Flying JobChange and 20,000 sheets per hour impress printers

Hot on the heels of British packaging printers who took an informative tour of Koenig & Bauer in Radebeul in April, in mid-May some 25 commercial printers from the UK also visited this KBA site.

The participants from printing companies which are looking to invest in new kit soon were treated to live press demonstrations, technical presentations and Dresden’s special flair.

After a welcome and introduction by KBA sales director Jan Drechsel, KBA product manager Jens Baumann explained some of the technical highlights and unique features found in the high-end medium-format Rapida 106. This was followed by an extensive practical part.

The British print professionals saw first-hand the high-speed production of magazine covers on a ten-colour perfecting press for five-back-five printing. This was followed by three different travel magazine signatures which demonstrated fast job changes with DriveTronic SPC simultaneous plate changing as well as parallel washing and makeready processes. The visitors then saw that the Rapida 106 makes it possible to print demanding jobs with a large proportion of images in five-back-five printing virtually without gutters at high speeds. Next on the agenda was a demonstration of a Flying JobChange almost without any interruptions to production based on 2/2 colour as well as four-colour printing.

This method of production, during which it is difficult to ascertain which units are currently printing and which preparing to print, captures the full attention of even the most experienced print professional. However, during day-to-day production a high-performance system for prepress and plate logistics are necessary to take full advantage of the Flying JobChange capability.

In addition, the British visitors were treated to a demonstration of covers for high-end magazines with high-gloss coating and matt-gloss effects on a Rapida 106 with five printing units and coater. Following a fast job change (incl. coating plate, substrate and ink changes in one unit), the Rapida 106 printed posters at speeds of 20,000sph over a long time.

KBA employees Chris Travis and Roland Gebauer talked the visitors through a comprehensive and exciting series of live demonstrations. Some participants intend to return to KBA soon to carry out individual tests.