May 24, 2004 -- KBA North America, a leading sheetfed offset press manufacturer based in Williston, Vt., and its parent company KBA, have announced that the volume of new orders taken at Drupa 2004 beat its expectations and surpassed the record set at Drupa 2000 giving the company robust sales. This success is due to the large number of new, innovative technologies unveiled by KBA at the international trade fair held for 14 days in May in Germany. KBA president Albrecht Bolza-Schünemann, who served as Drupa president, says "Drupa 2004 has a more far-reaching significance for the entire industry. It has brought about the return of optimism and a sense of new departures in the international print media industry." Orders for KBA sheetfed offset presses, which have seen strong growth for many years, were more than twice as high as at the last Drupa 2000. KBA’s web press division booked a string of orders for commercial and gravure presses, and a number of newspaper press lines were ordered as well. A number of products are now using KBA’s Gravuflow inking system, which was firstseen on the 74 Karat DI press. The Gravuflow inking system allows the operator to adjust color control from the front-end prepress system without the need for ink keys. At Drupa 2004, the new B3 format Genius 52, the new Rapida 74G B2 press, as well as the 74 Karat and the Cortina newspaper web press are all using this new inking approach. One of the first sales at Drupa for the North American market was to Color K Graphics, a full-service commercial and packaging printer based in Miami, which purchased a 74 Karat digital offset press with coater at Drupa 2004.Color K Graphics is a 12-year-old full service digital and offset printing firm serving the southern Florida marketplace. Dedicated to short-run high-quality printing, the firm employs both offset and digital press technology. The company produces brochures, newsletters, postcards, catalogs, posters, folders, stationery, and packaging. Situated in the trendy fast-paced market of Miami, Color K’s clients have limited time to test new packaging concepts. The KBA 74 Karat is an ideal solution for capturing this emerging market. No other press can delivery such quality in this format with such fast turnaround times. Additionally, KBA sold a 74 Karat with coater to a North American packaging company, while two new Rapida 105 sheetfed presses were sold to U.S. printers. Mainline Printing, a leading Midwest commercial and label printer, purchased a Rapida 105 six color press and a U.S. packaging printer purchased a Rapida 105 eight-color press with coater. “We were quite pleased with the number of U.S. printers who visited our booth at Drupa and their positive reactions to our new technology,” says Ralf Sammeck, president and CEO of KBA North America. “Whatever they were looking for—sheetfed, web, or digital offset—we had something new to offer. We are quite confident that this will lead to increased sales this year. In 2003 our company saw a 27% growth in turnover. In 2004 we are expecting 40% plus growth.”