April 27, 2008 -- KBA North America, a leading press manufacturer based in Williston, Vermont, announces that Bristol ID Technologies, a specialist in the fast-growing custom card market, installed a Genius 52 UV waterless press from KBA in early 2008 at its Lima, New York, facility, outside Rochester.
 
Bristol manufactures customized plastic cards and is a distributor of badge identification systems that serve the security and identi­fication market as well as the gift and loyalty markets. Clients purchase items as varied as blank card products that can be print­ed in a desktop card printer to custom-printed cards in a variety of shapes and substrates.  Company products include member­ship cards, retail store gift cards, loyalty cards and all-access passes to premier events. Bristol also serves those markets by distributing accessories, such as card printers, cam­eras, software, and lanyards.
 
A flurry of benefits: Added capacity, increased efficiency, improved quality
 
"The KBA Genius 52 UV printing press is a great fit for our business because it adds capacity, efficiency, and higher quality to our existing digital printing capabilities," says Jim Morsch, Director of Operations at Bristol ID. "The benefits are clear: quick setup, very little waste coming up to color, excellent image quality on PVC, polyesters and teslin-all at substantially more sheets per hour than we currently can print with our digital or traditional offset equipment."
 
The Genius 52 UV, which received the prestigious GATF InterTech award in 2006, is the world's first waterless UV sheetfed offset press. The maximum sheet size is 14 3/16" x 20", and it can operate at 8,000 sph. The unique press features keyless inking, waterless technology, extended delivery, and integrated dryers. It is designed to print on a variety of paper, board, and plastics, including lenticular surfaces, ABS, PVC, PC, and others.. It features an automatic plate-changing device that guarantees short setup times, reliable reproducibility, and brilliant offset quality. The Genius 52 control console features a touch-screen display that can be slid from one end of the press to the other for easy press operator access. The press prints in five colors with UV curing inks that rapidly and completely harden through an efficient integrated drying system, which allows further processing, such as laminating or punching, immediately afterward.
 
Bristol ID Technologies prides itself on being ahead of trends in the specialty card market, providing its customers with eye-catching cards in a shorter lead time than competitors can offer. "Our key is to offer our customers a diversity of products that fit the type of card they need," says Diane Morsch, Director of Marketing and Customer Care. "We partner with our customers and give them ideas on how to produce their cards; sometimes they don't know all the options available to them. That's where the KBA Genius becomes important. The Genius will allow us to print on a wider variety of substrates and produce lenticular work that we couldn't produce before. It gives us the ability to apply either a matte or gloss finish on the cards, giving them a 3-D look, or apply spot coatings."
 
Longer run lengths, short lead times
 
By installing the Genius 52 UV, Bristol's goal is to offer products ranging from 500 to 500,000 cards, depending on the type of material used. "We're [already] very adept at providing small to midsize run lengths for our customers," says Diane Morsch. "The Genius 52 UV will take us to the next level. We have a reputation for short lead times; we finish our jobs in nine days, as opposed to the competition, which can take from 15 to 20 days. The Genius will only solidify that reputation by providing us with a fast, flexible machine."
 
Bristol has deal­ers throughout North America, and the firm sells its products overseas. To market the new capabilities of the KBA Genius 52 UV, Bristol is redesigning its company brochure and notifying customers with e-mail blasts.
 
Bristol ID Technologies recently gained national exposure for its work at Super Bowl XLII held in Arizona. The company has also created event badges for PGA tournaments as well as college bowl.  Recently, Bristol ID won the International Card Manufacturers Association's (ICMA) global badge design competition. The design combined multiple technical print and material features with a great look and artistic feel. This was one of the first jobs printed on the KBA Genius 52 UV press. "It is quite an achievement to enter and actually win this award considering the global competition," says Jim Morsch. "The design incorporates a great mix of printing and security features that we offer including fine line/guilloche print, embedded holographic foils, and surface stamped metallic foil."
 
 
Growing base of customers; double-digit growth in sales
 
Bristol has carved a niche in the market that gives it a loyal base of customers. The company's annual sales grew 13 percent in 2007, and management expects additional growth in 2008. "The firm's growing business and expand­ed offerings have led to the need for addition­al equipment. Bristol has spent $1.2 million over the past year on new machines. The company recently added a laminat­ing press, which increased its capacity 4.5 times, along with the KBA Genius 52 UV waterless printing press and related equipment, which boosts output to six times its previous capacity", says Bristol president and CEO Keith Yeates.
 
Additional manufacturing space
 
Bristol continues to look at new ways to grow. Owing to the new equipment plus the rise in business, Bristol has filled the 15,000-square-foot space at the Lima facility where it has been located for the past four years. Management plans a 6,000-square-foot expansion, slated for the end of 2009.
 
Founded in 1975, Bristol ID Technologies has excelled for the last 33 years as a top provider of innovative solutions in custom card manufacturing. Its manufacturing facility specializes in the production of Teslin- and PVC-based card products. Its clients' needs range from blank card products that can be printed in a desktop card printer  to complete badge systems.
 


KBA North America is a member of the KBA Group, a leading global supplier of sheetfed, webfed, and digital offset presses located in Williston, Vermont. KBA is dedicated to excellence in printing technology. The company's greatest satisfaction comes from helping its customers succeed by building presses that enable their businesses to prosper. From engineering through production, KBA's focus is on people, providing flexible technology, customized printing solutions, and personal service to help its partners differentiate themselves and be successful today and in the future.