The oldest offset press manufacturer in the world, Koenig & Bauer, has unveiled a new-generation B1 press for the commercial printing and packaging markets – the Rapida 106 X – at a live-streaming event recorded from its production headquarters in Würzburg, Germany. You can view more details of the launch at www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB2if3Uf9Ac&feature=youtu.be. The informative video was the final part of the OEM’s recent daily series that began June 16 and ended June 25. The series reviewed, in depth, its new products and technologies that would have been released at drupa 2020, had it happened. The series dates, in fact, coincided with the tradeshow’s actual dates. With a maximum speed of 20,000 sheets per hour (sph), the 2020 Rapida 106 X offset press was shown as an 8-unit perfector with coater for the commercial market at the Thursday, June 25 live event. In the highly informative video, 8 different 300-sheet projects utilizing 3 different substrates were completed just 26 minutes! Both the Koenig & Bauer commercial press and packaging press (shown earlier last week) will be available this November, said the company. Koenig & Bauer added that the new commercial Rapida 106 X had indeed been developed from “the ground up” based primarily on customer feedback.
A huge array of new features
The press’ MIS Systems are connected (via its job optimizer software) to the Koenig & Bauer Logotronic Press Management System, yielding additional efficiencies in the make-ready process. The 106 X’s simultaneous roller-wash technology can accommodate UV as well as conventional inks – that can be changed over in less than two minutes due to the press’s upgraded ink ducts. The Rapida 106 X also has a new design with illuminated glass side panels. Operation is made much easier via its new and larger touchscreen, a press-status display panel at delivery, and an easy-to-use app for mobile devices that shows current and next-in-line job information. Among many other innovations, the new Rapida 106 X also accepts unbent plates, thereby eliminating a pre-press step, and features a new cold-foil module that reduces foil costs. The bottom line was that just about all of these upgrades were based on customer feedback that resulted in the improvement of existing features, as well as the addition of new, efficiently-boosting functions.
Here’s a brief summary:
- Maximum 20,000 sheets per hour output
- Side-lay infeed system for stable processing of each sheet
- Specially coated ink ducts for faster, maintenance-free ink changeovers
- Simultaneous roller-wash function can be deployed while producing other jobs
- Supported roller adjustments for longer life and easier changing of rollers
- Improved print blanket washing
- Seamless one-minute plate changes – from CtP to storage unit to transport to press without the risk of scratching (i.e. no manual touching of plates)
- Lower overall maintenance
- Colour control takes a photo of every sheet and compares it to a master sheet or the original PDF, as well as reporting any errors
- Optional optimized long-life automatic lubrication throughout the press
- Optimized dryer configuration
- New console and totally new machine design
- Enhanced touchscreen panel with more functionality, and better visual recognition of press production and procedures shown via new 24/7 LED lighting
- Automatic register control via two double-camera systems that measure precise registration
To view the live-streaming event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XB2if3Uf9Ac&feature=youtu.be
To view all Koenig & Bauer videos in the series: https://www.koenig-bauer.com/en/live/
Koenig & Bauer’s Regional Sales Manager for North America, Aleks Lajtman, can be reached at: Aleks.Lajtman@koenig-bauer.com.
A history of innovations and flexibility
As mentioned previously, Koenig & Bauer is the oldest offset press manufacturer in the world, with headquarters in Würzburg, Germany. The company is best known for its strengths in commercial and packaging printing. Increased automation and maximum productivity have always been the driving forces behind its presses. In fact, the Rapida 106 has been “the undisputed make-ready world champion” in medium-format since 2008. The OEM offers a variety of standard equipment, including its auto-run system that allows for complete autonomous printing. It also has the only sheetfed press than can wash a press unit while simultaneously printing 20,000 sph. Its DriveTronic SIS feeding system virtually guarantees precise registration – something required for high-speed printing, and unique at that particular speed.
Rapida presses also offer simultaneous plate changing, and can change plates in about one minute. Inline colour control scans every sheet for accurate colour management. Koenig & Bauer also offers a variety of options that allow the presses to be configured to meet specific customer needs, and its clients are certainly taking advantage of that flexibility. In fact, the OEM was traditionally – and still is – a custom press manufacturer that’s experienced great success in that highly demanding area. The same can be said of the Rapida’s finishing capabilities, with inline rotary die cutting, embossing, cold foil, gloss or matte effects, multiple coating applications and varnish. Koenig & Bauer also has a number of different tech-support options, including 24/7 remote service. The company can offer proactive service, monitoring more than 25 touch points on the press to initiate service, all aimed at eliminating downtime.
