KBA North America, a leading supplier of sheetfed offset and digital presses based in Williston, VT, is announcing that Edison Litho & Printing, one of the largest large-format litho printers in the Northeast, has agreed to purchase a KBA Rapida 205 81-inch six-color press. The super large-format press will be installed later this year. “We have been waiting for a press this size and with this type of automation and quality for many years,” says George Gross, president of Edison Litho & Printing Corp. “The KBA Rapida 205 81-inch six-color press will give us so many opportunities to better serve our customers. The new press will give us a maximum sheet size of 59.5 x 81-inches running at a speed of 9,000 sph. We will be able to run paper and board stock ranging from 50 lb to 64 pt. Plus, this is the first press of this size to offer a wide range of automated technology, such as a fully-automatic plate changer, automatic blanket and impression cylinder washing systems, inline anilox coating system and drying options such as IR, UV, or hybrid. KBA has added its own Qualitronic inline sheet inspection system, KBA’s Densitronic quality control system, and inline perforating and slitting to the press. An automatic camera register control system provides an extremely efficient system for fast color registration on a press of this size.The KBA Rapida 205 is a revolutionary and unique piece of technology that will differentiate Edison Litho from the rest of its competitors.” High print quality, greater productivity, and fast ROI Edison Litho & Printing Corp. was attracted to the Rapida 205 for a number of reasons. First, the new press will allow the firm to produce extra large format jobs with extremely high print quality and low makeready times in a highly-automated 81-inch press format. Second, since the press is equal to running four 40-inch presses, the Rapida 205 can print one sheet in the same amount of time with less manpower and greater productivity thus providing a fast ROI. Third, its high degree of automation brings massive efficiencies in overall makeready time allowing Edison Litho to produce more jobs faster with higher throughput. Founded in 1958 in New York City, Edison Litho & Printing Corporation has grown to become a leading large format printer specializing in point-of-purchase displays and retail signage. The firm has an extensive client list of leading corporations and retailers who require point-of-purchase displays, in-store signage, brand marketing products, and custom, permanent retail displays and fixtures. The firm’s name has become synonymous with excellence in printing. In 1989, Edison Litho moved its headquarters to a new state-of-the-art 40,000 sq ft facility in North Bergen, NJ. The firm operates more than 12 large sheetfed presses, including two 54 x 77-inch and six 43 x 60-inch seven-color presses plus inline UV and aqueous coaters. The new KBA Rapida 205 81-inch press will become Edison’s thirteenth sheetfed press and the keystone for its future growth. In addition, Edison Litho expanded its New Jersey plant in 2005 to a total of 80,000 sq ft and installed a brand new web press in June.