KBA North America, a global press manufacturer based in Dallas, Texas, has announced that 4D Printing, Inc., a general commercial printer located in Conyers, Ga., quickly took delivery and began production on its KBA Rapida 75 23 x 29-inch six-color plus coater press after it made its North American debut at the KBA booth on the show floor at PRINT 09 in Chicago in September 2009.
 
"We're a general commercial printer that lets our products do the talking for us," says Doug Silsbee, vice president of 4D Printing. "We don't have a sales force; our loyal customers spread the word about our quality and service. Adding the new KBA Rapida 75 to our pressroom enhances our abilities with its automation, speed, fast throughput, and high quality."
 
The new KBA Rapida 75 with integrated coater made its North American debut at PRINT 09. The six-up Rapida 75, a 23.75 x 29.5-inch press, offers a 15,000sph, is configurable with two to eight colors plus coater and four-over-four perfector, and incorporates some 30 new features. These new features include non-stop facilities for the feeder and delivery, the DensiTronic density measurement and control system, and a CIP3 interface. The press is able to wash the impression cylinders parallel to blanket washing, permitting further significant savings in make-ready time.
 
"We are also impressed with the Rapida 75's environmentally-friendly aspects," says Silsbee. "We've always been keen on green technology but the Rapida 75 goes even further. Its high level of automation decreases waste significantly and it uses much less power than any other printing press. This enables us to keep our environmental stance and saves us time and money."
 
Immediately after the show the new press was installed and running in only days and 4D Printing fingerprinted the Rapida 75 to its existing two-year-old KBA Rapida 105 41-inch six-color one-over-five perfector press with aqueous coating capability. Silsbee praises the Rapida 105 for its quality and versatility, allowing the firm to print or perfect jobs on heavier board, such as 24 pt for posters, as well as its fast 15 minute makeready and extremely productive throughput. Now Silsbee will be able to move jobs from one press to the other and produce the same high quality.
 
"Our highly-skilled press operators learned very quickly how to use the new Rapida 75," says Silsbee. "By the second day of training, they were able to make-ready the press without their KBA instructor. From shipping to installation to training, KBA has been by our side getting the press up and running quickly and easily."
 
Established in 1985 in a suburb outside Atlanta, 4D Printing is a quality-oriented, full-service printing facility with sheetfed and web presses from two to six colors and a complete in-house bindery. The firm also provides the most up-to-date prepress technology support, both Mac and PC platforms, high-resolution scanning, and direct-to-plate capabilities.