Offset Printing
IVE Group Accelerates Commercial and Packaging Printing with Rapida 106 X
Thursday 24. September 2026 - As Australias largest diversified marketing company ASX-listed and employing more than 2,100 people across 22 sites IVE Group is sending a clear signal that it is expanding its market leadership: at its newly constructed, 42,000-square-metre production and logistics hub in Kemps Creek (Sydney), the company has commissioned state-of-the-art sheetfed offset presses from Koenig & Bauer.
This massive investment is not merely a technology upgrade, but a central strategic lever for its commercial and packaging business. “The installation of an identical Koenig & Bauer press fleet is a core element of our investment strategy, designed to build a packaging capacity in New South Wales that exactly mirrors that in Victoria,” explains Matt Aitken, Managing Director of the IVE Group. “This enables us to serve national brands and drastically accelerate our time-to-market once again.”
Today’s market strength is rooted in a long history: originally founded in 1921 by Oscar Selig as a local newspaper, the company has grown over the course of a century into an industry giant.
This focus on the business requirements of end customers is already paying off. Aitken emphasises the commercial benefits of the installation: “By expanding the packaging printing operations within our company, we are taking this market segment to a new level. The investment we have made with these presses is creating a genuine ‘wow’ factor for our customers. The clients who have visited us are highly impressed and love what we have done.”
Less waste and printing speeds of up to 20,000 sheets/h
Economic efficiency in modern commercial and packaging printing demands maximum throughput without the slightest compromise in colour fidelity. It is precisely this challenge that the new Rapida presses are resolving on site. In live production at the new plant, the seven-colour Rapida 106 X hybrid press has been particularly impressive. It is configured with a double coater, a triple extended delivery, and the DriveTronic SPC system for simultaneous plate changing. It is flanked by a second Rapida 106 X – a ten-colour press with perfecting and a coater, ideal for the production of magazine covers, for example.
Both lines are the first sheetfed offset presses in Australia to achieve production speeds of up to 20,000 sheets/h. Rayne Simpson, Sales Manager at Koenig & Bauer Australia, underlines the significance of these parameters: “Compared globally, IVE is achieving absolute top-tier results. The presses are consistently producing at maximum output and hitting peak values across all KPIs.”
To further minimise makeready times, the presses feature a high degree of automation, such as simultaneous plate changing with DriveTronic SPC, alongside advanced quality measuring and control systems. These continuously monitor production, accelerate press setups, and ensure constant print quality from the first sheet to the last. Matt Aitken is highly impressed by this synergy: “Running the press at 20,000 sheets an hour is one thing, but maintaining our quality standards at the same time is another entirely.”
A technology partnership of equals
Behind the successful commissioning in Kemps Creek lies an intensive, three-year planning phase. From the outset, Koenig & Bauer acted as a “trusted advisor” to identify the precise technology configuration that would optimally support IVE’s ambitious targets in the packaging market. “From day one, there was strong alignment between our teams,” Aitken confirms. “Koenig & Bauer understood what we wanted to build in Australia and collaborated with us to find the technology that best supported this vision.”
This partnership approach continued throughout the complex installation process at the new site. Graham Harris, Managing Director of Koenig & Bauer Australia, praises the excellent cooperation with the management team at the IVE Group: “IVE is an incredibly professional company. It makes installing printing presses significantly easier when you are working alongside team members like Kane Flynn, Simon Bailey and Shane Britten at a new site such as Kemps Creek.”