(August 04, 2008) KBA North America, a global press manufacturer based in Williston, Vermont, announces that Beneco Packaging, a Canadian packaging printer, has purchased a new KBA Rapida 106 41-inch six-color coater press with UV capability and triple delivery extension, which will be installed in early 2009 at its new larger location outside Toronto. The company signed its contract at Drupa 2008 in late May.
 
"Purchasing the new KBA press will take our company to a higher level," says Carol Jiang, CEO of Beneco. "We're a small but fast-growing company, and we needed the best press to give us faster makeready, more capacity, and additional applications to offer our customers. We're excited to be installing KBA's newest press model-the Rapida 106-which is a proven press with the fastest makeready and the widest range of substrates to run."
 
The newly unveiled Rapida 106 features an 18,000 sph output, fast makeready times, and the higher productivity afforded by a larger sheet size of 29 1/2 x 41 3/4 inches. The press provides a wide choice of automation options, including the KBA DriveTronic dedicated drives, and the benefits they bring in terms of changeover times, operation, maintenance, and waste reduction, as well as the DriveTronic feeder, with its presetting options, which can handle even lighter stock at higher speeds. The Rapida 106 also features the unique no-sidelay infeed, DriveTronic SIS, which eliminates all manual intervention during changes of stock and ensures a much smoother sheet travel.
 
Press installation provides more options
 
"We chose the KBA Rapida 106 because it gives us additional capacity, but also because it will allow us to produce a wider array of jobs on different substrates," explains Jiang. "After the installation, we'll be able to print on plastic using the UV capabilities of the press and heavier board. We're excited about the future and what we'll be able to offer."
 
A new partnership with KBA
 
Jiang was also impressed with the knowledge and service of the KBA management team. "What touched me was the commitment that the KBA sales team showed me," she says.=2 0"I feel that I have entered into a partnership with KBA, that they care about my company and I am now a part of their family. I feel this way about everyone from Holger Garbrecht, the president and CEO, through the entire management team."
 
Beneco has been expanding rapidly since its inception three years ago. The firm produces packaging for the cosmetic, entertainment, food and confectionary, pharmaceutical, personal care, sports, consumer, and stationery markets. Its clients not only need their packaging jobs completed in a timely manner, but require the highest fidelity in the product images printed on the package.
 
To keep up with this growth, Beneco will be moving to a larger plant facility near its present facility in Woodbridge, Ontario. The firm will double its current space, from 18,000 square feet to 36,000 square feet at its new facility, which is where the KBA Rapida 106 will be installed.
 
Carol Jiang founded Beneco after working for 10 years as a sales manager in Canada, the United States, and China for a large printing and packaging company. She started her 15-employee firm from the ground up, targeting prospective customers among a number of small- to medium-sized North American businesses. Today, the company uses a comprehensive range of high-quality equipment with sophisticated capabilities to provide one-stop service for its clients, including prepress, creative graphic design, offset printing, water-based and UV coating, blister coating, die cutting, and folding and gluing. At her company's current rate of growth, Jiang expects revenue to exceed $10 million in three years.