Compacta Web Press Gives 40% Production Boost

Following Slovakia's accession to the European Union, Slovenska Grafia in Bratislava is raising its profile with a 72-page KBA Compacta 818 commercial web offset press.

Following Slovakia's accession to the European Union, Slovenska Grafia in Bratislava is raising its profile with a 72-page KBA Compacta 818 commercial web offset press.

The Compacta press has a variable-format folder and when it goes live in October next year it will increase the company's production capacity by 40 per cent.

The press's features include a variable-format V5 folder, automatic reel feed, semi-automatic plate changing, a variable former and magazine superstructure, and a closed-loop colorimetry system.

The company will also install glue-binders for promotional brochures and fashion or motoring magazines.

The Compacta will be housed in a new building and embedded in a logistics system.

The equipment upgrade at Slovenska Grafia also includes a new-generation 18,000 sheets per hour (sph) KBA Rapida 105 press.

the German press manufacturer said that the Rapida will be the fastest and most advanced sheetfed press in the Slovakian and Czech markets.

Configured with five units plus, an in-line UV coater, the B1 (40") Rapida 105 will print coated covers for magazines and catalogues.

Alongside the new presses, the company is also investing heavily in large-format CTP, ink pumping systems and finishing equipment.

Now owned by the Grafobal Group, Slovenska Grafia was established in 1921.

It can offer customers sheetfed, web offset and webfed rotogravure prodcution.

Its main product lines are magazines, promotional publications, catalogues and direct mail, with a capacity of 5.5 million A4 pages per hour.

Exports, most of them to central and eastern Europe, account for 40 per cent of output.

The firm's managing director, Martin Ilavsky, said: "Efficiency, versatility and, above all, flexibility are key to success in the European print market today.

A press of this size is a major investment, even for a big operation like ours.

But with business rapidly expanding, it was the only way we could improve our efficiency and address customer demands for more sophisticated products." He continued: "Our decision was partly determined by our competitors, since we're determined to defend the competitive edge we have gained.

Forty-eight page and 64-page presses are standard issue in Europe, but a Compacta 818 for 72 pages, and with a variable-format folder will give us a unique capability." And production director Peter Kosik added: "KBA's innovative technology reflects our avowed approach to web production.

The Compacta 818's unrivalled advantage - its ability to switch from standard long-grain to short-grain copies - means that we will be able to print 72-page copies in A4 or 84-page copies in reduced magazine format.

The benefits will be twofold - more variety for customers and greater cost-efficiency for us.".

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