February 16, 2004 -- With its investment in a Compacta 418 double-circumference commercial web press from Koenig & Bauer AG (KBA), the printing house of T’Hooft in Aalter, Belgium, is boosting its fleet of KBA presses to seven. The new Compacta 418 has a rated speed of 42,500 revs/hour and will be engineered for a special web width of 1,075mm (42¼in) to output 40-page A4 products. This puts the press in an interesting market niche between 32- and 48-page products and represents an economic alternative to a 48-page press. For printers with 16-page presses who are wary of jumping to large-format commercial presses, this 40-page novelty with only a slightly wider reel is just the ticket. ”Once again we were not interested in off-the-shelf equipment”, says Bart T’Hooft, owner of the printing plant. ”As was the case with our Compacta 213 and Compacta 106, we wanted a press tailored to suit our precise needs. This investment secures us an important niche position in the fiercely aggressive commercial sector. KBA’s bespoke solution was convincing from the start and our excellent spirit of co-operation with KBA made our investment decision all the more easier. A high degree of press automation and short makereadies are vital in the Belgium market because print runs of 10,000 to 20,000 copies are not uncommon.”