Dutch packaging producer Holbox has installed the first KBA Rapida 164 offset press with a double coater in Europe, some nine months after this large press series was launched.
The 4-colour press with a maximum paper format of 1,205 x 1,640mm has a host automation options on-board and a top speed of 13,000sheets/hour. It is the second KBA press Holbox has purchased. The first, a 5-colour Rapida 162 with one coater, has been in operation for nine years.
Located in Echt, The Netherlands, Holbox prints packaging and point of sale point-of-sale material. Technical director Martijn Hol remarks: "Our customers set the highest requirements when it comes to gloss and colour intensity. We often feed in the sheets through the Rapida 162 with only one coater twice: once with dispersion and then again with UV coating. With this new investment, we only have to run the sheets through the press one time which leads to a huge leap in productivity. On top of this the new press features real-time inline colour control, ensuring a consistently high print quality, while saving time and waste."
He continues: "With the Rapida 164, we can start a new print run after approximately six minutes, as most processes are automated when changing jobs and are often done simultaneously. It is also important to us that start-up waste is kept to a minimum seeing as we print with relatively expensive substrates. Our new press has led to savings in waste of 10%, compared with the older generation of presses."
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