When China Print opens its doors in Beijing from the 23rd to 27th of June, visitors will be flocking to the industry’s first in-person trade fair in more than a year. Koenig & Bauer has booked a stand measuring almost 1,000 square metres (stand no. W1-005) and promises a world première with its plans to showcase a new generation of Rapida 105 sheetfed offset presses under its banner of “We print your world”.
A demonstration of the six-colour coater press with extended delivery (max. sheet format 720/740 × 1,050 mm) will be held in a series of practice-oriented live shows each day. It will used for producing a broad spectrum of products on board (high-quality folding cartons and door hangers) and paper (landscape and animal posters). The planned shows will allow different types of job changeover to be shown, with not only image and substrate changes, but also the disengaging and re-engaging of individual printing units being demonstrated. This will help trade visitors to gain an immediate impression of the exceptional performance of the new Rapida 105, both in print production and during makeready for a subsequent job.
Future-oriented B1 technology
The press was designed on the basis of the Rapida 106 and Rapida 106 X series, and is distinguished by the upgrades to its automation components, increased printing speeds and a host of Rapida-typical design solutions, such as
- Comprehensive preset capabilities
- Universal gripper systems with a single setting for all substrates
- Environmentally friendly cloth-based CleanTronic washing systems
- VariDry drying systems
- Measuring and control systems for quality assurance
The sheet guiding system is another component that has undergone further optimisation – something that the feed table with its single central suction belt makes particularly apparent. These upgrades will equip print companies to master current and future challenges in equal measure.
Thanks to its high substrate flexibility (0.06 – 0.7 mm as standard, or up to 1.2 mm with an optional package for board handling or corrugated substrates) and seemingly unlimited range of configuration options with up to eight printing units, as well as perfecting units for 4-over-4 production, inline coating facilities, cold foil units, web-to-sheet feeders and multiple logistics options, the Rapida 105 is the perfect solution for commercial, packaging and label printers alike. This new press generation will enable print companies to make their products even better and more flexible than ever before. In addition, a range of systems for register and colour measurement and control, as well as production monitoring with QualiTronic PrintCheck, guarantee perfect print quality.
China – a key sheetfed offset market for Koenig & Bauer
Koenig & Bauer is currently reaping the benefits of positive post-pandemic economic developments in China. Sheetfed offset presses of the Rapida series are extremely popular on the Chinese market, and demand for them has remained stable for several months now. The majority of the new investments are being made by larger print companies at present. “The new Rapida 105 generation is the right product at the right time,” says Dietmar Heyduck, senior VP of Sales at Koenig & Bauer Sheetfed. “It is characterised by both the latest technologies and an ultramodern design.” And this is precisely the kind of press that users are looking for.
The current trend emerging in China tends to favour sheetfed offset systems with six or more colours and inline finishing options. Alongside highly complex equipment variants, customer demands primarily focus on automation solutions for faster makeready and for boosting production efficiency. These include fully automatic plate changing (FAPC) and parallel washing capabilities (CleanTronic), as well as non-stop solutions in combination with pile logistics. Expectations of quality are, too, higher than ever, especially with regard to printed packaging. As a result, more and more presses are being configured with inline measuring and control systems. The same applies when it comes to finishing. Alongside coaters and drying systems, there is a growing demand for systems for cold foil application, for example. Moreover, any number of print companies are upgrading to large-format sheetfed offset, leading to an increase in orders for the Rapida 164 series (sheet format up to 1,205 × 1,640 mm).
Digital folding carton production of the future
The joint venture Koenig & Bauer Durst has also identified a high level of interest among Chinese printing companies in its new VariJET 106 press for digital folding carton production. A model of the press will be on show at the trade fair stand, and will provide insights into future packaging printing applications.
Given the current restrictions on international travel, Koenig & Bauer expects to welcome primarily Chinese trade visitors. And it is confident that those who attend the exhibition will have a serious interest in new investments.
