We're used to announcements about price rises from paper manufacturers, or ink suppliers. I can't recall seeing such a thing from a press manufacturer before. Until yesterday, that is, when KBA announced that from the middle of next month it would be increasing prices on its sheetfed models by 2.5%. Why go public with such a statement? Is it just a way to encourage vacillating customers to hurry along and confirm their orders prior to the year-end? Perhaps, but the announcement has also allowed KBA to make a few points about the market, while reiterating the fact that it's the only press manufacturer to have stayed in the black despite the battering endured by the heavy metal side of the industry in recent years. And they certainly do deserve kudos for that. The company is number two in the sheetfed market, with a 20% share and growing according to UK managing director Christian Knapp. But when it comes to special sheetfed presses, such as those for packaging, security printing and metal decorating, it claims number one spot. And those presses, such as the 19-unit (19!!) Rapida 106 model recently installed at an Amcor tobacco packaging plant in Switzerland, are extremely high-value. Such purchasers are not going to be as price sensitive as those in the market for a straightforward bread-and-butter B1 configuration. I can see that a greater focus on these sorts of presses, as opposed to the more price-driven commodity press formats, could help restore profitability at KBA's sheetfed wing. In this respect yesterday's announcement can be seen as KBA sending a message to its customers, its investors, its competitors – while perhaps offering a helping hand to its own salesforce. To be a sustainable business, it is necessary to make a sustainable profit.