Offset Printing

Good start for KBA at China Print

Chu Weizhen (2nd left), general manager of Shanghai Dadong Printing, drinking a toast on the first day of the show with (from left) KBA-China CEO Walter Zehner, KBA sales director Dietmar Heyduck KBA-China regional sales manager Chen Han and KBA-China sheetfed sales manager Wang Lianbiao

Friday 15. May 2009 - Shanghai Dadong Printing snaps up Rapida 75

China Print, the premier print media trade fair in Asia this year, has got off to a flying start, with KBA booking sales soon after the doors opened on 12 May. Alongside five-colour coater versions of the Rapida 75 and Rapida 105, KBA’s 900m² (9,700ft²) stand features the first high-end Rapida 106 four-colour B1 (41in) press to be exhibited in China. The advanced technology demonstrated and the scale of its presence reflects KBA’s confidence in the Chinese market.

The versatile Rapida 105 is a popular choice in Asia and there are already numerous installations up and running. The Rapida 106, which can handle a slightly larger format of 740 ×1060mm (29.13 x 41.73in) and has a maximum output of 18,000sph straight or 15,000sph in perfecting mode, boasts KBA’s new DriveTronic SPC dedicated cylinder drives. When the press made its debut at Drupa last year it was crowned the world makeready champion in medium format. Not surprisingly it is a major attraction in Beijing.

Shortly after the start of the fair Ms Chu Weizhen, general manager of Shanghai Dadong Printing, signed a contract with Dietmar Heyduck, KBA sales director for the Middle and Far East, and Walter Zehner, CEO of KBA’s Chinese subsidiary, for the first Rapida 75 installation in China. Shanghai Dadong Printing has successfully expanded from packaging into commercials, and even exports to Japan and South Korea. Says Ms Chu: “We chose a Rapida 75 because it was by far the best press for our specs regarding substrate thickness and print quality. We have great confidence in KBA technology.”
Walter Zehner says: “We offer our Chinese customers high-quality, innovative press technology. But more than that, with over 100 staff in China alone, we provide full customer support, and word has got around in the market. The current global meltdown has had little impact on investment in China, which is higher than in other parts of the world. And prospects for KBA are good: in the first two days of the fair we booked more orders than at the Beijing show in 2005 and the Dongguan show in 2007. This reflects the market gains we have made over the past two years.”