It is an investment that sets a big signal for the Swiss market: Founded in 1896, prominent quality print shop Atar Roto Presse based in Satigny, near Geneva, banks on technology from KBA for the future.

A ten-colour Rapida 106-5+T+5 perfector and a five-colour Rapida 106-2+T-3+L perfector with coater, making a grand total of 18 units, will be installed in summer 2014. Both presses are equipped with energy-saving HR UV.

For Atar Roto Presse CEO Marc Van Hove the two new sheetfed presses play a central, strategic role in the firm’s development and its future success. Mark Van Hove: “In the future we wish to maintain our position in the market as a high-end specialist with the goal of the Excellence Centre of Printing Art. We also wish to offer our customers more innovation and print solutions than our competitors. Our strategy focuses on high quality and added-value products, and not on the cheapest price. In order to follow this path, we needed a technological partner who could supply us with presses which continue to offer us additional market potential and to enter future business fields even after installation.”

Atar Roto Presse’s decision is a historical milestone for KBA says Peter J. Rickenmann, CEO of Swiss KBA subsidiary Print Assist: “It is of great significance that we have gained Atar, a sophisticated and strong brand, as a partner. We are proud to have met the future plans and the technical as well as technological demands of Marc Van Hove and the production team led by technical manager Sabine Mounir. This was a particularly challenging task.”

Atar required an intelligent tailor-made production solution to fulfil their own demands and those of their customers. The firm found what they were looking for thanks to the close collaboration of the experts from Print Assist and KBA Radebeul during the evaluation stage of the project. The press configuration chosen in this arrangement is a premiere for Switzerland.

Both presses are equipped with a raft of automation modules often featured in the high-end Rapida 106, these include: DriveTronic feeder with sidelay-free infeed system SIS, automatic plate changing, automatic inking unit uncoupling and DriveTronic SPC direct drives at the plate cylinders for simultaneous plate changing. In addition, the press lines will feature CleanTronic Synchro parallel washing systems, ErgoTronicconsole, AirTronic delivery as well as nonstop rollers in the delivery for continuous production. When it comes to measurement and control the presses will be equipped with ErgoTronic ICR (Integrated Camera Register) an automatic register measuring system for quality assurance, ErgoTronic Color Control automatic colour measuring system, QualiTronic Color Control inline colour and control system, QualiTronic LiveView for inline live image inspection of every sheet and the high-quality QualiTronic Instrument Flight grey balance control system from System Brunner.

The high-tech sheetfed presses are equipped for the use of HR UV inks. A HR-UV dryer is installed before each perfecting unit to guarantee maximum print quality and production reliability for all substrates and products at any speed even in perfecting mode. The five-colour perfector with coater can print either with HR UV or conventional UV inks. Atar Roto Presse can therefore offer a raft of finishing effects and can choose the optimum coating for every print product depending on price and performance.

Peter J. Rickenmann: “Atar Roto Presse’s decision in favour of two extensively automated Rapida 106s once again confirms KBA’s role as technological leader in sheetfed offset. KBA has understood that in today’s world it is not simply about making highly productive presses. The position of the printed product is changing fundamentally in a market that is heavily affected by the advance of online media. Target-group orientation, flexibility, fast availability and greater value with more finishing are paramount. Today customers who opt in favour of a medium-format press want solutions which meet the individual demands of today and tomorrow. KBA guarantees this with adaptive innovations and technology, thus providing their customers with investment security.”