(September 22, 2008) KBA North America, a global press manufacturer based in Williston, Vermont, announces that Accurate Plastic Printers, a custom plastic printer in Clifton, New Jersey, is enjoying much faster speeds, quicker turnaround, and higher quality after the installation of its KBA Genius 52 UV press in June 2008. The Genius will join Accurate's digital offset six-color press and screen printing capabilities to allow the firm to expand its customer base and continue to produce a wide range of unique products.
 
"Our main goal is to service our nationwide customers," says Carlos Agudelo, founder and president of Accurate Plastic Printers. "Since we've been printing on our KBA Genius 52, we've been better able to keep to that mandate. The Genius provides us with 10 times faster speeds, much higher resolution, and a larger print area. Eighty to 90 percent of our jobs are now assigned to the Genius. The installation is producing a great result for us, and our customers appreciate the work being produced."
 
The Genius 52 UV, which received the prestigious GATF InterTech award in 2006, is the world's first waterless UV sheetfed offset press. The maximum sheet size is 14 3/16" x 20", and it can operate at 8,000 sph. The unique press features keyless inking, waterless technology, extended delivery, and integrated dryers. It is designed to print on a variety of paper, board, and plastics, including lenticular surfaces, PVC, Styrene, Polyethylene, static cling vinyl, low tack vinyl, and others. It features an automatic plate-changing device that guarantees short setup times, reliable reproducibility, and brilliant offset quality. The Genius 52 control console features a touch-screen display that can slide from one end of the press to the other for easy press operator access. The press prints in five colors with UV curing inks that rapidly and completely harden through an efficient integrated drying system, which allows further processing, such as laminating or punching, immediately afterward.
 
"We have been using a digital offset six-color press," says Agudelo. "But there were a number of limitations. We found that we needed to treat substrates before using them to print. We also received a large job order from the U.S. government that required a bigger print area, and the digital press didn't accommodate it. Rather than send the job to an outside source where we would lose control over print production and security, we decided to install the KBA Genius to fulfill this order and many like it. The Genius will now be working hand-in-hand with the digital offset six-color press, which can be used for variable data jobs while the Genius provides the high speed to lower the manufacturing costs."
 
Now, reports Agudelo, the company can produce an array of work with a faster turnaround (thus allowing the company to increase the number of print jobs on the Genius) and higher quality and four-color resolution. In fact, the increased output on the Genius is creating a bottleneck in the bindery department, where Agudelo is now considering more finishing equipment. The company president feels that his customer base will only continue to grow as job orders flow in from Internet sales and contracted business in these new markets.
 
"We've worked closely with Accurate Plastic Printers to ensure that their press is producing the high-quality jobs expected by their customers," says Ed Heffernan, KBA sales manager. "After hosting the pressroom operator at our customer care center in Williston, Vermont, where we ran the firm's substrates and jobs through our own Genius, we provided in-house training at their facility."
 
Accurate Plastic Printers was established in 1996 as a purveyor of high-quality custom plastic printing and silk screening services. In its 10,000-square-foot facility, the firm produces plastic business cards, membership cards, ID cards, benefit cards, library cards, promotional items, shelf talkers and danglers, signs, tags, door hangers, rulers, and circular calculators. It offers a range of services, including litho printing, silk screening, die cutting, embossing, foil stamping, laminating, magnetic striping, signature panel application, heat bending, eyeleting, wire-o-binding, UV inks with invisible inks, d.s.i. products, and any other type of plastic printing or finishing service.
 
KBA North America is a member of the KBA Group, a leading global supplier of sheetfed, webfed, and digital offset presses located in Williston, Vermont. KBA is dedicated to excellence in printing technology. The company's greatest satisfaction comes from helping its customers succeed by building presses that enable their businesses to prosper. From engineering through production, KBA's focus is on people, providing flexible technology, customized printing solutions, and personal service to help its partners differentiate themselves and be successful today and in the future.