August 14, 2007 -- KBA North America, a leading sheetfed offset press manufacturer based in Williston, Vt., is announcing that Motion Imaging, Inc., a nationwide retailer and manufacturer of 3-D motion lenticular products based in Farmingdale, N.Y., has posted over one million impressions of lenticular sheets on its KBA Genius 52 UV waterless press in less than a year of operation. The Genius 52 UV, which was installed in August 2006, has propelled the business to a two-shift operation and will necessitate a move from its current headquarters to a larger 35,000 sq ft facility in early 2008.
“When we first began the business in 2002, we would out-source the production of lenticular printing,” says Robert Thompson, founder and president of Motion Imaging. “But when I read about the Genius 52 UV press from KBA, I felt that we could bring production under our own roof and grow the business much faster. During the last 12 months, the Genius has given us higher quality, faster turnaround, and more production.”
Unique press; a category of its own
The Genius 52 UV is the world’s first waterless UV sheetfed offset press. The maximum sheet size is 14 3/16 x 20 1/2” and it can operate at 8,000sph. The press has the world’s widest stock range in this format class - from 60lb to 32pt. Printers are attracted to the Genius 52 for many reasons, including its anilox roller-based short-run inking system, its single impression cylinder, its waterless technology, its makeready times of less than five minutes, its startup waste of less than 10 sheets, and its print quality---all of which set the press in a category of its own.
The specialized KBA Genius 52 UV press with keyless inking, waterless technology, extended delivery and dryers is designed to print on a variety of paper, board and plastics such as lenticular, ABS, PVC, PC etc. It features an automatic plate changing device that guarantees short set-up times, reliable reproducibility, and brilliant offset quality. The Genius 52 control console features a touch screen display that can be slid from one end of the press to the other for easy press operator access. The press prints in five colors with UV curing inks that rapidly and completely harden through an efficient integrated drying system thus allowing further processing such as laminating or punching immediately afterwards with no waiting period required.
On a tour of the facilities, John Conkling, vice president of Motion Imaging, described the various components needed to produce this highly-specialized niche market. To generate the images needed for the lenticular process, Motion Imaging hires photographers around the country to take special consecutive shots of sports players to use for the lenticular process. Once the image is obtained, the firm’s artists place the player in a special configuration with the player’s name and team logo. Plates are generated on a Kodak Trendsetter platesetter for the Genius. Once the sheets are produced on the Genius, they are sent to a local die-cutter to be precisely cut for use on cups, notebooks, or any other purpose. Once they have been finished, they are returned to Motion Imaging for fulfillment.
“In the end, we depend on the quality and fast production of the Genius,” says Thompson. “If we produce a lenticular piece that is not high quality and not on time, we don’t have anything to sell to our customers. We can’t miss a deadline; we have 40,000 stores nationwide waiting for our products.”
Big names, well-known players
Today, Motion Imaging’s business is broken into two segments: 75% is for the retail market and 25% is for the custom manufacturing market. The retail market includes high-quality posters, magnets, cups, notebooks, portfolios, calendars, and point-of-purchase displays with brilliant 3D imagery featuring the likenesses of different Major League Baseball, National Basketball Association, National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and National Hockey League,  or Disney and Nickelodeon characters. These items are sold at large chain retailers throughout the United States. The custom manufacturing market features certain items for a particular company not sold through the retail outlets by Motion Imaging. For example, the firm recently produced a specialized 3-D lenticular box for the new Transformer movie. Thompson sees high growth in the future for the custom manufacturing market.
“Robert Thompson and his staff have taken a concept of selling high-end lenticular pieces in a particular niche and becoming successful and profitable,” says Ed Heffernan, KBA district sales manager. “We’re pleased that our Genius 52 UV press, which was recognized as a winner by the GATF InterTech committee in 2006, is a cornerstone of their success and continues to produce sports and entertainment lenticular pieces for customers all over the country.”
Part of the firm’s success is being able to quickly produce an athlete’s image on a variety of products in a short amount of time. For example, when the Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl earlier this year, Motion Imaging had eye-catching lenticular items with Peyton Manning’s image out on store shelves within three days of the game. The key to this success is the quality, fast production, and efficiency of the Genius press.