KBA China participated in the first CHIPF from 2-4 June 2010 in Beijing under the banner "Champions in Packaging". Following the sweeping success of KBA's new Rapida 75 at last year's China Print, where the focus was on its commercial capabilities, this year a four-colour version with the larger 605 x 750mm (23.8 x 29.5in) format was promoted as the ideal solution for small-scale packaging and all-round printers. KBA was unique among exhibitors in offering "live" press demos complete with job and substrate changes from 230gsm cardboard (84lb cover) to 157gsm (105lb) art paper, and these four-a-day events proved to be the highlight of the show.

After conducting a careful and thorough evaluation of German and Japanese competitors' models prior to the exhibition, Beijing Yinjiang signed up for a four-colour Rapida 105 less than two hours into the first day. The announcement coincided with a visit to the KBA stand by representatives of the organisers, the China Packaging Federation and World Packaging Organisation.


20 orders from Chinese printers for LF Rapidas in 2010 alone

By midday KBA China had set a further milestone: Beijing Jiazheng, a loyal KBA customer with five Rapida 105 B1 (41in) presses, opted for a B0 (56in) Rapida 142 five-colour coater press. This was KBA China's 20th large-format contract in 2010 alone, underscoring KBA's undisputed leadership in the Chinese large-format sector, where it is way ahead of any other supplier – including German rivals. One of them recently "celebrated" the sale of its third large-format press in China in three years. In addition to the order from Beijing Jiazheng a further four contracts and letters of intent for large-format presses were signed on the KBA stand at CHIPF.


"Calculated on the average daily order intake this show is the most successful in KBA China's brief existence," said Walter Zehner after an exhausting two-and-a-half days for the exhibition team. "Our customers acknowledge KBA's leadership in packaging printing and know that they have a reliable partner in the local KBA service organisation. Our success confirms that we are on the right track."

KBA is the market leader in large-format and packaging printing in China and in 2009 ranked second among all press suppliers to the Chinese printing industry.