Rumours of the installation have been circulating the industry for a couple of months, but until now, there was no official confirmation that the press had been purchased and by whom.

According to Carolyn Taylor, iPrint Corporate CEO, the 74 Karat has been installed at its South Melbourne premises, but as training has only just commenced, the official commissioning of the press will not take place until January. She says that there are a number of features that really grabbed her attention and influenced her to choose the 74 Karat.

“The waterless concept, the superb quality and speed, the fact that it really is the first of its kind in Australia, as well as the Gravuflow keyless inking system, were the key contributors in choosing this press,” says Taylor.

She describes the industry being “at the cusp of change in the short run offset market” and that the 74 Karat will help iPrint achieve its goals.

The Gravuflow technology that Taylor refers to is KBA’s patented, keyless Gravuflow inking unit, which consists of only two rollers, the ink forme roller and the Gravuflow screen roller, which KBA says provides constant full inking of the printing plate regardless of the ink requirements. The press uses optimised waterless inks packed in 2kg cartridges.

The press prints at a maximum of 2540dpi at up to 10,000sph. It can handle stock weights of 60gsm to 500gsm, in sizes ranging from 297x210mm to 740x520mm, with a maximum imaging area of 735x508mm.

The machine boasts makeready times of only 15 minutes from run to run within one job, which includes automatic blanket washing, plate change, imaging and start-up.

Comment below to have your say on this story.

If you have a news story or tip-off, get in touch at editorial@sprinter.com.au.  

Sign up to the Sprinter newsletter