Koenig & Bauer Continues Its Strong Leadership Position in the Folding Carton Market

1. 34 FOLDING CARTON INDUSTRY » MARCH/APRIL 2019
TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN ADVANCES
KOENIG & BAUER
CONTINUES STRONG
LEADERSHIP POSITION
IN FOLDING CARTON MARKET
WHEN LEADING FOLDING CARTON PRINTERS SEEK TO FIND THE BEST SOLUTIONS FOR THEIR
CUSTOMERS, WHERE DO THEY TURN? IN PROVIDING FAST AND TECHNOLOGICALLY-LADEN
PRESSES FOR ADVANCED FOLDING CARTON APPLICATIONS, KOENIG & BAUER IS CONSISTENTLY
RATED FOR ITS HIGH QUALITY SOLIDLY-BUILT MANUFACTURING PROCESS, SERVICE AND
ENHANCED SOLUTIONS FOR THE COMPLEX NEEDS OF CUSTOMERS.
Rapida 106 running at 20,000 sph

2. www.thepackagingportal.com 35
TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN ADVANCES
C
hris Travis, Director of
Technology at Koenig & Bauer
(US/CA) says, “As the world
market leader in the manufacture of
carton printing presses, we have kept
our fingers firmly on the pulse of the
ever changing market and maintained
this position by offering the highest
quality presses and services while
partnering with some of the most high-
profile folding carton printers.” He goes
on to say, “Printers are charged with
the mandate to light up store shelves
with sophisticated, colourful folding
cartons – and our goal is to help them
deliver those products, not just with
the press but with the process as well.”
In today’s competitive market,
carton printers need to quickly
respond to the unrelenting demands
of their consumer-facing customers in
the diverse fields of pharmaceutical,
food, beverage, cosmetic, spirit and
other segments. Speed, precision
and service are required to maintain
a positive customer experience. Store
shelves are brimming with a wide
variety of containers that require eye-
catching point-of-sale shelf appeal.
Brands are asking carton printers to
design custom crafted award winning
packaging for their products that also
protect against counterfeit packaging.
Speed to market is essential in an ever-
changing, fast-paced environment in
which print quality and consistency
needs to be at the forefront as well as
special print services such as coating
Eagle Foiling System on a Koenig & Bauer press – cold foil is continuing its momentum
as a superior special effect
applications, finishing, embossing
and other enhancement methods.
“One of many reasons that
carton printers continue to invest
in additional new Koenig & Bauer
presses, whether medium or large
format, is our ability to configure the
press for their needs,” says Travis.
“We’re seeing a resurgence in double
coaters to provide those necessary
special effects all inline in one pass.
Cold foil is continuing its momentum
as a superior special effect. As for
features, simultaneous processes
for fast-paced print operations and
PMS colours that are automatically
controlled and reported upon are
nearly always ordered. Plus we receive
many questions and requests for
applications for our custom-built
VariDry low-energy curing system.”
One of many reasons that carton printers
continue to invest in additional new Koenig
& Bauer presses, whether medium or large
format, is our ability to configure the press
for their needs.”
CHRIS TRAVIS, DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY AT KOENIG & BAUER (US/CA)

3. 36 FOLDING CARTON INDUSTRY » MARCH/APRIL 2019
TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN ADVANCES
Carton manufacturers are finding
that a key trend is to perform ultra-
fast make-readies for shorter run,
seasonal boxes and to successfully
compete against digital printing carton
production. Koenig & Bauer has the
solution. Its Rapida 106 has been the
undisputed make-ready world champion
in medium format since 2008. Not only
that, its production speeds of up to
20,000 sheets/hr prove it is the fastest
press in its format class. Due to a raft
of automation solutions, such as the
sidelay-free infeed, quick job changes
and smooth handling, the Rapida 106
provides the speed needed by carton
printers. Logistic systems ensure
continual throughput and complete inline
colour control, along with simultaneous
process, which allows carton producers
to be more competitive than ever.
Expensive waiting time is transformed
into efficient production time. Alongside
consistent implementation of the
DriveTronic dedicated drive concept,
it is quality management which
plays a decisive role. With inspection
options, which even include inline
PDF comparisons, the Rapida 106
is a technology leader in the field.
Curtis Packaging, a Connecticut
printer known as a luxurious packaging
provider, recently partnered with
Koenig & Bauer to manufacture and
install a new custom-built Rapida
106 11-colour double coater press –
the only one of its kind in the world
and specially designed by Curtis
management. Its high-end carton
customers represent some of the
world’s most well-known brands for
cosmetics, liquor, health and beauty,
confectioneries, biomedical and
sporting goods. This key press,
which was built for one pass efficiency
and capabilities for short-run fast
changeover jobs, includes 10
printing units, a coater, an additional
printing unit and coater. The first
two printing units are cold foil
capable. Curtis is experiencing
significant improvement in make-
ready times and higher run speeds
for total faster throughput.
With more PMS colours on a
carton, printers need to have quality
and colour control systems to reduce
variability. Koenig & Bauer is leading
the way with its newest Version 8 of
the popular QualityPass software
for sheetfed presses. This dynamic
product provides extensive reports
on the quality and consistency of
print produced and provides a score
as a percentage against the required
fields of the ISO 12647-2 standard
such as CIE LAB values, dot gain (TVI)
and trapping. The trend reporting
function allows printers to be able
to demonstrate colour consistency
throughout their carton production
run via reports produced at the
end of the job by the software and
Rapida 106-6+L ALV2
Rapid 145 Feeder and Logistics system

