German pressmaker KBA will show a raft of applications for inkjet print technology at DRUPA, including the book and newspaper press it has developed with US print giant RR Donnelley.

The company chose its Radebeul sheetfed facility to preview an offering which includes inkjet web, sheetfed and addressing systems. On a 3,500m2 stand at the Düsseldorf show – the same size as in 2008 – it will feature web offset systems for commercial, packaging and newspaper print, as well as the new inkjet web press.

President Claus Bolza-Schünemann says a “tense” market situation still burdens advertising and media-dependent segments of the industry. Timely capacity downsizing “at its own expense” increased productivity and inhouse production – plus the expansion into digital print – has helped improve plant utilisation, he says.

Despite being the only press manufacturer to post a pre-tax profit in 2009, 2010 and 2011, “the sums are still insufficient” to finance planned investment and innovation.

“Negotiations with a Chinese partner are well advanced and envisage the local manufacturing of entry-level sheetfed offset presses for this market, alongside the high-tech presses imported from Germany,” Bolza-Schünemann says.

KBA’s Würzburg-built RotaJET 76 inkjet web prints on a 780 mm wide web at up to 150 metres per minute, using water-based pigment inks. Project manager Oliver Baar says the piezo printheads are reliable and require only minimum maintenance. “They have been designed for heavy-duty use and contribute to the high availability of the overall system”, he says.

Quality comes from a number of factors including precision engineering and precise web tension – controlled by purpose-built unwind and infeed units – and allows the press to produce good copies even during start-up.

The two arrays of 56 inkjet heads each (total 112) form an arch over large central impression cylinders for four-colour printing on both sides of the web, and can be moved aside for cleaning and maintenance. Heads are cleaned and aligned automatically (stitching) to minimise manual intervention and ensure straightforward handling.

Baar says the system offers a native print resolution is 600dpi, and a dispersion coater is planned as a future option. At DRUPA, the press will produce personalised pieces driven via Adobe PDF Print Engine workflow, and will be shown inline with Müller Martini’s SigmaLine finishing system including a variable-format section folder.

An H-type printing unit of the modular Commander CL newspaper press also makes its DRUPA debut, along with a C16 heatset printing unit. On the sheetfed side, a hybrid Rapida 105 combining offset with digital – with Atlantic Zeiser Delta 105iUV heads – will be introduced as well as a new large-format press Rapida 145 press, and a alphaJET-tempo printer from KBA’s Metronic division for coding and marking.