Heidelberg said that fifty visitors from Australia and overseas attended the event, the first open house for the KAMA range since Heidelberg entered into an agreement with the finishing equipment manufacturer to distribute its equipment in Australia.
On show were the ProCut die cutter and ProFold folder/gluer, which were put through their paces with a variety of applications, including foiling and embossing.
John Norgate, managing director of McKellar Renown Press, told ProPrint it was “refreshing” to see an alternative being wheeled out to the Cylinder range.
“At long last people are producing machines to replace the Cylinders,” he said. “The Cylinders are getting tired and too slow, so for someone to come up with something to replace them, it’s a great thing.”
Having attended last week’s showing, Norgate said he particularly impressed with the capacity for both the ProCut and ProFold machines to be enhanced with add-on features down the track.
“They’ve really come up with a product that can grow with you,” he said.
Lindsay Barnes, Heidelberg ANZ general manager for product management, said that there was interest in the range from both printers wanting to update their ageing equipment and those that simply want to expand their product offering.
“One customer told me he has two Cylinder operators retiring in the next few years,” he said. “Rather than train up two new operators, he can invest in new equipment and employ one operator to run a more efficient machine. KAMA is also attractive to him because he can start with a basic model and add to it as his needs grow and develop.”
“To see this many people at a new product demonstration, and to know the genuine interest that is out there is really uplifting, especially considering how sluggish the market has been. I have a very optimistic outlook for KAMA products in the Australasian market.”
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