Brazilian Printer Capitalises On Packaging Growth

Packaging printing in Brazil is going from strength to strength, according to German press manufacturer KBA.

Packaging printing in Brazil is going from strength to strength, according to German press manufacturer KBA.

One typical example of a printer active in that market is Litografia Bandeirantes in Jundiai on the outskirts of Sao Paulo.

It has been using exclusively small and medium-format presses from KBA for 10 years.

The latest acquisition is a six-colour KBA Rapida 105 universal, the first press at Bandeirantes to be configured with in-line coating facilities.

The company decided to look in to the possibilities of in-line finishing for the ever more complex designs required by packaging and labels customers that are prevalent in the market.

With the new KBA Rapida 105 universal for six colours plus coating, Litografia Bandeirantes said it has been able to boost the added value offered to these customers still further.

Valdomiro L.

Paffaro, the founder and manager of the company said: "When it comes to inline finishing, KBA is a world leader and has been the company setting the trends over the recent years.

New, economical technologies have brought movement in to the market.

We use them frequently for materials with metallic effects and have been very pleased with the results.

The KBA Rapida 105 has extended our possible production spectrum many times over.

It opens up new market niches and brings new customers." Founded in 1967, Litografia Bandeirantes today counts 95 employees.

Production is shared almost equally between packaging and labels work, serving customers in the food and drinks sector, the motor industry, electronics, fashion and toys.

Paffaro added: "We started out with a production floor space of about 80 square metres but had already expanded that to 1,800 square metres by 1983.

Today, the company occupies 5,000 square metres, with scope to add another 1,500 square metres at any time should economic developments so dictate.

But we have only been able to increase in size in this way by adapting our operations to the ever greater demands of the market and the ever fiercer competition." He commented that the decision to buy the first KBA sheetfed offset press - a Rapida 72K - in 1994 set the direction for the business's future development.

"We had previously printed on Aurelia, Heidelberg, Roland and Solna presses.

The switch to KBA came at the time of a real boom in demand for this particular small-format press in Brazil, which was no doubt the result of its unbeatable production speed and fast make-ready, paired with high print quality and simple handling.

Many of the up-and-coming printers in Brazil recognised the potential to improve their productivity and thus to strengthen their market position with the KBA press.

We were so impressed with the performance of the Rapida 72K in daily production that we already invested in a second press of the same series one year later.

Even though both presses were only two-colour models, the second decision also certainly paid off," he added.

Three years later, Litografia Bandeirantes was investing again, this time in a five-colour medium-format press of the KBA Rapida 104 series.

Paffaro explained: "The step up in to medium-format and full-colour printing significantly expanded our production options.

We were able to handle much more sophisticated jobs than had been possible in the two-colour days.

The larger format, furthermore, meant that even big jobs could be produced in a single run.

The medium-format press also ran at more or less the same speed as the two 72K Rapidas, but with much more convenient handling for our operators.

Substrate versatility was another important issue.

As printers of both packaging and labels, we need equipment which is able to process materials from both ends of the scale with the same performance and with the same quality.".

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