The RotaJet 76 was the original model, but KBA has gone much wider.
KBA has revealed that its RotaJet 168 – a 1.6 metre-wide inkjet web press which it says is the ‘widest, most productive web press ever built’ – is installed at an un-named German customer, where it is producing ‘decorated print’ – an application involving printing onto 60 to 80 gsm paper which is laminated to board as furniture decoration. The application is commonly a gravure one, so therefore requires very high quality.
Oliver Baar, KBA’s project manager for business development on its digital web presses, also stated that the company was prepared to go wider than the RotaJet 168’s 1681 mm print width, being ‘fully committed’ to a RotaJet 225 model ‘as required’.
The RotaJet 168, known within KBA as The Beast, has a 150-metres-per-minute print output, printing single-sided four colours. Mr Baar said the existing installation of the press was ‘working well’.
He also presented details of the L (for large) series of RotaJet presses that was recently launched. These presses are fully variable in terms of speed/quality, layout, width and colour, including two towers for double-sided printing. Widths range from the RotaJet 89 (890 mm or 35 inches), allowing four A4 pages across the web, up to the RotaJet 130 (1300 mm or 51 inches), which allows six A4 pages across the web.
The L Series is also ready for next generation 60kHz 1200 x 1200 dpi inkjet print heads, which Mr Baar said would be supplied by current partner Kyocera. Outside of the L series range is the originally-announced member of the RotaJet family, the RotaJet 76 (31 inches), the first order for which is still be installed.
Mr Baar was speaking at an event held in London to present KBA UK’s 1814 Production Excellence Award for 2014 to APS Group in Stockport for ‘consistently exceptional productivity throughout 2014 on short, medium and long run work’. Production director Stephen Goodall and lean manufacturing supervisor Gareth Jones accepted the award.
