KBA North America, a global press manufacturer based in Dallas, Texas, announces that Boehmer Box, a specialist in the offset printing of paperboard packaging based in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, is installing a new Rapida 142 56-inch six-color sheetfed press with coating, which also includes KBA's unique board package and is UV-prepped. The Rapida 142 was sold in cooperation with KBR Graphics Ltd., the central and eastern Canadian distributor for KBA North America.

"Over the past year, we have invested close to $10 million in our facility as we continued to post a 20% increase in sales," says Mark Caines, president and chief operating officer of Boehmer Box LP. "Our new KBA Rapida 142 56-inch six-color press is an essential part of the investment. We needed a new press that would provide the automation, fast make-ready, color fidelity, and ability to easily integrate with our robust prepress department as well as our unique FM6 expanded color printing technology. Our plan is to run this press to capacity where it will be operating 24/7 along with our existing 56-inch press. We'll be much more efficient in make-ready and turnaround times because our new KBA press is running 45% faster than the press it is replacing."

The $10 million investment includes the new KBA Rapida 142 56-inch six-color sheetfed offset press, a new first-of-its-kind industrial full-color digital press, a new die cutting machine along with a new internal die-making facility, and a new prepress software platform. Caines' vision is to have the new KBA press produce its leading high-end conventional paperboard packaging while the new digital press will produce shorter carton runs of under 5,000 copies, product samples, and promotional and test marketing kits.

"We experienced a 20% sales growth last year and we added 40 new employees," says Caines. "We realized at that time that a new offset press was essential to keep up with capacity demands. Our reputation has been built on investing in new technology to differentiate us from our competitors."

Boehmer's customer base of leading food, beverage, and consumer packaged goods relies on high-energy color-critical graphics as a key component of their advertising medium to reach their customers. The trend has been towards a higher frequency of graphic changes on the package, says Caines, that result in a reduction in run lengths and the new equipment purchases effectively address this trend.

"Color and graphics are very important to our customers," says Caines. "That's why in 2006 we invested in new patented FM6 technology making us the only printer in North America with this process that reproduces the traditional Pantone spot color library in a single printing pass using CMYK, FM orange, FM blue and FM green. Due to this technology, we're able to put 10 or 15 different boxes on one sheet and hit the color gamut for each customer. FM6 has become so popular that nearly 80% to 85% of our customers ask for it. In order to run it properly, we need a press like the KBA that has color control density technology."

The KBA Densitronic Pro is a combined density and color measuring system for quality control both during and after printing. Unlike other systems, Densitronic Pro 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 very quickly 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 Pro controls the density and spectral parameters of each sheet by measuring along control strips or directly on the image. In addition to its KBA Densitronic Pro technology, Boehmer's new KBA Rapida 142 56-inch press is equipped with a full array of automation, including fully automatic plate changing, which changes all the plates on the press simultaneously, thus saving critical time. Caines is impressed with its top running speed of 15,000 sph and all of the top-flight automation that will reduce makeready.

Caines and his management team looked at other offset presses before choosing to purchase the KBA Rapida 142.  "KBA is the leader in presses for the packaging market," says Caines. "Reliability and leadership were important when we made our choice. Our focus is to deliver value-added services to our clientele. They are under pressure to control their own costs and we help them by being more efficient ourselves. Our new KBA Rapida press with all of its automation and efficiency will be a key component for us to maintain our growth rate and momentum."

Based in Kitchener, Ontario, Boehmer Box specializes in the offset printing of paperboard packaging for a wide range of leading food, beverage and consumer packaged goods that are sold coast to coast throughout Canada and into the United States. Its 270 employees are situated in a new 320,000 sq ft facility that has been optimized for efficient workflow. Boehmer Box, LYFT Visual, and board manufacturer, Strathcona Paper LP, make Canampac ULC, its Toronto-based parent company, one of the largest independent paperboard manufacturers specializing in private label food packaging.

KBA North America is a member of the KBA Group, a leading global supplier of sheetfed, webfed, and digital offset presses located in Dallas, Texas. 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.