4. www.thepackagingportal.com 37
TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN ADVANCES
ErgoTronic ColorControl
console with wall screen
provides great reassurance for the
printers’ customers. QualityPass
reports are generated as a PDF for
every job produced and contain every
measurement taken by either the
ErgoTronic Color Control device for
inline colour density measurement or
the QualiTronic ColorControl inline
system. The viewer of the report can
analyse the quality of print produced
and make the required adjustments
to improve the scoring (for example,
tensioning blankets or making
alterations to the plate output curves).
“Last year, every press installed
in North America was configured
with an inline colour control system,”
says Travis. “That’s how important it
is. Our carton customers tell us how
essential it is for them to quantify
their data and be able to give a
detailed report to their customers.”
Not only is quality and colour
control necessary for carton printers
to provide tight colour control with
minimum variation, but productivity
and efficiency. Koenig & Bauer has
developed systems to alleviate these
areas as well. With an increased use
of colours being used on cartons and
more versions due to the increasingly
individual cartons being printed,
printers require speedy automated
roller wash-up systems to help
maximise efficiency from job to job
and quickly wash colours up and
move on to the next job. DriveTronic
SRW (Simultaneous Roller Wash)
provides increased productivity
and is a huge time saver by having
the ability to wash the rollers while
producing as well as providing high
colour quality and consistency.
Carton press operators appreciate
its fully automatic plate changing in
which all plates are quickly changed
without any human intervention.
PrintCheck 4K camera

5. 38 FOLDING CARTON INDUSTRY » MARCH/APRIL 2019
TECHNOLOGY-DRIVEN ADVANCES
Wausau Container Corporation,
a prominent Wisconsin carton
manufacturer, noted that Koenig &
Bauer built a special size of Rapida 105
PRO. “It is a special larger maximum
sheet size and larger maximum image
size than is normal for a standard
Rapida 105 PRO press (a Koenig &
Bauer exclusive),” says Chuck Plier,
President of Wausau Container
Corporation. “It is providing us with
greater throughput, better print
quality and has the ability to provide
precise press documentation to
support our customers. Its inline
inspection system captures each
and every sheet, even while running
at top speeds, and ensures that the
job matches what the customer has
sent to us. It provides us with a high
level of reporting for credibility that
we can share with our clients."
Many carton manufacturers are
tasked with meeting a wide range of
needs from their brand customers.
This includes multi-colour printing
in a single pass using a variety of
coating applications on different
substrates along with specialty
effects such as embossing, foil and
other techniques. As e-commerce
continues to grow, cartons play an
important role in delivering a positive
end-user experience as well as
protecting the product within. Brands
are placing increased emphasis on
these effective packaging tools.
“What distinguishes Koenig
& Bauer from any other press
manufacturer is our resolve to guide
our carton customers into profitable
solutions with our technology,” says
Travis. “As the world leader in large
format presses, we’ve built the finest
reputation for producing unique offset
presses in all format sizes that provide
value-added and tailored solutions
to their business. We understand
that the carton market is fast moving
and competitive – that’s why we
continue to monitor trends in the
industry and keep abreast of what our
customers will need in the future.” ■
“What distinguishes
Koenig & Bauer
from any other press
manufacturer is our
resolve to guide
our carton customers
into profitable
solutions with our
technology.”
CHRIS TRAVIS, DIRECTOR OF TECHNOLOGY
AT KOENIG & BAUER (US/CA)