KBA had a range of new equipment at the show, much of which was shown at a preview event in Radebeul in March. Digital offerings include integrated devices for sheetfed presses and the new RotaJet 76 inkjet web.

At a press conference on DRUPA’s opening day, president and chief executive Claus Bolza-Schünemann talked of a “reshuffling” of the print media market: “The initial confrontation between online and print media, and between analogue and digital printing, is evolving into a constructive coexistence,” he says.

“We aim to continue actively shaping print’s future through innovation.”

He says KBA’s entry into digital print does not signal an exit from offset, but is seen as a way to offer customers impartial advice. “The ongoing consolidation in the sector will enable us to exploit our specific strengths to boost our market standing still further.”

The RotaJet is the product of cooperation between KBA and US print major RR Donnelley, and has been built at their factory in Würzburg. It has a 781 mm wide web and prints at up to 150 metres per minute, which the company equates to 3000 A4 pages a minute.

Think of it as a single-width newspaper tower printing an eight-page all-colour tabloid at 15,500 cph, if you prefer. Except that this press can print different content on every page of every copy.

Project manager Oliver Baar says it unites innovative precision engineering, high-powered hardware and software and cutting-edge piezo inkjet technology to create an industrial-scale production tool for short runs and personalised prints.

And Bolza-Schünemann – in a fleeting reference to OEM products – adds, “if KBA is on the box, then KBA is inside”.

He says the press will initially target book, brochure, commercial, direct mail and magazine sectors, with packaging and newspapers “to follow”.

Transaction printing is of less interest because medium-term prospects are uncertain and “there are already plenty of vendors”.

Baar points to the press’s robust and compact design, its reliability, intelligent web lead and thus good registration, one-man operation and ability to deliver saleable copies even during start-up and run-down.

Two arrays of 56 printheads which arch over two central impression cylinders can be moved aside for cleaning and maintenance. Printheads are automatically aligned – KBA calls it ‘stitched’, since the configuration resembles back-stitching – and cleaned. Native print resolution is 600dpi with variable droplet size, and third party communications and integration are JDF-enabled.

At DRUPA, the inkjet web is linked inline to Müller Martini SigmaLine finishing to print a ‘KBA Daily’ magazine in various versions. Integration here is via a Connex data and process management system. The press is also producing variable data work using an Adobe PDF Print Engine workflow.

KBA also unveiled a new-generation B1 sheetfed press with two Atlantic Zeiser inkjet printheads above a vacuum cylinder drum. The system includes a UV LED dryer, and is designed for personalised imprinting and coding.

For offset afficionados, the stand also features a Commander CL compact newspaper press tower, and a C16 16-page commercial unit.