Six-Colour Twin Coating Press's Better Pack Print

Luigi Merendelli, proprietor of the packaging printshop Vimer Industrie Grafiche Italiane in San Giustino (Italy) is the man to ask when it comes to creative packaging for demanding market segments.

Luigi Merendelli, proprietor of the packaging printshop Vimer Industrie Grafiche Italiane in San Giustino (Italy) is the man to ask when it comes to creative packaging for demanding market segments.

That is according to German press manufacturer KBA, which said that as well as the Itlian firm producing elegant high-gloss brochures, books and catalogues, Vimer's product portfolio now includes a large range of imaginative boxes and displays for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics producers.

The company serves customers in Italy, France, Great Britain and other European countries and since the end of last year Vimer has been using a KBA Rapida 105 six-colour press of the latest generation.

It has a twin coating unit for acrylic and UV coatings as well as infra-red and hot air and UV dryers.

I In addition to paper and board, the press is also used for laminated and transparent print substrates, such as PVC film.

KBA said its experience and expertise in in-line finishing gives Vimer's the greatest possible confidence that even the most demanding challenges can be successfully mastered.

Constantly on the lookout for ways of improving technology and processes, Merendelli visited KBA's customer centre in Radebeul, (Germany) and discovered the new Rapida medium-format press generation.

The results of the test prints also won him over.

The contract for the new KBA Rapida 105 twin-coater press was signed in February 2005.

Luigi Mirandelli recalled: "We were convinced about the performance potential of the machine right there and then because it delivered a much better result on the same printing form that we tried on a competitor's machine.

The print was sharper and yielded better ink coverage over area.

KBA has a very good image on the Italian market and offers an outstanding range of presses, including numerous alternatives for in-line finishing." He added: "We configured the Rapida 105 precisely to our own requirements and ordered it as a full option machine with fully-automated plate changing and two coating towers with a correspondingly comprehensive dryer concept for the use of acrylic and UV coatings.

There is also a VCR video register, Ciplink networking and Densitronic S for quality monitoring and assurance." The press entered production last November and because of its short make-ready times and high output, Vimer's can produce 10 to 15 jobs a day in the desired quality, said KBA.

That was due partly to the training provided for its printers by KBA and the company's own experience in coating.

Mirandelli added: "We are now able to apply matt and gloss coatings in a single pass and achieve special effects totally to the tastes of our clients.

The coating and drying units are co-ordinated in such a way that we can achieve excellent results even at high speeds.

With the new Rapida 5, the user convenience for our printers and the quality assurance provided through Densitronic S are now at a higher level than we were able to achieve with our previous machine pool.

The investment decision paid off within just a few months." He explained: "Now that we have twin-coating applications in hand, we will push the use of hybrid colours on the new machine.

We will then have a production facility that is unparalleled in its versatility." Luigi Merendelli, however, is not about to stop seeking out new challenges: "We are considering investing in a large-format press with identical equipment.

From what we have learned with the Rapida 105, KBA will feature strongly as a possible partner." Merendelli had already worked with many Italian and German sheetfed offset presses in both the medium and large-format segments and knows what is involved when individual wishes of the most demanding customers have to be met.

It was whilst he was training at the Arte Grafiche San Sepolcro graphics college that he began to sense that he would have to offer his customers in the packaging sector something special if he was to rise above the competition.

The San Giustino-based company has a workforce of 130, and two sales organisations with Vimer France and Vimer UK.

Vimer's quality and its unusual design potential quickly came to the attention of the perfume industry and the client base in France grew rapidly.

Now the country accounts for 60 per cent of total sales.

Constant growth led Vimer to acquire and integrate a second company, Industrie Grafiche Italiane (Citta di Castello), in 1996.

Now going under the name Vimer Industrie Grafiche Italiane, money was spent on a new plant in San Giustino and space was created for future expansion.

Together with his son Valentino, who is responsible for production and quality control, and his daughter Valentina, who is chief financial officer (also of Vimer UK), Luigi Merendelli is keeping the company on the path to success.

The self-made businessman, who founded his family business in 1973, beginning with a Nebiolo Invicta 32 one-colour press, is constantly thinking up new ideas for his customers that will enable them to present their branded products even more attractively than before.

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