(June 02, 2008) A few weeks ago management of Uruguayan printer Imprimex in Montevideo placed an order with KBA for its first Rapida 105, a four-colour coater version with extended delivery and board-handling capability. The press is scheduled to ship in July.

The decision to sign up for a this particular B1 (41in) press was taken less than a week after Horacio Rey Lottermoser, who with his brother Alberto owns 100 per cent of the company's capital, had completed a tour of German printing plants and attended KBA Radebeul's pre-Drupa event in April. Packaging accounts for 60 per cent of output at Imprimex, commercials for the remaining 40 per cent. So the Rapida 105's flexibility was a key criterion; the press had to be capable of printing a wide range of substrates, from paper to heavy board, with no time-consuming conversions. Another feature that took the proprietors' fancy was the remote maintenance capability, which allows fast, uncomplicated assistance in the event of problems.

Imprimex was founded by the Lottermoser family in 1978 and today employs 180 staff working in three shifts at a 6,500m² (70,000ft²) production plant. Recently the company, whose other presses are of German and Japanese manufacture, was awarded ISO 9000 accreditation. Annual sales total around $10 million (€6.4m).