Edison Litho Promotes Its KBA Large-Format Presses at Recent Events

Las Vegas show features football great while North Bergen, NJ mayor cuts ceremonial ribbon

NORTH BERGEN, NJ—04/30/07—Edison Litho & Printing, one of the largest large-format litho printers in the Northeast, has been effectively promoting its large-format capabilities at different recent events.

At the GlobalShop show, the largest retail design and in-store marketing event held in Las Vegas in early March 2007, Edison enlisted William “The Refrigerator” Perry, a retired Chicago Bear football player known for his considerable size—standing 6 ft 2 inches tall and weighing as much as 370 lb.--to promote its KBA Rapida 205 81-inch six-color sheetfed press and its KBA Rapida 162 64-inch six-color press. Perry appeared at the Edison Litho booth to sign autographs and have his picture taken with show-goers. Edison also raffled a Chicago Bear’s football jersey worn by Perry.

On April 18, Edison invited its local mayor of North Bergen, NJ, to cut the ceremonial ribbon signifying the start-up of Edison’s KBA Rapida 162 64-inch six-color press. The honorable Nicholas J. Sacco was also able to view one of the largest presses in the world, the KBA Rapida 205 81-inch six-color sheetfed press that Edison Litho installed in 2005.

“Since the installation of our two KBA large format presses, we’re a different company,” exclaims George Gross, Edison’s President. “The KBA presses have changed us. We’re up on a pedestal now.”

Edison’s KBA presses + Refrigerator Perry = Perfection, winning, high-quality

Perry’s two hours at the Edison Litho booth drew hundreds of show-goers who were anxious to meet and be photographed with the former football great who carried the touchdown allowing the Chicago Bears to win Super Bowl XX. Perry signed posters of himself printed on the KBA Rapida large format presses at Edison Litho.

“We wanted to stand-out at the show and what better way to promote our large-format capability but to have a celebrity football player at our booth,” says Joe Ostreicher, Edison’s Vice President. “We chose William “The Refrigerator” Perry because he personifies everything about Edison Litho: perfection, a winner who will go the extra mile, and a high-quality player with a superb large-format size.”

On April 18, the mayor of North Bergen, NJ, attended ribbon-cutting ceremonies at Edison’s 80,000 sq ft facility. After taking a tour of Edison’s facilities and learning how printing presses operate, Sacco helped to cut the ceremonial ribbon on the Rapida 162 along with Edison’s vice president Joe Ostreicher and KBA vice president Eric Frank.

“I am honored to help Edison commemorate the start-up of its new Rapida press,” says Sacco. “Edison is the largest firm in our town and I was very impressed with the size of the presses and the facility, as well as the quality of the work that they produce. North Bergen appreciates commercial businesses such as Edison and we are pleased their venture is thriving.”

Brilliant marketing plan

“Edison Litho has certainly set itself apart in the large format arena with its two KBA presses,” says Ed Heffernan, KBA sales manager. “By inviting William “The Refrigerator” Perry to appear at their booth signifying their leadership in the large format market, Edison has used a brilliant and effective marketing plan to grow their customer base, show customers how they can best serve them, and distinguish themselves with their KBA presses. Having the Mayor of North Bergen visit their facility and commemorate the start-up of the press allows local customers to see the importance of their investment.”

In December 2006, Edison signed an agreement to purchase its second KBA large format press in less than two years. Edison took delivery of a Rapida 162 64-inch six-color sheetfed press with aqueous coater in January 2007, nearly two years after the firm installed its Rapida 205 81-inch six-color sheetfed press.

The KBA Rapida 205 81-inch six-color press features a maximum sheet size of 59.5 x 81-inches running at a speed of 9,000 sph. It gives Edison the ability to run paper and board stock ranging from 80 lb to 48 pt. Plus, it is the first press of this size to offer a wide range of features such as a fully-automatic plate changer, automatic blanket and impression cylinder washing systems, inline anilox coating system and drying options such as IR, UV, or hybrid. New technology and automation also includes KBA’s Densitronic quality control system, and inline perforating and slitting to the press. An automatic camera register control system provides an extremely efficient system for fast color registration on a press of this size.

P.O.P., Packaging and Posters

Since the installation of the Rapida 205 81-inch sheetfed press, the world’s largest press and the winner of the prestigious GATF InterTech Award, Edison has had the press on a 24 hour shift producing point-of-purchase, packaging, poster, retail signage, and other large format jobs for both existing and new customers. This press has helped Edison grow its business.

Edison Litho & Printing Corp. was attracted to the Rapida 205 for a number of reasons. First, the super large-format press allows the firm to produce extra large format jobs with extremely high print quality and low makeready times in a highly-automated 81-inch press format. Second, since the press is equal to running four 40-inch presses, the Rapida 205 can print one sheet in the same amount of time with less manpower and greater productivity thus providing a fast ROI. Third, its high degree of automation brings massive efficiencies in overall makeready time allowing Edison Litho to produce more jobs faster with higher throughput.

The GlobalShop Show was held at the Venetian’s Sands Expo in Las Vegas on March 7-9, 2007. The trade show is billed as the largest and most exciting retail design and in-store marketing event of the year. From introducing new store or brand concepts, to strengthening and re-imaging existing ones, GlobalShop is considered the one-stop shop for insight and solutions for market branding. Featuring more than 900 exhibitors, GlobalShop 2007 featured innovative products and technologies, unveiled buying trends and forecasts, and discussed new branding strategies.

Founded in 1958 in New York City, Edison Litho & Printing Corporation has grown to become a leading large format printer specializing in point-of-purchase displays and retail signage. The firm has an extensive client list of leading corporations and retailers who require point-of-purchase displays, in-store signage, brand marketing products, and custom, permanent retail displays and fixtures. The firm’s name has become synonymous with excellence in printing.

In 1989, Edison Litho moved its headquarters to a new state-of-the-art 40,000 sq ft facility in North Bergen, NJ. The firm operates large sheetfed presses, including 54 x 79-inch and 40-inch six-color presses plus inline UV and aqueous coaters. The KBA Rapida 205 81-inch press and KBA Rapida 162 64-inch six-color press are Edison’s latest additions. Recently, Edison Litho expanded its New Jersey plant in 2005 to a total of 80,000 sq ft and installed a new web press.

KBA North America is a member of the KBA Group, a leading supplier of sheetfed, webfed, and digital offset presses located in Williston, Vermont. At KBA, we are dedicated to excellence in printing technology. Our greatest satisfaction comes from helping our customers succeed by building presses that enable their businesses to prosper. From engineering through production, our focus is on people, providing flexible technology, customized printing solutions, and personal service to help our partners differentiate themselves and be successful today and in the future.