KBA North America

Hasbro Inc.'s 44-employee in-plant boasts one of the most impressive game and puzzle printing operations south of Santa's Workshop. A web and sheetfed operation, the shop produces packaging, box and board labels, puzzle board, internal game components and various general printing in support of its parent company.

Printing Industries of America has announced the recipients of the 2011 InterTech Technology Awards. The innovative technologies receiving this award are expected to have a major impact on the graphic communications industry.

Any in-plant manager lucky enough to be in Chicago last month for Graph Expo got to witness some significant developments in the world of graphic arts. Dubbed “The Inkjet Graph Expo” by some, the show featured more inkjet technology than most in-plant managers had ever seen in one place.

The University of Houston’s Printing and Postal Service department celebrated its 60th anniversary last month, an event that honored not only the in-plant’s longevity but its recent advancements as well. Over the past 12 months, the 30-employee shop has added several major pieces of offset and digital printing equipment, gearing itself up for a very busy 2010.

KBA North America, a global press manufacturer headquartered in Dallas, Texas, has successfully completed its move to its new 60,000 sq ft state-of-the-art headquarters on the Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport complex for all sheetfed and web operations.

EVEN AFTER installing an HP Indigo 1050 digital color press four years ago, San Diego State University ReproGraphic Services still found it challenging to reach portions of the four-color market. Longer-run jobs were not cost effective on the 1050, so the in-plant was using its aging computer-to-plate (CTP) system and two-color presses to produce them. It was not the most efficient setup. So in 2006, Leslie Rutledge, manager of the nine-employee in-plant, made the decision to install a Presstek 34DI direct imaging press. Life has not been the same since. The chemistry-free, waterless offset press images plates directly on the press, saving time, improving quality and decreasing costs.

In the past, three departments at the KBA sheetfed offset facility in Radebeul were focussed on the process technology aspects of printing: the customer center, the training center and the test printing plant. This organization meant keeping available considerable parallel press capacities, as just one of a number of negatives. The numerous interfaces and the lack of a consistent standardization concept impeded many decision processes.

WILLISTON, VT—06/19/08—KBA North America, a global press manufacturer currently based in Williston, VT, is announcing that its corporate headquarters will be moving to Dallas, TX, in the summer of 2009. The relocation will join the KBA sheetfed and web divisions under one roof along with the sales, service and parts departments as well as the corporate demonstration center. “We’ve been headquartered outside of Burlington, Vermont for more than 20 years,” says Holger Garbrecht, KBA North America president and CEO. “But with our continued growth in all market segments it is the ideal time for us to move to a more central location to better

WÜRZBURG, GERMANY/DOBRUSKA, CZECH REPUBLIC—04/30/08—Pending the approval of the competent authorities, KBA’s Czech subsidiary KBA-Grafitec in Dobruska is entering a strategic alliance with Adast in Adamov, near Brno. According to the contracts signed by the two companies on 23 April in Dobruška, Adast discontinues the development, production and marketing of its own branded products to focus on providing KBA-Grafitec with parts and subassemblies. In return KBA-Grafitec will source a major proportion of its components from Adast. Other KBA production sites will also purchase from Adast where possible. KBA-Grafitec has acquired Adast’s entire portfolio of product, patent and trademark rights, and while Adast will continue to

WILLISTON, VT—09/02/07—KBA North America announces that Holger Garbrecht has been named president and CEO of KBA North America, replacing Ralf Sammeck, who has been promoted to executive vice president of worldwide sheetfed sales and member of the Management Board for KBA. “I look forward to taking over this dynamic company that is now a combination of both sheetfed and web sales and service in North America,” said Garbrecht. “KBA North America is the unparalleled technology leader in printing presses. The firm continues to introduce groundbreaking press designs and the largest range of presses for printers of any size. I’m proud to be part of