KBA North America announces that PaperWorks Industries Inc., a leading North American integrated full-service packaging provider, will be adding a new Rapida 142 56-inch seven-color press with UV capabilities to its Mt. Gilead, NC facility. The press is due to be delivered in the next few days with a mid-March start-up date after installation and press training.
 
“Our new KBA Rapida 142 will service our entire customer base of high-end packaging brands,” says Jim Downey, general manager of the Mt. Gilead, NC facility. “It will provide us with the ability to offer even faster turnaround times and higher quality and allow us to be more responsive to our customers due to the unique features on press that we didn’t have before.”
 
These features, explains Downey, include UV capabilities as well as KBA’s unique QualiTronic Color Control closed loop inline color density measurement and control system, the first of its kind in sheetfed offset. Using a highly-sensitive color camera to measure the control bar on every sheet, the QualiTronic Color Control system compares the density values to reference densities and triggers automatic ink-key adjustments when a discrepancy is obtained. The QualiTronic Color Control system provides corrections to be made within ten sheets of an error being detected, cuts waste by shortening press run-up to saleable color, and provides consistent inking throughout the entire print run while cutting waste and optimizing print quality.
 
"We at PaperWorks pride ourselves on bringing innovation and excellence to the marketplace,” says John R. Dowd, senior vice president of sales and marketing for PaperWorks. “The addition of this press will allow us to extend new offerings to our existing customers and prospects along with reduced lead times and improved color integrity.  The seven-color capabilities of the KBA Rapida 142 press are ideally suited to ECG systems which are currently being implemented in several of our production facilities."
 
After carefully considering three other major press manufacturers, PaperWorks chose to purchase a new KBA large-format press.  “A key driver in our decision to once again invest in KBA was our previous management and press operator experience with KBA.  Based upon this prior experience, we have great confidence the KBA will again deliver a top quality product that will enhance our competitive offerings,” says Thomas Garland, president and CEO of PaperWorks.  “Together with the Bobst 145 PER die cutter we purchased at the same time, our new capabilities at Mt. Gilead will be at the leading edge of available sheetfed technologies,” continues Garland.