

of faster makeready to his cus-tomers, then his DriveTronic SPCautomation module will pay foritself in just nine months and hisentire press line in 33 months, cal-culated on 250 working days peryear. If the cost benefits are passedon, then the payback periods areroughly the same for presses withand without DriveTronic SPC.

Record-breaking press demonstrationDuring the live print demonstra-tion an eight-colour perfector pressprinted 500 copies of a brochurecomprising four cover pages and48 pages of content (three sheets

Martin Dänhardt

[email protected]

printer, emphasises that the presscrew and a printshop’s environ-ment also effectively determine towhat extent the potential produc-tivity gains afforded by a higherlevel of automation can be exploit-ed in day-to-day operation. He says:“A Ferrari can only give the max ifthere’s a Michael Schumacher atthe wheel. If I were at the wheel itwould corner much more slowly.”

Payback period of just a few monthsThe payback period depends large-ly on how earnings are allocated. Ifthe owner of a Rapida 105 SPCdecides not to pass on the benefits

clock up 4,136 jobs. IncorporatingDriveTronic SPC thus enables thepress to complete an additional527 jobs, an increase of almost15% in annual output.

According to Michael Berg-mann, managing director of AKAPrint in Aarhus, Denmark, wherethe eight-colour Rapida 105demonstrated in Radebeul is nowin operation, it is this productivityboost, borne out by the experienceof other Scandinavian users, thatmade him decide to purchase thepress.

However Jürgen Veil, head ofsheetfed marketing at KBA in Rade-beul and an experienced master

Sheetfed Offset | New Technologies

Jürgen Veil (l), who hosted the demonstration, talking to Michael Bergmann, managing director of AKA-Print in Denmark, who was visibly impressed by the performance of his new eight-colourRapida 105 with DriveTronic SPC, which has since come on stream

Print pros from twelve European countries casting a discerning eye over the challenging automotive brochures printed during the DriveTronic SPC demos

Report 31 | 2008 23

Sheetfed Offset | Brand Protection

Schneidersöhne forum at KBA

Brand protection from papermaking to print finishingA select audience of some 50 trade professionals from Germany, Austria and Switzerland

were brought up to speed on the latest advances in print-based brand protection at a forum

organised by German paper wholesaler Schneidersöhne in late November at our Radebeul

showroom. In view of the increasing sophistication with which luxury goods, pharmaceuti-

cals and other products are being counterfeited, brand protection is a burning issue.

The forum was the secondevent hosted by Schneider-söhne at KBA in less than a

year.Addressing the impact of pirate

copies upon the economy and, inthe case of pharmaceuticals, onpeople, the speakers discussed theoptions available for brand protec-tion on the substrate, via the inksand coatings and in the actualprocess of printing. Practical exam-ples and demonstrations were usedto illustrate the possibilities.

Christoph Weinert, head oftechnical quality management atSchneidersöhne, focused on secu-rity features in the papermakingprocess. He explained that everypapermaking machine has its own“fingerprint”, so it is possible toascertain with a high degree ofaccuracy which machine was usedto produce a specific substrate.The manufacture of coated paper

and board in consumer qualitiesaffords very few options for coun-terfeit protection. The only possi-bilities are watermarks (one of theoldest of them all), fluorescentmottled fibres, iridescent inkstrips, security threads, hologramsand embossing.

Jutta Birkenhauer of CurtisFine Papers outlined a concept fordesign paper which unites prestigeand security. Every sheet of A4 Ver-itas stock is numbered to make itunique. In addition the paper canalso incorporate other securityfeatures, among them hologramstrips, invisible security strips,watermark lines or a hologramseal.

Open, concealed and advanced technologyDr Hans Peter Seyer of FlintGroup examined ink systemsaffording counterfeit protection.

Alongside the features alreadymentioned, examples of open tech-nologies include goniochromaticinks, and a combination of specialinks and a measuring system. How-ever, since these can be detectedwith the naked eye they can usual-ly be counterfeited. By contrast,concealed technologies such asmicroscopic letters in a hologram,fluorescent fibres, thermochromat-ic inks or markings (permanentinks, magnetic or laser signatures)can only be copied by experiencedand highly skilled forgers. They arenot obvious and can only be detect-ed by specially trained personnel.With some highly sophisticated sys-tems, forgers are unable to detectthe protective mechanism. Accord-ing to Dr Seyer these includenanomarkings, DNA codes, RFID,X-ray and infrared fluorescentmarkings, which can only be readwith special devices.

One such system wasdescribed by Günter Garvs ofCode-n-Key Solutions. An image ispositioned as a hidden file betweenthe screen dots in the original,invisible to the naked eye. Afrequency-specific decoder isrequired to decode the image.Only then does the concealedimage become visible. Hidden filescan be used in line drawings, textand logos.

Brand protection in practiceThe user’s standpoint was ex-pounded by Steffen Schnitzer,executive vice president of sales

and marketing at CD Cartondruck,and Karl-Reiner Müller of COPA-CO Gesellschaft für Verpackungen,who discussed the practical issuesassociated with adopting securityfeatures within the printed image,in the coating and in the designand finishing of the packaging.Examples of the latter are tamper-proof seals and strips (which signalto the consumer that no-one hasopened the product before them),codes (eg data matrix) and RFID(radio frequency identification) sys-tems.

Jürgen Veil, head of sheetfedmarketing at KBA, compareddiverse traditional security featuresin terms of their impact on the lay-out, technology, cost and ease ofintegration into the workflow.Other options he cited for protect-ing packaging were CDP (copydetection pattern), MRF (machine-readable features), special pig-ments in the ink, and rainbowimages.

The two-day event concludedwith the production on a Rapida142 six-colour coater press ofsome luxury packaging incorporat-ing multiple security featureswhich the print pundits proceededto track down with the aid ofdecoder lenses and black-lightlamps.


Trade professionals watched with avid interest as Jürgen Veil hosted a demonstration on a KBA Rapida 142 six-colour coater press of packaging printing entailing diverse security features

A hidden image on thepackaging is revealedusing a decoder lens

Report 31 | 200824

Sheetfed Offset | Denmark

Packaging production at Mammens EmballageEstablished in 1889, MammensEmballage is the oldest printingoperation in the city. Originally itprinted newspapers and booksdirectly in the city centre, but inthe mid-1960s the company relo-cated to its present premises inHøjbjerg, on the outskirts. AndMammens has also long sinceswitched from publications to thespecialised production of food andnon-food packaging for domesticand foreign markets. One of its pri-mary product lines is packaging forthe fishing industry, which entailscoating the inside of the packaging,ie the back of the sheet. WhileMammens’ customer base includessome international brand namessuch as Unilever and Best Food,the 60-employee company doesnot aspire to be a global player.

Mammens operates two Rapi-da 105 universal medium-formatpresses in three shifts. Both press-es are six-colour coater versionswith extended deliveries, one alsohas a UV capability. They aremounted side by side on a plinth,with a common platform at thedeliveries, so the press crew canuse the same DensiTronic S closed-loop densitometric colour meas-urement and control system forquality control on both presses.

In 2005 Memmens was award-ed ISO 9001:2000 accreditation

KBA showcase in Denmark

Rapidas in action at seven printers in AarhusThe Danish printer’s equivalent of the customer showroom at KBA’s Radebeul facility must be the city of Aarhus, where no

less than seven print operations run a total of nine Rapida sheetfed offset presses, most them medium format. Despite

their propinquity there is virtually no competition among the individual enterprises because they address different mar-

kets. Report visited four of them.

for quality management. On aver-age it handles 4,000 print jobs peryear and consumes 5,000 tonnesof cartonboard in the process. Fol-lowing an organisational realign-ment Mammens is on a growthcurve, posting annual sales worthsome 80 million Danish krone(around €11m or $16m) and ahealthy profit.

Bulging order books at UnitrykLeo Koitzsch, proprietor of Unitrykin Abyhoj, is a Dane with Saxonroots. His grandfather emigrated toDenmark at the beginning of the20th century, and Leo Koitzschhimself could also be said to havea presence in Saxony – the townof Koitzsch lies just north of Dres-den.

Koitzsch purchased Unitryk in1987. Today this commercial print-ing company and its nine employ-ees work in three shifts. Businessis so brisk that occasionallyKoitzsch is obliged to turn workdown – having already dramat-ically expanded capacity in August2007 with the installation of a Rap-ida 105 eight-colour perfectorpress with a coater. The Rapida’shigh maximum rated output of15,000 sph in perfecting mode and18,000sph in straight printing hasboosted productivity by a full 75 %.

Unitryk’s Rapida 105, whichsports a raft of environmentallyfriendly features, is the company’sfirst KBA press Unitryk. SaysKoitzsch: “With the long Rapida105 we are now in a position toprint a broad range of different

jobs both efficiently and cost-effec-tively, whether they are perfectingjobs with or without a coating, orstraight printed jobs. And becauseany inking units not required for aspecific job can be disengaged,pricewise it makes very little differ-ence whether we print four or fivecolours straight, or a full eightcolours in perfecting mode.”

Koitzsch is delighted with hisRapida 105. He describes his deal-ings with KBA to date as unbureau-cratic, and is particularly pleasedwith the direct personal contact heenjoys with the competent staff inRadebeul. Unitryk is equally unbu-reaucratic. Customers call at theworks as if they are entering ashop, or send their print data elec-tronically. Leo Koitzsch has noneed for sales reps.

Right: Two Rapida 105 universal presses are in operation at Mammens, and minderKarsten Beck is delighted with their high output

Far right: Karsten Beck checks the image quality at the Rapida 105 universal control console while production manager FrankSörensen looks on

For Leo Koitzsch, the owner of Unitryk, hisRapida 105 eight-colour coater press hasaddressed a desire for greater flexibility

The long Rapida 105 at Leo Koitzsch’s nine-employee printing company incorporates a DriveTronic SIS no-sidelay infeed system

Report 31 | 2008 25

Clemenstrykkeriet:a printer of booksLasse Holm, proprietor ofClemenstrykkeriet, a printing com-pany founded in 1915, was at firstuncertain which press would bethe right one for his productionneeds. After weighing up the prosand cons of a five-colour or a six-colour perfector press for twobacking four, what he finallyplumped for was an eight-colourRapida 105. “We analysed all thejobs we had handled over a periodof eighteen months and followed

this up by calculating the potentialproductivity of various differentpress configurations,” explainsHolm, a qualified engineer whotook over the company from hisfather in 1998.

Clemenstrykkeriet, which hastwelve employees, is virtually apure-play book printer. School text-books make up almost 90 per centof its output, with popular litera-ture and illustrated volumesaccounting for the remainder. TheRapida 105 is the only press in thepress room, so it must be one hun-dred per cent reliable. It isequipped with DriveTronic SIS no-sidelay infeed, Technotrans inkpumping, height-adjustable non-stop rollers at the feeder and deliv-ery, DensiTronic S closed-loopcolour control and a LogoTronicProfessional management informa-tion system. Remote adjustment ofthe suction rollers in the deliveryrelieves the operator of manualtasks during short job changes.“The press is much faster than weexpected. Now our capacity bottle-necks have shifted out of the pressroom to other areas,” says LasseHolm, not without a touch ofpride.

Clemenstrykkeriet specialisesexclusively in printing: all thebooks are finished by external spe-cialists, but monitored by the com-pany’s own staff. So customershave one single contact, just asthey would at a one-stop enter-prise. The company’s location, inJohan Gutenbergs Vej 1, could notbe more appropriate.

Recently another Rapida 105eight-colour perfector press forfour over four came on stream, thistime at AKA Print in Aarhus. It isthe first press in Denmark to fea-ture simultaneous plate changingwith DriveTronic SPC.

Denmark may be a small coun-try, but it punches well above itsweight when it comes to printingcapacity. Aarhus, the second-largest city with 300,000 inhabi-tants, is a fine example of theindigenous graphic arts industry.

Waterless print production at AlphaKannikeAlfaKannike was created two yearsago from the merger of KannikeGraphic and Alfa Print. Last sum-mer the company installed a Rapida105 five-colour coater press withextended delivery. The workingatmosphere is very pleasant, theprinting plant is well designed andthe office décor reveals a high levelof artistic skill. So it hardly comesas a surprise to learn that AlfaKan-nike prints ads, posters andbrochures for cultural institutionsand museums. Its main line of busi-ness, however, is the production oflifestyle, environmental and man-agement magazines. Its customerbase even includes a children’s the-atre. The company has around 20staff, among them several design-ers and salesmen.

