Headlines News
Koenig & Bauer launches Rapida 106 X in the medium format

Koenig & Bauer’s Rapida 106 X is a new high-performance sheetfed offset press for the medium format 740 x 1060mm. The company says the press meets “every conceivable demand that today’s market makes of a press in terms of automation, digitization and workflow solutions”, which it says makes it “the latest in a line of trendsetting developments defining the future of industrial offset”.

The press, which features glass side panels, a new touchscreen operating concept and an expressive design language demonstrate the modernity of the automated printing system. The new Rapida 106 X series aims to provide more than performance due to its features.

The Rapida 106 X incorporates simultaneous plate changes in under a minute with unbent and process-free plates and can also balance parallel makeready processes. It can also manage the autonomous printing of a whole sequence of jobs with automatic activation of the good-sheet counter.

Koenig & Bauer says the Rapida 106 X reaches production speeds of up to 20,000 sheets per hour in perfecting mode. Optimizing job sequences is made easier with a new tool, the Job Optimizer, which links the MIS and PPS and optimizes the order of the jobs preset in the MIS scheduling module in accordance with technological or press-related considerations.

The Rapida features a single camera system (and two cameras on perfector presses) to cover three functions: inline colour control, sheet inspection with continuous production monitoring and comparison of the printed sheets with the pre-press PDF.

The press features PressCall, which optimizes maintenance processes. The feature improves communication with the remote maintenance service and optimizes communication by eliminating language barrier. PressSupport increases the scope of services that can be provided by remote maintenance by enabling direct insight into the press using the operator’s smartphone. These features help provide a much clearer description of the issue that resulted in a remote maintenance call, and makes it easier to provide assistance.

The press also features digitization to read sensor data to detect faults in the press, before they result in actual press downtime. As soon as abnormalities are detected, bots automatically generate a service ticket.

The Rapida 106 X can also include a number of optional additions, including the PlateTronic plate logistics system and the use of Rapida LiveApps.