Karl Knauer invests in Heidelberg VLF carton press

Heidelberg has sold one of its new Speedmaster XL 145 carton presses to Karl Knauer, (Germany) as part of an ongoing partnership between converter and machine manufacturers.  The new large format offset press will be used to produce a variety of carton packaging at the company’s modern 26,000 square metre facility where it employs 430 staff.
 
With a list of top brand owners to keep satisfied, Karl Knauer has a strong belief in ongoing investment in new technology, so the installation of the world’s first Heidelberg large format carton press with twin coating capability is a major boost.  The new Speedmaster XL 145-6+LYYL is fitted with six offset printing units, two coaters, two drying units, and an X3 triple length delivery fitted with DryStar combination UV technology that allows for various combinations of aqueous coatings as well as Primer UV applications.  It was part of a €10m investment program designed to keep the company ahead of the market in lean manufacturing.
 
The Heidelberg Speedmaster XL series is available in 145 and 162 cm formats.  Since launching at Drupa 2008, more than 30 have been sold worldwide.  Capable of 15,000 sph, the XL 145 at Karl Knauer has a maximum sheet capability of 1060 x 1450 mm (minimum 630 x 860 mm), and is fitted with W+D Langhammer logistics at both ends to automatically load and unload pallets of work.
 
Karl Knauer’s Speedmaster XL 145 has Heidelberg’s Prinect Inpress Control offering one-touch setting of all job parameters from feeding through printing, coating, drying and delivering as well as on the run register and colour management, making it as easy to run as a smaller press, but far more productive.  Karl Knauer’s target is to produce commercial work after only 250 make ready sheets – which for average run lengths of 7000 sheets makes for large savings in time and materials.
 
The company has won awards for its packaging creativity, most recently for its innovative ‘HiLight’ product, a folding box that has a lit display over several sides to give a multi colour lighting or animation effect such as blinking or fading in and out.  It can also be fitted with motion or sound sensors, and looks like a normal carton, with no apparent intricate electrical workings.