Imagine! Print Solutions Continues Growth with New KBA Rapida 164 UV Press
From left to right, John Hans, CEO of Imagine! and Robert Lothenbach, founder of Imagine!, proudly stand on the deck of its tenth KBA press — a Rapida 164 full UV press at its Shakopee, Minn., facility.
DALLAS — January 31, 2017 — With a laser-focus on its clients and the markets it serves, Imagine! Print Solutions, North America's foremost independent commercial and packaging printing company, has installed its tenth KBA press — a seven-color, 61" Rapida 164 full UV press at its Shakopee, Minn., facility in late 2016. The press became fully operational in early 2017.
“Imagine! is an industry leader and has an impressive track record of double-digit growth since its founding in 1988,” says John Hans, CEO of Imagine! “We continue to add new technology, such as our new KBA Rapida 164 press, to enable us to address our clients’ needs and future demands as well as the current production of branded materials and retail offerings across the country."
He continues, "This new press supports our growth and initiatives providing us with faster and more efficient production. It will produce the short-run workload of three of our older large format presses with lightning-fast makereadies with absolute minimum waste, less labor, and less energy. As our market continues to change and evolve, this new KBA press brings us innovation and new value to the firm.”
The new 64" Rapida 164 press is specified to run board, has UV capabilities, and a host of unique quality control features. Its new QualiTronic ColorControl inline color control system offers the highest quality standards. The system reads and monitors every sheet that goes through the press.
Steve Korn, KBA’s Director of National and Key Accounts, adds, “This new KBA Rapida 164 press purchase made by Imagine! signals once again that the largest independent printing company in North America continues to invest in new technology for its clients to drive further improvement in the production of branded materials and retail offerings across the country. We applaud the entire Imagine! team on what they’ve accomplished, its extraordinary growth both in sales and physical facilities, but most importantly its relentless customer-focused solutions approach. We are confident that this new KBA large format press will provide increased capacity, fuel future growth, and continue Imagine’s flawless execution of high quality printing and on-time service with its existing and future clients for many years to come.”
The newly-purchased KBA Rapida 164 joins nine more KBA Rapida presses operated by Imagine!: a 41" KBA Rapida 105 press, a giant 81" Rapida 205, two 64" Rapida 162 presses, and four 41" Rapida presses, as well as a new 41" Rapida 105 press at Imagine! Express Minneapolis. All presses are fully equipped with KBA’s advanced technology from quality control to fully automated processes including a host of drying solutions.
“KBA has been Imagine’s press partner for 11 years,” says Bob Lothenbach, founder of Imagine!. “In 2005 we purchased the first six-color Rapida 205 81” press in North America. Since then we have added several additional KBA presses to maintain our quality level and provide us with the best possible performance from our litho department. Its commitment to our market and sheet size requirements is what sets KBA apart from its competition.”
