Offset Printing

KBA Rapida 142 Provides Efficiency and Productivity at Malnove

On a recent visit to the Clearfield, Utah facility, Malnove and KBA management inspect the new KBA Rapida 142 56-inch seven-color press. Left to right: Frank Pilarski, Malnove’s manager of corporate maintenance; Bill Malnove, vice president; Ken Slone, Malnove plant manager; John Raithel, KBA senior vice president of sales for the sheetfed division; Steve Mayhan, Malnove vice president of corporate manufacturing; and Holger Garbrecht, KBA president and CEO.

Monday 27. April 2009 - Largest independent packaging firm installs new large format at its Utah facility

KBA North America, a global press manufacturer based in Williston, Vermont, and is building a headquarters in Dallas, Texas, has replaced a 50-inch press with a new KBA Rapida 142 56-inch seven-color press at Malnove, Inc., the largest independent folding-carton manufacturer in North America. The new press was installed at Malnove’s Clearfield, Utah facility.

“Our goal in purchasing the new press was to update our print capabilities and increase our capacity,” says Steve Mayhan, vice president of corporate manufacturing for Malnove. “In both areas we have succeeded with our new KBA Rapida 142 56-inch press. Having this new press, we’re now providing faster turnaround, increased speed-to-market, and printing at a higher quality level than before.”

Malnove’s key to success is expecting and exceeding its customer demands, whether it be faster speed to market from weeks to now days or less, high quality and consistent color, and repeatability. “Our KBA Rapida 142 provides all of these necessities for our continued success,” says Mayhan. “The KBA Densitronic S spectrophotometer color control system on press allows us to easily repeat our customer jobs thus allowing them to shorten their run lengths, while keeping their inventories low and allowing them to change their graphics as often as they wish. The KBA Logotronic Management System gives us the tools to improve our makeready and slash waste.”

When the new KBA press arrived, it became the centerpiece of an entire make-over for the entire Clearfield facility. The 105-employee, 150,000 sq ft facility is under renovation with more lights and larger work areas for office workers, an enhanced working environment, and a pleasant venue for Malnove’s nationwide customers to work with them.

While Malnove has been a long-time customer of KBA, the company did research other press manufacturers and their products before choosing KBA. “We felt that KBA was the best fit for our facility due to their technical expertise and their past knowledge of our firm” says Mayhan. “KBA continues to make amazing innovations on their presses and our company has formed a solid relationship.”

Installation and training went very smoothly between the two firms. The new 56-inch press replaced the spot where the existing 50-inch press had operated. The three existing press operators from the older press took over the reigns on the new KBA but have become more productive, says Mayhan, due to the new press’s higher level of automation, such as blanket washing, press cleaning, and high-quality print systems. “The operators have quickly become accustomed to operating the press after training at KBA’s customer care center in Vermont and on-site training,” he explains.

Founded in 1948, Malnove converts high-quality packaging at its three plants located in Omaha (NE), Jacksonville (FL), and Clearfield (UT). The Nebraska facility offers sheetfed and gravure printing up to eight colors and flexo printing up to six colors, with backside coaters. The Florida facility, the newest folding-carton plant in the US, has seven-color sheetfed capability and six-color flexo capability with backside coating. The Utah facility features sheetfed printing up to seven colors.