OREANDA-NEWS. KBA‑Sheetfed Solutions, a business unit of the Koenig & Bauer Group (KBA), and Xerox today announced a partnership to develop an industrial digital sheetfed press for the folding carton market. Wide format cartons, for items like cosmetics, food and pharmaceutical products, until now has relied on traditional analog offset production printing.

The KBA VariJET® 106 Powered by Xerox integrates Xerox Impika® inkjet technology into the KBA Rapida® 106 press platform. The press, in the final stages of development, will print 4,500 B1 750 x 1060 millimeters (29.5 x 41.7 inches) sheets per hour. Its modular concept enables the combination of digital inkjet printing with optional in-line capabilities such as coating, cold foil application, rotary die-cutting, creasing and perforating.

Digitally printed packaging worldwide will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of roughly 16 percent between 2015 and 2020. Within that, digitally printed folding cartons will see a CAGR of 40 percent1. The KBA VariJET 106 Press brings the benefits of digital printing such as running multiple versions of the same carton as well as customize cartons, opening up new business opportunities for industrial production printers.

“As a leader in package printing our customers are confirming that this is exactly the product they need for the market opportunity that exists,” said Ralf Sammeck, CEO of KBA-Sheetfed Solutions. “Xerox’s inkjet technology coupled with our packaging expertise combines proven technologies to bring the right product to market at the right time.”

“By combining digital capabilities like cross media marketing, digital storefronts, and automated workflows with those of classic offset printing, our customers will be able to offer new products not seen in the traditional packaging market to their customers,” said Robert Stabler, general manager, Graphic Communications Business Group, Xerox. “The KBA VariJET 106 Powered by Xerox will have the flexibility, format and speed to help print providers capture this growing market opportunity.”

KBA and Xerox will share additional details on the new press concept during presentations at their respective stands at drupa, the world’s largest print exhibition and trade show held every three years in Düsseldorf, Germany, May 31 – June 10, 2016.

Availability
The KBA VariJET 106 Powered by Xerox will be available to customers beginning in 2017.

Koenig & Bauer Group (KBA)
The KBA Group is a leading supplier to the international printing industry. Founded in 1817, the parent, Koenig & Bauer AG (KBA), is the world’s oldest press manufacturer. KBA is an innovation-driven partner to the print industry and is a leader in various print segments with its uniquely broad product spectrum. The KBA companies under the holding, Koenig & Bauer AG, produce web presses for inkjet and offset printing, sheetfed offset presses in all format classes, special presses for printing film, metal sheets, hollow glass and plastic containers as well as systems for banknote production, industrial coding and automated paper logistics. The KBA Group generates some 70% of its revenue in the growing packaging printing segment. As the largest company within the KBA Group, KBA-Sheetfed Solutions in Radebeul, near Dresden, is responsible for the sheetfed press business field. 

About Xerox
Xerox is helping change the way the world works. By applying our expertise in imaging, business process, analytics, automation and user-centric insights, we engineer the flow of work to provide greater productivity, efficiency and personalization. Our employees create meaningful innovations and provide business process services, printing equipment, software and solutions that make a real difference for our clients and their customers in 180 countries. On January 29, 2016, Xerox announced that it plans to separate into two independent, publicly-traded companies: a business process outsourcing company and a document technology company. Xerox expects to complete the separation by year-end 2016.