KBA and Powage Print have reached an agreement to remove the 74 Karat that Powage was beta testing (PrintWeek, 25 May).


As PrintWeek went to press it was being decommissioned prior to being installed at an unnamed printer in Sweden.


"It was a mutual decision to remove the press," said KBA UK managing director Christian Knapp. "As part of the beta site agreement Powage had the choice to buy or return the press. It has decided to remove the press. Considering the type of work and the circumstances it made sense to remove it."


"We needed to turn the company around quickly," said Rod Parker, managing director of Pepberry, the firm that bought Powage. "We were spending too much time worrying about the Karat. It may have been right in the long term, but in the short term we had other things to consider."


Parker described the fit of the two firms as good and said the turnaround was progressing well.


The company is investing in an Agfa CTP system and is looking at moving its three factories under one roof over the next 12 months.


John King, the operator of Powages 74 Karat, has joined KBA UK as a print instructor and demonstrator for the 74 Karat and
is being trained in Germany.


FE Burman, the UKs other Karat beta site, has accepted its press and is using it for a range of short-run work including posters and high-quality property brochures.


"Were getting a huge amount of work through it thats at least as good as conventional offset," said managing director Michael Burman. "I feel a lot happier with KBA behind it, its commitment is encouraging."


Story by Barney Cox