KBA North America, a leading supplier of sheetfed offset and digital presses based in Williston, VT, is planning its most dynamic booth for Print 05 & Converting 05, the largest, most comprehensive event for the commercial, package printing, and converting industry in the world in 2005, scheduled for September 9-15 at Chicago's McCormick Place. The KBA North America booth is Booth 4045. The firm will show the world why it is the fastest-growing press manufacturer with a 42% growth rate this past year and offers the widest array of high quality presses for all types of printers from its Genius 52 20-inch press to the super large-format Rapida 205 81-inch press, the world’s largest. Press range from 20 to 56 inches on showfloor KBA’s 12,000 sq ft booth will be an interactive display for attendees to see the most modern and highly-technological press equipment available. Five of KBA’s newly-engineered and most popular press models will be on site at the booth: - the Rapida 105 41-inch six-color plus coater, the fastest available 41” sheetfed press with 50+ installations worldwide. - the Rapida 142 56-inch six color plus coater, - the new Performa 74 five-color plus coater, - the Genius 52 UV five color, world’s first waterless UV press, and - the 74 Karat digital offset press, world’s only waterless DI press with a Gravuflow inking system. KBA is noted as the engineering and technology leader with the newest innovations on its printing presses. Attendees will be able to see an amazing 40 different jobs being printed at the KBA booth on a variety of substrates, including paper, plastic, and board. Among the jobs being printed include work for Hummel, a Danish-based manufacturer of high-performance sports and leisure wear; Saleen Inc., a manufacturer of high-performance specialty vehicles; STX Lacrosse, a US-based manufacturer of lacrosse sticks; Ford Mustang cars; Vermont-based Ben & Jerry’s ice cream; a joint print job with Flint Ink and Creo displaying stochastic and spotless technology and much more. “We feel that our dynamic booth at Print 05 will definitively differentiate us from the competition, as our presses do for our customers,” says Ralf Sammeck, KBA’s president and CEO. “Attendees will be able to see our high-tech presses in action and the amazing quality they produce. Our company has felt the pulse of the printing industry and we’re here to share our unique capabilities and partner with printers worldwide.” New standard in press technology: 18,000 sph and up to 14 units The centerpiece of KBA’s press line is its popular Rapida 105 41-inch sheetfed press, which features the fast speed of 18,000 sph, a stock range of 48# to 48pt with no gripper adjustments, and the unique mark-free vacuum side guide. The Rapida 105 is available as a perfector and up to 14 colors. It has been especially popular with commercial UV and hybrid printers with its fast “wash and print” system. KBA will also show the largest press at Print 05, a Rapida 142 - 56” press. KBA’s large format product lines are hot and are being sold to an array of printers in all segments. Particularly hot are commercial printers wanting to “go large format” as they see the benefits of being able to print a 2-up forty inch sheets. During Print 05 KBA will also demonstrate the financial benefits of large format printing. Latest KBA acquisition on showfloor as well One of the newest presses in KBA’s arsenal is the Performa 74, which was recently added when KBA acquired Czech press manufacturer Grafitec earlier this year. At Print 05, the Performa press will debut with its new KBA design for the first time. It is designed as an economical entry point for smaller and medium-size businesses active in multicolor commercial printing. The Genius 52 is a 20-inch format press designed for the short-run color market. It can produce the highest waterless print quality with only two transfer points in less than five minutes. The Genius 52 features one-operator ability, ultra short make ready times of less than 5 minutes from approved-sheet to approved-sheet, a unique ability to print on a wide variety of stock up to 32 pt, its high quality print results and the low startup waste of less than 10 sheets. The 74 Karat 29-inch digital offset press produces waterless print quality and consistent color on a variety of substrates such as onionskin, board, plastics, and lenticular. The Karat features the unique Gravuflow inking system in combination with a Creo direct imaging system and as a result a quick makeready of around 15 minutes from approved-sheet to approved-sheet, low waste of less than 10 sheets, and ease of use. Software innovations to improve print quality and reduce waste KBA North America also offers many unique innovative features. One such product is the new cutting-edge Qualitronic II inline sheet inspection system. Launched at Drupa 2004, the new Qualitronic II inline sheet inspection system cuts waste and flags imperfect sheets. The system utilizes a color camera that is mounted near the delivery area and aimed at the impression cylinder through a narrow slit in the floor plate. During the press run, each printed sheet is scanned at ultra-high resolution. Within this ultra-high resolution, the system can detect even the slightest color deviation, distinguishing over 16 million colors. In addition to segregating imperfect sheets from the run, the Qualitronic II system reduces waste by warning the operator of deviations in the press run, such as fading colors due to lack of ink. The operator is able to react before large quantities of waste sheets accumulate unnecessary costs. Another unique innovation is the KBA Densitronic S, a combined density and color measuring system for quality control both during and after printing. Unlike any other system available on the market, Densitronic S also permits direct measurements within the image. Deviations from defined target densities, color values and other quality parameters (dot gain, trapping, etc.) are recognized and displayed not only reliably, but also immediately in comparison to hand-held measuring devices. With integration for online control, the density and spectral deviations are converted into corrective adjustments for the individual ink keys. The Densitronic S controls the density and spectral parameters of each sheet by measuring along control strips or directly on the image. KBA, family-owned for over 190 years, only sells printing presses and focuses on its customer’s needs, their growth and markets, and delivers and installs the presses from Germany with the same crew that built the press.