Offset Printing
Open House in Radebeul: KBA unveils raft of Drupa launches
Wednesday 09. April 2008 - Focus on productivity, quality, workflow and ecology
Koenig & Bauer AG (KBA) followed up an international press conference on 8 April with an open house from 9 to 11 April at its sheetfed facility in Radebeul (near Dresden) at which it gave an exclusive preview of the major innovations it will be exhibiting at this year’s Drupa in Düsseldorf.
Around 1,500 industry professionals from all over the world took the opportunity to attend live demonstrations of new features and upgrades in formats ranging from half-size to large. These include a raft of innovations for enhancing productivity, quality, finishing, cost efficiency and press ecology. While KBA did not reveal everything that will be exhibited on its 3,400m² (36,600ft²) stand in hall 16, what it did show was well worth the journey.
Under the banner “Strong on quality – fast, simple, reliable”, the event opened in a recently completed production hall with the unveiling of the new Rapida 75 and an upgraded Rapida 105 as the “best value in their class”. The Rapida 75 supersedes the Rapida 74 and Performa 74, the Rapida 105 is the latest generation of the globally popular Rapida 105 universal press. Both models have been given a new, individual design and target the large number of printers who are looking for production flexibility, performance and intelligent automation at a price that will not break their limited budgets.
Rapida 75: bigger and better
Re-engineered for a slightly large sheet size (520 x 750mm/20½ x 29½in), KBA’s new 15,000sph Rapida 75 is configurable with two to eight colours plus coater and perfector, and incorporates some 30 new features. Label and packaging printers will be glad to learn that there is a special 605 x 750mm (23¾ x 29½in) version, which was also demonstrated. Many of the proven features that have made the bigger format presses popular have now been incorporated in the Rapida 75. These include pneumatic suction sidelays, an open inking unit design, gripper systems and KBA DensiTronic density measurement and control from the console. The five-colour coater press with extended delivery demonstrated a high-speed job change from luxury spirits packaging on lightweight board to a brochure on 150gsm paper.
New-look successor to Rapida 105 universal
KBA has also revamped its standard B1 press, the Rapida 105 universal. Reverting to its original name, the Rapida 105, the upgraded model has a maximum output of 15,000sph (16,500sph with HS package) and is available with up to seven printing units plus coating, UV and hybrid printing options. Alongside reliability, quality, productivity and value for money, the 105 focuses on versatility – it can print commercials, books, labels and cartons – and to this end the plate format in now adjustable for compatibility with other B1 presses. Automated features include a shaftless DriveTronic feeder, plate changing (automatic or semi-automatic) and washing. For greater convenience press controls are now based on a Windows operating system, ensuring that updates will be available in the long term. Video-based automatic colour register control and a choice of DensiTronic or DensiTronic Professional closed-loop densitometry systems help minimise waste, makeready times and quality deviations. The Rapida 105 at the open house demonstrated its capabilities by printing packaging and postcards.
New Rapida 106: the world makeready champion
In the medium format, KBA’s leading exhibit at Drupa 2008 will be the Rapida 106, which evolved from the 105 model launched at the last Drupa. Here, the focus is on output (18,000sph), fast makeready and the higher productivity afforded by a larger sheet size of 740 x 1,060mm (29½ x 41¾in). The choice of automation options is also bigger: KBA DriveTronic dedicated drives, and the benefits they bring in terms of changeover times, operation, maintenance and waste, have redefined the international benchmark in this format, while the DriveTronic feeder, with its manifold presetting options, can now handle even lighter stock at higher speeds. Four years on, KBA is still unique in offering a no-sidelay infeed, DriveTronic SIS, that eliminates all manual intervention during changes of stock and ensures a much smoother sheet travel than mechanical or pneumatic systems. DriveTronic SIS now features in over 60% of all high-performance Rapidas.
With print runs steadily diminishing, the DriveTronic SPC dedicated plate-cylinder drive system introduced in the Rapida 105 in September 2007 is a key module. This supports simultaneous plate changing in less than 60 seconds, regardless of the number of printing units. Because the makeready work and washing can also be carried out simultaneously, it dramatically shortens changeover times, too. This was demonstrated on a Rapida 106 eight-colour perfector during production of some challenging commercials. Three print jobs of 500 sheets apiece, entailing 24 plate changes, were completed in less than 16 minutes. The Rapida 106 can thus lay claim to being the true world makeready champion in its format. To date, DriveTronic SPC drives have been specified for over 40 B1 Rapidas, or more than 300 printing units.
A further innovation associated with DriveTronic SPC is DriveTronic Ident, which reads registration marks imaged in the gripper margin on the plates and uses them to set a theoretical zero register on all the plate cylinders. As a result registration is precise right from the first proof. What is more, DriveTronic Plate Ident identifies the colour separations on the plates in each printing unit by scanning a data matrix code that is also imaged in the gripper margin. This eliminates all risk of confusion and thus unnecessary waste.
Closed-loop quality control
At Drupa 2008 KBA will be demonstrating huge advances in quality control, with self-regulating or closed-loop systems featuring strongly:
QualiTronic
QualiTronic is a dedicated inline sheet-inspection system that scans each sheet as it enters the delivery or the perfecting unit, and compares it with a reference sheet. Capable of working at maximum press speed, QualiTronic features in a large number of medium- and large-format presses, particularly packaging presses.
