KBA Excels at GRAPH EXPO 2011, Books Two Large-Format Press Sales

DALLAS—Oct. 18, 2011—KBA North America proudly announces that it recently concluded an exceptional Graph Expo 2011 with a double large-format press sale, the announcement of a new digital press model in collaboration with RR Donnelley, and the presentation of the prestigious Printing Industries of America InterTech award for the unique FlyingJob Change technology, all providing exciting momentum toward Drupa 2012. Graph Expo was held from Sept. 11-14 at McCormick Place in Chicago.

“We were elated at the crowds of attendees who were well-qualified printers to visit our booth and learn more about our wide range of sheetfed and web presses,” says Mark Hischar, president and CEO of KBA North America. “We’re proud to have gained a new customer who has purchased two of our exceptional large-format presses and to announce further information about our alliance with RR Donnelley and our new digital press introduction at Drupa.”

At the show, Specialty Finishing, an Omaha, Nebraska full service folding carton manufacturer, purchased two large format presses from KBA North America. The new presses are a six-color and a seven-color equipped with KBA’s unique automation and inline quality control features and coaters. These are the first KBA presses purchased by Specialty Finishing.

“We chose to purchase two large-format presses from KBA because they could offer the highest level of automation and productivity as well as a custom-configured press for our particular needs,” says Mark Wright, Specialty Finishing president. “These presses will allow our company to continue its rapid growth and offer our customers the highest level of productivity and quality that they expect. We needed the added capacity because we’ve been experiencing 25% growth year-over-year for the past several years.”

The KBA press conference on Monday September 12 included special guests Mary Lee Schneider, President of Digital Solutions and Chief Technology Officer of RR Donnelley, and Claus Bolza-Schünemann, Deputy President and Executive Vice President Engineering and Manufacturing Web Presses for KBA, who provided additional information about KBA's ongoing development of several digital press platforms incorporating inkjet technology from RR Donnelley.

While non-disclosure agreements between KBA and RR Donnelley limited details about the new press, which is to have its debut at Drupa 2012, Schneider and Bolza-Schünemann did elaborate that the press will be based on RR Donnelley's next generation piezoelectric digital inkjet press technology. Future developments will include incorporating other RR Donnelley proprietary variable inkjet technologies including the "Apollo" technology disclosed by RR Donnelley in 2009 into a variety of KBA press platforms.

“After evaluating all of the press manufacturers, we chose to collaborate with KBA because their goals and strategy align so closely with our company,” says Schneider of RR Donnelley. “We felt that our research and development teams could easily collaborate on a new digital press product that would be beneficial for both firms.”

KBA also received its latest 2011 Printing Industries of America InterTech™ Technology Award for its unique FlyingJob Change technology. The 2011 InterTech Technology Award was presented to KBA at the 2011 Premier Print Awards and InterTech Technology Awards Gala on Sunday, September 11th, 2011 at the Marriott Chicago Downtown during Graph Expo.

The Flying JobChange makes the pressroom faster and more efficient. Plates for each new job can be changed on-the-fly at an impressive speed of 10,000 sheets per hour; then the press can be accelerated back to its production speed of 18,000 sheets per hour (depending on the configuration). This means there is no make-ready downtime and the production can be completed without interruptions.

The Flying JobChange

• Drastically reduces production times and machine downtime thus enabling the printer to prepare the press for the next make ready while the press is running.
• Offers practically zero make ready time
• Is perfect for ultra short runs
• Allows multiple processes to take place at the same time without stopping press production; the press is continually running during the process.

About KBA North America
KBA North America is located in Dallas and a member of the KBA Group. Established 194 years ago in Wuerzburg, Germany, Koenig & Bauer AG (KBA) is the oldest and second largest press manufacturer worldwide. KBA's banner, 'People & Print', reflects its dual focus as a leading innovator for print entrepreneurs. The group's product range is the broadest in the industry; its portfolio includes commercial and newspaper web presses, sheetfed offset presses in all format classes, special presses for books, inserts, banknotes, securities, metal-decorating, smart cards; CDs and DVDs plus inkjet and other coding systems.

Source: KBA.