The Rapida 105 is AlfaKan-nike’s second KBA press and wasengineered for waterless offset,which is why it incorporates a tem-perature control system whichcools the inking units via the ink-duct roller. Other details includean environmentally friendly im-pact-type washing system for theblanket and impression cylinders

and the inking unit, ACR controlfor rapid register correction, aDensiTronic S densitometry andspectrophotometry system forquality monitoring and control, anda LogoTronic link to pre-press.

Print runs average between1,000 and 100,000 copies, butAlfaKannike has also been knownto run off 1.8 million polyglotbrochures for a Scandinavian carmanufacturer. The addition of thehigh-performance 18,000sph Rapi-da 105 has delivered an enormousproductivity boost.


Michael Bergmann, managing director of AKA Print, at his gleaming new eight-colour Rapida 105with DriveTronic SPC which came on stream in November 2007

Jacob Spring, managing director of AlphaKannike, is particularly pleased with the dot-sharp image delivered by his waterless Rapida 105

The Rapida 105 at AlphaKannike prints a wide range of products

Lasse Holm took over Clemenstrykkeriet from his father in 1998

Between 80 and 88 plates are changed on the eight-colour Rapida 105 during every shift

Clemenstrykkeriet in Johan Gutenbergs Vej,Aarhus, is one Denmark’s specialist book printers

Report 31 | 200826


Five-colour Rapida 105 coater press at Dumoulin Imprimeur

Challenging jobs demand high level of flexibilityMost of the names on Dumoulin Imprimeur’s customer books belong to the fashion and textiles trade, the

advertising industry and food manufacturers. Not long ago this French printer brought on stream a new Rapida

105 five-colour coater press sporting a raft of optional features, including board and lightweight stock capabili-

ties, that allow the company to print a diverse range of products to the highest quality standards.

Visitors to Dumoulin Impri-meur are taken to a brandnew press room. In less than

twelve months the company inLibercourt, not far from Lille, hasinvested over a third of its turnoverin new kit. The focus of the invest-ment is a new Rapida 105 five-colour coater press with doubleextended delivery and a plethora ofoptional features that include spe-cial packages for printing solidboard and microflute corrugatedup to a maximum thickness of1.2mm (48pt), and also lightweightstock.

Big outlay on pre-press and finishingAt the same time Dumoulin hasinvested a lot of money in its pre-press and finishing equipment withthe aim of creating ideal workingconditions. The pre-press depart-ment was the initial target: “Wenow have a new Kodak Lotem 800Quantum CTP system, which sup-plies the new KBA Rapida withplates much faster than the old sys-tem,” explains managing directorDidier Dumoulin. It is embeddedin a Kodak Prinergy Evo-Workflowalong with Kodak’s Staccato FMscreening and Synapse remoteproofing software. A new CAD/CAM system with Ecoffi softwareand twelve workstations was alsoinstalled. The folding machines,trimmer, Polar guillotine and gangstitcher in the post-press depart-ment “were joined by a new Stahlfolding device with digital controlsand a Bobst 106 automatic die-cutter that can also score andemboss,” Dumoulin adds.

Impressive productivityPaper printing accounts for around80% of Dumoulin’s total output,with solid board (180gsm or more)accounting for the remaining 20%.“Our press kit consisted of just onepress, a B1 (40in) four-colour Hei-delberg Speedmaster CD installedin 2004, and we knew we hadto pack a bigger punch,” saysDumoulin. He came across theRapida 105 at Drupa 2004 and wasimpressed not only by its advancedtechnology but also by its produc-tion speed.

So at the end of March 2007the Rapida 105 joined the Heidel-berg CD in the press room. “TheKBA team was extremely efficient,completing installation and com-missioning in just five weeks,”Dumoulin reports. “Along with the

Rapida 105’s high output, what hassince impressed me most about thepress is the range of substratethicknesses it can handle. Convert-ing from paper to board is now soeasy that the type of stock nolonger plays a role in scheduling.”

“With our new Rapida 105 we have

seen an enormous improvement not

only in printing and coating quality

but also in productivity.”

Didier Dumoulin

[email protected]

Coating to the highest quality standardsCoating has been equally good.Says Dumoulin: “The high qualityof the doctoring blade means thatthe surface of the coating is per-fectly smooth. And makereadycould scarcely be faster: clampingon the coating plate takes just fiveminutes. This is a big advantage forus because 50% of the jobs weprint are coated, while 20% entail afifth colour.”

The fashion houses, textilemanufacturers, advertising agen-cies and food manufacturers thatare Dumoulin Imprimeur’s biggestcustomers have rigorous qualitystandards, and the jobs they sub-mit sometimes represent some-thing of a challenge. “Roughly halfare printed using Staccato screen-ing. In tandem with the print qual-ity delivered by the Rapida 105 wecan achieve much more brilliantcolours, softer lines and hues. Also,there is no moiré on textiles, andthe volume of ink applied isbetween 10 and 15% lower, so theprints dry faster.”

Dumoulin Imprimeur is based in Libercourt,near Lille

Managing director Didier Dumoulin at the new Rapida 105 five-colour coater press

Board-based products account for around 20% of Dumoulin’s turnover

Report 31 | 2008 27


Five-colour Performa 74 coater press at Arts Print in France

Profitable alliance betweenmedium and half-size formatArts Print recently pushed the button on a five-colour Performa 74 coater press as part of a co-operative agreement with a bigger printer specialising

in the B1 (41in) format. The value added the new press delivers, and the ability to exploit synergies between medium and half-size format, have given the

company a dynamic boost.

The commissioning of the newfive-colour coater press wastimed to coincide with the

company’s relocation from LaGarenne Colombes in north-westFrance to Pantin, just outside Paris.It replaced a four-colour Heidel-berg press for the same format.

In addition to the Performa,Arts Print, which was establishedin 1986, also operates three small-format presses. The company’sfifteen employees generate annu-al sales totalling €1.6 million($2.35m). This most recent invest-ment is part of a co-operativeagreement with Stedi Média, amuch bigger printing plant in the18th Arrondissement of Paris, fol-lowing its acquisition of a sizeablestake in Arts Print.

Innovative corporate conceptWith a workforce of 34 generat-ing annual sales worth €6.3m($9.3m), Stedi Média is on agrowth curve: “Some three yearsago we started bringing a numberof activities in-house, among themgraphic design, customer logisticsand PR, and have since carved outa strong position in the market as a

full-service provider,” says develop-ment manager Jean-Marie Rudent.At the end of 2006 Stedi Médiaentered a collaborative alliancewith another print operation,Watelet-Arbelot, which like ArtsPrint is also based in Pantin and hasannuals sales of €1.6m, but 18employees. Between them, StediMédia and Watelet-Arbelot have atotal of three B1 (41in) presses,two of which are run by Stedi.Speaking of the alliance with ArtsPrint, Rudent says: “An emergingdemand among our customers,which include Unesco, Printemps,Taillevent, Roc Neutrogena andNicolas, prompted us to seek adependable partner with a B1 capa-bility along with adequate capaci-

ties for finishing and mailing (laser-based personalisation, insertion inenvelopes etc), packaging andtransport/logistics.”

Value-added printed productsAs part of its co-operative agree-ment with Arts Print, Stedi Médiatook over all pre-press activities,and the two companies have beenable to exploit synergies in theiradministrative and technical sys-tems. “Our Performa 74 has notonly proved to be superb value formoney but also delivers valueadded because it can apply a fifthcolour and an online coating,” saysDaniel Dray, Arts Print managingdirector. “The result is a time and

“The Performa 74

delivers outstanding quality,

even when coating.”

Daniel Dray

productivity gain and the ability toturn jobs around in just one day.The quality of coating delivered bythe anilox coater is outstanding,whether it is a spot coating, mattand gloss contrasts or a simple pro-tective coating. As a result we canoffer value-added products in shortruns yet at a fair price. Amongadvertising agencies, whose cre-ativity is seemingly inexhaustible,this has really hit the mark,” addsJean-Marie Rudent.

Substrate flexibilityMost of the jobs printed by ArtsPrint are document sleeves, high-quality advertising brochures andflyers (eg with fold-out pages), loy-alty and invitation cards, covers forbooks and travel guides etc, anddata sheets, bulletins and similar.Says Daniel Dray: “While these arevery different products, thanks toour Performa’s outstanding flexibil-ity we can print anything from 60-gram carbonless copy paper to 400-gram cartonboard.”

[email protected]

Daniel Dray (left), managing director of ArtsPrint, and Jean-Marie Rudent, developmentmanager at Stedi Média, at the Performa 74five-colour coater press

The next step:still more sophisticated finishing capabilities

Report 31 | 200828

Sheetfed Offset | USA

Edison Litho & Printing a big success with Rapida 205 and Rapida 162

The power of large-formatprinting in New JerseyEdison Litho & Printing in North Bergen, New Jersey, one of the largest large-format litho printers in the USA’s

Northeast, has been effectively promoting its large-format capabilities producing point-of-purchase, packaging,

poster, retail signage and other large format jobs. Edison took delivery of a Rapida 162 size 7 (64in) six-colour

sheetfed press with aqueous coater in January 2007, less than two years after installing a Rapida 205 size 9 (81in)

six-colour sheetfed press.

At the GlobalShop show, thelargest retail design and in-store marketing event held in

Las Vegas in early March 2007, Edi-son enlisted William “The Refriger-ator” Perry, a retired Chicago Bearfootball player known for his con-siderable size – standing 6 ft 2inches (188cm) tall and weighingas much as 370 lbs (168kg) – topromote the two presses. Perryappeared at the Edison Litho standto sign autographs and have his pic-ture taken with show-goers.

Says Joe Ostreicher, Edison’svice-president: “We chose William‘The Refrigerator’ Perry becausehe personifies everything aboutEdison Litho: perfection, a winnerwho will go the extra mile, and ahigh-quality player with a superblarge-format size.”

“Since the installation of ourtwo KBA large-format presses,we’re a different company,” ex-claims George Gross, Edison’spresident. The Rapida 205 is thefirst press of this size to offer awide range of features such as afully-automatic plate changer, auto-matic blanket and impression cylin-der washing systems, inline aniloxcoating system and drying optionssuch as IR, UV or hybrid. Since itsinstallation Edison has had thepress on a 24 hour shift, and theRapida 162 that was inaugurated inthe spring is just as busy. Together,the two presses allow Edison Lithoto produce more jobs faster with a

much higher throughput than amedium-format press but the samenumber of personnel.

Founded in 1958 in New YorkCity, Edison Litho & Printing Cor-poration has grown to become aleading large-format printer spe-cialising in point-of-purchase dis-

North Bergen’s mayor Nicholas Sacco (with scissors) and Edison Litho’s vice-presidentJoe Ostriecher cut the ceremonial ribbon on the new KBA Rapida 162 watched by Eric Frank, KBA North America’s vice-presidentof marketing, and Susan Ostriecher,Edison Litho’s comptroller

Eric [email protected]

William “The Refrigerator” (centre) with (from left) Edison salesmen Glenn Gerhardt and Bill Matzen and Edison vice-president Joe Ostreicher at the GlobalShop trade fair in Las Vegas

plays and retail signage. The firmhas an extensive client list of lead-ing corporations and retailers. Thefirm’s name has become synony-mous with excellence in printing.

Edison Litho moved itsheadquarters to the 40,000ft2

(3,700m2) North Bergen facility in

1989. The Rapida 205 and Rapida162 are its most recent additionsand join a fleet of other litho press-es. In 2005 Edison Litho expandedits New Jersey plant to a total of80,000ft2 (7,400m2).

The entire employee force of Edison Litho at the giant Rapida 205

Report 31 | 2008 29

1

2

3

4

5

Although a possible alternativewould be to separate thegood sheets and the rejects

into two deliveries, this wouldentail higher costs not just for thesecond delivery but also for thespace it occupies. Installing aninkjet printer to tag the off-specsheets is a more economic solutionand, from the technological per-spective, one that is relatively easyto implement.

The beauty of an inkjet systemis that it allows freely programma-ble characters, eg a number, dateand time or even a specific text, tobe printed at the edge of therejected sheets during the produc-tion run, furnishing them with anindividual, order-specific identifica-tion code.

Sheetfed Offset | Quality

A logical addition to KBA QualiTronic

Inkjet sheet-tagging systemMore and more printers are adopting KBA’s QualiTronic inline sheet inspection system in their

pursuit of quality excellence. The system functions as the press operator’s “third eye”, indefatigably

checking each individual sheet during the production run and comparing it with a reference sheet

stored in the computer. Now misprints can be tagged on-press by an inkjet printer.

KBA-Metronic supplies the basic componentsThe AlphaJet C is a freely program-mable inkjet printer built by KBA-Metronic for industrial applica-tions. It consists of a control unitwith an operating panel and a mon-itor.

