KBA Determined To Show Otimism To End Crisis

When times are tough, what's needed are fresh impulses to get things moving again, according to German press manufacturer KBA.

When times are tough, what's needed are fresh impulses to get things moving again, according to German press manufacturer KBA.

The company will use Drupa 2004 as a platform for its initiative to reinvigorate the industry and set new benchmarks in print production.

It aims to do that through innovations in sheetfed and web press engineering, workflow integration, production networking and process technology to reflect the group's undiminished optimism in the future of print and to point the way out of the current crisis, it said.

KBA's 3,500 square metre (37,700 square foot) stand in hall 16 at the show will be divided into centres dedicated to pre-press, sheetfed, gravure, newspaper and commercial web offset.

At Drupa 2004 the group will focus on short-run production in SRA3 to B2, where the low volume of waste generated by waterless and keyless offset systems can deliver substantial economic benefits.

KBA will feature a 'short-run factory' simulation comprising a 46 Karat SRA3 (18") waterless press with conventional inking and two waterless, keyless presses, a B3 (201/2") Genius 52 five colour, and a B2 (29") 74 Karat with integrated coater, both with their associated peripherals.

Those will include Creo's Lotem 200K platesetter and Veris proofing system for the Genius and a Brisque/O.R.I.S workflow for the Karat.

New applications for the 74 Karat, developed in collaboration with HumanEyes Technologies, include 3-D photographic printing on plastic and foil using oxidative inks.

A UV version of the Genius 52 can be seen on the Metronic stand in hall 11 that will be printing smart cards on 0.6mm (24pt) PVC film and other plastic products.

A new addition to the KBA group, Metronic handles the development and sales of the Genius 52 for plastic printing applications and will also be showcasing its universal ID system, UniverSYS, in which inkjet can be custom-integrated with other processes such as hot stamping to support personalisation.

The Cortina waterless newspaper press, which has been selling well since it was put on the market a few months ago, will not be displayed in Dusseldorf due to lack of space.

However, the beta press in Offenburg, which now features automatic plate changing and minigaps on the blanket cylinders, can be seen in action by prior arrangement with KBA.

Automating plate change has cut changeover times to just two minutes.

According to KBA it is also much more cost-effective than computer to press for newspaper production.

Back to top