Leading South Carolina folding carton manufacturer adds speed, quality, and throughput
 
KBA North America, a global press manufacturer based in Dallas, Texas, announces that Ambassador Packaging, a leading folding carton printer located in York, South Carolina, is increasing its capabilities with the purchase and delivery of a new KBA Rapida 106 41-inch six-color press with coater at the end of December 2009.
 
“Our goal is to continually serve our customer with the highest quality and fastest throughput,” says David Martin, president and CEO of Ambassador. “By adding our new KBA Rapida 106 41-inch six-color press we’re showing our customers and competitors that we’re serious about our business and we’re willing to invest and install a new press that has been named ‘the world make-ready champion’ and has the proven automation and technology to serve their needs.”
 
While Ambassador Packaging has a strong presence in the large format folding carton market, the firm is strengthening its production of small-format folding cartons. The new Rapida 106 41-inch six-color press, which made its debut at DRUPA 08, features a high press speed of 18,000 sph output, ultrafast makeready times, and expanded automation and productivity. The press provides a wide choice of automation options, including the KBA DriveTronic dedicated drives and simultaneous plate mounting system, as well as the DriveTronic feeder, with its presetting capabilities. The press also features the GATF InterTech award–winning sidelay-free infeed, DriveTronic SIS. Its KBA Logotronic management system provides company-wide digital data exchange between management, production, purchasing, logistics, and general office departments.  New technology on press also includes the KBA Densitronic S closed-loop color management scanning densitometry system. The substrate range runs from lightweight papers to heavy board, from plastic films to corrugated—all without adjusting any grippers. At DRUPA and PRINT 09, the Rapida 106 continued to execute the fastest make-ready times for multiple jobs in front of the show crowds.
 
The new Rapida 106 will join the firm’s large-format KBA Rapida 142 56-inch six-color press, which is outfitted with a spectrophotometer color scanner to insure color consistency through the complete production run. The KBA Rapida 142 has the capability of producing 15,000 sheets per hour, automatic plant hanging, auto wash-up, and many other automated features. It can print on a multitude of substrates: plastics, fine paper, E-F flute corrugated, and many other standard paper board sizes. However, Ambassador mainly uses folding paperboard to produce the majority of its folding carton work.
 
“We’ve developed a strong loyal relationship with KBA,” says Martin. “When we decided to add a new press, we didn’t look any further than KBA. While there are many other press manufacturers in our market, KBA has distinguished itself with award-winning automated technology, new press designs, and an unmatched service and training team.”
 
Established in 1989, Ambassador Packaging has grown to become one of the leading folding carton manufacturers. The firm’s 60 employees are headquartered at its 165,000 sq ft facility in York, South Carolina, on the northern border of South Carolina outside of Charlotte, North Carolina. Ambassador specializes in folding cartons for the automobile, pharmaceutical, cosmetic, food, and any other industry utilizing folding cartons.