The inkjet printhead expels acontinuous stream of ink dropletswhich a high-tension electrodediverts to the substrate. Dropletsnot required for the image collectin a gutter and are returned to thetank. In addition to standard inksthe system can also handle pig-mented (coloured) inks, UV-curinginks and inks with specific proper-ties.

The operating and control unithas a membrane keyboard for con-

Wolfgang Kü[email protected]

figuring and setting the print dataand for selecting the printheads.

Installing an inkjet printheadThe distance between the print-head and the substrate determinesthe character size, ie the heightof the letters or numbers onthe sheet. Although it is freelyadjustable, it should not be toogreat otherwise air turbulence willimpair the quality of the inkjetimage.

The image can also be influ-enced by adjusting the tensionexerted by the high-tension elec-trode that diverts the droplets ontothe substrate.

The sharpest image is createdat the point where the substrate is

Two-line numerical code, with numerals 7 pixels high and a 1 pixel spacing between the lines

Letters 15 pixels high and printed bold,numerals 7 pixels high with a 1 pixel spacing between the lines

High-tension electrode

1 Oscillator for converting electrical signals into mechanical oscillations to generate ink drops

2 Electrode for charging the droplets3 High-tension electrodes (+/-) for directing

the ink drops onto the substrate4 Gutter5 Substrate

in contact with the impressioncylinder, which means that theremust be a certain degree of pres-sure exerted on the paper. So it isbest to apply the image at the lead-ing end of the sheet.

The high speed at which thesheets run through the pressmeans that combinations of digitsand/or letters, and identificationcodes of any sort, can only beapplied in the direction of sheetrun, ie parallel to the sides of thesheet.

The width of the charactersand digits in the direction of pressrun, the number of characters pos-sible within a prespecified imagelength, and the number of lines,also depend on press speed andthe choice of print mode selected.

The inkjet head can printeither one single line or two linessimultaneously, each with a differ-ent content. The maximum lineheight is usually 2 - 5mm (0.08 -0.2in), depending on the modeselected.

The clarity of the text can be changed byadjusting the tension generated by the electrodesAbove: The font size on both lines is thesame, but the distance between theprinthead and the substrate is different,with a shorter distance resulting ingreater contrast (top)

Report 31 | 200830

Sheetfed Offset | Networking

Innovative use of Hiflex Print Support

CIPPI Award 2007 for three KBA Rapida usersThree users of KBA sheetfed offset technology have carried off the 2007 CIP4 International Print Production

Innovation (CIPPI) Award for the category “Most innovative use of process automation technology”.This is the first

time the award has gone to a consortium of printers who together operate a total of nine Rapida sheetfed offset

presses and who communicate and handle incoming enquiries and orders using Hiflex Print Support software.

Stefan Reichhart, managingdirector of Hiflex says: “Ourclients automate to enhance

their organisational efficiency andstaff productivity. Networking theirinternal workflows using JDF hasalready proved a great success.Now, for the first time, they havecreated a B2B network using HiflexPrint Support as a web tool. Thisunlocks enormous potential forfurther workflow rationalisation.”

The three CIP4 prize-winners– Druckhaus Berlin-Mitte inBerlin, Grieger Offsetdruck inNettetal and Gutenberg-Werber-ing in Linz, Austria – made a majorcontribution to the development ofHiflex Print Support, a JDF-enabledand web-based print procurementtool. As an internet portal, HiflexPrint Support optimises businessand communication processes inthe print industry by furnishing acommon platform for all the par-ties involved in the order process-ing chain between the original

buyer and the printer. Using e-mailcommunication it co-ordinatesrequests for quotations, managesjob schedules and monitors theproduction workflow from pre-press through press to post-press.

Efficient print order managementPrint buyers use Print Support torequest quotations and to place

orders directly with printers. Forbuyers, the fact that the procure-ment process can be handled via e-mail and the internet brings sub-stantial time and cost savingsbecause the request for and sub-mission of offers is standardised,electronic and therefore muchmore efficient. For many serviceproviders, receiving feedback on

their offers is equally important.The communication functionsembedded in the Print Supportworkflow reduce administrativeinput to an absolute minimum.Once an order has been placed,Hiflex Print Support also sends thejob data in JDF format to the rele-vant print provider’s managementinformation system.

For printers, Print Supportoffers the option of managing alltheir subsequent communicationswith subcontractors (for examplebookbinders or affiliated compa-nies). And the benefits of the PrintSupport workflow are not confinedsolely to users of Hiflex MIS,though with Print Support it is, ofcourse, that much easier to importorder data from Hiflex MIS andsend requests for quotes. What ismore, the relevant job data can betransferred as JDF files to KBA’sLogoTronic Professional productionmanagement system, and preset-ting data sent to Rapida presses.

From the left: Herbert Preissler of DruckhausBerlin-Mitte, Wilhelm Driessen of Grieger Offsetdruck and Bruno Pimminger of Gutenberg-Werbering pictured after receivingtheir CIPPI awards from CIP4 secretary StefanDaun

KBA featured among this year’s CIPPI winners when three users ofKBA technology were presented with an award for their innovative implementation of process automation technology

The CIPPI award for the “most innovative use of process automation

technology in an implementation”

Report 31 | 2008 31

Brief profiles of the prize-winnersDruckhaus Berlin-Mitte dates backover 120 years, when publisherRudolf Mosse had a printing planterected in the heart of Berlin’snewspaper district. Newspapers,magazines, timetables and cookerybooks were printed there rightthrough to February 1945, whenthe Mosse publishing house wasalmost completely destroyed alongwith the rest of the district. At theend of the Second World War thedistrict became part of the Sovietoccupation zone. In 1951, twoyears after the birth of the GermanDemocratic Republic, the printingplant was rebuilt and the businessresurrected under the name VEBIndustriedruck. In subsequentyears it was to change its nameagain – in 1956 to VEB GraphischeWerkstätten Berlin and in 1968 toDruckkombinat Berlin. During thatperiod the payroll swelled toaround 600. Following Germanreunification in 1990 the companywas given its present name, Druck-haus Berlin-Mitte. By then the Cityof Berlin authorities, publishers,theatres, cinemas and the nationalart trading institute numberedamong its many customers. In1992 it was acquired by aninvestor. Today, Druckhaus Berlin-Mitte is one of the most modernsheetfed print providers in the

Reinhold [email protected]

Berlin-Brandenburg region, a one-stop shop employing 85 staff and14 trainees at three locations.Direct mail, displays, books andcorporate magazines are its mainproduct lines. The company’s pressfleet includes a six-colour medium-format Rapida 105 and a five-colour large-format Rapida 162a,both with coater and extendeddelivery.

Walter Grieger Offsetdruck, afamily enterprise in Nettetal, nearthe Dutch-German border, startedup in 1973 as a book-printing busi-ness. Today it is a specialist printerof high-quality displays and packag-ing and has around 100 employees.

Most of its customers are promi-nent brand manufacturers, thoughgenerally with advertising agenciesor display and packaging manufac-turers acting as intermediaries.Run lengths vary from just onesheet to more than one million.The sheetfed offset line-up com-prises four Rapida presses – a five-colour Rapida 162a, a six-colourRapida 162a for both conventionaland UV applications (eg for print-ing on film and metallised board), afive-colour Rapida 142 and a six-colour Rapida 105 (also for conven-tional and UV operation) – eachwith a coater and board-handlingcapabilities. All the presses feature

The award-winners’ suppliers also received recognition in the form of certificates. Here they are proudly displayed by (l-r) Thomas Reichhart of Hiflex,Reinhold Stange of KBA, Ursula Voss-Eiden of Kodak and Eugen Stein of MAN Roland

colour and density measuring sys-tems and communicate with theHiflex management informationsystem via CIP4- and JDF/JMF-enabled KBA LogoTronic Profes-sional software.

Gutenberg-Werbering Gesell-schaft, a publishing house foundedin 1910 in Linz, Austria, managesand rents out display and billboardadvertising space. Its in-house lithoprinting plant, which has around90 employees, runs a four-colourRapida 105 coater press withextended delivery, a perfector ver-sion of the same for optional 2/2production and a five-colour Rapida74 coater press.

A large-format Rapida 162a at Druckhaus Berlin-Mitte’s printing plant 25km (15m) away is networked with headquartersvia a dedicated line and KBALogoTronic Professional

Report 31 | 200832

Sheetfed Offset | Italy

From north to south:

A tour of large-format printers in Italy

What makes a journey through Italy so appealing? Its scenic and culinary diversity, the wine and the many places of historic interest, dating back to almost every

epoch, that are often discovered in the remotest corners. But since the purpose of our journey is to see printing plants, we shall dispense with the recommended

sightseeing tours and concentrate instead on the many small and mid-sized businesses that operate large-format sheetfed presses.

Italy has always been one of thebiggest markets for large-formatpresses, which are used to print

packaging, displays, commercialsand publications. It was difficult todecide which plants to visit, but inorder to provide a balanced picturewe took a quick trip around theItalian boot and visited operationswhose structure, size and marketspeciality were different, butwhich has one thing in common:large-format KBA sheetfed presses.

Lito Cartotecnica Pavesio:packaging for a discerning clienteleWelcoming us to his printing plantin Andezeno, just a few kilometresfrom Turin, Mario Pavesio immedi-ately launches into an informativeintroduction. “Our company wasestablished in 1966, so we havealready celebrated our 40th jubilee.

And just imagine, fourteen mem-bers of our staff have been with usnow for more thirty-five years!” Agood way of seeing the company:as a team that has accompaniedhim throughout his career. Themembers of this team include allthe members of the Pavesio family:Mario, his wife Santina and theirtwo children. Lito CartotecnicaPavesio, which specialises in pack-aging, has 50 employees and postsannual sales worth €7 million($10.3m).

In order to differentiate hiscompany’s products from the restof the field where cost issues arethe sole criteria, Mario Pavesiofocuses on product quality and cus-tomer services. These include pro-fessional advice for prospects onevery aspect of a job; imaginativeand original products that feature

innovative technology and graphicdesigns; timely delivery; and a will-ingness to carry out pre-flight testsand to take on complex, challeng-ing work, even if only a short run isrequired.

This flexibility and the abilityto turn a profit, even on short-runwork, owe much to the company’sRapida 142 five-colour coater presswith extended delivery. Accordingto Mario Pavesio, the arrival of theRapida brought a huge leap in out-put: “We were able to switch fromone job to the next in just sevenminutes, while the average print-ing speed rose by 50 per cent. Weare already thinking about adding asecond large-format press in thenear future so as to achieve a goodbalance between purchase price,running costs and production out-put irrespective of run length, and

also to further enhance quality.The capabilities and speed of new-generation KBA large-format press-es are now comparable with thoseof a B1 press.”

More than just a beach: Macomer,Sardinia, home to EurograficaSardinia is an island paradise. Butin Macomer, a small town in theinterior, Giuseppe Bitti and histhree sons Giovanni, Roberto andCarlo are not engaged in thetourist trade but in the printingtrade. They started up their busi-ness, Eurografica, some ten yearsago printing continuous businessforms, but soon invested in thenecessary kit for handling any typeof print work, both paper andboard. The company now compliesin full with European offset stan-dards.

Santina and Mario Pavesio (centre) with son Pierluigi and daughter Rosella at their five-colour Rapida 142

The Rapida 162a at Eurografica is embedded in an automatic pile logistics systems Giuseppe Bitti and his sons Giovanni, Roberto and Carlo, who started printing business forms some ten years ago, have medium- and large-format KBA presses

Report 31 | 2008 33

Alongside press lines for print-ing business forms, the press roomat Eurografica houses a two-colourB3 (20in) press, a four-colour B2(29in) coater press and a five-colour Rapida 105 coater presswith hybrid capability. The compa-ny’s finishing department is fullyequipped and can produce sleevesand envelopes, wire-stitch bro-chures and publications or createcatalogues and other commercials.Says Roberto Bitti: “Sardinia is asmall market with just over one-and-a-half million inhabitants, sowe must be able to offer anythingour customers demand. This levelof diversification has brought us4,000 customers and sales ofaround six million euros – the max-imum the market can support.” Toprovide this diversity Eurograficahas taken large format on boardand installed a complete new pro-duction line: a VLF CTP system, aRapida 162 six-colour coater presswith provision for hybrid produc-tion, an automatic die-cuttingmachine, a folder-gluer, and a trim-ming and folding line that canhandle the large-format sheetsinvolved in publishing work. Withthis major investment Eurograficais planning to expand into themainland market for paper process-ing, so as to exploit to the full theawesome potential of the new KBApress.