QualiTronic Mark
QualiTronic Mark tags off-spec sheets which can subsequently be ejected automatically in die-stamping or folding machines, provided they have the relevant capability. At Drupa 2008 KBA will be demonstrating this in association with MBO.
QualiTronic professional
QualiTronic Professional is an inline density measurement and control system that takes just 60 sheets or so to normalise density. It can also be used on perfector presses.
DensiTronic PDF
Another new tool for quality control and documentation when printing sensitive substrates, and sure to be of particular interest to packaging and book printers, is DensiTronic PDF. A scanner attached to the measuring arm on a DensiTronic Professional densitometry system scans the sheets at a resolution of 330dpi and compares them with the original PDF. The sophisticated software allows even minimal deviations to be detected and automatically recorded for the customer’s benefit in the quality log.
Rapida 142: productivity boost with 4 over 4 in large format
KBA is the world’s sole supplier of large-format perfector presses, most but not all of which are used to print books. At Drupa it will clock up a first by demonstrating eight-colour perfecting on a size 6 press, a Rapida 142. The aim is to demonstrate the productivity gains possible in commercial as well as in book printing through switching to large format.
Rapida 162: new options for packaging printers
KBA is the acknowledge market and technology leader in large format press engineering, particularly for packaging printing. At the open house it reaffirmed this claim by printing aluminium-coated cardboard packaging for a brand of spirits on a six-colour Rapida 162 size 7 (63in) UV coater press with extended delivery. An application of opaque white was followed by process and metallic-effect spot colours. The press was then converted to print packaging for hair colour products, a task that is equally challenging. The production run was monitored by an entire range of quality control modules. During makeready the proof was scanned by DensiTronic PDF, compared with the original PDF and approved in just ten minutes. Without DensiTronic PDF this would have taken half an hour.
The Rapida 162 concluded by demonstrating the efficiency of the KBA PileTronic automated pile logistics system at a production speed of 14,000 sheets per hour. New features in this system include PileTronic Ident, a read/write system that identifies the pallet, and the number of sheets on it, by scanning RFID tags that are either embedded or attached. The system can be used to record material consumption and pallet location. Each time the delivery pile is changed, PileTronic PDF writes the number of printed sheets on the RFID tag.
Rapida 162a: perfecting format now even bigger
The print length of the perfector version of the Rapida 162a has now been extended to 1,170mm (46in), which means that the full sheet format can now be used in perfecting mode. Printers of quality packaging will be interested to hear that register accuracy, perfecting and sheet guidance have been improved, there is a new, lower delivery pile and the print-free corridors have been reduced.
Waterless printing with anilox inking units
As a pioneer of anilox inking – a technology that has since been adopted by another major market player – KBA will be underscoring its commitment to greener production processes with four keyless, waterless presses: a Genius 52 UV, a Rapida 74 Gravuflow, a 74 Karat DI (all sheetfed) and a Cortina (web), while its eco-accredited conventional Rapidas will demonstrate low-alcohol or alcohol-free operation. KBA has also entered alliances with environmental specialists such as ClimatePartner.
Compact technology from the inventor of the newspaper press
While the limited erection period of just three weeks means there will be no live demos of web presses on the KBA stand, web printers will still find plenty to interest them. No doubt the biggest – or smallest! -attraction will be four-high towers of KBA’s revolutionary compact presses, the waterless Cortina 6/2 and its conventional counterpart, the Commander CT. Orders for these two presses include a multi-unit triple-wide Cortina press line for Le Figaro in Paris and a fifteen-tower Commander CT for the New York Daily News. Dubbed KBA Competence, this new compact platform offers some unique features, among them PlateTronic automatic plate changers, NipTronic cylinder bearings for the remote adjustment of impression pressure, RollerTronic automated roller locks, Plate-Ident plate identification and FanoTronic automatic fan-out compensation. The benefits these (and an ultra-compact press design) deliver in terms of operation, maintenance, production flexibility, cost efficiency and ecology will be demonstrated during the show via an interface. A control console with a direct link to new press lines at various users will give commercial printers a chance to come up to speed with advances in their field.
KBA Complete: one-stop workflow optimisation and strategic investment planning
As a new service to printers and media enterprises KBA has teamed up with MIS provider Hiflex to create KBA Complete, an independent consultancy specialising in strategic investment planning, process analysis and workflow optimisation. In association with other key industry providers, KBA Complete offers JDF workflows, market-defining technologies for pre-press, press and post-press applications, MIS, print process management, process standardisation and climate-neutral print production. Experts from KBA Complete will be manning the Solutions Centre on the KBA stand, offering competent advice and a wide choice of software for all forms of printshop networking, organisation and e-business, including web-to-print, RFID, storage optimisation and paper management.
The open house gave an authentic foretaste of KBA’s appearance at Drupa in Düsseldorf. The event closed with a social evening at the Panometer in Dresden, a gasometer dating back to 1880 and now an historic industrial monument. Measuring 100 metres (330ft) in diameter and 26m (85ft) high, the Panometer has a panorama of Dresden as it was in 1756 painted on the inner skin.