KBA North America, a global press manufacturer based in Dallas, Texas, is pleased to announce that The Garvey Group, a network of advertising, marketing, print production, and fulfillment services based in the Chicago suburb of Niles, Illinois, has received three awards for outstanding achievement in the Large-Format Printing category in the 8th Annual 2010 Pinnacle Print Awards Competition, a two-state printing competition hosted by the Printing Industry of Illinois and Indiana, the area trade association for printing and the graphic arts.

"We are thrilled to receive this recognition for the hard work our people put into the production of these pieces", says Joe Kulis, chief operating officer at The Garvey Group.

Competing against 195 entries from printing and graphic arts firms from the two states, The Garvey Group received one of each: Best of Category, Award of Excellence, and Certificate of Merit. All jobs were produced on Garvey's KBA Rapid 205, 81-inch six-color sheetfed press using printing techniques that included aqueous and UV coatings. Winning pieces included a point-of-purchase DVD display system for the movie Avatar, an in-store display system for Gatorade, and product packaging for Alienware Computers.

The Garvey Group is one of only two printers in the U.S. that operates two KBA Rapida 205 81-inch six-color sheetfed presses at its Niles, Ill. facility. The KBA Rapida 205 81-inc sheetfed press, awarded the prestigious PIA InterTech award, features a maximum sheet size of 59.5" x 81" running at a speed of 9,000 sheets per hour (sph). One of the presses is specially-configured with inline UV capabilities as well as a host of other features, such as a fully-automatic plate changer with lifting facility for loading and unloading of the plate holders on the tower guards, automatic blanket and impression cylinder washing systems, an in-line anilox coating system and IR, UV, or hybrid drying options. It also includes KBA's Densitronic quality control system. The ACR automatic camera register control system provides a simple method for operators to obtain fast color registration. The ACR uses a camera, an integrated PC and corresponding software. The camera is used to determine any register differences, and calculated correction values are then transmitted to the lateral, circumferential and diagonal register systems on the individual printing units.

The Pinnacle Print Awards recognizes outstanding craftsmanship in the creation and production of printed material in Illinois and Indiana. The competition promotes excellence in print communications and rewards companies and individuals who produce only the finest in print media.