Tecnostampa:investing in export growthTecnostampa was established 30years ago in Recanati, amidst the

hills of the Marches, where thecolours can compete with the land-scapes of Umbria and Tuscany.“Like many other small-scale busi-nesses, we started up with a cou-ple of small-format litho presses onaround a hundred square metres offloor space,” says production man-ager Mario Apis. But ten years laterTecnostampa had already pro-gressed to more advanced andmore efficient technology in theshape of a four-colour B1 (41in)press which was soon joined by a

second four-colour and subse-quently by two six-colour presses,one of which had a coater.Between 1998 and 2000 the com-pany installed two Rapida 142large-format presses for five and sixcolours respectively.

Tecnostampa is part of a multi-media group whose activitiesencompass pre-press, promotionalprinting, video manufacture andcartoon films. Giuseppe Casali,managing member of the adminis-trative board and one of the found-ing partners, adds: “In 2006, inorder to support the expansion ofour sales in Europe, we decided tolaunch an investment programmethat included three new KBAsheetfed presses: a five-colour size7 (63in) press, a six-colour B1(42in) press with coater and a con-vertible ten-colour press to replacethe eight-colour one. We are also inthe process of adding new facilitiesfor production and logistics.”

Large-format KBA technology isa central plank in the company’sexpansion plans. Ten years of expe-rience have strengthened its confi-dence in Rapida presses, which itbelieves offer measurable benefitswith regard to reliability and pro-ductivity.

Giacomo Gorjux, managing member of theadministrative board at Sedit in Bari, recentlypressed the button on a six-colour Rapida 162as part of a plan to diversify from newspapersinto other types of publication

Roberto [email protected]

Sedit :the daily press is no longer enoughSouthern Italy is better known forits tourist attractions and its folk-lore than for its industrial progress.But entrepreneurial activity here issurprisingly dynamic and varied,with a large number of outstandingbusinesses. Over the years KBA-Italia has steadily expanded itsshare of the market with a numberof major press lines. One of themost recent is in the press room atServizi Editoriali (Sedit) in Bari.

For more than fifteen yearsSedit has been printing two majordaily newspapers, the Corrieredella Sera and the Gazzetta delloSport, for the Apulia region and alarge part of southern Italy. It alsoprints the Apulian edition of Cor-riere del Mezzogiorno and the Bariedition of two free titles, City andLeggo. The company is headed byGiacomo Gorjux, managing mem-ber of the administrative board. Heis planning to expand into othertypes of publication and is in theprocess of building up a networkedprinting plant. In order to realisethese ambitions he has purchased anew-generation Rapida 162 large-format press that recently rolledinto operation.

Giacomo Gorjux is determinedto bring some of the speed and effi-ciency of the newspaper marketinto the publications sector. Hefirmly believes that the fast turn-around times, the volume, quality,logistics and integration that are allpart of the routine for a newspaperprinter can be exploited to create acompetitive edge in the mass pub-lications market in Italy, and eventhe whole of Europe. The newlyacquired premises are scheduled tocome on stream at the end of2008. An entrepreneurial chal-lenge which, with a Rapida 162, isbased on a sound footing.

Tecnostampa’s modern printing plant among the hills of the Marches

The Tecnostampa team at the newly installed Rapida 105 coater press

Report 31 | 200834

Sittic, S.L. Artes Gráficas near Madrid

Smart and stylish print servicesAfter more than 50 years in the graphic arts industry, Antonio Mora, managing director of Sittic, S.L. Artes Gráficas in San Fernando de Henares (Madrid),

has made the transition from medium- to large-format-printing with the installation of a Rapida 162. The decision was driven by the need for faster turn-

around and greater flexibility in the face of mounting competition in the global marketplace.

Moro first came into contactwith paper and ink as a boyin his father’s printshop,

where he gained his practicalknowledge of the graphic arts. Helater pursued a career in engineer-ing before returning to print as thehead of Sittic.

Two years ago it became clearthat the company would have totransform itself in order to survive.With its entire fleet of 22 printingunits engineered for medium for-mat – there had been no change inthis respect since the company wasfounded – Mora realised that astrategic realignment was the onlysolution, and took the plunge. Thisentailed the installation of a large-format Kodak/Creo CTP system.KBA was the only manufacturercapable of providing proven large-format technology with all theattributes he was looking for: max-imum productivity with a mini-mum of personnel, the flexibilityto handle a broad range of sub-strates from 60gsm (16lb bond)paper to 1.2mm (48pt) board, andan inline coating capability. So he

switched from the company’s long-standing German manufacturerand chose a size 7 (63in) Rapida162 five-colour coater press with ahybrid capability.

Antonio Mora demands fromhis suppliers the same high stan-dard of service that he and his staffprovide. After five weeks of opera-tion he is delighted with his choiceof press. “With the Rapida 162 wefinished a rush job a full day soon-er than scheduled.”

“Survival depends on agility, not size. ” This philosophy caused Antonio Mora (right) to take the plunge into large format with a Rapida 162 and plan further additions in the future

C. P. v. d. [email protected]

Sittic sees itself as a globalplayer and recently opened abranch in Dubai. It also has com-mercial ties with several countries,China included. Says Mora, “Wecan carry out jobs that other print-ers are not usually able to do atsuch a low cost.”

Over the next few years Morais planning a total transition,replacing his medium-format print-ing units with presses that can han-dle an even bigger sheet format

and boast a higher level of automa-tion than the Rapida 162. While heis unwilling to reveal any details,Antonio Mora did say to “comeback in six months time and youmay see it all in place.” In itsbeautifully printed promotionalbrochure the company calls itself a“world pioneer”. Let’s see whatMora decides to pioneer next.

Sittic, S.L. Artes Gráficas near Madrid squares up to the challenges of globalisation by providing top-quality printed products like this brochure for a Korean car manufacturer,and customer services to match

The Rapida 162 at Sittic has five printing units,automatic plate changers, a coater and ahybrid capability for inline coating

Report 31 | 2008 35

The calendar was designed by Andrea Focker,graphic artist at KBA Radebeul

The sumptuous images in KBA’s new calendar“Impressions 2008” were achieved with iridescent, hybrid and UV inks and coatings

Sheetfed Offset | Coating

“Impressions” demos finishing options

It is the work of Dresden photog-rapher Michael Lange, who tooknatural objects – shells, wood

bark, feathers, stones, plants andanimals – and double-exposedthem against colourful backdropsto create images of such artistrythat it is hard to believe they arepurely photographs processed forprinting and finishing. Each page,with the essence of the imageexpressed in just one word, invitesthe observer to dwell and to medi-tate, to explore the fascinatingdetails and to let the imaginationrun free.

Unlike previous KBA calendars,the technological emphasis in“Impressions 2008” is not onmatt/gloss contrasts but on select-ing the type of finishing that willimpart maximum impact to theimage. This includes iridescentcoatings that give the shells andfeathers their inherent gleam andwere applied under or over thecolours to achieve the desiredeffect. Sometimes they are visibleonly in the highlights, sometimesas a powerful gloss with instantimpact. Some pages feature con-trasting matt/gloss effects obtained

using hybrid consumables with theaddition of a spot coating and UViridescent coating from a coater.Others were given a full-solid UVgloss coating followed by a silk-soft, velvety spot coating plus UVmatt coating.

This diversity was made possi-ble by printing on a six-colour Rap-ida 105 incorporating two coatersand a UV capability. In addition toprocess colours the press appliedfive different iridescent inks andthree UV iridescent coatings, ahybrid overprint varnish, and UVgloss and matt coatings. The inks

and coatings were supplied by fivemanufacturers.

The 14-page calendar meas-ures 500 x 630mm (193/4 x243/4in) and has a microflute mail-ing sleeve that is equally elaborate.Once again, only a limited numberof copies was printed, so followingdistribution to our customers andbusiness contacts worldwide weheld a prize draw for the fewremaining calendars and thesewere mailed to the lucky winnersin January.

The “Impressions 2008” calendar was printed in one pass on this Rapida 105 six-colour dual coater hybrid press in the inplant experimental printingplant at KBA's Radebeul facility. The backs of the sheets were pre-coated separately

KBA calendar for 2008:

“Impressions 2008” is the title of the sumptuous calendar that KBA has

commissioned for customers and business associates.


Report 31 | 200836

Web Offset | Book Printing

Italian print specialist Rotolito Lombarda in Cernusco has established a formida-

ble reputation in the book market with Compacta presses from KBA. The use of

commercial web presses for printing books indicates the high quality standards

these Compactas deliver.

Rotolito Lombarda, Italy

Finest quality book production from the web

Rotolito Lombarda, which hasgrown steadily since beingfounded by Paolo Bandecchi

in 1976, now has a payroll ofaround 400 and generates annualsales worth €150 million ($220m),with exports accounting for some35%. In recent years it has investedheavily in pre-press, press andpost-press technology. The compa-ny has four production plants –in Pioltello just outside Milan(administration, sheetfed offset,heatset), Cernusco (web offset),Nova Milanese (gravure) and Capri-ate San Gervasio (book-binding).For many years now its sheetfedoperation has run medium- andlarge-format Rapida presses whichare predominantly used to print4/4 sheets for high-quality books.

Commercial web offsetAs quality specs for books becomemore rigorous, an increasing num-ber of printers have started switch-ing production to commercialpresses. This was the reason whyin 2006 Rotolito installed a Com-pacta 618 with one reelstand, twodouble printing units, a dryer and afolder.

For twenty years the north Ital-ian company worked with Timsonspresses, six of which are still inuse. But an emerging demandamong publishers for more colourin the school textbooks, dictionar-ies, legal and business titles thatRotolito had printed for them gen-erated a need for presses thatafford greater flexibility and delivera higher print quality. The KBA

General manager Joseph Marsanasco proudly displays the vast range of high-quality book titlesthat Rotolito prints for prominent publishing houses such as Harper & Collins, Hachette, RCS andMondadori, and for Oxford and Cambridge universities

The Compacta 618’s massive printing units can deliver 2 x 72 book pages measuring 190 x 240mm (71/2 x 91/2in) in one or two colours

Right:Pressman Corrado Falleri controls the Compacta 618 from a high-tech console

Far right:The thermal air dryer behind the Compacta 618’s printing units is engineered for a web speed of 14mps (2,756fpm)

Report 31 | 2008 37

Compacta 618 was more capableof addressing this demand.

According to Rotolito generalmanager Joseph Marsanasco, theCompacta has the edge over theTimsons presses in terms of regis-ter control and maintenance,colour stability throughout theprint run and the ability to handlea wider range of paper. “Web leadsin the Timsons presses are vertical,so there is more strain on thepaper and registration is less accu-rate. The webs in the Compactarun horizontally, so there are fewertolerance issues with folding,which makes life easier for thebookbinder. The Compacta 618 ismuch more productive, so we canoffer our customers much fasterdelivery timeframes.”

He continues: “But productivi-ty is not solely determined by therunning speed of the press. Auto-matic gripper folder setting savestime and eases operator workload.We can complete a folder conver-sion, irrespective of capacity, injust ten minutes or less. At theprices currently obtaining in themarket, a high level of automation,coupled with top-class printing andbinding quality, are the only waywe can safeguard the profitabilityof our book-printing operation.”

Printing and bindingIn-house printing and bindingdeliver a number of benefits withregard to work organisation. All thetitles printed at Rotolito are fin-ished in the inplant bindery. 60 percent are delivered to the customeras softbound and the rest as hard-bound books. They are all boundusing hot-melt glue. An Opticon-trol system at the gatherers checksthat all the copies are complete.Here, the flawless interactionbetween the web press workflowand the bindery is of vital impor-

tance. The monitoring systemsused are a key element in assuringthe quality of the finished books.Since the feeders for the gatherersare capable of handling foldedsheets containing 2 x 72 pages,and the gatherers themselves canhave as many as 24 stations, vastvolumes of books can be finishedcost-effectively.

The Compacta 618’s ability tohandle a wide variety of foldsmeans that it is cost-effective forprint runs from as few as 5,000copies. As in other European coun-tries, there is a shift in the Italian

Dr Horst-Dieter [email protected]

General manager Marsanasco and the head of the bookbinding department,Bracchi, at the Compacta’s superstructure

market towards a larger number oftitles, but printed in smaller edi-tions. So the speed with which thepress can be made ready is a bigadvantage. “The Compacta 618 istwice as fast as the Timsons press-es, even for books with a higherpagination,” Marsanasco explains.“The KBA press has delivered ahuge capacity boost because whenit was installed we retained all ourexisting presses. Like them theCompacta 618 has automatic reelfeed, and our paper logistics sys-tem also includes inductively con-trolled reel transport technology.”

