Product category:
Printing Presses and Machinery (New and Used, Service and Repair)
News Release from: KBA | Subject: Performa 74
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 25 May 2006
Move To B2 Versatile Printing Press With
Speed
After checking the market, Gazelle in Belgium has opted for the first KBA Performa 74 press in the Benelux states.
After checking the market, Gazelle in Belgium has opted for the first KBA Performa 74 press in the Benelux states "It is the ideal press for all our needs," said John Verbiest, one of the two members of the administrative board of the company
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 4 May 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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At the company's modern production plant where the Performa 74 four-colour machine is located, John Verbiest, who is responsible for ensuring a smooth production run, and Philippe van Ongevalle, head of sales and controlling, took over the offset plant from Jan Glorieux in 2001 and now have a staff 16 people.
The Performa 74 represents a switch from another manufacturer's press, said the company.
Verbiest commented: "We certainly didn't make the decision lightly.
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The move was preceded by an exhaustive analysis of the technology available in the market, which resulted in a list of 19 presses.
A key reason for making the investment was to reduce costs, and moving to B2 seemed a good idea because the competition in small format is ferocious." He added: "We offer our customers a broad range of products that include writing paper, leaflets, brochures and books alongside magazines, business reports and newsletters.
This versatility caused us to focus on three criteria when assessing the various presses: quality, speed and cost." In mid-2005 the two owners of Gazelle went through manufacturers' offers with a fine tooth-comb, said KBA.
Verbiest explained: "It had to be a B2 press that offered outstanding value for money and a press with a raft of extras and a high level of automation.
Run lengths are diminishing whilst the number of print jobs is increasing, so we needed to address this trend." After ploughing their way through a pile of data and consulting the various suppliers, the two men whittled the list down to three machines.
Verbiest said: "A second-hand press wasn't viable because printing is our core business, even though we run a pre-press department that can handle small jobs.
We wanted a brand-new press with cutting-edge technology because this was the only way to remain competitive.
Fast make-ready and job changes, user-friendly handling and consistently stable colour were also key." And he continued to point out that the company wanted a press with double-size impression cylinders because that ensures that the sheet is always fully printed prior to transfer, which improves the quality of the image.
Verbiest and van Ongevalle took one of their press operators to the shortlisted manufacturers for print tests, with Verbiest commenting: "After that, it was easy.
The KBA Performa delivered outstanding results in every single aspect we tested.
For us, the fact that we're the first printing firm in Benelux to install this press is immaterial." And John Verbiest explained what he meant by a raft of extras: "We have an efficient pre-press operaton with DTP and wanted to network it with CIP4 in preparation for JDF, which is what we've done.
We also wanted an additional set of ink drums so as to eliminate the risk of ghosting, and these were included in the package.
The in-line IR dryer addresses a demand for faster turn-around, because it allows the sheets to be finished must sooner.
On top of this the Performa 74 has enabled us to expand our product range to include stock up to 0.6mm thick." The press arrived at Gazelle in mid-November 2005 and was running flawlessly within two weeks, said KBA.
Verbiest concluded: "The Performa satisfies all our expectations.
We can now serve a much bigger market, turn-around is much faster and the quality is superb.
Investing in a new press is one of the biggest decisions a printer can make, so there's no room for error. Request a free brochure from KBA ...
I believe the Performa is the ideal press for our purposes, and this belief is confirmed anew every single day.".
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