Large-format sheetfed offset presses in unit design had already been manufactured at the Radebeul factory since 1968. It was then drupa 1995 which marked the transition from the dependable workhorses of the previous Varimat series to the extensively automated, high-performance Rapidas. Newly engineered from the ground up, the large-format Rapida series immediately claimed pole position in this format class. From the mid-1990s onwards, they successively displaced presses based on the out-dated five-cylinder system with their fast makeready times, superior substrate flexibility and application-specific configurations. The availability of highly automated technologies geared to significantly accelerated job changeovers heralded a renaissance for large-format sheetfed offset, not only in traditional fields such as book and packaging printing, but also in the commercial and publication segments.

Large-format sheetfed offset from Saxony since 1968

Irrespective of the new competition which has emerged in this format class over the past ten years, KBA-Sheetfed remains the clear number one with a market share of 60% of new large-format installations. In total, more than 3,000 large-format presses have been supplied by the Radebeul factory, including 1,500 Rapidas. KBA-Sheetfed currently offers the large-format Rapida in four series: Rapida 145, Rapida 164, Rapida 185 and Rapida 205, which together cover formats from 106 x 145 cm to 150 x 205 cm.

Presses becoming longer and longer

The large-format Rapidas have also been setting new standards with regard to the press configurations realised for customers. The longest large-format press in the world to date, a 42-metre long Rapida 145 with a total of 14 printing and finishing units was recently supplied to a European packaging printer. The first printing unit is followed by a coater and two intermediate dryer units, then an automatically convertible perfecting unit, another six printing units, two further coaters either side of two more intermediate dryer units, and finally a three-section extended delivery. Thanks to the comprehensive automation, with automated pile logistics, simultaneous plate and coating forme changing, CleanTronic Synchro for parallel washing processes and full inline colour control, even such press lines are easy to handle.

At home in international packaging and book printing

Large-format Rapidas are at home in packaging, book and commercial printing companies throughout Europe, the Americas, Asia, Australia and in a few individual cases also Africa. In the packaging segment, in particular, the share of long presses with 10, 11, 12 or even 13 printing, coating and drying units has risen significantly, not least due to a constantly growing trend towards inline finishing in folding carton production. In the coming year, such presses are to be delivered to customers in the USA, Sweden, Spain, Mexico, Brazil and Chile, among other countries. Where a large-format Rapida typically comprised five printing and finishing units at the turn of the century, the average length of a press has today risen to seven units.