Specialist with a passionRotolito Lombarda’s passion forprint is embedded in its corporatelogo and also finds expression in anongoing commitment to technolog-ical advances. Alongside its mostrecent investment in press kit thecompany has also substantiallyexpanded its paper logistics. InCernusco an automatic reel storewith a capacity of 24,000 tonnes(26.4 US tons) was recently com-pleted. The reels are conveyedfrom the high-bay store to thepresses through an overgroundtunnel.

ConclusionThe company’s satisfaction withthe 618 has prompted it to placean order for a second press of thesame type, and this is slated tocome on stream in Cernusco in thesecond half of 2008. The newpress will have a cylinder circum-ference of 1,240mm (483/4in) anda web width of 1,450 mm (57in). Itwill have four printing unitsinstead of two, semi-automaticplate changers and a special V5-Bvariable-format book folder thatwill enable it to print both booksand commercial products. It will beerected as a right-to-left configura-tion alongside an existing Com-pacta 818.

The folder and the special superstructure support a wide choice of production options

Rotolito Lombarda prints 4/4 books on medium- and large-format KBA Rapida sheetfed offset presses

Report 31 | 200838

Directory Printing | USA

Compacta 818 at Quebecor World in Hazleton

Yellow Pages for the USA and CanadaThe Compacta 818 that rolled into action a few months ago at Quebecor World

in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, is an uncommon example of its breed because this

high-volume directory press has no heatset capability or modified inking units:

it is the first coldset version of the Compacta 818 worldwide.

The two-tier press with threewebs and eight printing unitsunderscores KBA’s role as a

driver of technological advances inthe directory press market.

The double-circumferenceCompacta 818 in Hazleton is engi-neered for a maximum productionspeed of 47,460 cylinder rph and isfed by a Patras A automatic reel-handling system and three Pastom-at RC reelstands. Configured fromright to left, the press can print 4over 4 on one web or 2 x 2 over 2on two. In triple-web operation itcan deliver up to 192 pages simul-taneously via the P5 folder, whilein double-web operation it can out-put 128 or 144 pages, dependingon the sheet size.

The new press, which joinedfive others in the Hazleton presshall, has a cylinder circumferenceof 1,156mm (451/2in) and a maxi-

mum web width of 1,905mm(75in). It is operated in four shifts,seven days a week, and wasinstalled with the aim of almostdoubling production output fromsome 50 million directories in2006 to more than 90 million in2007.

Biggest telephone directory production siteHazleton is one of QuebecorWorld’s biggest operations andprints directories that are distrib-uted across the USA and Canada.Its customers include prominenthotel chains and other companiesthat use directories for their mar-keting and advertising campaigns.To maximise customer choice theHazleton facility has both coldsetand heatset capabilities.

Russ Snelling, manufacturingmanager at Quebecor World Hazle-ton, and his maintenance supervi-sor Mark Andrews are as pleasedas punch with this latest additionto their fleet of presses. SaysSnelling: “We chose the Compacta818 because we have KBA pressesrunning at several facilities andthey are all performing well. Ontop of this, rapid delivery and afavourable price/performance ratioplayed an important role. KBA sup-plied us with a highly automatedspecial press that is custom-config-

ured for our press-hall architectureand production specs. For a varietyof reasons, a two-tier press withouta dryer was the only option.”

Mark Andrews agrees: “TheCompacta 818 is a new-generation,high-tech web press that raises thebar in terms of output and reliabil-ity. While originally designed as acommercial web offset press, itdelivers a quality in coldset produc-tion that fulfilled all our expecta-tions.”

Second C818 to follow shortlyIn March 2008 Quebecor Worldwill press the button on a secondCompacta 818 with one reelstandand four printing units, and thiswill have a further reelstand andfour more printing units added inearly 2009. As a result the totalcapacity of this double-web full-colour production line willincrease to 2 x 72 pages.


One of the two ErgoTronic control consoles for the Compacta 818 is located behind the folder.Press controls include ColorTronic ink-key setting desks, a LogoTronic Basic presetting system and a colour and cut-off register system

Russ Snelling (right), manufacturing manager at Quebecor World Hazleton, and his maintenancesupervisor Mark Andrews are proud of the latest addition to their fleet of presses

Up to 192 pages can be configured simultaneously in triple-web operation usingthe P5 folder with a 5:5 cylinder ratio

Report 31 | 2008 39

Commercial Web Offset | Hungary

KBA Compacta 818 for Révai Nyomda

Polestar orders 72pp commercial pressThe UK’s Polestar Group has ordered a 72pp KBA Compacta 818 with variable-format V5 folder for its Hungarian plant,

Budapest-based Révai Nyomda. The press is scheduled to be commissioned in the summer.

Barry Hibbert, Polestar CEO,says: “Our Hungarian opera-tion has been a huge success

for many years now, and we areaiming to maintain this level of per-formance with proven technologyfrom KBA, whose variable-formatfolder will deliver a capability thatis unique in the marketplace.”

Successful partnershipLászló Lázár, managing director ofRévai Nyomda for more than tenyears, agrees: “We have enormousfaith in KBA’s competence, so theywere the obvious choice for takingthe company forward. With thenew Compacta 818, we canexpand our lead in the Hungarianmarket and move up into the Euro-pean league.”

KBA executive vice-presidentChristoph Müller says: “I havealways considered Révai one ofHungary’s print pioneers and amdelighted that they chose KBA forthe next stage in their develop-ment. The Compacta 818 withvariable-format V5 folder will help

them maintain their competitiveedge in the commercial market.”

Technological bellwetherRévai Nyomda has a longstandingassociation with KBA. In 1997 itwas among the first to install aninnovative 16-page KBA Compacta215, the first shaftless commercialweb press on the internationalmarket. In 2002 production capac-ity in Budapest was expanded with

Erik [email protected]

The new KBA Compacta 818 with V5 variable-format gripper folder will expand production capacity at Révai Nyomda from late summer 2008

Signing the contract for the first 72pp commercial press in Hungary: László Lázár, managing director, Révai Nyomda (right), and Christoph Müller, executive vice-president web press sales,marketing and service, KBA

Révai Nyomda in Budapest, part of the UK’sPolestar Group, is Hungary's top commercialprinter

the first 48-page press in Hungary,a Compacta 618. Today the pressfleet comprises one 48-page, three16-page and three 32-page presses.

The purchase of a 72-pageCompacta 818 underpins Révai’smarket standing as a technologicalbellwether for the entire region.The KBA press will be embeddedin a Patras A automatic reel-han-dling system and have a PastomatRC reelstand, a freestanding infeed

unit, four printing units withsemi-automatic plate change, a Vitsthermal air dryer, a superstructurefor up to five ribbons and – aunique feature – the V5 variable-format folder for the delivery ofshort- or long-grain copies. Thecylinder circumference will be1,240mm (483/4in), maximumweb width 1,980mm (78in) andmaximum web speed 15mps(2,953fpm).

Révai Nyomda can trace its ori-gins back to a bookshop estab-lished by the Révai brothers in1869. In 1991 Watmoughs Holdingin the UK acquired a majorityshareholding and promoted mete-oric growth that made Révai thebiggest commercial printer in Hun-gary today. Following the merger ofthe British Printing Company (BPC)and Watmoughs to form thePolestar Group, Révai Nyomdabecame part of one of the leadingindependent printing operations inEurope.

Report 31 | 200840

ured with a Patras M reel-handlingsystem, a Pastostar RC reelstand,five printing units, a Vits thermalair dryer, a superstructure withmain and auxiliary former, an auto-matically convertible F3 gripperfolder and a sheeter. The press iscontrolled from two ErgoTronicconsoles and a desk at the sheeter.A LogoTronic Basic press presettingsystem allows data to be trans-ferred digitally from pre-press. TheCompacta 215 is chiefly used forprint runs of between 30,000 and1.2 million copies.

Commercial Web Offset | Italy

D’Auria Printing moves into web offset

KBA Compacta 215 spurs growthLike many other Italian commercial printers, D’Auria in S. Egidio alla Vibrata, in the province of Teramo, runs a

16pp Compacta 215 and has done for just over a year. The press has accelerated the dynamic growth this innova-

tive yet traditional family firm has enjoyed since installing Rapida sheetfed presses some years ago.

D’Auria Printing sets its sights on new marketsThe company was founded asD’Auria Industrie Grafiche, asheetfed specialist with a reputa-tion for products of outstandingquality. The association with KBAbegan in 1998 with a second-handVarimat four-colour press. In 2002there followed a large-format Rapi-da 162, also for four colours, andin 2004 a Rapida 105 universal.

However, after years of stronggrowth the 90-employee enter-prise decided to expand its activi-ties, and at the beginning of 2005it set up a dedicated commercialweb offset subsidiary, D’AuriaPrinting, adding a new productionhall along with new pre-press andfinishing equipment. The start-upof the Compacta 215 in August2006 brought company head DrCristiano D’Auria much closer tohis goal of printing long runsof supplements and promotionalliterature as well as catalogues,magazines, books, posters and cal-endars.

Successful start with expert assistanceDr D’Auria hired two experiencedcommercial web offset specialists,Norberto Bucciarelli and Attilo Dal-fiume, as consultants, and thesehave streamlined the workflow andbrought the young press crew upto speed. Says Dr D’Auria: “Thiswas totally new technology for us,so we didn’t want to take anychances. The Compacta 215 is areliable, globally proven machinethat unites performance and flexi-bility. The figures show that ourexpansion into web offset couldnot have gone more smoothly. In2003 we posted sales of betweenfive and six million euros: by theend of last year we had hit the 18million euro mark. While sheetfedgenerates around 10 to 11 millioneuros of the total, web offset isalready making a substantial contri-bution.”

Kitting up for greater flexibilityThe 16-page press at D’Auria Print-ing is a right-to-left version config-


The Compacta 215 can deliver copies via an F3 gripper folder or a Vits-Rotocut sheeter(left front)

Delighted at the performance of the new Compacta 215 (from left):Martin Schoeps (KBA sales manager), Dario Braschi (KBA-Italia marketing manager),Dr Cristiano D’Auria and consultant Norberto Bucciarelli

D’Auria’s association with KBA goes back to 1998 The photo shows production manager Iolando de Luca (rear) with his team at the most recent sheetfed addition, a medium-format Rapida 105 universal

Prior to commissioning the Compacta 215,family enterprise D’Auria Industrie Grafichespecialised in top-quality sheetfed products

Attilo Dalfiume (l) and Norberto Bucciarelli,two experienced commercial web offset specialists

Report 31 | 2008 41

A host of unique featuresThe waterless KBA Cortina 6/2’swinning features include the totalabsence of fan-out, even with aweb 1,890mm (741/2in) wide. Socolour registration is as precise ona four-high tower printing blanket-to-blanket as it is on a nine-cylindersatellite press, and the volume ofstart-up waste correspondinglylow. Convenient, ergonomic opera-tion with lifts on either side of the4m (13ft) towers, the ability tosplit the towers down the middleto afford easy access for mainte-nance, the absence of ink keys anddampeners, and the high level ofautomation that includes platechanging, roller locks and new, lin-ear bearings relieve the press crewof many time-consuming andlabour-intensive operating andmaintenance tasks. The absence ofink mist with the Cortina also sub-stantially reduces contamination.

Along with high-speed editionchanges the triple-width Cortina6/2 offers the benefit of a 50%

Newspaper Production | Germany

Waterless newspaper production moves out of its niche

KBA Cortina 6/2 for M. DuMont Schauberg,CologneThe 175-year-long association between Cologne media house M. DuMont Schauberg and KBA has entered a new phase with an order for a six-by-two Cortina press

line. The association dates back to 1833, when Joseph DuMont acquired a Koenig & Bauer automatic cylinder press. The innovative Cortina is the latest in a long suc-

cession that followed.

higher pagination capacity but thesame output level as the KBA 4/2presses delivered in 1999/2000.The shorter press length also deliv-ered savings in building and con-struction costs. Short web paths onthe Cortina make for a lower vol-ume of white waste during editionchanges and easier changes of cir-cumference compared to a satellitepress with the same output.

With an eye to its long-termprospects, M. DuMont Schaubergis able to add a thermal air dryer ata later date to support semi-com-mercial production. While the

press line in Cologne does notexploit the Cortina’s biggest advan-tage – the ability to switch at highspeed between coldset and heatsetproduction with no change of ink –this option is being kept open.

