KBA Bridges the Gap Between Analog and Digital Packaging Printing

By all accounts, digital packaging printing of all kinds is poised for strong growth over the next five years or more. Whether it be corrugated, folding carton, or even flexible packaging, all eyes are on digital to make strong inroads into these print applications. Shorter runs, customization, and faster turn times are the oft-cited drivers of the move to digital packaging production, but there will continue to be a demand for long-run packaging. Thus comes the need to serve both these masters.

KBA (Booth 1435) is touting the forthcoming fruits of its partnership with Xerox: the joint development an industrial digital sheetfed press for the folding carton market. The KBA VariJET 106 Powered by Xerox is a combination of Xerox’s Impika inkjet technology with KBA’s Rapida 106 press platform. The modular KBA VariJET will permit the combination of conventional printing and finishing technologies with digital inkjet printing in a hybrid press. It can print up to seven inkjet colors and is said to offer print speeds of up to 4,500 29.5 by 41.7-inch sheets per hour at 1,400 dpi. Its modular design allows its digital inkjet printing capabilities to be augmented with optional inline printing, coating, cold foil application, rotary die-cutting, creasing, and perforating units. The VariJET is slated to be available in early 2017.

At last spring’s drupa,. KBA-Flexotecnica showcased the new CI flexo NEO XD LR HYBRID, and it is making its North American debut at GRAPH EXPO this week. The CI flexo NEO XD LR HYBRID prints with solvent- and water-based inks as well as UV-LED and electron beam (EB) curing inks. Designed for flexible packaging printing, it prints up to 12 colors and features a cut-off from 400 to 1,200mm, a maximum web width of 1,650mm, and a maximum printing speed of up to 500m/min. This press is the newest of the new generation of the “X” EVO XD and EVO XG series from KBA-Flexotecnica, innovative solutions designed to optimize productivity on even the shortest print runs, with both excellent print quality and eco-friendliness.

Folding cartons, flexible packaging and...corrugated. KBA entered the corrugated flexo market more than a decade ago with the Corrugraph flexo press for large-format corrugated board printing. The company returns to sheetfed flexo corrugated with the latest-generation Corrugraph, also making its North American debut this week. It was designed for maximum flexibility, print quality, user-friendliness, and ease of maintenance. The Corrugraph with an inline rotary die-cutter has a maximum rated output of 12,000 sheets per hour and can print and die-cut multicolor graphics inline on corrugated board up to 3,400mm wide and 10mm thick. The company is currently seeking beta sites for the new machine.