Print company Offset Druk from Rzeszow in Poland recently placed an order with KBA for a six-colour Rapida 106 in a twin-coater configuration. The press is to be installed in April and will lend a significant boost to the production capacity currently offered by two half-format presses from another manufacturer. At the same time, the Rapida 106 will permit the company to tackle new and creative finishing solutions.

Offset Druk celebrated the 20th anniversary of its founding last year. Its sheetfed activities over these two decades have been concentrated solely on commercial work. Plans for expansion into the packaging sector, coupled with the opportunities to offer new finishing technologies, however, convinced proprietor Adam Motyka that the time had come to invest in a high-performance medium-format press. The chosen Rapida press boasts a host of technical features which are still far from commonplace among users in Poland. Adam Motyka: “From the technical point of view, this is the most up-to-date press on the market in its class, and it offers us innovations which are only available in this form from KBA. Our decision to invest in this modern technology will enable us to bring its potential to the Polish market and to satisfy the demand for high-quality packaging.”

The Rapida 106 is to be installed in a new production hall at Offset Druk. It is engineered for production speeds up to 18,000 sph, and can handle substrates from 0.06 to 1.2 mm thickness thanks to the integration of dedicated board-handling equipment. The preparations for packaging applications also include raising of the press on a 450 mm plinth. The long list of high-tech features includes the sidelay-free infeed DriveTronic SIS, DriveTronic SPC for simultaneous plate changing, register-true plate mounting with Plate Ident, automatic washing systems for the inking units, plate cylinders and blankets, a fully automatic coating supply and cleaning system for the coating towers, ErgoTronic ACR for automatic register corrections, automatic suction ring positioning, automatic non-stop pile changing at the delivery, DensiTronic professional and QualiTronic professional for sheet inspection and inline density control, as a basis for the highest levels of productivity to be experienced in this format class.  

“The ability to apply metallic and pearlescent effects in the coating towers, together with the option of printing an opaque white on the first unit, guarantees us a high finishing quality from a single pass through the press,” says Adam Motyka with a smile of contentment. “It is not only that the Rapida 106 will enable us to lower the production costs for final products requiring sophisticated finishing. Thanks to the inline quality control, it will also become much easier to satisfy our customers' demands for ultimate quality.”

“In just a few weeks, Offset Druk will become the proud owner of the first 3B press in this configuration in Poland,” says Miroslawa Becker, sales manager at KBA Polska. “We are very pleased that Adam Motyka and his team decided in favour of our press, despite the fact that they had cheaper offers on the table. But our trumps were no doubt the advanced technical solutions and the exceptional level of automation.”

Adam Motyka is equally certain that the Rapida 106 was the right choice to make: “The competent advice offered by KBA Polska and the good cooperation between the management teams on the Polish and German sides were among the factors which clinched our decision, alongside the excellent technology, of course. The close proximity and fast response of the service department was similarly convincing. We are sure that the new press will help us to realise a high growth potential, not only for commercial work, but also in packaging and labels.”