80,000 full-colour copies per hourThe Cortina 6/2 for the KölnerStadt-Anzeiger, the Express and theKölnische Rundschau plus severalin-house and external titles canpump out 80,000 full-colourcopies per hour with 48 pagesbroadsheet or 96 pages tabloid.The four towers are built for the


The KBA Cortina 6/2 press line for Cologne media house M. DuMont Schauberg

Berliner format and a 470mm(181/2in) cut-off on a cylinder cir-cumference of 940mm (37in). Thepress line is configured with fourPastomat RC reelstands for a maxi-mum reel diameter of 1,500mm(59in), seven double turner bars,two folder superstructures withthree formers apiece and two KF 5jaw folders with section and ribbonstitchers. The reels are fed by aPatras A automatic reel-handlingsystem; ink pumping, blanket androller washing are all fully automat-ed.

The Cortina’s high level ofautomation is reflected in Plate-Tronic plate changers, RollerTronicroller locks, NipTronic remote-controlled bearings and Plate-Ident plate identification systems.Colour and cut-off register, sidelayand web centre controls guaranteea high standard of quality. Thepress is controlled from ErgoTronicconsoles with dedicated interfacesto host systems.

Pictured after the contract was signed at Mitteldeutsche Zeitung (a subsidiary of the M. DuMont Schauberg Group) in Halle (l-r):Karl Zorn, KBA sales manager; Richard Zöller,technical director of M. DuMont Schauberg,Cologne; deputy KBA president Claus Bolza-Schünemann; Heinz Kiegeland, spokesman ofthe board of directors, M. DuMont SchaubergGroup; Andreas Stein, authorised officer,central purchasing of M. DuMont Schauberg;Thomas Preuss, managing director, Colognedivision of M. DuMont Schauberg; ChristophMüller, KBA executive vice-president for webpress sales, marketing and service

Report 31 | 200842

In addition to their low-level tow-ers, which are just 4m (13ft)high, both models incorporate a

high level of automation and a raftof unique features. Since the pro-totype of the Cortina was unveiledat Drupa 2000 KBA has bookedorders for thirteen press lines witha total of 55 four-high towers (39double-width, 16 triple-width) or440 couples. Nine of these presslines are now in operation. TheCommander CT, which is also avail-able as a 4/2 or 6/2 version, hadscarcely been launched on the mar-ket a few months ago when KBAbooked an order from Spanishnewspaper publishing house Heral-do de Aragón in Saragossa. Twomore orders have since beenreceived.

The pilot press at the Main-Post was integrated in the nightproduction routine in March 2007following a twelve-month testingand optimisation period. In July,

Newspaper Production | Innovation

KBA Commander CT open house at Main-Post in Würzburg

Wet offset reaps the benefits of compact technologyA new conventional offset press developed in close collaboration between KBA and German media group Main-Post was

unveiled at an open house in Würzburg at the end of September under the banner “The Future is Compact”. Around 200

newspaper pundits from home and abroad seized the opportunity to see the Cortina’s new conventional counterpart, the

Commander CT, being put through its paces in a shopfloor environment.

pleased with its performance todate, the regional newspaper pub-lisher ordered a second towerwhich will ship in mid-2008and stack on top of the existingtower to boost colour capacity. Aspace-saving configuration such asthis, which allows an eight-hightower to be erected in an existingpress hall, is only possible withthe compact Commander CT andCortina.

David Brandstätter:looking to the futureDavid Brandstätter, managingdirector of the Main-Post, which ispart of the Holtzbrinck group,named two basic reasons for thecollaboration with KBA on theCommander CT: “Firstly, the Com-mander CT’s compact designoffered us a unique opportunity toexpand production capacity in theexisting press hall, without having

The KBA Commander at the Main-Post following its extension in mid-2008.On the left the two compact Commander CTtowers stacked to create an eight-high towerfor 32 full-colour broadsheet pages, on theright the existing 32-page satellite press line,which is just as high but has only four printingunits per tower

“The future of newspaper production lies with this type of press.” Main-Post managingdirector David Brandstätter

“The Commander CT combines all the benefitsof blanket-to-blanket print production with acolour registration that is on a par with that ofsatellite presses.” Main-Post technical managerAndreas Kunzemann

Expanded KBA Competence platform:seven years after unveiling its compact water-less Cortina at Drupa 2000, Koenig & Bauer commemorated the 190th jubilee of its main facility in Würzburg with an open house at the Main-Post media group to promote a conventional counterpart, the Commander CT

Newspaper pundits were impressed not onlyby the high-speed edition change but also by the superior quality of the CompacT-Postprinted during the open House

Report 31 | 2008 43


to extend the building. That was amajor economic argument. Sec-ondly, we found the CommanderCT’s high level of automation anduser-friendliness a compelling con-cept. We firmly believe that thefuture of newspaper productionlies with this type of press, and wewanted to be part of the action.”

Commander CT benefits from Cortina’s revolutionary advancesThe compact conventional Com-mander CT targets newspaperprinters who for various reasons donot yet wish to make the transitionto waterless offset. Many feel morecomfortable with a process thatconsumes familiar inks and plates.Also, they have long since becomeresigned to the process-related lim-itations and generally higher wastelevels than in waterless offset.Some of the drawbacks of wet off-set, such as fan-out, misting andintensive cleaning and mainte-nance are not a problem with theCommander CT thanks to its com-pact design, new film-type inkingunits with three forme rollers, andhigh level of automation in theroller locks and bearings.

Compact high tech in popular wet offsetAt the open house BernhardHarant, head of KBA’s newspaperdivision, detailed the philosophy,technology and user benefitsafforded by the 90,000cph Com-mander CT. The reduced heightmeans that Commander presses,which have been one of KBA’s mostsuccessful product lines for almost40 years, can now be erected instandard industrial buildings orstacked to expand the printing andcolour capabilities of existingpresses in high halls. The Plate-Tronic automated plate-changingsystems, several hundred of whichare already in operation on Cortinapress lines, cut edition changes tojust over two minutes with nochange of web width, or to aroundsix minutes with a web change andblanket washing. The RollerTronicautomated roller locks, of whichKBA has installed over 30,000 todate, optimise printing conditionsby eliminating the need for manualroller adjustment, and are a stan-

dard feature of the CommanderCT. The same applies to the newNipTronic bearing technology withoptional console link for the pre-cise setting of printing pressure ondifferent types of stock.

The oil-free tower can be splitdown the middle for access tochange the blankets and wash-cloths. Each plate and blanketcylinder is driven directly, with nogears. Following intensive printtests with various types of inkingunit the new press was fitted withone that incorporates a new type ofundershot ink duct and film rollerplus three forme rollers, and deliv-ers an outstanding quality on bothsolids and challenging images. Thetriple-roller spray dampener hasalso been refined and can now bewashed along with the inking unitby throwing the first forme rolleronto the plate dampener. This is atotally new feature.

While ink mist cannot be elim-inated entirely in a high-speed wetoffset press, with the CommanderCT enormous progress has beenmade compared to standard types

Ergonomic lifts at the Commander CT towermean that operators no longer have to climbstairs or walk long distances

of press, and we anticipate no neg-ative impact on the specified highstandard of reliability afforded bythe automatic plate changers,which are protected from contami-nation. Hundreds of such systemsare already operating flawlessly onCortina press lines.

On compact presses there isalso much less fan-out in full-colour production than on standardfour-high towers. One contributo-ry factor is the new inking unit,which consumes less water. Thishas prompted us to offer a six-wideversion of the Commander CT withFanoTronic enhanced fan-out con-trols and the ability to handleweb widths of up to 2,100mm(82.75in), for the Rhine format.

In his progress report, Main-Post technical manager AndreasKunzemann emphasised the Com-mander CT’s excellent print quali-ty, which in his opinion is hard toequal with a conventional press.More than just a welcome side-effect is the 15 per cent reductionin energy consumption, largelyresulting from automated rollersetting and NipTronic bearing tech-nology. And precise registrationmeans that start-up waste follow-ing automatic plate change is lowerthan on the Main-Post’s conven-tional presses.

Andreas Kunzemann’s verdict?“The Commander CT offers all thebenefits of blanket-to-blanket printproduction – a superior print qual-ity and stable web tension – plus acolour registration that is on a parwith that of satellite presses. Ontop of this, the lifts and Step-in technology make it highlyergonomic. In my opinion thiscompact form is the way of thefuture for high-volume, high-automation newspaper produc-tion.”

The expanded KBA Compe-tence compact platform, compris-ing the waterless, keyless Cortinaas the more progressive option andthe wet offset Commander CT asthe conventional choice, caters toindividual preferences within thenewspaper industry.

The Commander CT, like the Cortina, isavailable with PlateTronic systems forautomatic, on-the-fly plate loading anddisposal in just two minutes, irrespectiveof the number of plates

KBA Commander CT printing unit with new, quick-reaction conventionalroller-type inking units (with ink keys and three forme rollers) and optimisedtriple-roller spray dampeners

According to Christoph Müller, KBA executivevice-president for web press sales, the decisionto develop the Cortina and Commander CTcompact presses was driven by future mediaand labour market demands

Bernhard Harant, head of KBA’s newspaperpress division, provided practical proof of thesubstantial time and cost savings delivered bythe compact Commander CT

Report 31 | 200844

Newspaper Production | Technology

Effective fan-out compensation in four-colour production

Automatic fan-out control with KBA FanoTronicQuality expectations regarding image reproduction in full-colour newspaper and semi-commercial production are contin-

ually rising. One issue is blanket-to-blanket registration on wider webs in four-high presses. The fan-out caused by the

influence of water during four-colour printing on both sides of the web must be effectively counteracted in order to

achieve a register quality comparable to that of satellite presses, but without generating excess waste. FanoTronic, a new

automatic fan-out control system developed by KBA in association with Q.I. Press Controls and successfully tested on a

number of conventional offset pilot press lines, addresses this issue.

With KBA’s FanoTronic it ispossible to adjust eachindividual bustle wheel, so

it is highly effective at criticalpoints on the web and this in turngreatly improves registration acrossthe web width. FanoTronic sup-ports a rapid response and correc-tion via an automatic controlcircuit, which dramatically reduceswaste and also helps to stabiliseregistration during changes in pro-duction speed.

Fast and effective individual adjustmentIn conventional offset, fan-outoccurs between the four printingcouples or colours when the webabsorbs water from the fount solu-tion, which makes it stretch and

spread. The registration differ-ences that are a consequence ofthis phenomenon are corrected

using bustle wheels. In KBA Fano-Tronic, an electronic fan-out com-pensator that is installed after the

first two printing couples, the trol-leys assume the function of thebustle wheels. The sensors detectwater-related fan-out by measuringthe deviation along the length andacross the width of the web andthus the shift in colour registra-tion. If a deviation is detected thebroadened web is deformed intoan S-shape by exerting pressure viathe laterally adjustable trolleys,thus correcting the position of thecolours relative to each other. Theeight trolleys, which can be posi-tioned individually relative to theweb, are located on two parallelcross-pieces. Since the trolleys canbe set individually by remote con-trol to accommodate the specifiedtype of paper being used, they cancompensate almost entirely for anyshift in colour registration. KBAFanoTronic automatically regulatesfan-out compensation throughoutthe entire printing process: sincefan-out is also influenced by webspeed (eg press run-up and run-down), the trolleys need to be re-adjusted constantly as the webspeed changes.

Convenient operation from the consoleThe basic settings for the individ-ual trolleys can be selected directlyvia a separate data screen. Similar-ly it is also possible to switchbetween automatic and manualoperation on the fly. The settingsfor each wheel range from -25%(thrown off during web threading)to +100% (maximum trolley pres-sure on the web). Standard set-tings can be used for presetting, ascan the fan-out compensationcurves that have been stored in theconsole for similar productionruns. Prior to production start-upthe presetting system calculatesthe relevant curve for each of thetowers, based on the type of paperused.

Dr Bernd [email protected]

KBA’s FanoTronic automatic fan-outcompensator can signally enhanceregister accuracy in four-high towers. The photo shows the sensorsfor measuring deviation along thelength of the web and across itswidth

The trolleys can be selected and adjusted individually from the console

Fan-out is counteracted via individuallyadjustable trolleys – eight per web – which are mounted on cross-pieces after the secondprinting couple and exert pressure on the web

Report 31 | 2008 45

Semi-commercial Production | Germany

High-automation waterless press fulfils all expectations

Nussbaum Medien orders second CortinaGerman print media enterprise Nussbaum Medien in Weil der Stadt has signed up for a second Cortina. The order was influenced by the company’s

satisfaction with the performance of its first Cortina, whose inauguration at the beginning of 2006 heralded a transition to waterless, keyless news-

paper production with automatic plate changing throughout.

Nussbaum, which was foundedin 1959, is the leading pub-lisher of gazettes and bul-

letins in Baden-Württemberg andhas established a reputation forinnovation and agility.

