With an investment in its third Rapida 162a installation since 2001, the long-established, family-run print company STIAV s.r.l. (Stabilimento Tipolitografico Industriale Attilio Vallecchi) in Florence epitomises the excellent standing of large-format KBA technology on the Italian market. The four-colour perfector press went into production at the beginning of December.

STIAV was founded by publisher Attilio Vallecchi in 1920 and is today a top reference customer for large-format presses from KBA. Once renowned for its close contacts to the Italian art and culture scene, the company is in the meantime one of the country's leading printers of schoolbooks.

Originally a printer of fine art books, catalogues and posters for Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, the Uffizi Gallery, the Florence Teatro Communale, the Teatro della Pergola, Centro Di, the Graphic Arts School Il Bisonte, the City of Florence, Stanford University and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, STIAV has now specialised on schoolbook production at its new location in Via di Capalle in the suburb of Calenzano. The customer base includes distinguished publishers such as Bulgarini, D'Anna, Zanichelli, Bruno Mondadori, McGraw Hill, Hoepli, Nuova Italia, Palumbo and Longanesi. With the integrated bindery and finishing operations of Legatoria Industriale, it is able to offer these customers high-quality finished products.

Production areas of 2,500 m2 each for printing and finishing leave plenty of reserves for capacity expansion. The STIAV management team, with senior director Giampiero Tinacci and his son, managing director Gianluca Tinacci, after all, is aiming to further strengthen its interests in other European markets in the future.

STIAV had entrusted its production to four large-format presses from another German manufacturer for many years, before switching to KBA in conjunction with this expansion strategy at the turn of the century. As an innovation-driven company – owned by the Tinacci family since 1953 – it has invested consistently over the years to meet the changing demands of the market and its sophisticated products, and at the same time to constantly extend its capabilities.
Giampiero Tinacci: "Koenig & Bauer has revolutionised large-format sheetfed offset with its countless further developments and is quite rightly considered the international technology leader. At no point have we ever regretted our switch to KBA." 

 Ever-growing confidence 
Managing director Gianluca Tinacci adds: "Our first investment in a four-colour Rapida 162a perfector in 2001 already showed us how far we could improve our productivity with KBA as a partner. There was then another quantum leap between that press and the successor model installed in 2005 – a four-colour Rapida 162a in a straight configuration. We were able to improve both our quality standards and delivery times significantly. The new Rapida 162a perfector, which is replacing our first KBA press, is now set to add a further productivity boost." 

Production manager Claudio Cecchetti: "The convincing performance of the new press has taught us that economical and efficient production is not necessarily a question of long runs. We print around 100,000 books per month, with run lengths varying between 2,000 and 20,000 copies. We can handle papers between 60 and 600 g/m2, and in perfecting mode, too, we are very satisfied with the results on stocks between 60 and 450 g/m2. The production speeds of 11,000 sph in straight mode and 9,000 sph in perfecting are just as impressive as the fast makeready times. Our two KBA presses run 24 hours a day, five days a week, and the reliability of this operation is another factor contributing to the outstanding efficiency."

Options for the future
Gianluca Tinacci: "Even after all the progress we have made, we have no intention of resting on our laurels. The current financial crisis has brought a certain instability to the market, but we are not planning to abandon our uncompromising investment policy. The foundation for our next investment is already finished, and this investment will almost certainly be another large-format Rapida. The eight-colour perfectors which KBA is currently spotlighting are a very promising option. But it is actually secondary, whether we decide to buy one in 2009 or 2010. The important thing is to underpin our role as market leaders, and to ensure that we are well equipped for the future. Besides technological advances, we also attach great practical significance to ecology issues. We will shortly have obtained FSC certification for all our products. This will guarantee that our books meet all environmentally relevant criteria, and that we are similarly top of the class in this field, too."