Last year Loire Offset Plus in Molina-la-Chazotte celebrated its 20th anniversary. At about the same time the company relocated to bigger premises offering 21,000m² (226,000ft²) of production floor space. Three Rapida litho presses also made the move: an eight-colour Rapida 142 perfector for four-over-four, a five-colour Rapida 106 coater press and a four-colour Rapida 185. They were later joined by two new presses: a Rapida 162a perfector for four-over-four and a five-colour Rapida 142 with coater. This French book printer thus has a total of 32 KBA printing units and 13 folding machines.

At Drupa, Loire Offset opted for a 48-page KBA C48 commercial web press as a means of expanding capacity for high-volume products without having to add the extra folder and guillotine that would have been needed with a further sheetfed press. Installation of the new press, which will have a cylinder circumference of 1,240mm (48.81in) and a web width of 1,450mm (57in) will start next year. One of the C48's many unique features is a variable-format V5 folder for delivering books. Along with Loire Offset's satisfaction with its fleet of Rapidas this was a key criterion in favour of the C48. It will be the sixth V5 for a French print operation within a short space of time.

The new press's ability to print and inline finish long runs of books will cut production costs, while the use of web stock will reduce paper costs.