Highly automated yet dependablePublisher Oswald Nussbaum, hisdaughter Brigitte Nussbaum, who

is managing director, and her hus-band Thomas Buck, who is head ofprintshop production, were unani-mous in their choice of press.

Says Ms Nussbaum: “We servearound 150 cities and communi-ties, extending from Karlsruhe inthe west to Esslingen in the east,and from Tübingen in the south toHeilbronn in the north. We providea unique breadth of products with

a total weekly circulation of some550,000 copies. The individualeditions vary between 500 and28,000 copies, with anything from8 to 156 pages apiece. Our overalloutput is steadily increasing, andif we are to comply with rigorousquality standards while maintain-ing our market agility and cost effi-ciency we need highly automatedyet dependable press lines with

short makereadies, minimumwaste and the ability to handle awide range of work . Although ourKBA Cortina waterless press wasone of the first on the market, itfulfilled all our expectations andthose of our customers, particular-ly in terms of product quality. Sowhen a new press line was mootedwe had every reason to go foranother Cortina.”

The first KBA Cortina at Nussbaum Medien in Weil der Stadt has been strutting its stuff since early 2006

The second Cortina (schematic right) continues an association between Nussbaum Medien and KBA that dates back to the early 1980s

Report 31 | 200846

Newspaper Production | India

Formidable increase in capacityThe second Cortina tower presswill have a 450mm (173/4in) cut-offon a web width of 1,260mm(491/2in) and will be erected along-side the first but in a mirror-imageconfiguration. It will increase print-ing capacity by approximately35,000 tabloid copies per hour,with a maximum of 32 full-colourA4 pages. It will be possible to linkthe two presses to print titles withup to 64 A4 pages in one pass. Thenew press will feature PlateTronicautomatic plate changers, Roller-Tronic automated roller locks, Nip-Tronic remote-controlled bearings,centralised ink pumping and auto-matic blanket washing. Reel align-

“Although business was brisk throughout2007, in October we really shifted up a gear.Our compact Cortina (editor’s note: six towersand three folders) now pumps out one millionnewspapers a day. These include titles that

The truth about certain claims

Patrick Zürcher, plant manager at Freiburger Druck and a Cortina pioneer,at a user meeting in his production plant

ment, cut-off register control andweb guidance, in conjunction withwaterless offset technology, willensure that start-up waste is keptto a minimum. The floor-mountedpress will be configured with a KBAreelstand, a KF 3 jaw folder and anErgoTronic console with diagnos-tics PC. The absence of fount solu-tion and ink mist, and the low levelof waste, underpin the KBA Corti-na’s green credentials. This isanother virtue much appreciatedby customers both in Weil derStadt and the surrounding commu-nities.

previously had to be printed on heatset presses in our commercialdepartment. The press crew, while groaning under the workload, isstill full of enthusiasm, and feedback from customers has been over-whelmingly positive. We have accomplished all this with a technologythat some market observers claimed could never work and would betotally uneconomic. If that were true, I wouldn’t be standing herenow. Experience has more than vindicated our decision in 2003 totake a chance and go for the waterless Cortina.”


Major contract from India for KBA

25 KBA Prisma towers for DNAand Dainik BhaskarThe DB Group companies Diligent Media Corporation and DB Corporation in Mumbai, India, have placed the “largest ever

single order for printing press lines by an Indian publisher” with KBA. The order includes seven 4/1 Prisma presses with a

total of 25 reelstands, 25 four-high towers and seven folders.

Diligent Media is a joint ven-ture between two mediaheavyweights, the Dainik

Bhaskar Group and the Zee Group.One of India’s premier print mediaplayers, the Dainik Bhaskar Grouppublishes not only India’s topHindi newspaper, Dainik Bhaskar,but also the no. 1 title in Gujarat,Divya Bhaskar. DB Corporation isthe group’s printing arm. In all, theDainik Bhaskar Group has over 40editions, printed from 36 centres,

with a total print order of over 4million copies each day. Thegroup’s papers have a total reader-ship of over 20 million readers.The group also owns and operates17 radio channels in principal Indi-an cities, and has major forays ininternet portals, cable TV, realestate, outdoor media etc.

Zee Group’s Zee TV reachesmore than 250 million viewers in120 countries through its 30 chan-nels in various genres such as

news, music, sports, movies, reali-ty, general entertainment etc inmore than eight languages. Zeegroup also owns the largest DTHventure, a cable distribution com-pany, content production compa-nies and so on.

Diligent Media Corporation’stitles include an English-languagedaily, Daily News & Analysis (DNA),a Sunday edition, DNA Me, anddiverse supplements such as AfterHours and DNA Money. “DNA is

the fastest growing English news-paper in the country. It has grownat a consistent rate of about 22%over the last two survey periods.We are looking at launching DNAin other major metros. Gujarat isour first step towards this goal,with the launch in November oftwo editions in Ahmedabad andSurat,” says CEO K U Rao. “Theintention is to become a largenational player with dominantreadership and circulation over thenext three years. As in Mumbai,DNA in Gujarat aims at targetingthe young-at-heart genre of thepopulation.” DNA will soon belaunched in Baroda and Rajkot aswell. Plans are also under way tolaunch a second edition of DNA inthe state of Maharashtra from thecity of Pune in January 2008.

DNA Me currently has a circu-lation of 410,000 in Mumbai, andthe group is planning to lift thisover the 600,000 mark with a new,140-page national edition that hitthe streets on 7 October. CEO K URao says: “To achieve this level ofgrowth we need high-poweredprinting technology. We awardedthe contract to KBA after carryingout detailed technical appraisals ofall the possible press lines and see-ing the 4/1 Prisma in action at theBangkok Post, where it compelling-ly demonstrated its user-friendli-ness and high print quality. Also,KBA’s reputation for innovation iswell-known in India.”

Dr Bernd [email protected]

From the left: R Bhatnagar (vice-president, Diligent Media Corporation), Christoph Müller (executive vice-president for web press sales, marketing and service, KBA), P Agarwal (publisher, DB Corporation), Günter Noll (sales manager, KBA), M Venkataraman (COO, Diligent Media Corporation) andAlbin Frank (divisional head of sales support, KBA) pictured after the contract had been signed

Report 31 | 2008 47

Prestigious Benny award for poster printed on Rapida 205

The Garvey Group was recog-nized with a Benny Award, the

highest honour in the 2007 Pre-mier Print Awards, the graphic artsindustry’s most prestigious world-wide printing competition, hostedby the Printing Industries of Amer-ica/Graphic Arts Technical Founda-tion (PIA/GATF). The award for thelarge-format printing category waspresented to president and ownerEd Garvey at a dinner receptionduring Graph Expo 2007 in Sep-tember. The Garvey Group wonthis coveted award for the compa-ny’s Dreamgirls movie posterentry, which was printed on a Rap-ida 205.

Now approaching their 59thyear, the Premier Print Awards pro-mote excellence in print communi-

Shorts

cations and reward both companiesand individuals who produce thevery best in print media. Last yearmore than 5,100 entries werereceived.

“Winning a Benny is a signifi-cant accomplishment for any print-er, and we are so gratified that Pre-mier Print Awards has selected TheGarvey Group for this great hon-our,” said Ed Garvey. “We haveinvested in building the most mod-ern large-format operations in thecountry, and this award validatesthat investment.”

The Dreamgirls movie posterwas printed on 118gsm (80lb)Sterling C1S by NewPage for a runlength of 4,000 sheets, and washung in stores as a point-of-pur-chase display.

The Garvey Group installed itsRapida 205 six-colour plus coaterpress in December 2006 at itsNiles, Illinois, facility. The 1510 x2050mm (60 x 81in) sheet size isthe largest on the company’s ros-

Ed Garvey in front of his Rapida 205 81-inch sheetfed press

ter, which also includes size 6 and7 (64 and 56in) machines. TheRapida 205 is being used to print avariety of products, including topsheets to wrap retail product car-tons, signs and posters.

Third large-format Rapida for Glama Pak in Melbourne

KBA-Australasia in Sydney recent-ly booked a third order from

Glama Pak in Melbourne for alarge-format Rapida. The Rapida162a six-colour coater press withextended delivery will be installedin March and, with its sheet size of1,200 x 1,620mm (44 x 633/4in),will substantially expand capacityat this specialist packaging printer.

Glama Pak already operates aRapida 162a six-colour coater press

along with a Rapida 142 seven-colour coater press. The existingpresses feature a high level ofautomation (which includes platechange, DensiTronic S closed-loopdensitometric colour measurementand control etc) and are embeddedin a digital workflow via a Logo-Tronic Professional managementinformation system. The technolo-gy of the new press will be just asadvanced.

Since taking the big Rapidas onboard a few years ago Glama Pakhas experienced dynamic growth.CEO Dean Caton says: “Once wehad established a need for a thirdlarge-format press we had no hesi-tation in going for a KBA pressonce again. Our experience withthe installations to date, particular-ly with the more recent Rapida 142which runs like clockwork, gave usthe necessary confidence in KBA’s

abilities. The service and customercare they provide are equallygood.”

Dave Lewis, sheetfed generalmanager at KBA-Australasia, says:“We are delighted that we havebeen chosen to install a third giantRapida at Glama Pak in the spring,and that we have been able to con-tribute in this way to the compa-ny’s continued success and futuregrowth.”

The Rapida 142 seven-colour coater press with extended delivery at Glama Pak is mounted on a 210mm (81/4in) plinth so that it can handle higher piles

Glama Pak CEO Dean Caton (right) and Dave Lewis, sheetfed general manager at KBA-Australasia,signing the contract for the new Rapida 162a

Report 31| 200848

Shorts

Round of KBA seminars in mainland China

In October last year KBA launcheda series of seminars in mainland

China to promote the latest tech-nological advances that have beenmade in the European printingindustry. Ports of call includedDongguan, Shanghai, Kunming,Xi’an, Beijing and Taipei.

Held at prestigious venues andattracting a high level of atten-dance, the seminars provided anupdate on new technologies, newprocesses and their applications

within the printing industry. Along-side innovations in press kit andproduction processes the focuswas on current trends that areimpacting on the print mediaindustry as it grapples with ongo-ing changes.

KBA offers printers in Chinaand Asia a complete range of prod-ucts and services customised tosuit their individual needs,enabling them to maximise theirproduction efficiency and raise

Attendance was high at all the KBA seminars.This photo was taken in Dongguan

their competitive profiles throughspecialisation and differentiation.The seminars discussed the follow-ing topics:• Digital printshop networking

with LogoTronic Professional• DriveTronic SPC direct drives• Rapida configurations for

packaging printing• Inline finishing with and

without UV technology• New automation modules and

innovations in sheetfed offset

• Hybrid finishing and brand protection.

But these were not the onlyadvances discussed in this firstseries in China. Others includedVariDry dryer technology and com-prehensive inline quality controlsystems. As in a lot of other emerg-ing countries, customers in manybranches of Chinese industry aredemanding more rigorous qualityand service standards, and farsight-ed print professionals have longsince extended their sights beyondtheir national boundaries as far asEurope, in order to stay abreast ofthe latest technological advances inpress engineering and productionprocesses. For KBA this series ofseminars was a means of enhanc-ing awareness and disseminatingknowledge among members of thedynamic print media in the high-growth markets of the Far East.

Segodnya Multimedia in Kiev orders KBA Comet

Ukrainian print provider Segod-nya Multimedia Joint-Stock

Company in Kiev placed an orderlate last year for a single-widthComet newspaper press line.Scheduled for delivery to a newprinting plant in Dnipropetrovsk inearly 2009, the press will have

three four-high towers, two foldersand four reelstands, and will printin-house daily and weekly titlesalong with a raft of contract titles.Strategy and business developmentdirector Nina Bagaeva says: “Apartfrom the cutting-edge technology,what really impressed us was the

overall package KBA offered, whichincluded a customised training pro-gramme, technical support duringproject planning and implementa-tion, and full-scale service back-up.”

The 75,000cph substructureComet press will have a 578mm

The KBA Comet press line for Segodnya Multimedia Joint-Stock Company’s new printing plant in Dnipropetrovsk

(223/4in) cut-off and a web widthvariable from 700 to 960mm (271/2- 373/4in). The four Pastoline reel-stands will be fed via a Patras Mreel-handling system. The threetowers with automatic ink pump-ing, cylinder washing and fan-outplus colour-register controls areengineered for full colour on bothsides of the web or for 2 x 2/2.One of the two KF 3B 2:3:3 folderswill feature a quarterfold capabili-ty. The press will be controlledfrom three EAE consoles, eachwith a Print production schedulingand preset system, RIP interfaceand diagnostics PC for remotemaintenance. Provision has beenmade to add a tower and a reel-stand at a later date. Press person-nel will receive comprehensivetraining.

