Koenig & Bauer has reported positive results following China Print, which took place in Beijing in May.
Despite a challenging market environment, the manufacturer said it has “significantly surpassed its own expectations” and has “further solidified its leading position in the Chinese market” after the show.
“Koenig & Bauer is pleased with a stable order situation, and thus, is confident about the 2025 financial year. Numerous intensive sales discussions and new leads also suggest a lively post-exhibition business,” the company said.
“During China Print, orders for a large number of new sheetfed offset presses were received across all formats. The sales agreements underscore customers’ confidence in Koenig & Bauer’s technology.”
Xingtai Shifa Packaging Products is a China-based customer that opted for a customised Rapida 105 with six printing units and coating equipment. The machine, in a special format of 780mm by 1,050mm, is equipped with FAPC fully automatic plate changers, extensive washing systems, and other automation features.
Foshan Guanxian Color Printing also decided to purchase a new Rapida 105 to expand its high-quality packaging business. The company will receive a five-colour machine with coating equipment.
At the show, Qingdao Changtai Packaging ordered a Rapida 164 with six printing units and coating equipment. As a modern packaging company, Changtai Packaging offers integrated printing solutions for a variety of solid and corrugated cardboard packaging.
Return customer Zhengzhou Huaying Packaging also ordered a six-colour Rapida 164 with a coating tower and a seven-colour Rapida 145 with double coating equipment at China Print.
Across a stand spanning over 1,000 square metres, Koenig & Bauer presented a large portion of its extensive product portfolio from the areas of press, postpress, and digitalisation, under the motto “More choices, More agility, More efficiency”.
Highlights included live productions on a Rapida 105 with eight printing units and coating equipment, as well as inkjet prints from the VariJET 106 digital folding carton press.
The Rapida 105, renowned for its reliability and efficiency, and its digital counterpart, the VariJET 106 from Koenig & Bauer Durst, delivered impressive printing products.
In a direct comparison of the sheets produced by the VariJET 106 and the live-demonstrated Rapida 105, trade fair guests saw for themselves the high quality of the digital printing system in both four-colour and seven-colour productions. The VariJET 106 combines the flexibility of inkjet printing for versioning and the efficient printing of short and medium-runs with the embellishment capabilities of offset printing.
Koenig & Bauer Southeast Asia sales director Michael Choong said, “Our demos ran the Rapida 105 on conventional ink, even though this machine is prepared for UV ink. The highlight of our demos was us achieving digital prints that look exactly the same as offset prints.
“Some digital players worry about showing the same result on digital as offset, but not Koenig & Bauer. The Rapida 105 is a manufacturing machine and we’re showing customers how using it can free up their offset machines in the long-run, while delivering on the same quality they are used to.
“The robust digital press, because of its short makeready and less wastage, becomes profitable. It also enables less downtime on their offset presses. Digital and offset will complement each other, depending on short-run and long-run jobs respectively.
The Rapida 105 is available in several configurations, depending on customer needs.
“Koenig & Bauer is known for its products tailored for the packaging market. With the packaging market growing exponentially in China, this machine is a perfect fit for the industry – it was designed keeping the packaging industry in mind; it’s not a machine adapted for packaging,” Choong said.
Beyond the machine demonstrations, visitors learnt about digital solutions from Koenig & Bauer, the printing and decoration of hollow containers such as glass and plastic, and about metal decorating machines. The fully integrated digital production line MetJET ONE addresses the demand of metal printing companies for quickly realised, individualised short-runs.
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