Product category:
Printing Presses and Machinery (New and Used, Service and Repair)
News Release from: KBA | Subject: Rapida 205 press
Edited by the Printingtalk Editorial
Team on 09 March 2007
Screen Printer Moves In To Very Large
Format Print
Screen printer the B and P Group is moving in to very large format (VLF) litho production and developing in to a multi-process print and point of sale specialist.
Screen printer the B and P Group is moving in to very large format (VLF) litho production and developing in to a multi-process print and point of sale specialist That is according to KBA, which added that the Cheadle Hulme, Cheshire (UK) printer will be taking delivery this summer of what is claimed to be the biggest sheetfed litho press available - a KBA Rapida 205, which prints a 1,510mm X 2,050mm sheet
This article was originally published on Printingtalk on 18 Mar 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
First Rapida 205 Goes To German Poster Printer
German poster printer Ellerhold Grossplakate has taken delivery of the first KBA Rapida 205 to roll off the production line.
World's Largest Sheet Fed UV Press First For UK
The first UK Rapida 205, KBA's 'Super XXL' format sheetfed press, has been ordered by Augustus Martin and will be the largest sheetfed press ever installed in the UK, claimed press manufacturer KBA.
The UV press will come complete with five printing units, an anilox coating tower and a board and plastics package that will allow the press to print a range of paper, board, plastics, acetates and metallised substrates from 0.6mm - 1.2mm in thickness.
The Rapida 205 will be the centrepiece of a GBP3.5 million development - the biggest investment in B and P's history.
B and P, which began 25 years ago in Stockport, now has an operation covering 78,000 square feet of modern factory buildings on an eight acre site, which houses Thieme VLF screen printing technology, a 20,000 square foot packing and collation hall and now the big litho press that is to shape the company's future, added KBA.
Further reading
Expanding London Firm Switches To KBA Large Format
Capital Print, the London print and point of purchase company, will celebrate its 25th anniversary next year with the installation of a KBA jumbo sheetfed press - a Rapida 205.
Superlarge Presses Capture More Than Poster Market
Since what German press manufacturer KBA described as its 'super large' Rapida 185 and Rapida 205 presses went on the market, the company believes there has been no stopping them.
Billboard Printer Upgrades Press With Fifth Unit
Odessa Offset, the South London (UK) billboard printer, which announced in January that it had ordered a KBA Rapida 205 supersize sheetfed offset press, has decided that big has to be even bigger.
B and P managing director, Les Thomas, said: "We need to think big and to stand out from the crowd and we needed to buy the biggest sheetfed litho press we possibly could." B and P shook hands on the deal with KBA over coffee and mince pies the day after Boxing Day.
KBA UK executive sales director, Mark Nixon, commented: "This order from B and P served as a great Christmas present and further emphasises the KBA dominance in the large format sector.
KBA is excited to be involved with the next stage of expansion at B and P to provide greater productivity, economies of scale and new market opportunities." B and P's new site on the Stanley Green Trading Estate at Cheadle Hulme is only 10 minutes from Manchester International Airport and the move, accomplished earlier this year, is the first time the company has been able to have all its operations under one roof.
Previously at nearby Hazelgrove, B and P was split over four different sites.
Today with a turnover of GBP7.5 million and 80 employees treble-shifting across most departments, it is customer demand that is driving the investment programme.
Customers such as Arcadia Group (better known as Dorothy Perkins, Burtons and Top Shop), The Co-operative Society and advertising agency McCann Erickson, are calling for top litho quality, faster delivery and top service, commented KBA.
Eighty per cent of B and P's work comes from its top seven clients, many of whom are beginning to lower their screen requirements and to think of screen and litho sharing a campaign, all co-ordinated and delivered from under one roof.
The new KBA Rapida is the current focus of attention amongst the B and P workforce, said KBA.
New skilled litho operators are being recruited and they, with B and P engineers, will be sent to Germany for training by KBA.
Les Thomas, operations director at B and P, said: "We need this machine as our passport to a bigger and better future but really it is all about trust and loyalty between us, our staff and our customers.
We are problem solvers - we try to take the burden off the backs of our customers.
If the customer wants it - well do it." Ahead of the press arriving - it will take 20 giant articulated trucks to complete the delivery from Germany - B and P is educating its customers on the Rapida's capabilities and the opportunities it opens up.
Supporting the KBA press will be a new XL plate making system from one of the three top suppliers in that sector, a pile turner and a new laminating line.
B and P's sales manager, Stefan Bohajczuk, commented: "We want to be one of the top two POS suppliers in the UK and we want retail customers to think of us first." KBA believes it is the global market leader in large format sheetfed printing.
The company's Rapida 130, 142 and 162 range is claimed to have led the way in the UK production of books, maps and packaging.
Now, the company believes that the Rapida 185 and 205 jumbo presses have become an essential piece of equipment for those competing in the poster, point of sale and point of purchase sectors.
The B and P Rapida 205 press will be the 20th such installation in the UK. Request a free brochure from KBA ...
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