KBA North America, a global press manufacturer based in Dallas, Texas, is strengthening its customer relations by putting special emphasis on "customer" in its new Customer Center at its newly-opened Dallas headquarters. The over 6,000 sq ft facility, which is within 10 minutes of the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport, provides efficient one-day demo and training seminars for busy printer customers to help expand the scope of their own printing operations.
 
"Other printing press manufacturers may refer to their equipment centers as demo-rooms or showcases," says Chris Travis, director of technology at KBA North America. "Our emphasis is squarely on the customer. Our Customer Center offers new equipment demonstrations, helps customers with unique printing techniques, shows them how to produce valuable new products, provides one-on-one training, and shows them how to produce dazzling special effects. We're pushing the boundaries of printing with key vendor-partners and providing unique printing processes, new substrates, and unique screenings."
 
Easy one-day visits
 
"The ease of getting to us and seeing demonstrations in one day is fantastic," says Travis. "I've had a customer fly to Dallas from Wisconsin and arrive at 9:30 a.m. Within 15 minutes, we're providing a live demonstration on the Genius and by 3:30 p.m., they are back at the airport for their flight home."
 
Incorporating an important growing trend in the industry toward more environmentally-friendly, eco-conscious printing, the new Customer Center features a partnership with ClimatePartner, as well as using "green" consumables, such as biodegradable shop cloths. KBA began working with ClimatePartner in 2008, one of the first press manufacturers to do so. Climate-neutral printing refers to print productions in which greenhouse gas emissions are calculated and offset by the purchase of emission allowances. ClimatePartner offers KBA customers the ability to use a standardized method to calculate the emissions of an individual print product and to offset those emissions by investing in approved climate protection projects.
 
Beyond the center within a 30-minute radius are four prominent KBA customers: Cartamundi, Southern Champion Tray, Branch Smith, and Motivating Graphics. Cartamundi, a major producer of card products and rising commercial packaging printer, is utilizing its new customized KBA Rapida 106 five-over-five 41-inch sheetfed perfector press with full UV capabilities, coating, and board kit. Southern Champion Tray, a large international packaging printer of paperboard, boxes, trays, and other paper food packaging for bakery and food service, started production in September 2010 on its new KBA Rapida 106 41-inch seven-color sheetfed press. Branch-Smith Printing, an award-winning family-owned printer of publications, catalogs, and books based in Fort Worth, Texas, operates a KBA Rapida 130 51-inch eight-color four-over-four perfector press with a roll sheeter. Motivating Graphics, a commercial and packaging printer, has a host of KBA presses including a new Rapida 162 64-inch press.
 
For those who can not make the commitment to visit the Dallas facility, KBA continues its unique webcam operation. The new webcam demonstration, training, and application testing program for its current customers and future customers, available only from KBA, allows printers to sit in the comfort of their office and view a KBA press demonstration in the KBA Customer Center in Dallas or experience their very own applications being printed on a KBA press. The printer can ask questions in real time and see up close, via portable webcams, the special features of the press as it is printing a job.
 
The Customer Center is equipped with a KBA Genius 52UV 20-inch and a KBA Rapida 75 23x29-inch press. The versatile Genius 52UV, the recipient of the prestigious Printing Industries of America InterTech award, is the world's first waterless UV sheetfed offset press making it a 'must-have' option for printers who care about the environment. The Genius 52 UV handles a maximum sheet size of 14 3/16 x 20" at the rate of 8,000 sheets per hour. With keyless inking, waterless technology, automatic plate changing and digital controls, Genius is the makeready champion of its class, capable of speeding from job to job in under ten minutes. Its fast setup time is reflected in the number of makeready sheets it requires -- an average of 25. Most impressive is Genius' ability to print on a seemingly infinite array of substrates, including plastics, cardboard and paper. In fact, its plastic printing capabilities alone produce a range of possibilities that include PVC, PC, PS, ABS, and PET.
 
The KBA Rapida 75, introduced at DRUPA 2008, is a 15,000 sph press configurable with two to eight colors plus coater and perfector, and incorporates nearly 30 new features. These include pneumatic suction sidelays, an open inking unit design, gripper systems and KBA DensiTronic density measurement and control from the console. Standard features include semi-automatic plate changing and remote control of the diagonal register, which is adjusted through the transfer cylinders; simultaneous cylinder and roller washing; pallet feeding and delivery. Machines delivered to customers are prepared for temperature-controlled inking units. If the customer decides, even at a later date, to add temperature control to the equipment, performing the additional installation in the printing shop is not a problem.
 
KBA North America is a member of the KBA Group, a leading global supplier of sheetfed, webfed, and digital offset presses located in Dallas, Texas. KBA is dedicated to excellence in printing technology. The company's greatest satisfaction comes from helping its customers succeed by building presses that enable their businesses to prosper. From engineering through production, KBA's focus is on people, providing flexible technology, customized printing solutions, and personal service to help its partners differentiate themselves and be successful today and in the future.