May 9, 2005 -- KBA North America, a leading sheetfed offset press manufacturer based in Williston, Vt., says that its research indicates that a distinction between its packaging and commercial printers is becoming less sharp. This is due, in part, to the firm’s press models, such as the new KBA Rapida 105 41-inch sheetfed press and the firm’s large format models, that allow a wide variety of substrates to be printed on the presses and allow the printers to produce both packaging and commercial work for their clients. “Our printer customers are differentiating themselves by using our presses for both packaging and commercial work,” says Ralf Sammeck, president and CEO of KBA North America. “By having the ability to print on of the widest range of substrates they are able to grow their customer base by offering a one-stop service to produce a client’s point-of-purchase displays and folding carton boxes as well as their brochures and advertising material. No longer are they being pegged a packaging printer or commercial printer.” For example, Trojan Litho., a leading Seattle packaging/commercial printer, will be installing a large format KBA Rapida 142 56-inch eight-color sheetfed press with coater and hybrid UV capabilities as well as the new KBA Qualitronic II inline sheet inspection system this summer. Commercial printers go large format Trojan chose the press because it could produce high-quality work for both its packaging and commercial work. The KBA Rapida 142 will allow Trojan to grow aggressively in both markets since it will be able to offer its customers superior options to help them be successful in the ever competitive market place.  “We feel that the Rapida 142 will give us a new niche in the commercial market that we didn’t have before,” says Wayne Millage, president of Trojan Litho. “For example, we’ll now be able to produce oversize graphics with UV coatings and varnish and unique graphic effects. We’ll be able to offer our ad agency clients banners and oversize prints. We’ll be able to print on different substrates, such as plastic, on our new Rapida 142.”  Since the packaging market is more competitive than ever before, Millage believes his firm needed to invest in a new press to respond to its customers’ needs. “Our focus is to make sure that we are responding, pro-actively, to our customers needs and providing them with solutions and options that allow them to compete more effectively in the market place,” says Millage. “My job is to help our customers be successful by selling more products and reducing their total cost. Our customer’s success is our success. In today’s world that means unparalleled quality, consistency of color for brand managers, and flexibility, such as smaller quantities with shorter lead times at competitive prices. Our new KBA Rapida 142 is a key component of our philosophy. It will help us to reduce waste and be more efficient. This press, along with our other investments, allows us to be a better supplier to our customers.” Rapida 105 opens new markets Johnson Printing & Packaging Corporation, a Minneapolis-based award-winning nationally-recognized commercial printing and packaging firm, has installed a KBA Rapida 105 41-inch seven-color sheetfed press with inline spot UV coating capabilities.. “Our niche is to provide high-end value-added jobs to our nationwide customer clientele,” says Stuart Weitzman and Charles Silverman, owners of Johnson Printing & Packaging Corporation.  “Our new Rapida 105 seven-color press is providing us with more color, higher speeds, better color control, and inline UV spot coating for the high-end folding cartons, point-of-purchase displays, commercial printing, preloaded inserts, and carded packaging that we produce.” Another example is Ed Garvey & Company, a commercial printer based in the Midwest that produces corporate, direct mail, and business forms on both sheetfed and web presses. The firm wanted to move beyond its 40-inch, eight-page work into large format point-of-purchase, point-of-sale, signage for retail stores, and packaging. To achieve this, Ed Garvey & Company installed a KBA Rapida 162 64-inch six-color sheetfed press equipped with UV and hybrid ink capabilities. The company wanted to tap into its current clientele and sell them more printing while aggressively attacking new clients and new markets with the press. “The primary reason for our investment in the large format equipment was the desire to get into a market that appeared to be underserved,” says Joe Kulis, chief operating officer of Ed Garvey & Company. “There are lots of 40" presses in the Chicago area, but few 64" presses.  In addition, the capabilities of the KBA press allow us to sell convincingly beyond our traditional geographic areas. We also feel that the UV and hybrid ink capabilities of the press allow us to help our customers differentiate themselves from their competition by printing eye-catching, dramatic, creative pieces on a variety of substrates including foils and plastics.”  KBA’s vast array of innovative sheetfed printing presses is helping to decrease the division between packaging and commercial printing. After a strong introduction at Drupa 2004 amid much praise for the new design of its popular Rapida 105 41-inch sheetfed press, engineers at KBA have expanded its capabilities to include a faster running speed of an astounding 18,000 sph, well above any of its competitors, new and significantly improved engineering components, control functions and operatingfeatures. These innovations help KBA printers to increase productivity by over 20% due to faster running speeds and shorter make-ready times, differentiate themselves from their competition, boost their productivity, and successfully move into new markets. New enhancements on the Rapida 105 include:   -  A new extended functionality to control sheet in feed at the control console -  A motor-driven shaftless feeder -  An optional side lay-free infeed -  Print stock from 60 lb paper to 48 pt. board -  Other innovative options include the new cutting-edge Qualitronic II inline sheet inspection system; video register, Densitronic closed loop color control, and ink-temperature control for optimum print quality  KBA’s popular line of large format presses are also garnering praise for their ability to easily move between commercial and packaging work. These presses, ranging in size from 51-inches to 64-inches, feature feed tables that accommodate large sheets of paper and automatically transport these sheets to the front lays with only two wide suction belts, have the ability to transfer medium and heavy sheets through the press without marking the sheet, and are equipped with three different double-sheet sensors. The ultrasonic double-sheet detector is an ideal choice for practically the whole range of substrates from paper to board, metallized stocks and even plastic materials. A capacitive sensor is preferred for thicker substrates. The third alternative, an optical system, handles a wide spectrum of substrates from paper to corrugated board. Simple switching via the press console activates the most favorable system for the present substrate. The large format press line also features a full UV interdeck system, which allows the press to run paper, plastic, foil, and synthetic papers.   KBA North America is a leading supplier of sheetfed offset and digital presses located in Williston, VT. It is a member of the KBA Group, a leader in the manufacture of sheetfed offset, digital offset, web offset, rotogravure directory, security, and newspaper presses.