The Nottingham-based carton printer installed a highly-specified Rapida 106 in February. The eight-colour press is configured with seven print units, followed by two drying units, a coating unit, a further printing unit, and then a final drying unit. It has simultaneous plate changing and roller washing, prints UV or conventionally, and is on a 900mm plinth.
Simply Cartons picked up the accolade for two very different jobs: the first was a promotional carton in the shape of a handbag (pictured below), for food and alcohol gift specialist Blue Tree. It was printed in four-colours plus two whites, with textured matt and gloss UV varnish.
The second job was a sleeve for Asda’s variety pack of houmous. It was UV printed on 420micron folding box board, in CMYK plus a Pantone spot colour, with UV gloss varnish. This job involved the production of 29,400 sheets in one hour and 32 minutes, with print speed reaching 20,000sph and a net speed of 19,174sph.
KBA lauded the company for its ability to produce technically challenging jobs and also for its high-speed production. “They are utilising both the speed and the enhancements for the right jobs,” said sales director Chris Scully.
Simply Cartons print manager Andy Toms said: “The press has been a huge success. We are seeing growth in special finishes and luxury packaging – some of the whisky cartons we produce are on 850micron board and you’ve got to have a press that can handle that.
“Customers trust us to give them the best results and make them different,” he added.
The firm ordered a second KBA at Drupa, which will be installed early next year.
Plastic Card Services in Macclesfield and Blackmore in Dorset were also highly commended for their work.
The award commemorates the year that KBA installed the world's first power-driven press, at The Times in London.
KBA came out of Drupa with a strong order book and has twice upgraded its sales and profits forecasts for its current financial year. Scully said KBA UK had had a “fantastic year”, signing up a raft of sheetfed customers that were new to the company.
The most recent is luxe carton specialist Beamglow in St Ives, Cambridgeshire, which installed an eight-unit 18,000sph Rapida 106 last month. Precise details of the press specification are under wraps at the moment.
