KBA North America

Holger Garbrecht, the new president and CEO of KBA North America, took a few minutes to answer some questions regarding his company, the marketplace, new technology and the upcoming Drupa exhibition. As a relative newcomer to the American printing market, what are your observations of the U.S. printing industry in comparison to that of Western Europe? Holger Garbrecht: The U.S. market is more diverse. An example is that many printers are looking more toward large-format printing or long presses with UV and high automation. On the other hand, we are working with many customers that are looking for entry-level presses that will allow them

NEWBURYPORT, MA—More than 100 guests, including the town’s mayor and dignitaries from a number of manufacturers, publishers and printers, recently converged on Bradford & Bigelow for the dedication of its new corporate headquarters and manufacturing facility. The educational textbook printer began moving into its new 100,000-square-foot facility last January. The plant, which became fully operational by July, has more than doubled capacity. The pride and joy of the new facility is arguably Bradford & Bigelow’s impressive Digital Book Factory, along with its Timsons web presses equipped with UV capabilities. John Galligan, president of Bradford & Bigelow, says the company converted $10 million worth of Timsons

WILLISTON, VT—11/27/07—KBA North America reports that B&B Print Source, a leading Portland, Oregon, commercial and publication printer, is experiencing higher quality, reduced makeready times and faster running speeds with their new KBA Rapida 105 41-inch six-color sheetfed press with coater. “Our need for a new press was twofold,” says Mike Stevenson, president of B&B Print Source. “First, we were experiencing tremendous company growth, and second, we could see incredible opportunities in long runs that our existing customers currently ran on a web. After reviewing equipment from four major press manufacturers, we chose the KBA Rapida 105 41-inch six-color sheetfed press. With the higher speeds

FLYING CARS and colonies in space were once seriously predicted to be a reality by now. Closer to home, though, experts also said that Adobe Photoshop and the Mac would never be acceptable for professional graphic arts applications. Any attempt to predict the course of technological development amounts to an educated guess at best. Even once a prototype has been developed, the scale-up to volume production can be problematic. Often, it is an unexpected development that leads to success. Printed electronics, security printing and lenticular are three technological developments that may hold opportunities for commercial printers. Each is still a work in process to

WILLISTON, VT—With the prime foliage season as a backdrop, KBA North America held an open house October 12-14 in its demo center here to showcase its wide range of 20˝ to 81˝ sheetfed offset press offerings, including the 20˝ Genius 52 UV, 29˝ Performa 74, 41˝ Rapida 105 and 56˝ Rapida 142 presses. Holger Garbrecht, newly named president and CEO of KBA North America, welcomed the 150-plus attendees. “We want to show you special applications because this is a segment where you can still make a lot of money,” he noted. During the three-day presentation, presses produced jobs on a variety of substrates, including canvas, lenticular,

THINK OF a sheetfed offset UV press as a chemistry set for grownups, complete with an ever-shifting set of variables and a hands-on learning curve. The upside of that curve is the license to print an endless range of special effects impossible to achieve with conventional inks and coatings. And the downside? There isn’t one, according to a growing number of practitioners that may have assayed the market with a vague notion of value-added, then stayed once it became apparent what a mastery of UV techniques could mean to their competitive position and their bottom line. UV printing is not for the faint

WASHINGTON, DC—10/12/07—KBA North America, a leading press manufacturer based in Williston, VT, is announcing that Mosaic, a premier waterless print communication company specializing in Commercial, Digital, and Waterless Printing, Direct Mail Distribution and Web to Print Solutions, has agreed to purchase two new KBA Rapida 105 41-inch six-color sheetfed presses equipped with interdeck UV and waterless capabilities. The first Rapida 105 will be delivered to the firm’s Cheverly, Md. facility later this fall and the second KBA Rapida 105 will be delivered in the fall of 2008. “We have a reputation as a cutting-edge firm that is a leader in environmental initiatives and passionately

WILLISTON, VT—10/05/07—KBA North America, a global leading press manufacturer, will be holding an open house during the prime foliage season in northern Vermont for its customers and industry executives. The open house, scheduled for October 12-14, 2007, will present its wide range of award-winning press models and explore the newest innovations in the 41-inch and KBA-owned large-format market and will cover industry segments like commercial, packaging, labels, and other high-growth specialty markets. “We are eager to welcome all our customers, from small entrepreneurial companies to large organizations, to our open house during one of the most magnificent seasons of the year,” said Holger Garbrecht,

WILLISTON, VT—KBA North America has named Holger Garbrecht as its new president and CEO. Garbrecht replaces Ralf Sammeck, who was promoted to executive vice president of worldwide sheetfed sales. Garbrecht previously served with Heidelberg, where he was responsible for business in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He holds an MBA from the University of Applied Sciences Rheinland-Pfalz in international business, accounting and controlling. “KBA North America is the unparalleled technology leader in printing presses,” Garbrecht said in a release. “The firm continues to introduce groundbreaking press designs and the largest range of presses for printers of any size. I’m proud to be part of a

Heidelberg Opens VLF Assembly Hall WIESLOCH-WALLDORF, GERMANY—Bernhard Schreier, CEO of press manufacturer Heidelberger Druckmaschinen, officially opened assembly Hall 11 here on September 15. The hall measures 375,000 square feet (equivalent to almost five soccer fields) and will be used to assemble a new generation of large-format presses, the Speedmaster XL 145 and Speedmaster XL 162. Heidelberg invested around 45 million Euro in the building, making it the largest input of funds into the Wiesloch-Walldorf site in the last 10 years. The building’s foundation stone was laid May 15, 2006, and construction was completed in about 14 months. Assembly of the new large-format presses, which