KBA North America, a leading supplier of sheetfed offset and digital presses based in Williston, VT, has announced that 3S Printers, a privately-held general commercial printer located in Richmond, British Columbia, has replaced three sheetfed offset presses with a new KBA Rapida 105 41-inch eight-color sheetfed press with perfecting, UV hybrid and inline coating capabilities in one pass. “We’re the first printer in Canada and western North America to have this type of press,” says Dave Sandhu, president of the firm. “There are no other machines like it in this part of the country. It certainly differentiates us from our competition. Now, we can offer our customers the ability to utilize UV. There are many reasons to offer it. First, we gain time using UV inks, because the UV inks harden instantly when exposed to UV lights thus turning the job immediately. Second, there is a quality achievement; high-speed curing eliminates the need to powder spray so the gloss of the ink is not impaired. Finally, we reap the benefits of ecology because UV curing eliminates the need for solvents in the ink so there are no VOC emissions.” Management and color control systems on press The KBA Rapida 105 press at 3S Printers is equipped with an array of KBA high-tech systems, including KBA’s Logotronic management system and KBA’s Densitronic S closed loop color control system, a combined density and color measuring system for quality control both during and after printing. “KBA automation and management functions allow us to keep track of how quickly and efficiently we are printing our jobs and maintain a high-level of color control on every job,” says Sandhu. “Our new Rapida 105 replaced three existing presses: a 40-inch six-color, a 40-inch four-color, and a 28-inch four-color. By installing the Rapida, we not only gain in automation and efficiency but we also gain extra units.” New chapter for company The addition of the new press is part of an entire new chapter for the company. “This is an exciting time for us,” says Sandhu. “We’re moving our 43 employees into a new 30,000 sq ft building with a brand-new highly-automated press. We have installed a Creo Lotem 800 computer-to-plate system to replace Creo Trendsetter to keep up with the high speeds on the new press and we’ll be installing a JDF-based Stahl folder and Compcut JDF based Polar cutter later this year to add to our finishing capabilities. In September we plan to have an open house for our customers and potential clients to see our new facility and equipment.”