In recent weeks two delegations of print professionals from South America visited KBA's sheetfed offset plant in Radebeul and Rapida reference installations in Germany and the Czech Republic to learn more about the latest technological advances.

The focus of the first tour was packaging printing, with around 50 prospects and longstanding Rapida users from Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Mexico and El Salvador attending a packaging-oriented open house entitled "Performance is the key" on 5 April in Radebeul. This was followed by a tour of packaging printing plants where medium- and large-format KBA presses are in operation: Schumacher Packaging in Sonneberg, Kroha in Miesbach, Höhn Displays + Verpackungen in Ulm and STI in Lauterbach. At every location delegates were given a chance to compare notes with host production staff.

Following hot on the heels of the first delegation, some 30 commercial printers from Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador and Colombia saw B2 (29in) Rapida 75E press lines being put through their paces at KBA's customer centre in Radebeul, Gärtner Druck in Leipzig and at two Czech operations, Garamon in Hradec Králové and KBA-Grafitec in Dobruska.

In view of the overwhelmingly positive feedback from Latin American printers KBA is planning further knowledge-sharing events. A roadshow to a Rapida 75 in Brazil is scheduled for June, and in the autumn Latin American commercial printers will be invited to Germany for a tour of medium- and large-format KBA installations.