Despite the economic crisis attendance was high at the Poligrafia trade fair from 21 to 24 April in Poznan, Poland. The focus of attention was a six-colour B2 (29in) KBA Rapida 75 – the only sheetfed offset press demonstrated at the fair and evidence of the strong presence that KBA and its local subsidiaries, Warsaw-based KBA-Polska and KBA-Grafitec in the Czech Republic, have established in the Polish market.

“Our participation in Poligrafia 2009 is a natural part of KBA’s presence in the Polish and east European market,” says Jan Korenc, KBA-Grafitec’s vice-president for sales, service and marketing. “This is a splendid occasion to show our newest technological achievements – this year it is the KBA Rapida 75 – and to meet our customers. Poland is a very important market for the KBA group: we are one of the key players here, with over six hundred presses installed throughout the country. So we couldn’t miss the opportunity to promote our products at the exhibition.”

“In a tough economic climate, Poligrafia created a perfect forum for discussions with our customers,” adds KBA-Polska president Oliver Becker. “We have shown that we are a reliable partner, always ready to meet and discuss new projects. Our presence in Poznan is also a sign of respect towards customers who invested in our presses and technology. In 2009 there is no better event in this part of Europe for demonstrating new products to a broader audience.”

The frequent daily demonstrations on the KBA Rapida 75 coater press included posters and postcards printed on different substrates such as plain paper, cardboard and plastic using standard and metallic inks and coated to achieve a variety of effects, eg matt/gloss contrasts and drip-off.

The new 15,000sph Rapida 75, which debuted at Drupa 2008, offers a standard format of 530 x 750mm (20.86 x 29.53in), with 605 x 750mm (23.81 x 29.53in) available as an option for printing labels and packaging. It boasts a raft of labour-saving features that include semi-automatic plate changing, automatic washing of ink rollers, blanket and impression cylinders, JDF-compliant console software and DensiTronic colour density measurement and control. The press can handle substrates up to 0.6mm (24pt) thick and can be configured with as many as eight printing units plus coater. Autoconvertible triple-drum perfecting is also available.

Says Korenc: “Since its market launch the KBA Rapida 75 has become a popular choice among Polish printers. At Poligrafia this was confirmed by the well-attended press demos and by the number of contracts signed. Altogether we booked four orders for a total of 17 printing units. Our Polish customers are very loyal to our brand; many of them have already signed up for their second of even third KBA press.”

Summing up, Oliver Becker says: “There has been a lot of interest, too, in the medium- and large-format Rapida presses built in Radebeul, as well as in the Karat DI offset press and compact Genius 52UV. Poligrafia was a big success for KBA-Polska, particularly when compared to fairs held during previous downturns. It gave us the opportunity to promote KBA’s broad range of products and their many unique features both to existing customers and to prospects, particularly those who were unable to attend Drupa 2008. We were also approached by a lot of web printers keen to come up to speed with the latest advances in newspaper and commercial press technology. We are now hoping for some brisk post-fair business.”