New printing presses are rare in Lebanon. But KBA is bucking this trend with a second order for a brand-new Rapida destined for this country. The Rapida in question will be the Middle East’s first Rapida 106 equipped with DriveTronic SPC simultaneous plate changing.

A high-speed Rapida 106 is scheduled to go live in February at Arab Printing Press, also in Beirut. The eight-colour perfector for four-over-four production will be the seventh sheetfed offset press from KBA to date to go to the printing company which was founded in 1968. It will be equipped with a raft of automation modules ensuring fast job changes. The press line will feature DriveTronic SPC direct plate-cylinder drives with Plate Ident for automated plate recognition and pre-registration, as well as the measuring systems ErgoTronic ColorControl (density measuring) and ErgoTronic ICR (register measuring) for quality assurance.

Arab Printing Press is one of the most renowned printing companies with regard to quality in the Middle East. It produces magazines and books for the Arab world, Africa and Europe in press rooms measuring 5,500m2, plus brochures, labels and other commercial print work. Although the firm is equipped for printing large print runs, it is also flexible enough to produce smaller jobs economically. The new Rapida 106 will also contribute towards this.

Elie Raphael, chairman and general manager of Arab Printing Press said:” We are with KBA since 1998 when we invested for the first eight colour KBA press. We are now replacing our old machine with new and state of the art printing kits available in the market. Our expansion plan is in full swing. We have already kick started our operation in Ivory Coast and we already lunched our printing facility in Iraq. We are looking beyond Lebanon and are focusing to expand our operation in the region."

With its 130 employees Arab Printing Press has an export ratio of 60% and customers value the high level of quality, speedy delivery times and low production costs the firm delivers. The full-service company has an extensive press fleet for pre-press, printing and finishing, and has been DIN/ISO 9001 and FSC certified since December 2007. Along with a heatset press, ten small-,half- and medium-format sheetfed press lines can be found in the firm’s press room, the latter exclusively from KBA. 

In another development Sidema, a packaging printing firm based in Beirut, fired up a new five-colour Rapida 105 with coater in summer. The press features a board-handling capability, ink-temperature controls, a roller facility for nonstop delivery and washing systems for blankets, cylinders and rollers.

SIDEMA signed the contract for the new KBA Rapida 105 in Drupa