Green printing for China

At the forthcoming Print China fair in Dongguan from 9th to 13th April, KBA will be welcoming visitors to a 1,000 sq.m. stand (Hall 3, Stand III-001) under the banner "Proven Green Technology". Four sheetfed offset presses are to be presented with live demonstrations. China was last year the largest single market for sheetfed offset presses, and that not only for KBA. The hopes pinned on Print China are thus correspondingly high as the countdown to next year's drupa begins for the world's second-largest press manufacturer.  

Ecology and climate protection are in the meantime topics which play an ever greater role in China, too. Pursuit of these aims is by all means reconcilable with technical progress, and KBA, as an early pioneer of green print technologies (first sheetfed offset press with eco-accreditation at drupa 2000; 15 years experience as a ground-breaker for waterless offset), has thus happily placed the messages humanity, reliability, innovative strength and sustainability in the spotlight of its exhibition presentations.
 
Live demonstrations from A3 to B1 format

The presses on show include the waterless and keyless compact press Genius 52UV (max. sheet format 36 x 52 cm), which can be seen printing on films and other non-absorbent substrates, a four-colour Rapida 66 for paper printing, and the new, particularly energy- and space-saving Rapida 75E in B2 format, similarly in a four-colour version. The latter boasts an energy consumption up to 40% below that of many other presses in this format class. The Rapida 75E was first unveiled at IPEX 2010 and is now making its first appearance in China. A seven-colour medium-format Rapida 105 with coater and extended delivery, finally, caters to the trend towards ever longer presses, which is today also emerging clearly on the Chinese market. The exhibition press is configured for the hybrid technology. Visitors can thus be treated to a close-up first-hand experience of cost-effective matt, gloss and structured finishing effects. In cooperation with technology partner Logica, KBA will also be presenting possibilities for user-specific process optimisation, with a focus on aspects such as workflow automation, order processing and control and statistical cost accounting.  
 
China also an important large-format market for KBA  

Given the relatively short duration of the fair, KBA has decided not to exhibit an actual press, but its large-format Rapidas are nevertheless extremely popular throughout China. In 2010 alone, KBA installed over 30 large-format presses with Chinese users, many of them specialist packaging printers. KBA also holds a close to 60% share of the Asian market in this format class. Despite the previous financial crisis, 2010 was the best sheetfed offset year ever for KBA in China. The Chinese market for the first time advanced to become the foremost sales region, ahead of Germany, the USA and other major European markets. It was similarly to be noted that the typical four- and five-colour models are being joined ever more frequently by long, individually tailored press configurations.
 
Web printers also appreciate technology from KBA

KBA is an equally reputable name among China's web printers, standing for high-quality, cutting-edge technology. In an independent comparison of the Chinese Newspaper Association, KBA presses occupied top places in 2010. The past months have also seen investments in KBA web offset technology by Chinese newspaper publishers. The Dazhong Daily Newspaper Group, for example, ordered a new Commander four-high tower press for its production plant Shandong Dazhong Huatai Printing in Jinan. The Beijing Daily and the Henan Daily Newspaper Group in Zhengzhou are now printing their newspaper titles on KBA presses of the Comet series. And in the commercial web sector, the Swiss Ringier Group will soon be receiving a 16pp Compacta 215 for magazine printing at its facility in Hong Kong.