During the visit to Würzburg (left to right): Christoph Müller, CEO Koenig & Bauer Digital & Webfed and member of the executive board, Koenig & Bauer AG; Fabio Franceschi, owner of Grafica Veneta; Nicola and Gianmarco Franceschi, Grafica Veneta.

Together Grafica Veneta and Koenig & Bauer are developing the future of digital printing for publishing with RotaJET 130 technology

• Grafica Veneta places faith in Koenig & Bauer RotaJET 130 with two installations
• Digital printing with the Koenig & Bauer RotaJET 130 is the key to new business models for Grafica Veneta
• Two presses enable Grafica Veneta to react quickly to changing market demands

Grafica Veneta, leading company for book printing, relies on a RotaJET single-pass digital press from Koenig & Bauer for its digital future. “The press has been in full production since autumn 2022 and will have a lasting impact on the book printing market,” says company owner Fabio Franceschi. “Our long-standing and trustful partnership with Koenig & Bauer is now growing to include digital printing. The RotaJET offers us and our customers a whole host of new opportunities in many areas. Thanks to the digital capabilities of this press, we can also print smaller jobs more efficiently and in top quality, and that will enable us to react quickly to changing market demands.”

From the reel to the finished book at Trebaseleghe …

The combination of precision engineering, state-of-the-art inkjet printing head technology and RotaColor polymer inks provides the basis for high print quality at resolutions up to 1200 × 1200 dpi. The two printing units for 1/1 inkjet production are supplied with paper by means of a Pastomat automatic reelstand with a Patras M reel logistics system. Features decisive for the high print and register quality, which also extends to thin papers, are the intelligent web lead via two central cylinders and the optimally fine-tuned IR/hot-air dryers of the RotaJET 130. The RotaJET from Koenig & Bauer has been installed directly alongside the three existing 48-page Compacta and the other six 1/1 colour presses at the company’s plant in Trebaseleghe, a town near Venice. The press is configured for 1/1 production with a web width of 1300 mm and is directly linked to an automated finishing line that enables high-quality books to be produced efficiently in a single process flow.

… and in Melrose Park – Chicago

Fabio Franceschi is the second generation to take the helm of Grafica Veneta. Over the last few years, he has guided the company which has become an industry leader in Europe. A broad product portfolio encompasses the printing of books in runs of all lengths. Since 2021, Grafica Veneta has also acquired the American book printing company “Lake Book Manufacturing LLC”. The objective is to continue its successful expansion strategy also in the American market and digital printing capacity is a key factor for its success overseas. Since the beginning of this year, a brand new RotaJET 130 has been installed also in the Lake book Manufacturing facility in Melrose Park – Chicago area IL. The configuration of the whole line is the same as the Italian installation and it allows to get a book printed and bound from the raw paper reel to the pallet ready for shipment in less than one minute. This capability is disruptive in the book printing market and will drive a new business model in this industry.

High substrate versatility: From lightweight paper to solid board

The RotaJET is able to print on all sorts of different substrates, from tissue paper to solid board. Packaging, decors, posters, patient information leaflets, folding cartons, books or even coffee bags – practically anything is possible on the RotaJET. Christoph Müller, CEO Segment Digital & Webfed at Koenig & Bauer: “This project demonstrates that our high-performance RotaJET digital press is able to print a wide variety of products on almost all substrates. Whether your business is packaging, decors or books: the RotaJET is successful in all market segments.” Koenig & Bauer is not only offering its customers new business models in book printing – cut-off lengths of more than five metres open up a whole new range of opportunities in decor printing, for example.