KBA North America, a leading supplier of sheetfed offset and digital presses based in Williston, VT, is announcing its rise to second place in sheetfed press sales in the US printing press equipment market after Heidelberg. This elevation to the second place position has occurred due to KBA North America's extraordinary sales numbers. Within the past three years, KBA North America has doubled its press sales and has risen to hold the second place market share in total sheetfed sales dollars. KBA North America is the fastest-growing press manufacturer in the United States having posted an unprecedented 42% increase in sales in the commercial, packaging, and digital markets during the past year. In addition, the KBA group worldwide believes it reached second place in global sheetfed press sales in 2004 with sheetfed sales of €716.2 million and has consolidated that position in the first half of 2005 with sales of €345.2 million (up 18.2%) and new orders of €479.1 million (up 12.3%). Sheetfed turnover for the entire year of 2005 will be significantly higher than in 2004. Ralf Sammeck, president and CEO of KBA North America says, “In today's competitive environment, customers need to differentiate themselves from other printers. KBA has differentiated itself from other press manufacturers by offering the widest selection of presses. We offer the small footprint Genius 52 and 74 Karat, the popular Rapida 105 41-inch press, our line of large format presses, and the Rapida 205 81-inch press, the largest in the world. We believe that this wide selection of presses allows our customers to choose the press that is best suited to their business model rather than forcing them to purchase a press because it's the only one we offer.”