(Left to right) At Litho Quebec, Martin Marchand, operations manager; Gary Zacard, co-owner; and Bruce Zacard, co-owner; admire their new generation Koenig & Bauer Rapida 105 41-inch six color press.

Leading North American printer emphasizes quality, efficiency, and the latest technology

• First Canadian delivery of the new generation innovative 41-inch press starts full production
• The new Rapida press allows a mix of commercial, packaging, and specialty printing to be produced on the new press
• A host of unique features, simultaneous processes, and high-end color control and monitoring, sets the Rapida press apart from the competition

At its state-of-the-art facility in a suburb of Montreal, Litho Quebec has added a new star to its pressroom: the first new generation Koenig & Bauer Rapida 105 41-inch six color press. What’s been the secret to the firm’s thriving culture? Its management team focuses on quality, efficiency, and the latest technology to entice its loyal customer base throughout North America to let it produce a variety of print work. The new Rapida 105, which started production this fall, is key to continuing this mission forged by the firm’s ownership.

“Our new Rapida 105 will deliver the highest quality for our customers,” says Bruce Zacard, co-owner at Litho Quebec. “That’s because we have equipped the press with quality control features that are only offered by Koenig & Bauer and can only be found in our pressroom. We have differentiated ourselves from any of our competitors.”

Litho Quebec’s management team chose to emphasize quality control specifying the new press with the most advanced technology from Koenig & Bauer. One of the most necessary features for color critical work is the Koenig & Bauer QualiTronic inline ColorControl system. Its camera system, installed after the coating unit, permits automatic measurements of optical density in the freshly printed color bars. These measurement values serve as a basis for fast dynamic inline control of the ink key settings.

To increase its production quality monitoring, Litho Quebec is excited to utilize its new Koenig & Bauer QualiTronic PrintCheck system, which combines color measurement with production quality monitoring to ensure every sheet is correct. The system is equipped with a color measuring camera with LED illumination integrated directly into the press and allows fully automatic comparison of the printed sheets with a previously defined reference. At the end of the job, a job report is saved automatically as a PDF file, again without further input on the part of the operator.

As jobs flow at lightning speed through the new Rapida, its popular simultaneous roller wash system (SRW) runs parallel to other makeready production processes, allowing jobs to continuously run undeterred while dramatically reducing makeready. Press operators at Litho Quebec will appreciate the efficiency of the SRW as it allows the press to operate at full speed producing the highest quality work.

“This latest press from Koenig & Bauer is replacing an older 29-inch sheetfed press from a different manufacturer,” says Gary Zacard, co-owner of the company. “It will join our current Rapida 105 41-inch UV hybrid press. We feel this is an optimum solution for our customers. With these two presses running in tandem, we will be able to offer our customers the highest quality work and build our loyal customer base.”

Interesting website: www.lithoquebec.com