Press manufacturer Koenig & Bauer has received a German Design Award in the category Excellent Communications Design – Apps for its Rapida LiveApp.
The company received an automation app award in 2016, so this counts as the second prize for the Rapida LiveApp developed together with software design specialists Macio. The Rapida LiveApp supports users with functionality for the location-independent monitoring and control of sheetfed offset presses of the Rapida series.
The German Design Award jury praised the Rapida LiveApp as a practical solution for the control and maintenance of sheetfed offset presses. In their explanatory statement, they wrote: “With this app for smartphones and tablets, the control console is extended over the whole length of the press. It offers a clever solution to an age-old problem.”
How does the App work? After login via NFC, an info panel opens with details on the progress and current status of print production. The menu also provides access to a consumables tracker, in which it can record and monitor the use of individual consumables using QR codes, as well as a maintenance manager with operator manuals, instructions and press documentation.
One of the first practical users of the Rapida LiveApp, the modern packaging plant of Schur Pack in Germany, operates two six-colour Rapida 145 presses in single- and double-coater configurations, and an eight-colour Rapida 106 with two coaters and two inline dryer towers. Besides the Rapida LiveApp, the company also uses Koenig & Bauer’s ProductionApp, which enables full-scale warehouse management and batch tracking through to the final product.
The German Design Award honours manufacturers and designers for innovative products and projects which are considered pioneering for the German and international design landscape. An international jury selects the prize winners.
