KBA North America, a leading sheetfed offset press manufacturer based in Williston, Vt., is announcing that Metro Packaging and Imaging., a Wayne, NJ, folding carton printer, installed a large format Rapida 162 64-inch seven-color sheetfed press plus aqueous coater. The new press was installed in December 2004. “The KBA Rapida 162 sheetfed is the best press to have in our business,” says Armand de Torres, president of Metro Packaging and Imaging. “We needed a new press for capacity reasons. Since our new Rapida 162 press has been installed, we’ve put all of our work on it, three shifts a day, five days a week and it has been great.” Densitronic S – a requirement for brand-conscious, quality-oriented customers One of the new features found on Metro’s Rapida 162 is KBA’s unique Densitronic S, a combined density and color measuring system for quality control both during and after printing. This is especially important for Metro’s high quality-oriented, brand-conscious customers who demand color consistency throughout their food packaging work. Unlike any other systems available on the market, Densitronic S also permits direct measurements within the image. Deviations from defined target densities, color values and other quality parameters (dot gain, trapping, etc.) are recognized and displayed not only reliably, but also immediately in comparison to hand-held measuring devices. With integration for online control, the density and spectral deviations are converted into corrective adjustments for the individual ink keys. The Densitronic S controls the density and spectral parameters of each sheet by measuring along control strips or directly on the image. “By having the Rapida 162 equipped with the Densitronic S, we’re able to meet our customer’s high expectations of optimum and constant print quality,” says Torres. “The system scans the job and helps the press to maintain the same critical color throughout the press run.” Substantial decrease in makeready and waste, dramatic increase in speed and productivity Since the KBA Rapida 162 press has been installed, Metro has seen a substantial increase in press speed and throughput and a dramatic decrease in makeready time and waste. “The KBA Rapida 162 has doubled our press speed and throughput over our existing press,” says Torres. “Plus, the new press prints sharper than our former press. In addition, our makeready has decreased by half. We’re also seeing signs that our waste has decreased as well.” When the KBA Rapida 162 arrived at Metro Packaging and Imaging in November 2004, KBA allotted enough time for Metro’s employees to learn how to use the press. Over the next five weeks, KBA technicians provided extensive training to Metro’s 104 employees in New Jersey on its new state-of-the-art computerized press. Four years ago, Metro moved to a new 73,000 sq ft facility in Wayne, NJ that had ample room for the new press. Currently, Metro is doubling its space at its Oakland facility from 3,000 sq ft to 6,000 sq ft for more equipment and more employees to provide more prepress services to its West Coast customers.