Rapt attention and thorough questions from attendees to Koenig & Bauer’s UV printing experts

• Technology directors Dirk Winkler and Chris Travis moderated the event
• Displayed Koenig & Bauer’s leadership role in the fast-growing process in the industry
• 200 attendees watched the live 40 minute presentation

For the second year in a row, Koenig & Bauer hosted a 40 minute presentation on its leadership position in the popular and fast-growing LED-UV technology along with a live stream from its demo center in Radebeul, Germany at PRINT UV, the premier all-in-one conference event for leaders in the global UV printing industry held in Las Vegas from February 26 to 28 at the Encore by Wynn Resort. Moderated by technology directors Dirk Winkler and Chris Travis, the presentation took attendees live into the Koenig & Bauer demo room where the firm’s popular large format Rapida 145 six-color plus coater was operating at 18,000 sph with one LED-UV stick.

“LED-UV is one of the hottest and most discussed topics in the printing industry today,” says Travis. “As experts in this field, our goal at our presentation was to update attendees on LED UV from a press manufacturer’s point of view. We have been developing and researching LED UV for the past five years. We wanted to bring attendees up to date on the current state of LED-UV, discuss its advantages and benefits, and how it has been successfully implemented into the commercial market by Koenig & Bauer. Currently, we’re selling presses into the packaging, commercial, and in-mold label markets with LED-UV. As a representative of KBA North America, we’re proud to continue our commitment to this popular technology. Our firm is a platinum sponsor and key supporter of this important event since its inception eleven years ago.”

Travis and Winkler discussed the popular Koenig & Bauer VariDry LED-UV curing system and its exciting low-energy drying technology that delivers numerous benefits. Attendees were interested to learn all about its particularly high print quality, ability to stand out on critical uncoated and offset stock with sharp dots and high color brilliance, no fold breaks even with high ink coverage due to elastic polymerization, and the elimination of printing powder. The LED-UV process is environmentally friendly because it consumes little energy and its ink systems are free from mineral oils. It consumes only 20% of the energy needed by conventional UV processes.

To provide the best one-on-one demonstration of the benefits of LED-UV, the company organized a live stream from its demo center in Germany. On hand in Germany were Koenig & Bauer’s Wolfgang Ley, demo room manager, and Mariann Thutewohl, in-house chemist, who performed a number of test procedures including FT-IR & NI-IR measurements and measuring the cure of LED UV inks. These processes have been developed by Koenig & Bauer’s process engineers in Radebeul as part of the LED UV implementation and research of LED UV inks. They were able to demonstrate this successful instant cure-to-print technology and show current and prospective customers how to immediately capitalize on LED-UV’s many advantages and benefits.

As the presentation ended, attendees had many questions to ask and praise for the information. "It was great to see the progression of LED-UV from a press manufacturer’s point of view,” says Sarah Skinner, managing director of Ingersoll Paper Box, “and being able to see a live press printing LED-UV from my seat in Las Vegas."

“We believe our presentation really resonated with the attendees,” says Travis. “We’ve had a lot of printers contact us about LED-UV after attending PRINT UV. Everyone felt like they had been taken first-hand into the Koenig & Bauer demo room and appreciated the information and seeing the test run.”

KBA North America is located in Dallas, Texas and a member of the Koenig & Bauer Group, which was established 200 years ago in Würzburg, Germany. Koenig & Bauer’s claim, “We’re on it.” gets to the heart of Koenig & Bauer’s values and competencies for all target groups. The group's product range is the broadest in the industry; its portfolio includes sheetfed offset presses in all format classes, post press die-cutters, inkjet presses and systems, flexographic presses, commercial and newspaper web presses, corrugated presses, special presses for banknotes, securities, metal-decorating, smart cards, glass and plastic decorating. For more information visit the company's web site at www.koenig-bauer.com. 

For the second year in a row, Koenig & Bauer hosted a 40 minute presentation on its leadership position in the popular and fast-growing LED-UV technology along with a live stream from its demo center in Radebeul, Germany at PRINT UV. Inset: Koenig & Bauer’s Wolfgang Ley, demo room manager, performed a number of test procedures for the attendees.