This is an extract about Koenig & Bauer from the Profitable Presses Technology Focus written by Peter Kohn and published in the February 2022 issue of ProPrint magazine. To read the full story click here.

Dave Lewis, managing director of Koenig & Bauer Australia, sees the new, highly automated Rapida 106 X as a medium-sized press that generates sophisticated print work in a lightning-fast makeready timeframe with applications in both commercial print and packaging print.

Features include a premium range of finishing effects, such as cold foil applications and coating, fast production speeds, simultaneous plate change, and a new design that minimises requirements for maintenance.

The Rapida 106 X has a patented SIS side lay-less infeed system for finer register and shorter makereadies, all while operating at high outputs. Automation within the printing unit, additional anti-paper stretch technology and simultaneous plate changing using full-time direct-drive motors are extra attractions, he says.

Lewis adds the package printing sector is now a major focus for Koenig & Bauer, and the Rapida 106 X was developed with that in mind. He notes a lot of the developer’s presses are installed at packaging and specialty print enterprises, all of them custom-built for that business. The release of the 20,000 per hour maximum speed on Koenig & Bauer’s perfectors is a new development Lewis sees as very significant, matching the speed that was already established on its straight presses.

Lewis explains the plate logistics on the Rapida 106 X automatically generate the plates, transferring them to the press on conveyors. It prints on a wide range of stocks, from thin-gauge up to 1.2mm board, without adjustments to the gripper settings. “There are many advantages it offers,” he says.

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