KBA  appointments 
German press manufacturer KBA is making firm inroads into the Australian market after formally establishing a local office mid last year How time flies. Early last year the hot topic of discussion was KBA’s imminent plan to establish a permanent presence in the Australian market after spending many years being handled by a number of local agencies. This return was underlined by an early sale of a large format Rapida 105 and a Rapida 74 to Vega Press in Victoria. Since setting down new foundations, KBA Australasia, headed by Rhys Burton, has sold five presses into the Australian market.

The right medicine
One of the more recent sales saw a six-colour Rapida 105 sheetfed press installed into Sydney-based P&I Pharmaceutical Printers, enabling the company to produce a wide range of packaging products for a number of well-known brand in higher quantities and at lower turnaround times than was previously possible. The installation heralds not only a successful recovery from a fire that gutted the building and destroyed the company’s equipment a few years ago, but signals that both P&I and KBA are both definitely moving and growing with the times.

According to P&I managing director Geoff Ireland, since its installation, the Rapida 105 has been a real workhorse for the company, despite the high expectations placed on it.
"We love the press. You hear everyone say that it exceeds expectations, but we did so much research before purchasing it that we prefer to say that it really meets our expectations," says Ireland.

"Primarily we are printing cardboard for cartons with the machine. We do some paper work but it’s less than one per cent of what we do."

According to Ireland, after sticking with the machinery and suppliers the company knew during its rebuilding stages, P&I decided it was time to invest in something new. The reason P&I went with the Rapida was that the company has an engineer as one of its key decision-makers, who believed that the press was the one to do the job.

"The ability for this machine to meet our specifications was also a big plus, especially since we didn’t just want a normal machine," says Ireland.

KBA executive vice president Walter Schumacher was on hand recently to view the press in action, and despite his many years working with these presses, the advanced technology never ceases to amaze him.

The press comprises of one over five perfecting, aqueous and UV coating, interdeck UV curing and extended delivery. It also features a raised press foundation, ’Denistronic’ density control system, fully automatic plate changing and blanket and impression cylinder cleaning systems.

Aussie conquest
In comparison to KBA’s presence in the Australian industry prior to opening up its office in Sydney, the last 12 months have been a whirlwind for the press manufacturer. Its range of presses were supplied in Australia through a number of agents for many years, but with its main competitors already having well-established offices in the Australian market, the presses struggled to gain market share, making some isolated sales and press commissions in that time. According to KBA Australasia managing director Rhys Burton, the fact that KBA had its foot in the door when the office opened early last year laid the foundations for the success it is currently experiencing. He believes that a strong product needs the firm support that only an official and permanent presence can offer.

"I believe that there has for many years been a strong awareness of Koenig & Bauer AG (KBA) across Australasia. I also believe that the perception was one of quality and high performance," says Burton. "During this period the company’s major competitors continued to establish themselves directly within Australasia, and reaped the reward of that display of commitment to the market and the industry. This, I believe, is the very reason that KBA Australasia has enjoyed good success in its formative period. Simpy put, a well known and respected company has now given this discerning market the long term commitment and confidence it needs to form the kind of partnerships we now enjoy."

A walk through time
KBA was established 186 years ago in London, England, by Friedrich Koenig, a German. Three years earlier, in 1814, he and his partner, another German called Andreas Bauer, made history by printing The Times newspaper on a new invention of theirs – the world’s first steam-driven printing press, which quickly revolutionised print production. Today the KBA group employs some 7,400 people and posts annual sales of around EUR1.35bn, making it the third-largest press manufacturer worldwide. Alongside production plants in Germany, Austria and the USA, KBA operate a global network of sales and service agencies. Some 90 per cent of total output is exported.

KBA’s product range is the broadest in the industry, spanning newspaper, commercial and gravure web presses, conventional and digital sheetfed offset presses, and security presses. More than 90 per cent of the world’s banknotes are printed on presses from KBA-GIORI, its security arm. But despite its size KBA has remained a family enterprise, with the founding family, now in the sixth generation, still very much involved in running the business. Almost two hundred years on, KBA’s key strength is a determination to drive innovation for the benefit of customers and users all over the world. This is reflected in the group slogan: People & Print.