September 2007 -- KBA North America, a leading press manufacturer based in Williston, Vt., is announcing that Quest Graphics, a Maryland Heights, Missouri large format printer, will be installing a new fully-automated KBA Rapida 162 64-inch six-color sheetfed press equipped with inline UV capabilities in early fall.
"For the past two to three years, we have needed to purchase a new press," says Dan Cribbin, president of Quest Graphics. "It's a two-fold reason. First, we needed additional capacity. Secondly, our customers were demanding faster turnaround and inline UV capabilities. We knew that we needed a new fully-automated press."
KBA's large format leadership holds the key
While the firm considers itself a general commercial printer equipped with two 40-inch presses, it also produces a large amount of point-of-purchase, packaging, children's books, outdoor advertising, and other large format work on its 64-inch and its two 77-inch presses. The new KBA Rapida 162A 64-inch six-color press will add capacity and increase production.
"We knew we wanted a large-format press and there were only two press manufacturers that we considered," says Cribbin. "After going through the process, we chose KBA. We had confidence in their technology, service, and training; we felt that their large-format presses were tried and true; and their reputation is second to none."
The fully-loaded Rapida 162 64-inch press is equipped with KBA's popular closed-loop Densitronic S scanning Spectrodensitometer system that significantly reduces waste by measuring both the density and spectral values on the x and y axis; the KBA Logotronic system; and inline UV capabilities.
The KBA Logotronic system guarantees multi-system digital data communication. The company-wide data exchange between the printing company management system, Logotronic professional, MIS or trade software and prepress is carried out by means of a JDF interface. Once the plates have been made the CIP3 data are automatically assigned to the job via the hot folder. The CIP3 files are also converted into preset data for the press. When a job is rescheduled to another press the preset data are automatically recalculated for that press. This ensures that the latest job data, including preset data, is always available at the control console.
One of a kind density and color measuring system
KBA's Densitronic S is a combined density and color measuring system for quality control during printing. Unlike any other system available on the market, Densitronic S also permits direct measurements within the image. Deviations from defined target densities, color values and other quality parameters (dot gain, trapping, etc.) are recognized and displayed not only reliably, but also immediately in comparison to hand-held measuring devices. With integration for online control, the density and spectral deviations are converted into corrective adjustments for the individual ink keys. The Densitronic S controls the density and spectral parameters of each sheet by measuring along control strips or directly on the image.
Inline UV capability on KBA press improves market share
Cribbin sees the specialty substrate area as a growing market for his company. "We've always printed on styrene," he says. "But we feel by having an inline UV system it will allow us faster turnaround times to meet our customer's needs.."
Over the years, the firm has invested heavily in having state-of-the-art prepress equipment and a wide array of bindery equipment, from cutters, folders, and stitchers. "Now we're investing in a brand new press that will let our customers know that we're serious about partnering with them and producing high-quality, quick turnaround jobs on a variety of substrates. We plan on an open house in the spring to display our new press."