The new machine, which cost just over £3m, including additional specifications, will be installed in around five months’ time at Beatus’ Porth, South Wales premises, and will be the first in the UK to be specified with KBA’s QualiTronic PDF system.
Beatus will then look to invest in new creasing equipment to replace one of its Sanwa creasers and may also look to bolster its finishing department in other areas, along with upgrading its digital front-end. The spend will represent the highest yearly investment in Beatus' 77-year history.
The Rapida replaces an 18-year-old five-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster CD 102, and joins a second 16-year-old CD 102.
The move, according to managing director Clive Stinchcombe, will increase capacity at the firm by a third.
“We did our research, and it was off the back of Drupa really, knowing that we were looking at the latest technologies," said Stinchcombe.
"The big thing with KBA is we see a lot of focus on cartons in particular, and the support and training, from the sales people right through to the technical people was very impressive.
“We knew we were looking to make the investment and were exploring where digital was in the carton industry but for B1 the costs really weren’t there to move to that technology.
"It’s clear litho is still here to stay so it was really about what’s the best press out there. We wanted to make sure the investment would put us right at the front, nobody would have better equipment than us, they might have more but not better."
The Rapida 106, which has dual coating units, prints at up to 18,000sph and is fitted with conventional and UV drying technology, as well as fully automatic plate changing, allowing all plates to be changed in less than three minutes. The press is also specified with KBA’s Sensoric Infeed System (SIS) and simultaneous roller washing, which enables rollers to be washed while it is still running.
Stinchcombe said: “The big thing is that the makereadies are far quicker, less material waste. Likewise, the actual capacity and the sheets on the floor are virtually a quantum leap from where we were with the aged machinery.”
The press has also been specified with a CX and plastics package, allowing for printing on materials up to 1.2mm thick. Stinchcombe said this was an advantage as Beatus is one of the only UK carton printers to do solid board, litho-lam and plastic on one site.
The QualiTronic system allows for automatic inline comparison with PDFs supplied by customers. It reads every sheet and checks for colour consistency, text consistency and hickeys.
57-staff Beatus, which has recently taken on two new apprentices, provides folding printed cartons in solid board, litho laminated flute and plastic packaging for the food, pharmaceutical, confectionery, motor, glassware, health and beauty industries. Its premises houses an innovation centre, named after its founder Jacob Beatus.
