Irwin-Hodson Rises With New 10-Color KBA Rapida 105 Perfector Press

PORTLAND, OR—KBA North America, a global press manufacturer based in Williston, Vermont, announces that Irwin-Hodson, a commercial printing company, has signed a contract to purchase a new KBA Rapida 105 41-inch 10-color long perfector press with double coaters, full conventional and UV capabilities, and a host of KBA’s newest technology features. The press will be delivered this summer and will be in operation in the early fall of 2008.

“We see this new KBA press as the perfect tool in our arsenal to differentiate us from our competitors,” says T.J. McDonald, president and CEO of Irwin-Hodson. “Purchasing this press keeps us up-to-speed as pioneers of innovation. We’ll be able to offer our customers many new specialty techniques as well as broaden the number of products we can offer. Our KBA press will be unique in the West Coast market.”

The firm’s new Rapida 105 41-inch 10-color long perfector press is equipped with a KBA Logotronic management system, Densitronic Professional scanning XY spectrodensitometer with a new dynamic color control module that can reduce ink-related start-up waste by as much as 80% and speed up ink-key settings, and the revolutionary unique sheet infeed process known as the no-sidelay SIS Sensoric Infeed System. A roll sheeter will help the firm purchase paper more economically in rolls and sheet it themselves according to their needs. The double coater will allow the firm to produce special effects that are highly prized by designers and ad agencies and coat both sides of the sheet in one pass.

To ready itself for the installation, the firm is performing a complete remodeling of its plant and preparing a 130 foot long floor space for the new press. In the near future, the firm will be sending two different groups to KBA headquarters to train on the press; after installation, the firm will have eight weeks of training on site.