Brazilian packaging printer on the move

Packaging printing in Brazil is going from strength to strength. A typical example is Litografia Bandeirantes, in Jundiai, on the outskirts of Sao Paulo, which has been using exclusively small and medium format presses from KBA for over 10 years. The latest acquisition is a six colour Rapida 105 universal, the first press at Bandeirantes to be configured with in-line coating facilities.

Founded in 1967 and managed by Valdomiro L Paffaro, Litografia Bandeirantes today employs 95 people. Production is shared almost equally between packaging and label work, serving customers in the food and drinks sector, the motor industry, electronics, fashion and toys. The quality of its products has earned the company a leading position in the Brazilian market.

Expansion

Valdomiro L Paffaro sees the positive development and continuous growth of his company over the past 35 years as the logical consequence of prudent investment decisions and the installation of progressive technology in prepress, print and finishing.

"We started out with a production floor space of about 80m², but had already expanded this to 1,800m² by 1983," he recalls. "Today, the company occupies an area of some 5,000m², with scope to add another 1,500m² at any time should economic developments so dictate. But we have only been able to increase in size in this way by adapting our operations to the ever greater demands of the market and the ever fiercer competition."

  He continues: "The decision to buy our first KBA sheet-fed offset press – a Rapida 72K – in 1994 already set the direction for our future development. We had previously printed on Aurelia, Heidelberg, Roland and Solna presses. The switch to KBA at this particular time, however, was not merely a whim," he stresses. "It came at the time of a real boom in demand for this particular small format press in Brazil, which was no doubt the result of its unbeatable production speed and fast makeready, paired with high print quality and simple handling."

He says many of the up-and-coming printers in Brazil recognized the potential to improve their productivity and thus to strengthen their market position with the KBA press.

"We were so impressed with the performance of the Rapida 72K in daily production that we invested in a second press of the same series one year later. Even though both presses were only two colour models, this second decision also certainly paid off."

Barely three years later, Litografia Bandeirantes was investing again, this time in a KBA Rapida 104 series five colour medium format press.

Says Valdomiro L Paffaro: "The step up into medium format and full colour printing significantly expanded our production options. We were able to handle much more sophisticated jobs than had been possible in the two colour days. Furthermore, The larger format meant that even big jobs could be produced in a single run. The medium format press also ran at more or less the same speed as the two 72K Rapidas, but with much more convenient handling for our operators."

Versatile

"Substrate versatility was another important issue. As printers of both packaging and labels, we need equipment which is able to process materials from both ends of the scale with the same performance and to the same quality."

But this was still not enough for him, so he began to look into the possibilities of in-line finishing for the ever more complex designs required by packaging and label customers. With the new KBA Rapida 105 universal for six colours plus coating, Litografia Bandeirantes has been able to boost the added value offered to these customers still further.

"Especially when it comes to in-line finishing, KBA is a world leader," he stresses. "New, economical technologies have brought movement into the market. We use them frequently for materials with metallic effects and have been very pleased with the results. The Rapida 105 has extended our possible production spectrum many times over. It opens up new markets and brings new customers."