Lianbiao Wang, sales manager at KBA China,welcoming attendees to a KBA seminar inShanghai on the subject of packaging printing

Report 31 | 2008 49

Historical stop-cylinder press for UPP in Abu Dhabi

Shorts

Druck & Medien Awards for KBA users

At the 2007 Druck & MedienAwards presented by German

trade publication Druck & MedienMagazin, KBA users of sheetfedand web offset presses once againcarried off a string of honours.Druckhaus Berlin-Mitte won the20-man jury’s vote for the mostenvironmentally focused enter-prise, an award sponsored by KBA.Under the guidance of managingdirector Herbert Preissler, Druck-haus Berlin-Mitte has evolved inrecent years into a dynamic andhighly innovative print providerwhich has raised the bar not onlyin offset, with its cutting-edge KBARapida sheetfed technology, butalso in digital workflows andprintshop organisation. The compa-ny joined the Eco-Managementand Audit Scheme, an initiativedesigned to improve companies’environmental performance, in2002 and obtained EN ISO 14001environmental accreditation thatsame year (see also pages 30-31).

KBA sheetfed customer Hei-denreich Print in Bünde, West-phalia, also gained first place, inthe category “Finisher of the year”.Managing director Hendrik Hei-denreich was one of the earliestpromoters and users of the hybridcoating technology perfected by

KBA and launched on the market atDrupa 2000. This family enter-prise, whose press room housesmedium- and large-format Rapidapresses, has since established a for-midable reputation for the excel-lence of its specialist printing andcoating services.

Two awards, namely the UPMaward for magazine printer of theyear (web) and first prize in thecategory “Catalogue printer of theyear”, were won by Kunst- undWerbedruck in Bad Oeynhausenfor the outstanding quality of itsmagazines and catalogues. A one-stop print media provider with 110employees, Kunst- und Werbe-druck’s press fleet includessheetfed litho presses and a 16-page KBA Compacta 217 commer-cial press.

Vogel Druck und Medienser-vice in Höchberg, near Würzburg,received a special commendationin the category “Magazine printerof the year”. Vogel, which has 400employees and is part of the Arva-to group, operates a new double-decker Compacta 217 and a Rapida105 medium-format press withDriveTronic SPC dedicated drives.

Herbert Preissler (l), managing director of Druckhaus Berlin-Mitte, expressing his delight at winning the award for the most environmentally focused enterprise of the year. Ralf Sammeck,KBA’s executive vice-president for sheetfed sales, is equally delighted

Hendrik Heidenreich and Rudolf Becker of Heidenreich Print displaying the coveted award for finisher of the year that they won with their medium- and large-format Rapidas

In December 2007 a big Conti-nent hybrid coldset/heatset press

line with ten four-high towers, twothermal air dryers, sixteen reel-stands and three folders set offfrom KBA’s Würzburg productionplant on its long journey to AbuDhabi in the United Arab Emirates.It was ear-marked for a new print-ing plant built by United Printing& Publishing (UPP) on the mainroute to Dubai and will later belinked with a nine-year-old Com-pacta 213 that will run alongside.Together the two press lines willboast a total production capacity of112 broadsheet or 224 tabloidpages, of which 48 broadsheet or96 tabloid pages can be printed infull colour. A 16-page KBA Com-

pacta 215 commercial web pressthat came on stream at UPP inspring 2007 will also be relocatedto the new printing plant, whichwhen completed will be among thebiggest in the Middle East.

The new press line, whichweighs in at several hundredtonnes, involves a lot more installa-tion and commissioning work than

a 1.65t historical stop-cylinderpress with counterweight drivethat KBA presented to UPP to com-memorate the two companies’longstanding and successful busi-ness relationship. The 160-year-oldpress will take pride of place in thefoyer of the new printing plant. Itwill provide visitors with a glimpseof what mechanical printing was

Ali Saif Al Nueaimi of United Printing & Publishing (UPP) proudly displaying the presentation certificate in KBA’s museum inWürzburg. Pictured with him (from left) areKBA sales manager Rainer Dluschek,Najib Awad of KBA agency Giffin Graphics,KBA service technician Tobias Stangl, salesmanager Bertram Bungartz, marketing director Klaus Schmidt and service managerPeter Ehehalt, and Baha’a El Din El Talle

like in the early days, when itentailed lead type and sweatedlabour – a far cry from today’s elec-tronics and digital data transfer viathe internet.

KBA marketing director KlausSchmidt ceremoniously handedover the historic stop-cylinderpress during a recent visit by a UPPdelegation to Würzburg.

Report 31 | 200850

Record 16-unit Rapida 105 for RR Donnelley in the USA

Shorts

KBA Commander to bring home the bacon in Denmark

At the beginning of NovemberKBA booked an order from Dan-

ish printing house RotationenNykøbing for a Commander nine-cylinder satellite press with a raftof features that include RollerTron-ic automatic roller locks. Deliveryis scheduled for late this year andthe press will be installed in a newprinting plant in Malmö, Sweden.Rotationen Nykøbing, which wasestablished in 1990 on the islandof Falster, is a longstanding KBAcustomer and has been running aComet press in 24-hour operationsince 1997, printing a local title,

Folketidende, and contract titleswith circulations in some cases ofover one million copies.

Managing director John Ander-sen says: “The new bridge linkingCopenhagen and Malmö has turbo-boosted the local economy. Thisinvestment in a new printing plantin Malmö, with a KBA Commanderas the mainstay, will enable us tobring work in-house that was previ-ously outsourced, and print jobsfaster, in full colour and to a high-er quality than ever before. It alsofurnishes a sound economic basisfor taking on additional work.”

The floor-mounted Comman-der for Rotationen Malmø willhave a cylinder circumference of1,120mm (44in), a maximum webwidth of 1,590mm (621/2in) and amaximum output of 85,000 copiesper hour in straight production. Itwill be configured with fourPastomat RC reelstands fed by aPatras M reel-handling system com-plete with stripping station; fournine-cylinder satellite towers for4/4; four turner bars; one foldersuperstructure with two formers;and one 2:5:5 KF 5 folder with asection stitcher and double quar-

terfold capability. It will also beable to inline glue and stitchtabloid copies.

The Commander’s numerousautomation modules include inkpumping, cylinder washing, twoconsoles with EAE’s Print produc-tion scheduling and press presetsoftware, RIP interface and a diag-nostics PC. These, in tandem withquality assurance systems (cut-offregister controls plus sidelay andweb centreline controls), will pro-mote a high level of productivityand image quality.

A KBA Commander press line will be installed late this year at a new printing plant in Malmö,Sweden, belonging to longstanding KBA customer Rotationen Nykøbing

In the printing industry KBA iswell known as a provider not only

of off-the-peg sheetfed presseswith four, five, six or even eightprinting units, but also of cus-tomised medium-and large-formatpresses that cater to some unusualspecifications with regard to thenumber of printing units, coatersand inline capabilities. Many yearsago the first 12-, 14- and 15-unitperfecting presses to hit the inter-national market rolled off the pro-duction line in Radebeul. OtherGerman press manufacturers laterfollowed suit, though the Japaneseare still practising. Long press linesdemand a lot of experience andengineering know-how.

From the left: Jan Drechsel, KBA sales director; Kevin Henges, The Nielsen Company press roommanager; Walter Chmura, KBA NA; Stefan Schmidt, KBA sales; Douglas Weber, Donnelley Corporateoffset technical manager; Jörg-Michael Minschke, KBA print instructor; John Lestingi, The NielsenCompany plant manager; and Frank Hollang, KBA print instructor, lining up at the longest-everRapida 105 following successful print tests

Not long ago The NielsenCompany in Florence, Kentucky, aprint enterprise belonging to RRDonnelley, the globally active USprint giant, took delivery of theworld’s first 16-unit Rapida 105with a total length of around 31m(102ft) including the console. Thehigh-automation press, which fea-tures a host of whistles and bells,has six printing units, a coater andtwo dryers – ie a total of nine units– before the automatically convert-ible perfecting unit, with a furthersix printing units, a coater and dou-ble extended delivery to follow. Itis so long that if you want to seethe whole press line, it is best tolook at a photograph.

Perhaps in future Kentuckywill become just as famous for itsunusual printing presses as it is for

its magnificent horses and, ofcourse, its world-renowned races.

Report 31 | 2008 51

Shorts

Swiss printer Lutz and its Rapida 74G

Swiss print provider Lutz’ avowedcommitment to on-site conser-

vation informs a modern ecologicalcorporate management. And play-ing a major role is a waterless Rap-ida 74G with keyless Gravuflowinking units.

Lutz is located in Speicher,high above the Goldach ravine inthe Swiss canton of AppenzellAusserrhoden. Heini Lutz tookover the book printer, which wasfounded in 1920, in 1981. SaysLutz: “For us, the future of our nat-ural environment is a prime issue.With a number of new investmentswe have made unique advancestowards ecologically responsibleproduction. And ecology willremain a key factor in future deci-sion-making.”

Following the introduction in2000 of an incentive tax on volatileorganic compounds (VOCs) andthe lowering of emission thresh-olds, Lutz conducted an exhaustiveanalysis of the potential risks andrewards associated with waterlessand keyless Gravuflow™ inkingtechnology. In 2004 Lutz becamethe first company in Switzerland toinvest in a Rapida 74G five-colourcoater press. “Our green creden-tials and emerging trends in thegovernment’s environmental policywere what motivated us to adoptthis new technology. Without inno-vative technology, environmental

conservation is virtually unthink-able,” says managing director Lutz.“Above all, the Rapida 74G gives usmuch greater flexibility in four-colour commercial production andallows us to offer quick delivery oftop-quality products. Fast make-readies and a low level of start-upwaste enhance cost efficiency, par-ticularly during short-run produc-tion.” Print runs range from 150 to20,000 sheets.

Under the VOC directive, thecurrent tax exemption for machineinstallations with emissions sub-stantially higher than the thresh-olds stipulated in the LRV (Luft-reinhalte-Verordnung, or clean-airact) will expire as early as the endof 2008 (an incentive tax of 3Swiss francs per kg VOC hasapplied since January 2003). Forthe print media industry this could

entail much higher costs. “One ofour prime environmental goals isthus the ongoing reduction of IPA.And ultimately that means a moveaway from fount solution,” stressesLutz.

Dispensing with fount solutionand dampening additives in offsetproduction not only reduces theoutlay on fresh water and IPA butalso the high cost of disposal forhazardous liquid waste. At thesame time this reduces the volumeof problem waste generated andimproves on-site waste manage-ment.

Lutz has redefined the bench-mark for quality-conscious andenvironmentally responsible printproduction in Switzerland with thecreation of an ecolabel, eps (eco-printing system®), an innovationthat is unique in Switzerland.

Success through conservation:an image gain in the market,contented staff in the company

Innovation and technology for sustained development:KBA’s Rapida 74G five-colourcoater press plays its part

Reportis a corporate magazine issued bythe Koenig & Bauer Group (KBA):

Koenig & Bauer AG, WürzburgFriedrich-Koenig-Strasse 497080 WürzburgGermanyTel: (+49) 931 909-4336Fax: (+49) 931 909-4101Web: www.kba-print.comE-mail: [email protected]

Koenig & Bauer AG, FrankenthalJohann-Klein-Strasse 167227 FrankenthalGermanyTel: (+49) 6233 873-3371Fax: (+49) 6233 873-3222Web: www.kba-print.comE-mail: [email protected]

Koenig & Bauer AG, RadebeulFriedrich-List-Strasse 4701445 Radebeul GermanyTel: (+49) 351 833-2580Fax: (+49) 351 833-1001Web: www.kba-print.comE-mail: [email protected]

KBA-Metronic AGBenzstrasse 1197209 VeitshöchheimGermanyTel: (+49) 931 9085-0Fax: (+49) 931 9085-100Web: www.kba-metronic.comE-mail: [email protected]

KBA-Grafitec s.r.o.Opocenská 8351819 DobruskaCzech RepublicTel: (+420) 494 672-111Fax: (+420) 494 623-675Web: www.kba-grafitec.czE-mail: [email protected]

PublisherKoenig & Bauer Group

Editor-in-chief:Klaus Schmidt, KBA director ofcommunications, Würzburg

Layout:Pia Vogel, Mannhof Media

Translation:Christina Degens-Kupp, KBA

Printed in the Federal Republic of Germany

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Just three months to Drupa - Koenig & Bauer

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