Group photo in front of the new Rapida 106 at Publikum in Belgrade.

Live presentation of the new Rapida 106 at book printers Publikum

• Modern facilities for commercial and book production
• Eight-colour Rapida 106 with perfecting unit for 4-over-4 production
• Export-oriented company with an annual growth rate of 20 per cent

At the end of March, the Technical Association of the Hungarian Paper and Printing Industry (PNYME) organised a special event in Belgrade called “Print & Finishing” – with over 100 attendees from Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Germany and Austria.

A series of presentations enabled the association members to gather information on the latest industry trends, with a focus on commercial and book production. A subsequent practical session was hosted by the book printing company Publikum, a long-standing Rapida user based in Belgrade.

High-performance technology drives strong growth

The company was established as a commercial printing business in 1998. It today counts almost 100 employees and has floor space totalling approx. 10,000 m2 at its disposal for the production of hard- and soft-cover books, advertising flyers and calendars. State-of-the-art equipment dominates the production facilities. Since 2005, Publikum has mainly used Rapida sheetfed offset presses from Koenig & Bauer. The most recent investment was installed last year – an eight-colour Rapida 106 for 4-over-4 perfecting. The press boasts a full complement of features geared to fast production, short makeready times and high quality, and could be experienced live in action during the open house. The technical details of key press modules, such as the shaftless DriveTronic feeder, the sidelay-free infeed DriveTronic SIS, the fully automatic FAPC plate changers, the perfecting unit, the sheet guiding systems and the AirTronic delivery, formed the main focus of the presentation.

A demonstration of live production saw the Rapida 106 reach outputs of up to 18,000 sheets per hour. QualiTronic ColorControl measures and controls the print quality of every single sheet of the production run. The industry visitors were visibly impressed by the performance capabilities of the press, which are contributing significantly to further growth of the company. The latest figures indicate an annual growth rate of 20 per cent.

Around 80 per cent of the products printed at Publikum are destined for the international market. A high proportion of in-house production, outstanding product quality, fast turnarounds, innovation and creativity are important factors appreciated by the company’s customers.