KBA North America, a leading supplier of sheetfed offset and digital presses based in Williston, VT, has announced that Paragraphics, Inc., a high quality commercial printer located in San Rafael, California, has agreed to purchase a KBA Rapida 105 41-inch six-color sheetfed press with coater and UV hybrid capabilities after it has been displayed at Print 05 & Converting 05, the largest, most comprehensive event for the commercial, package printing, and converting industry in the world in 2005, scheduled for September 9-15 at Chicago's McCormick Place. “We are very excited to install our KBA Rapida 105 41-inch press after Print 05,” says Jim Barnes, Paragraphics’ vice president. “Our Rapida will be a much faster, much more highly-automated, efficient, high quality press than the press we are replacing. Because of its speed and automation, we’ll be able to produce a higher volume of work. But most importantly, the new KBA Rapida will open new doors for us to further our growth.” Barnes says that the firm has been limited in its desire to move into packaging and printing on different substrates due to its current press line, which only prints stock up to 16 pt. After the KBA Rapida 105 has been installed, the firm will be able to efficiently print on board up to 48 pt and produce point-of-purchase work. By having the press equipped with hybrid UV capabilities, (the only firm thus equipped in the Bay Area) the company will be able to offer the ability to print on a wide variety of substrates and be able to use different effective coating techniques on such work as annual reports and greeting cards. Hands-down! It was KBA “The three partners of the firm: Willy Herzig, Jeff Towner, and myself, evaluated all of the 41-inch/40-inch sheetfed presses available on the market,” says Barnes. “We included our pressroom operators in the decision-making process as well. They all agreed the best press was KBA. That was an important key reason for choosing the press. Not the money, not the deal, not when the press could be installed, but that the pressman agreed that this was the best performing press for our company.” The Rapida 105 41-inch six-color plus coater, the fastest available 41” sheetfed press in its category, will be equipped with KBA’s Densitronic S, a combined density and color measuring system for quality control during printing. Unlike any other system 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. The Rapida 105 41-inch sheetfed press also features the fast speed of 18,000 sph, a stock range of 48# to 48pt with no gripper adjustments, and the unique mark-free vacuum side guide. Well-established, high-quality reputation Paragraphics Inc. is one of the most highly respected offset printing companies in the San Francisco Bay area. For the past three years, the firm has prided itself on offering Creo’s 10 micron Staccato screening application, the finest screen available and used for premium applications. Staccato screening increases the fidelity of printing by using high-frequency random placement of ink dots to resolve very fine detail. Staccato screening creates smooth process color tints and vignettes, without artifacts such as rosettes and screening moiré, shade stepping or abrupt tone jumps. Staccato also uses ink more efficiently than other screening methods, providing colors that are richer and brighter. The end result is printed material that stands out, and process builds that look like special colors. “We are the only printer in the Bay Area applying this 900 dpi screening application to 95% of all of our work,” says Barnes. “It sets us apart from our competition.” Paragraphics was founded in 1970 by Skip and Maureen Gorman as a blueprinting company. The Gormans’ appreciation of the arts, their commitment to craft, and the talent of their staff, were instrumental in Paragraphics becoming one of the most highly respected offset printing companies in the San Francisco Bay area. In 1998, the Gormans retired, selling their business to Consolidated Graphics, a corporation headquartered in Houston, Texas. When Consolidated subsequently chose to close the business in January 2001, Jim Barnes, account rep with Paragraphics for over 18 years, in partnership with Willy Herzig, president and founder of Color Match Inc., and Jeff Towner, sales rep, purchased the company, retaining all key personnel, the existing customer base and their respected presence in the industry. The management team of Paragraphics is proud of its seamless transition of ownership and commitment of the core staff, many of whom have been with Paragraphics for more than 10 years. They are equally proud of their position in the marketplace, with annual sales of over $7 million. Today, Paragraphics is widely viewed as one of the Bay Area’s most reliable, quality-oriented full-service printers.