A KBA Rapida 105 universal five-color coater press came on stream in mid-September at Malaysian printing and packaging specialist Linocraft Printers in Johor Bahru. Customers include global brand names like Brother, Casio, Dyson, Hewlett-Packard, Motorola and Panasonic, to name but a few. Established in 1972, Linocraft Printers is one of the largest printers in Malaysia and is associated with one of the biggest logistics groups in the country, Tiong Nam Logistics Holdings. In 2005 the 350-employee company, which has ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 accreditation, won a gold medal at the Asian Print Awards for the quality and design of some vacuum-cleaner packaging. The Rapida, which joins a fleet of small-, medium- and large-format German presses, is Linocraftís first KBA press but probably not its last, as there are plans to expand into superlarge format. The contract followed a series of challenging tests at KBAís sheetfed plant last year, which the Rapida passed with flying colors. Whilst in Radebeul, marketing director Andrew Tan Woon Chay, together with Andrew Bartlett, graphics production manager of Dyson, also studied the pros and cons of hybrid printing and coating, which Linocraft is aiming to provide as one of the first in this part of the world. Performance justifies trust Part of a major investment package that also includes finishing equipment, the new, plinth-mounted Rapida with extended delivery is now running in two shifts a day printing medium to long runs of packaging and labels, operating manuals and other high-quality commercials. Mr Tan, who has spear-headed marketing at Linocraft for the past two-and-a-half years, says: "We urgently needed a press like the Rapida to expand capacity and maintain our quality edge, and we are delighted with its performance. Printing high-grade packaging plays to its strengths, because we use coatings. The press came on stream bang on time, just four weeks after being delivered. Training and service were exemplary." Big names bring big leap in sales Linocraft Printersí dynamic growth was driven by a big jump in sales. From the simple commercial jobs the company initially handled 34 years ago, it has advanced to high-grade packaging, a market it entered in 2000. It has been an established printer of instruction manuals for many years. Its original clientele of lesser known brands was soon joined by top labels, as a result of which sales jumped sixfold within three years. Says Mr Tan: "We are always ready to accept a challenge, and as our first-class references demonstrate, we have a proven history of delivering on the promise, thanks to the quality and low cost of our products, our cutting-edge technology, our convenient location near three major ports in Malaysia and Singapore, and the global distribution and logistics support of our associated company, Tiong Nam Holdings." For Mr Tan, the new KBA Rapida 105 universal is the start of a close and fruitful association with KBA. Having experienced the Rapidaís technological excellence and the superb service provided by KBA, which has its own Singapore subsidiary, KBA Asia-Pacific, Linocraft is now studying the feasibility of a KBA Rapida 205 VLF hybrid coater press in collaboration with a major customer, and has been touring reference plants in Germany and the UK. It would be the first superlarge press in Asia.