KBA North America, a leading sheetfed offset press manufacturer based in Williston, Vt., held a successful open house on December 10 for key North and South Carolina printers to see the KBA 74 Karat digital offset waterless press. The open house was held at Minors Printing, a full-service general commercial printing firm located in Boone, N.C., which installed the first 74 Karat with Gravuflow inking system and coater this past fall in the three-state region of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. An invitation-only open house attracted an elite group of key decision-makers to the half-day presentation. After a full length presentation by KBA, attendees were able to participate in a question-and-answer session. Next, Phil Minor, co-owner of Minors Printing, produced a couple of different jobs on the 74 Karat: among them was a four-color promotional poster of a scenic view; the other was a book cover on linen material. During these live jobs, attendees were able to see firsthand the Karat’s ultra short make-ready times from approved sheet to approved sheet in just 15 minutes, which includes automatic blanket washing, plate changing, direct imaging, plate cleaning, and its low start-up waste of 10 sheets. Each sheet displayed the Karat’s very high repetitive accuracy due to the Karat’s unique press design and patented Gravuflow inking system. The press sheets also displayed the Karat’s dot-sharp image quality, which is due to its modern imaging system. “Our goal was to show the superior print quality, flexibility, dependability, and ease of use of the 74 Karat,” says Sam Creel, KBA’s district sales manager for the region. “All of the attendees were quite impressed with the press and gained a great deal of knowledge on how it can fit into their workflow and expand their customer base. It was a very successful open house and we thank Minors Printing for opening up their facility to us.” Minors Printing was established by Joe Minor in 1972 as a small quick printing operation running a duplicator press. Today the 22-employee general commercial printing firm is co-owned by Phil Minor and Jan Moretz, Joe’s son and daughter. The firm offers full-color printing on a 20 x 26” four-color press and a two-color machine. The shop operates a full bindery equipped with a six-pocket saddle stitcher, a perfect binder, plus cutters, folders, and inline gluing. Eight years ago the firm added mailing equipment. KBA North America is a leading supplier of sheetfed offset and digital presses located in Williston, VT. It is a member of the KBA Group, a leader in the manufacture of sheetfed offset, digital offset, web offset, rotogravure directory, security, and newspaper presses.