New Rapida 106 Plays Key Role in MSO Cleland’s Growth Strategy

The eight-colour Rapida 106UV with coater was chosen in addition to the 2 existing Heidelberg presses as part of MSO’s ongoing strategy to increase capacity and competitiveness in the high-pressure packaging market. 

The new KBA was also favoured because of its versatility. Dominic Walsh, chief executive of MSO Cleland, says: “Our key focus was to improve our performance and the Rapida has certainly achieved that. In the current economic climate of uncertainty with ever decreasing run length and shortening lead times we can now deliver superior quality across a broad mix of output so dovetailing our capacity to our customers’ needs. Price and quality are a given in the packaging market but our dynamic flexibility is definitely enhanced with the installation of this KBA press.” 

KBA UK Managing director Christian Knapp said: “To prove the press could actually deliver what had been promised, fast makeready times and very high running speeds, we ran three different jobs of 4,500 sheets, 6,000 sheets and 90,700 sheets and it achieved almost 40% increased productivity on UV packaging material compared to their existing press.”  

Mr Walsh continued: “Improved productivity and resulting increased capacity means we are well positioned for future growth, especially in the very demanding luxury packaging sector where the superior print quality achieved with the KBA is a real bonus.”  

MSO’s KBA is equipped with Fully Automated Plate Changing and KBA’s DriveTronic SIS infeed system which eliminates all manual intervention during changes of stock and ensures a smoother sheet travel than mechanical or pneumatic systems.  

KBA’s groundbreaking UV Varidry system is another unique feature. Mr Walsh was impressed with its simple tool-less ‘plug and play’ design and the fact Varidry cassettes can be used in the delivery or interdeck areas depending on the amount of ink coverage required and the colours used. This innovation protects the bulbs and reduces the amount of energy used. It also eliminates efficiency problems created when UV lights go down. 

But technological developments are second to the quality of the work produced says Mr Walsh: “The superb short train inking and integrated damping systems produce outstanding results and, while we like to cut costs and improve efficiency, it is the high standard of print that matters.”  

The 18,000 iph KBA, now running on a 24 hour shift pattern, was installed on a 450mm plinth to maximise pile heights and the automated non-stop pallet-to-pallet changeovers at both the feeder and delivery to gain further efficiencies. 

Among the other headline features are the automated coating unit allowing perfect registration on the first sheet - even with spot varnishes. There is also the quality control aid Densitronic Pro that scans the sheets at a resolution of 330dpi and compares them with the original PDF to identify even minimal deviations and automatically record them in the quality log, and KBA Washtronic which strips the ink on the last eight to ten sheets reducing the amount of ink debris on the blankets at wash-up and helping to speed up makereadies.