Standard Printing 'Doubles Down' with Second Six-Color Rapida 164

When Standard Printing sought a highly efficient solution to maintain support of its key customer base and provide additional growth capacity, the Canton, Ohio, firm turned to its press partner, Koenig & Bauer, for a new large format workhorse at its facility. The new Rapida 164 six-color plus coater, due for delivery this summer, will answer the continued demand for high end graphics for packaging and retail applications ranging from litho printed corrugated boxes to folding cartons to retail displays and signage.

“We pride ourselves on continuously staying current with the latest technological developments from all manufacturers in our industry,” says Bill Nolan, president of Standard Printing Company. “As a customer-centric company, we thoughtfully took action to ensure the ultimate in customer support by investing in another large format offset press from Koenig & Bauer.”

The Standard Printing team eagerly awaits its second new Koenig & Bauer Rapida Rapida 164 six-color press plus coater, which is due for delivery this summer. (Left to right) Shaun Fiddler, Pressman; Jim Mathews, Pressman / Supervisor; Jim Wessels, Pressroom Manager; Kevin Snodgrass, Feeder Operator; Arthur Foster, Second Pressman; and Rick Porrazzo, Vice President - Plant Manager.

In today’s aggressive market Standard is always seeking new ways to strengthen its leadership position. The trend line is continued growth in demand for high-end graphics for packaging and retail applications. The new press will optimize Standard’s output, providing higher run speeds and having the capability to run over 90% of the firm’s offset jobs, which typically call for one- to two- Pantone colors per job. It will be running as much as possible to leverage its industry leading capabilities, says Nolan.

“The new press has a lot of exciting productivity features that will optimize our throughput,” says Jim Wessels, Standard’s pressroom manager. “For example, we’ve configured the press with Koenig & Bauer’s unique (SRW) simultaneous roller wash on four units, simultaneous plate changing, and a higher running press speed than we’ve ever had before. To enable our press operators to work at maximum capacity, we’ve designed our Rapida with the Koenig & Bauer Plate Ident, which identifies that it’s the correct plate, pre-registers the plates, and automatically pre-sets job information preventing errors while saving time and money as well as an inline sheet inspection system that inspects every sheet. We also added extra drying capabilities in the press delivery and raised the press to run larger loads to keep up with the higher speeds.”

The new Rapida press will join an existing Koenig & Bauer Rapida 164 at Standard’s 153,000-sq.-ft. facility in Canton, Ohio, where it employs 115 people. It will act as a sister press and allow Standard to move jobs back and forth as needed.

“Over time the additional capacity will let us grow with other new customers,” says Nolan. “We’re proud of our reputation as a responsive, reliable, and knowledgeable printer.  We strive to add value through our industry expertise and by delivering our products on spec and on time. This new press will continue to position our company as a leading offset sheetfed printer.”

“We value our strong partnership with Standard,” says Kilian Renschler, president and CEO of Koenig & Bauer (US/CA). “Having supported Standard for nearly a decade, we’ve watched their business successfully grow and we’ve worked together to tailor one of our popular Rapida large format presses to fit their exact needs.

Source: Koenig & Bauer