The award honours excellence in innovative technology for the graphic communications industry for products expected to have an impact on the industry over the next five years. Nomination criteria stipulates that the technology be recently developed but out of beta and be proven in an industrial application, though not widespread in use.
The anonymous panel of industry expert judges deemed the Rapida 205’s high print quality and low makeready times as taking sheetfed press technology to a new level of productivity in a sheet size that has never been printed before.
One Rapida 205 can replace up to four older presses, and the technology was hailed as an engineering benchmark due to its package friendliness. Judges were impressed by the press being able to give offset printers a way to go after the large format market.
KBA Australasia managing director Rhys Burton says although KBA has sold 40 Rapida 205 presses, there is yet be one ordered in Australia. “We are currently promoting it here and we do have some prospects,” says Burton.
Last year KBA installed the largest press in Australia at 1.62m wide. The Rapida 205 is slightly larger at 2.05m.
