KBA North America, a leading sheetfed offset press manufacturer based in Williston, Vt., is posting phenomenal sales growth in the Northeast region of the U.S. with seven KBA presses slated to be installed throughout the summer and fall of 2006. The five printers who have purchased presses are: - Keystone Paper and Box, East Windsor, CT.: Rapida 105 41-inch seven-color with coater and hybrid UV - Parlor City Paper Box, Binghamton, NY: Rapida 105 41-inch seven-color prepared for hybrid UV - Pioneer Packaging, Chicopee, MA.: Rapida 105 41-inch eight-color with coater hybrid UV and plastics - UniGraphic Inc., Woburn, MA.: Rapida 105 41-inch seven-color with coater and 74 Karat - One large New England printer who wishes to remain anonymous: two new Rapida 162 64-inch eight-color presses with coaters "Printers in the Northeast have had a pent-up demand for new, more automated presses," says Steve Listro, KBA North America district sales manager for the Northeast. "They have found that KBA has responded to their needs with unique features that can not be found on any other press manufacturers. We're especially seeing the need for our presses to be equipped with hybrid UV and plastics options to help them differentiate themselves in the market." Keystone Paper & Box, East Windsor, CT, will be installing its first KBA press to meet the increases in volume they have been experiencing. The new Rapida 105 41-inch six-color press will be delivered in August and will be fully-operational by October 2006. "In the past three years, we've been growing tremendously," says Jim Rutt, Keystone's president. "We've absorbed three other folding carton companies and our sales for the past year have posted a 34% increase. We've entered into new markets, such as beverage carriers, that have also fueled more growth." To keep up with the increase in volume, Keystone chose to purchase a KBA Rapida 105 six-color press with interdeck UV stations and UV in the delivery The press can run either UV or Hybrid inks. The new press gives Keystone added capabilities and an additional color unit. "Currently, our 40-inch sheetfed has five units; now we'll have six," explains Rutt. "We've also been outsourcing our UV jobs; now we'll have a press with hybrid UV capabilities to expand into new markets and print on foil and plastic. Certain features on the Rapida, such as automatic descending delivery and fully automatic plate loading, tipped the scale in favor of KBA. We'll also now have the ability to print up to 48 pt board and on microflute. In addition, we were very impressed with KBA as a company, the press itself, and the performance of the press." Keystone Paper & Box Company was established in 1944 by Abraham Rutt as a distributor of shirt boxes and other supplies to the laundry industry. After World War II, Abraham's son Melvin joined the business and soon discovered that it was more efficient and economical to make boxes rather than to buy them. Since then, the company's primary focus has been the design and manufacture of folding cartons. Today, the family's third generation is leading the business with Abraham's grandson Jim holding the title as president. Since 1959, the firm has been headquartered in a 60,000 sq ft renovated 19th century mill building in the historic Warehouse Point section. Parlor City Paper Box Co., a Binghamton, NY-based paperboard packaging company, has placed its second order for a KBA Rapida 105 seven-color press with coater. The new press is due to be delivered in November 2006 after the firm completes a 22,000 sq ft addition to its 136,000 sq ft facility. "This will be our second KBA sheetfed press," says David L. Culver, president of Parlor City Paper Box. "Our first Rapida 105 41-inch sheetfed press was a four-color model. We're installing a second press to help us increase our volume and give us additional color capabilities, since a majority of our work is six to seven colors. We've also had the press prepared for hybrid UV capabilities since we may need that capability in the future. The new press is also equipped with a lot of automation that we didn't have before, such as Logotronic management system and the Densitronic S combined density and color measuring system for quality control both during and after printing. Established in 1902, Parlor City Paper Box Co. is a privately-held, family-owned firm with 39 employees. Catering to a wide variety of customers, mostly in the Northeast, the firm produces high-end premium-style packaging. David Culver is joined in the business by his sons: Bruce, Brian, and Jeffrey. Pioneer Packaging Inc., a privately-held, 75-employee, Chicopee, Mass-based packaging printer, has placed an order for a KBA Rapida 105 eight-color with coater along with a hybrid UV and plastics package. The press, which will be installed in Sept. 2006, will be the first KBA for the firm. "We're growing very rapidly," says Jeff Shinners, president and CEO of Pioneer Packaging. "But we wanted to add additional capabilities that we've never had before, such as hybrid UV and the ability to print on plastic. We looked at other press manufacturers but we felt KBA had a lot to offer us. KBA is a leader in the packaging industry and we felt they had a lot of knowledge to give us. When we looked at the press, we were impressed with its exceptional capabilities and the support we would receive from KBA in its nearby headquarters in Vermont. Plus, we felt this press would allow us to acquire more premium-grade packaging jobs from our diverse nationwide clientele." Established in 1946, Pioneer Packaging Inc. is a unique printing firm that offers the manufacture of both paperboard folding cartons and vacuum-formed plastics along with contract packaging all within the same newly-built 90,000 sq ft facility. A full-service structural and creative design department is on hand where the firm produces its own original art, printing plates, and plastic patterns. UniGraphic Inc., a premier full-service general commercial and large-format printer located in Woburn, Mass., has chosen to install two KBA presses: a Rapida 105 41-inch seven-color sheetfed offset press and a 74 Karat digital offset waterless press. Both presses were installed simultaneously in July 2006 with a planned start-up in September 2006. "Over the past seven years, we've been positioning ourselves as a full-service printer with the ability to produce a wide variety of jobs, from postcards to billboards," says Bob Quinlan, Unigraphic's president. "The two KBA Rapida presses will help us to expand even further into new markets. With the Rapida 105 41-inch press, we plan to move aggressively into packaging, printing on synthetic, and using its hybrid and UV technology. The KBA 74 Karat gives us a larger sheet size (20 x 29-inch) for the short-run digital market with very high-quality output. Up till this point, our maximum sheet size in digital offset printing was 13 x 18-inches." Quinlan says he chose the KBA presses due to their uniqueness and versatility. The new KBA Rapida 105 will give UniGraphic the ability to print on packaging substrates up to 48 pt board stock, whereas in the past, the printer was limited to up to 18 pt on their existing presses. The new 105 also offers an additional printing unit that UniGraphic will use for special colors and applications. Adding the KBA 74 Karat digital offset press is another jewel on UniGraphic's line of press models. "With our new 74 Karat, we'll have a very sophisticated, unique digital printing department," says Quinlan. "We'll be able to produce new work that we couldn't do before, such as short-run pocket folders with aqueous coating. No other competitor will have the range of printing devices that we'll have to offer: a six-color HP Indigo 3000 12 x 18-inch, a four-color Kodak 5034DI DirectPress 13 x 18-inch, and the 74 Karat 20 x 28-inch."