Offset Printing
KBA sheetfed offset successful in Malaysia
Thursday 24. April 2008 - Accelerating growth with Rapida 105 universal and Performa 74
The capital Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru on the border with Singapore, and Penang in the north of the country are the three most important economic and industrial centres in Malaysia. They are similarly the hubs of activity in the printing industry.
Leading on from remarkable successes in the newspaper sector, with the installation of several large-scale Commander press lines for the country’s leading daily, the New Straits Times, at the turn of the century, KBA is now building up an ever stronger reputation among Malaysia’s sheetfed offset printers with its Rapida and Performa presses.
The team at KBA Asia Pacific in Kuala Lumpur and Singapore has in the meantime managed to follow up sales of an eight-colour Rapida 105 for 4-over-4 perfecting to Art Printing Works and seven Rapida 105 universal presses to SSP Industries with deliveries of further five-colour coater presses of the Rapida 105 universal series to Linocraft Printers in Johor Bahru and Tung Lim Press in Shah Alam. The new Performa 74 from KBA-Grafitec which now stands at Compugraphic Forms in Butterworth near Penang further underlines the increasing demand for modern press technology from KBA in all regions of the country, and indicates that the previous dominance of the Japanese manufacturers is gradually crumbling, despite their significant exchange rate advantages.
Tung Lim Press began as a small commercial printing business in 1982. The management quickly recognised, however, that its future growth prospects in the market for books, brochures, labels and posters were limited, and turned increasing attention to packaging printing. This was clearly the right decision, as creative and sophisticated packaging solutions from Tung Lim Press are today in high demand among both industrial and consumer-trade customers. The new five-colour Rapida 105 universal, with its inline coating facility, is expected to further accelerate this expansion.
Managing director Derek Wong: “With its flexibility to handle such a wide variety of substrates, this press offers many new possibilities for us to respond to special customer wishes in both commercial and packaging printing. Demand is growing strongly and we will probably be investing in another Rapida press very soon.”
Compugraphic Forms in Penang is no less satisfied with its new B2 perfector press, a KBA Performa 74. Founded in 1982, the company was before long the market leader for business forms and security documents, serving a multitude of industrial clients, banks and insurers. At times, its production ran simultaneously on eight continuous forms presses. When this market segment began to wane, however, direct mailing products were identified as a potential new foothold.
Company proprietor Steven Ling: “The KBA Performa 74 is the right press to support our entry into this new market. It combines economic efficiency and performance with automation and simple handling. Our direct mailing division, which is in the meantime active throughout Malaysia and even beyond, will continue to grow. With the Performa 74, we believe we have good chances for further success.”