KBA is on track to unveil its new digital web press at Drupa 2012 next May.

UK managing director Christian Knapp explained that details of the press were under wraps for the time being, but it would be a high-speed inkjet web device with "a special focus on integrated workflow".

 The new machine will incorporate RR Donnelley’s Apollo inkjet technology, following the partnership deal agreed between the two companies earlier this year.

KBA has maintained the same location and 3,500sqm stand size as it had at the last Drupa in 2008. Other plans for the show include a new version of the Rapida 105 B1 sheetfed press, billed as having "Rapida 106 inside" and capable of at least 18,000sph. It will be differentiated from the higher-end 106 by the level of automation and production speed.  It will also show static units from its C16 commercial web and Commander CL newspaper presses.

Knapp said the firm could potentially target long perfector users with the C16: "We are achieving a complete job change, including web change, in 20 minutes and it can go down to as little as 12 minutes. That’s clearly aggressive for a commercial web press."

He was speaking at a briefing where KBA also revealed the winner of this year’s 1814 Production Excellence Award, created by KBA UK to mark the date when The Times newspaper was produced on the first power-driven press. The press was built by Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Bauer.

Alderson Print Group picked up the accolade after achieving 22 makereadies, 42 wash-ups and 58,357 sheets printed in a single 8.5 hour shift on the West Molesey firm’s five-colour Rapida 106. The jobs were of varying format, paper stock, and run length.

Operations director Paul Abraham said the press had consistently hit eight-minute makereadies throughout the shift: "For 80% of work we are now achieving six-minute makereadies," he added.

Plastic Card Services and SMP Group were shortlisted for the award, which was judged in Germany by a panel of KBA executives. Plastic Card Services was lauded for its production of 2.5m biodegradable loyalty cards on its Genius 52UV; while SMP Group produced 32 jobs in a single shift on its 12-year-old Rapida 162a.