At this year's Polygraphinter printing trade show, to be held at the "Crocus Expo" exhibition centre in Moscow from 4th to 8th October, KBA has reserved an almost 300 m2 stand in Hall 2 (stand B171). The showpiece is to be a Rapida 75E press for half-format 53 x 75 cm, in a five-colour version with inline coater and extended delivery. With SAPC automated plate changers for the printing units and coater, the impression cylinder washing system CleanTronic synchro, a CIP3/JDF interface and program-controlled job changeovers, it incorporates a whole host of user-oriented automation features for fast job changeovers and optimised print production. Print quality is monitored with the online measuring system SpectroDrive. The press is engineered for production speeds up to 15,000 sheets per hour and boasts not only a significantly smaller footprint, but also greatly reduced energy consumption compared to many other presses in this format class. Exhibition visitors can look forward to several live presentations of high-quality poster printing with inline finishing each day. At the same time, print industry specialists from KBA RUS will be on hand to provide information on the full range of KBA sheetfed offset presses from small to superlarge format, as well as the extensive portfolio of commercial web, newspaper and special presses.
 
Despite the recently difficult investment environment, also for print companies in Russia, a number of customers have acquired new sheetfed offset presses from KBA over the past months, especially in the packaging sector. At the end of 2010, for example, the Slavjanka print centre in Stary Oskol in the south of Russia took a six-colour Rapida 142 coater press into operation. This was followed in January by a further press of the same series at Apolinaria in Armavir - again in South Russia. And then in May, the PVG group in St. Petersburg received a five-colour Rapida 162a (sheet format 120 x 162 cm) in a double-coating configuration. The first Rapida 205 in Russia has already been in production for PVG since 2005. Most of the latest installations have been five and six-colour coater presses of the Rapida 105 series, though the first half-format Rapidas have already been sold to Russian print companies. Overall, KBA RUS finds itself in a distinct growth phase, not least thanks to its strengthened service activities. KBA expects Polygraphinter to deliver new stimulus for increased investment across the whole range from small to large formats.