Rehms signed for the machine, which was commercially launched at Drupa, at the end of February for an undisclosed fee, after an extensive market search that also took in machines from HP and Fujifilm.
Installation of the KM-1 began last week and it will be running its first shift later this week, after a short period of training from Konica Minolta staff.
Konica Minolta sold its first two machines at Drupa to two US companies but Rehms Druck was confirmed as being the first in Europe to take the machine. A second German company, Print Logistic Services (PLS), has recently taken on the machine in beta form.
Rehms Druck managing director Daniel Baier said he was first attracted to the technology at Drupa 2012, when the machine that was co-developed with Komori was first exhibited. It is now looking to expand further into the direct mail and packaging markets, using the KM-1’s digital inkjet technology.
Baier said: “For us it was really important that we find a digital machine that can help us for all the business units we have. So we tried a lot of machines and the AccurioJet was the only machine that had the quality on different kinds of materials with simplex and duplex printing possibilities.
“For direct mail it is very interesting to produce a high quality of uncoated paper, so in the past we have produced sheetfed offset printed paper for direct mail, first in offset and then in digital for variable data. We can now produce this all in one step on the digital press.”
Running at 3,000sph simplex or 1,500sph duplex, the four-colour B2 inkjet KM-1 uses UV-cured inks. It takes oversized B2 sheets up to 585x750mm, allowing six-up A4 production, and has 600dpi printheads with piezo shear technology, fitted in pairs to offer 1,200dpi.
The LED UV-cured inks were specially developed for the KM-1 and are heated to reduce viscosity, offering a thinner ink film.
Based in Westphalia, North Germany, Rehms Druck has been using Konica Minolta technology for around 10 years and currently runs Konica Minolta Bizhub Press C1100 technology, along with three Heidelberg Speedmaster XLs on the litho side.
Konica Minolta head of market development Mark Hinder said: “Rehms Druck are printing labels and plastic on the same machine as well as packaging, so the uniqueness of the KM-1 with the UV ink means they can print onto offset standard papers and also plastics for various things. It is an amazing platform.”
Baier said service from Konica Minolta had been “very good” and that this had been a factor in the investment purchase.
Rehms is now in conversation with customers about developing new products that can be printed using the KM-1.
The 150-staff company, with sales of €18.5m (£15.8m), produces high-quality catalogues, along with direct mail, cartons and boxes. Clients include Lidl and TomTom.
