December 10, 2007 - KBA North America, a leading press manufacturer based in Williston, Vermont, announces that its customer, The Garvey Group, was recognized with a Benny Award in the Large-Format Printing category for the 2007 Premier Print Awards-the graphic arts industry's largest and most prestigious worldwide printing competition, hosted by the Printing Industries of America/Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (PIA/GATF). The award was presented to Ed Garvey, president and owner of The Garvey Group, at a dinner reception during Graph Expo 2007 in early September. The Garvey Group won the coveted Benny Award, the highest honor in the 2007 Premier Print Awards, for the company's Dreamgirls movie poster entry, which was printed on Garvey's KBA Rapida 205 81-inch sheetfed press.
"Winning a Benny is a significant accomplishment for any printer, and we are so gratified that Premier Print Awards has selected The Garvey Group for this great honor," said Ed Garvey. "We have invested in building the most modern large-format operations in the country, and this award validates that investment."
Tight tolerance, color consistency, and flesh tones were concerns
There were a number of reasons that this project won a Benny Award. "Maintaining a very tight tolerance for the flesh tones while printing a very heavy and bright background was a critical concern," said Garvey. "Also, a very high gloss level for the UV coating had to be attained for this project. The 60 x 81" Rapida 205 press was critical in our success. The KBA press has a Densitronic system on it, which measures both ink densities and spectral values. This aids us in printing high-quality pieces within very tight tolerances. The press also helped us with color consistency, density, repeatability, reporting functions, and reduced cycle times."
The Dreamgirls movie poster was printed on 80 lb Sterling C1S by NewPage for a run length of 4,000 sheets. It was hung in stores as a point-of-purchase display. According to Garvey, the client was very pleased with the promotion.
"Beautifully rendered," said one judge
The judges on the Premier Print Awards panel were also impressed. The Dreamgirls poster "was beautifully rendered on a lightweight text substrate," said one of the judges. Another commented that the printer gave "great attention to detail and color fidelity."
The Premier Print Awards are the printing industry's oldest and largest worldwide graphic arts competition, hosted by PIA/GATF. Now in its 58th year, the annual contest recognizes those responsible for the creation and production of print communications. The event promotes excellence in print communications and rewards companies and individuals who produce the very best in print media. The Benny Awards were presented at the Premier Print Gala, in conjunction with the Graph Expo Conference held September 9-12 in Chicago.
This year, more than 5,100 entries were received from printing and graphic arts firms around the world, and judges awarded the Benny to the top entry in each category.
Cartons, signs, and posters delivered by Rapida 205
The Garvey Group installed its KBA Rapida 205 six-color plus coater 81-inch sheetfed press in December 2006 at its Niles, Illinois, facility. The 60-inch x 81-inch sheet size is the largest on the company's roster, which also includes 64-inch and 56-inch machines. The Rapida 205 is being used to print a variety of products, including top sheets to wrap retail product cartons, signs, and posters.
The Garvey Group is a network of advertising, marketing, print production, support, and fulfillment divisions located in the Midwest and dedicated to the design, production, and distribution of graphic and electronic communication materials. Founded in 1919 and headquartered in Niles, Illinois, The Garvey Group has additional facilities in the Wisconsin cities of Sturtevant, Oak Creek, Racine, and Milwaukee. The Garvey Group's growth has been driven by consistent ownership-three generations of Garveys-along with dedication to professionalism; utilization of the latest technologies; personal service; an eye for detail; and the quality, security, and accuracy of its work.
KBA North America is a member of the KBA Group, a leading supplier of sheetfed, webfed, and digital offset presses located in Williston, Vermont. KBA is dedicated to excellence in printing technology. The company's greatest satisfaction comes from helping its customers succeed by building presses that enable their businesses to prosper. From engineering through production, KBA's focus is on people, providing flexible technology, customized printing solutions, and personal service to help its partners differentiate themselves and be successful today and in the future.