KBA North America, a leading supplier of sheetfed offset and digital presses based in Williston, VT, has announced that Citation Graphics, a Pennsauken, NJ commercial printer offering print management services to its large, nation-wide customer base, has installed a KBA 74 Karat digital offset press in October 2005. The press is a key factor in helping Citation to manage its workflow and large output of job production during two of its busiest months of the year (November and December 2005). Impeccable quality, low waste "In 31 years of being in the graphic arts business, we've purchased many presses," says Joe LaGrossa, president of Citation. "The KBA 74 Karat is the best press I've ever bought! It has quality, flexibility, and cost efficiency. Since it is a waterless press, the solids are beautiful and they are not a challenge anymore. The quality is impeccable! Plus, we've posted major significant waste savings for paper and ink since we've switched to the 74 Karat. We have almost 100% efficiency in the use of our inks and in three months saved $50,000 overall in waste." Citation Graphics has grown its business by employing a three-pronged approach to its customer base. One-third of its business is derived from commercial printing; another one-third is comprised of marketing materials; and the final one-third is made up of print management accounts requiring production, warehousing, pick and pack, and distribution. Unique advantage: print management services "We provide print management services to a number of large national accounts, explains LaGrossa. "This includes sports teams, manufacturing and service organizations that require national distribution to as many as 2,500 locations. We are able to provide these services utilizing a streamlined process via a secured and individualized web site for each client. This enables clients the ability to place orders for both finished goods inventory and print on demand items. We fill the orders as needed and eliminate duplicate warehousing and fulfillment centers." Prior to installing the 74 Karat, Citation Graphics operated a 40-inch six-color offset press and an HP Indigo digital printing press with variable printing capabilities. The 40-inch offset press produced Citation's long-run jobs of 100,000 sheets or more and the HP Indigo digital press produced Citation's short-run work under 1,000 sheets. "What we needed was a great in-between press to give us the flexibility to produce a diversity of jobs," explains LaGrossa. "The KBA 74 Karat answers our needs. It enables us to keep all of our jobs in-house and with high-quality production, giving us value-added capabilities to offer to our clients. All of our presses are calibrated to each other providing our customers with the same high quality, tight registration that they require." Digital workflow a snap! Installation, training, and support have gone smoothly between Citation and KBA. Since Citation has had its HP Indigo digital press for five years, notes LaGrossa, his employees were already familiar with digital workflows. Plus, he remarks that KBA was extremely supportive in the start-up of the new press. "Once we've been running the press for several months, we plan to explore the use of different substrates on the 74 Karat, such as plastic and magnetic materials," says LaGrossa. "We'll explore these opportunities to determine what our clients might be interested in utilizing. The 74 Karat is giving us the flexibility to provide this additional service." Citation Graphics was established in 1975 in Pennsauken, NJ, outside of Philadelphia. The commercial printer offers design, printing, warehousing, fulfillment and distribution. Today, the firm has 80 employees in its 50,000 sq ft facility and posts $9 million in sales.