A further Rapida jumbo for Werner Kenkel

Polish packaging printer Werner Kenkel recently expanded its press fleet with a second giant sheetfed offset press from Koenig & Bauer (KBA). The new Rapida 145 with five printing units and coater will predominantly print corrugated packaging like the KBA Rapida 162a which has been successfully in operation at the firm for a few years. The new press will expand the company’s production capacity by approx. 80 per cent.

Werner Kenkel is a family enterprise founded in 1979. It specialised in the production of packaging made of solid board and corrugated using flexo and offset from the beginning. The firm currently has three sites and its cutting-edge offset facility is located in Krzyck Wielki. The first Rapida 162a was installed at this plant in 2010 followed recently by a new Rapida 145. The firm’s co-owner Damian Kenkel: “The key reasons for the purchase of another press was down to the continuously growing packaging market in Poland, increasing customer requirements in terms of quality and finishing as well as the necessity to expand production capacity. Given the extremely positive experience we have had with our first Rapida 162a we decided once again on a large-format KBA press. For the last four years our Rapida 162a has predominantly printed packaging products. Now after transferring the majority of these jobs to the new Rapida 145 we plan to use its outstanding capabilities for finishing and special effects.” 

High level of automation

The new Rapida 145 with five printing units and coater suits production at Werner Kenkel perfectly. It is mounted on a plinth measuring 420mm (16.5in) and its features include a board-handling package, nonstop facilities at the feeder, SIS sidelay-free infeed, DriveTronic SPC DriveTronic SPC dedicated plate-cylinder drives with KBA Plate-Ident plate recognition and pre-registration, CleanTronic Synchro for the simultaneous washing of the blankets and impression cylinders, DriveTronic SRW simultaneous roller washing in the idle units parallel to printing and KBA VariDryBLUE energy-saving drying technology. The ErgoTronic ColorControl console is equipped with ErgoTronic Lab and QualiTronic ColorControl for inline colour control. The press is integrated in pile logistics at the feeder and delivery as well as connected to the firm’s MIS and IT systems, just like the Rapida 162a.

Wies?aw Grabsztunowicz, production manager and head planner at Werner Kenkel: “Only a few vendors offer the format we wanted. We knew that KBA is a trusted supplier with its sheetfed offset facility near the Polish border which was an important benefit. We were satisfied with the expertise shown by the KBA sales and service team in Poland when we received our Rapida 162a. The press itself also works problem-free. A further advantage was that our press operators were familiar with how to operate a Rapida. We therefore chose KBA once again”.

More production flexibility

Rapida 145’s configuration allows this press to take over most jobs from the larger Rapida 162a. Wies?aw Grabsztunowicz is convinced that the firm’s flexibility has improved due to the short makeready times delivered by the new press: “We spent several days discussing the optimum equipment of the new press with representatives from KBA CEE. In doing so, we took into account the enormous potential of our six-colour Rapida 162a with two coaters (for dispersion and UV coating). The option to transfer a large part of our orders which require basic dispersion coating to the Rapida 145 and to exploit its high level of performance allowed us to free up capacity of our two-coater press which we now use more for high-grade finishing jobs. We are thus able to expand our product spectrum considerably”.

Damian Kenkel: “Our customers are global players, from the FMCG, electronic and chemical industries. Their demands in terms of quality force us to invest continuously in our press fleet. The inauguration of the Rapida 145 fits this strategy perfectly”.

Jan Korenc, managing director of KBA CEE, adds: “We are pleased that Werner Kenkel has once again invested in technology from KBA and are convinced that the new Rapida 145 will contribute to the firm’s further development. This extensively automated press is suited to the economical production of smaller print runs. We are proud that the circle of Polish printers who bank on high-end sheetfed offset solutions from KBA has grown with this press installation at Werner Kenkel”.