KBA’s Frankenthal Press Plant Celebrating Its 150th Jubilee

2007: gravure business sold off
Diminishing print runs, and the internet-driven transformation of the media marketplace, impacted heavily on high-volume magazines and catalogues. The result was overcapacity, price erosion and a slump in demand for rotogravure presses, which were also being challenged by ever wider, faster and more automated web offset presses. Whereas KBA and its Italian rival Cerutti had previously competed for ten to 15 contracts a year, suddenly there were only one or two. The market was no longer big enough to support two vendors, and in 2007 KBA sold its gravure business to Cerutti.