The B2-format press KBA Rapida 75E, which was first shown to the public at IPEX 2010, is also attracting increasing attention in the Scandinavian countries. A five-colour coater version was recently taken into production at Cela Grafiska in the Swedish town of Vänersborg, approx. 100 km northeast of Göteborg.

Cela Grafiska was founded as far back as 1848, and already sent a stir through the local print industry with its purchase of a Rapida 74G (Gravuflow) with keyless anilox inking units in 2004. The new 16,000-sph Rapida 75E is viewed as the key to further growth at Cela Grafiska. Its compact design and especially low energy consumption combine with an extensive feature list, including CX board-handling accessories, SAPC semi-automatic plate changers and the autoregister system ErgoTronic ACR.

Innovative strategies count

Cela Grafiska can look back over an eventful and occasionally turbulent history in book, newspaper and commercial printing since Samuel Victor Bagge founded the company 164 years ago. But at the latest since joining forces with the advertising agency Friberg & Co. in 2000, it has positioned itself as a modern print enterprise with clearly defined workflows and an attractive, constantly expanding product portfolio under the management of Joachim Friberg (CEO), Hans Bolander, Stephan Palm and Lars Elgh.

Cela Grafiska has developed into one of the top print industry players in the region around Vänersborg. After acquiring a number of other businesses along the way, it now serves around 1,500 demanding customers in the private, retail and industrial sectors between Vänersborg, Göteborg and Linköping. Some first successes have also been recorded with exports to Denmark, Finland and Norway.

Programmed growth

Alongside offset and digital print, Cela Grafiska offers a full range of services in graphic design, pre-press and print finishing. The 20 employees currently achieve a turnover of around €3.5 million, but this figure is set to receive a significant boost in coming years with the new KBA Rapida 75E. A move to new, 2,000 m² premises in December 2011 has established ideal conditions. Creative products, for example high-quality flyers, brochures, catalogues, books, posters, banners and increasingly also packaging, have helped to build up a loyal customer base, and future growth is already programmed.

Productive and cost-efficient

Joachim Friberg: “We recorded some notable successes with the waterless Rapida 74G between 2004 and 2011, especially in terms of quality and productivity. But the price competition on our markets is fierce, and our consumables were too expensive. That is why we chose to buy the new Rapida 75E. The performance, reliability and service offered by KBA-Nordic were fantastic from the very beginning. Even so, we see this investment as something of a temporary solution. If we maintain our present course, there will soon be no alternative to a move up into 3b format. But with the Rapida 105 and 106 series, KBA has attractive equipment for that segment, too.”