July 19, 2004 -- KBA North America, a leading sheetfed offset press manufacturer based in Williston, VT, has installed a KBA Rapida 105 41”eight-color perfector sheetfed offset press with coater at 1-800-Postcards in New York City. The firm, which is spending $8 million to upgrade its equipment, installed the KBA Rapida 105 press with perfector in May 2004 with an order to install a KBA 74 Karat digital offset press later this year. “We feel that the KBA presses give us the highest quality and productivity to benefit our customers,” says David Moyal, presidentof 1-800-Postcards. “We saw the KBA Rapida 105 producing work at a show and we were very impressed. Then we visited a Boston printer to see the press in an actual job environment. Our Rapida 105 four-over-four perfector suits all three areas of the print market we serve: magazine publishing, the retail segment, and our print brokers. When we install the 74 Karat, we will have a high-quality, short-run, offset digital solution for our work that falls between 500 to 2,000 sheets. I’m so impressed with our Rapida 105 that I’m contemplating buying another KBA press.” The new KBA Rapida 105 41-inch four-over-four sheetfed press gives 1-800-Postcards its first perfecting capabilities as well as 15,000 sheets-per-hour throughput. Moyal purchased it with an aqueous coater and perfector between units four and five. Features on the firm’s press include semi-automatic plate-changing systems, remote stock thickness and format settings, single-train ink feed for quick make-ready, and push-button perfecting unit conversion. 1-800-Postcards owns 50,000 sq ft of space spread out over three floors in its Varick Street location. The new KBA Rapida 105 was installed on the firm’s sixth floor pressroom. “The installation was absolutely seamless and amazing,” says Moyal. “We’re located in a very dense and congested part of the city. KBA built the press in Germany and then re-assembled it here in New York for us.They had to hoist the press up to the sixth floor and squeeze it through our working environment. They sent press crews from Germany to help us and we still have some mechanics on hand to help us. KBA has provided us with the support and training that we needed.” Moyal purchased 1-800 Postcards in 1999 as an adjunct business to his magazine publishing business.The firm is located on Varick St. in New York City’s traditional printing area. It produces postcards, brochures, posters, and magazines using commercial offset presses as well as digital printing, 3D, and full motion printing up to eight-color capabilities. It is the printing operation for Next magazine, a weekly publication owned by Moyal for the past 12 years. All along, the firm sold excess capacity to brokers. Now, with the new presses coming on-line, the firm has more capacityand flexibility than ever. “I felt that this was the perfect time to jump further into the printing market,” says Moyal. “Many commercial printers are leaving Manhattan or closing their doors for good.This is a wonderful opportunity. While we will be increasing our business to brokers, we still maintain our core business of printing our magazine and our retail work. By purchasing these new presses, it will allow our print broker customers to sell more aggressively in the market.” “1-800-Postcards is a growing business with a well-thought-out business plan to expand in the New York metro region,” says Ralf Sammeck, KBA North America’s president and CEO. “KBA developed a true partnership with 1-800-Postcards to help differentiate themselves in the highly competitive NYC market”. Please find a downloadable version of this PR including photos at: http://www.kba-print.de/vt/headlines/sheetfed3/2004-07-16-00-vt.html