Closer cooperation with KBA-Digital & Web

In the first few weeks of the new year, KBA-Flexotecnica, the Italian subsidiary of Koenig & Bauer AG (KBA), already sold several CI flexo presses for package printing on paper and films. For example the Spanish company EMSUR SPO invested in an EVO XD N with eight printing units and an additional varnishing unit. Flexo printers in Italy, France, Japan, Great Britain and Australia have also ordered presses. An EVO XG LR with ten printing units and a varnishing unit is about to go into production with Mondi Kutno in Poland.

"We are very satisfied. Further projects will be decided in the near future. In the years to come, we plan to improve our share on the world market significantly," says Christoph Müller, CEO of KBA Digital & Web and, since the beginning of the year, also CEO at KBA-Flexotecnica. Against this background, the cooperation between KBA-Flexotecnica and KBA-Digital & Web Solutions in Würzburg is to be intensified.

New Demo Center in Würzburg

On 14 March the foundation stone was laid of a new Demo Center for digital and flexo presses with a usable area of around 2,100 m², and modernised premises of 21,164 m³ at the company’s Würzburg headquarters. The investment is substantial, with € 6 million for building and technical infrastructure and around € 10 million for demo presses. Claus Bolza-Schünemann, CEO of Koenig & Bauer AG: “70 % of the group’s new machinery revenue is already generated in the booming packaging sector. We have built the new Demo Center in Würzburg to offer our printing customers from expanding markets appropriate presentation facilities with convenient access to Frankfurt International Airport. By the beginning of next year at the latest we will be able to present flexo presses there for the growth market of flexible packaging.”

The new Demo Center will feature a RotaJET digital printing system for publication and industrial printing from KBA-Digital & Web, a flexo rotary press from KBA-Flexotecnica for flexible packaging and a newly developed sheetfed flexo press from KBA-Digital & Web for printing on corrugated cardboard. It is expected to be ready in the autumn of 2017.

Christoph Müller: "As one of the leading printing press manufacturers worldwide with a strong position on the packaging market, we want to use possible synergies in the group to a greater extent in package printing, a business area where KBA is still a newcomer, we want to bring together know-how and resources in order to be ultimately even more successful on the market." In international business, KBA-Flexotecnica already uses the global sales and service network of the KBA Group. KBA's worldwide presence guarantees outstanding customer service and is to be expanded even further. The same applies to the cooperation with KBA-Digital & Web and other business units in the fields of development, design, production and service. Together, pioneering innovations and specific customer solutions can be implemented faster.

Quality presses for individual customer requirements

In terms of technology and process engineering, in productivity, user and environmental friendliness, print quality and the use of alternative inking and drying systems, the modern systems by KBA-Flexotecnica are already well positioned. The Italian KBA subsidiary supplies production facilities tailored to specific customer requirements. For example, the new NEO XD LR hybrid press, which was presented at the drupa 2016, can be equipped to print with water-based, solvent-based, UV-LED and EB inking systems on the most diverse of materials. This guarantees users maximum flexibility and cutting-edge technology. With the available options, automation can also be adapted to customer requirements and investment budgets. For example, an EVO XD press has just been ordered with an automatic reel changing system that reduces downtimes and significantly improves output.