We are looking back on an exciting 200th anniversary year
Our highlights in 2017
Prime Minister Haseloff starts up the new Commander CL
“Every morning, I fetch the newspaper from the letterbox and lay it on the breakfast table for my wife” – it was with those words that Reiner Haseloff, Prime Minister of the German state of Saxony-Anhalt, initiated the official start-up of a new KBA Commander CL newspaper press at Halle-based Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, a member of the DuMont media group. “Long-term studies have shown that people view daily newspapers as the most credible of all media. They are seen as particularly discerning, competent, objective and critical,” he continued.
Koenig & Bauer at the Hunkeler Innovationdays 2017 in Lucerne
Digital & Web Solutions again attended the biennial Hunkeler Innovationdays in Lucerne this February. We displayed impressive printing results of high performance Inkjet machine RotaJET L-Serie 130 at our stand – with it we produced four 1300 mm-wide rolls. This machine is delivered to our Finnish customer – Bookwell – and it is in production nowadays. Also we made life for visitors to the exhibition comfortable by adorning our printed rolls with eye-catching RotaJET cushions to sit on. As in previous years, visitors from all corners of the world are gathered in Hunkeler Innovationdays – which became a mecca of high speed inkjet print event. Visitors were keen to learn more about digital press technology and the capabilities of the RotaJET L + VL series. Talks with our sales executives have led on to several potential new projects.
New demo center in Würzburg
As counterpart to the demo centre for sheet offset presses and processing systems at Radebeul in Saxony, the new demo centre in Main-Franconia will feature a RotaJET digital printing press for commercial, publication and decor printing, a flexo rotary press from Digital & Web Würzburg’s Italian subsidiary Flexotecnica cooperating on flexible packaging, and a newly developed sheetfed flexo press from Digital & Web for direct printing on corrugated cardboard.
METPACK 2017 – a show of superlatives for MetalPrint
MetalPrint received what is probably the best-looking confirmation of its innovative strength in the form of a silver METPACK Innovation Award for the development of the CS MetalCan, a new generation of printing units for beverage cans based on the short-training inking technology.
Vibrant presentations at China Print 2017
Packaging is a particularly fast-growing segment in China, and KBA is well prepared to satisfy the arising market demands with offset, flexo, screen printing and digital inkjet presses for folding cartons, corrugated board, hollow containers and metal substrates. Since 2016, this already diverse product range has been supplemented further with rotary and flat-bed die-cutters from KBA-Sheetfed and KBA-Iberica, as well as marking and coding systems from KBA-Metronic, some of which are assembled at a local subsidiary in China itself.
„Built for Your Needs. The KBA B2 Presses.“
Under the banner „Built for Your Needs. The KBA B2 Presses.“, KBA-Sheetfed has kicked off a campaign aimed specifically at half-format printers and others with particular interests in that segment of the print market. The two half-format presses Rapida 75 PRO and Rapida 76 are being presented during a series of open days at KBA's manufacturing facility in Radebeul. Each event is reserved for a deliberately small group of visitors and is intended to introduce interested users to the solutions which could help them to be even more successful in the future.
When iron stirs emotions - Koenig & Bauer commended for product campaign
At the end of November, the Marketing Club Dresden awarded its 23rd Dresden Marketing Prize in recognition of outstanding campaigns and marketing measures realised by companies and agencies from the city. Koenig & Bauer was taking part for the first time and immediately secured a place in the final.
Claus Bolza-Schünemann – CEO of the Year
Claus Bolza-Schünemann has been announced a gold winner in two categories of this year’s annual Obermatt CEO of the Year rankings. His achievements were rated 64% above those of the peer group in terms of growth performance, and even 66% above the average with regard to combined performance.
“Today is a day to be grateful”
On 9th August 1817, Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Bauer signed a contract establishing the company Schnellpressenfabrik Koenig & Bauer in a former monastery in Oberzell near Würzburg.
On 9th August 2017, family members and staff gathered at a wreath-laying ceremony to remember the company founders Friedrich Koenig and Andreas Bauer. Claus Bolza-Schünemann emphasised that “Today is a day to be grateful that, despite the countless hurdles and obstacles, frequent detours and diversions, and enormous efforts and deprivations along the way, Koenig & Bauer is celebrating its 200th anniversary.”
Successful anniversary week on the company's 200th birthday
The festive week for the 200th anniversary of Koenig & Bauer AG in Würzburg drew to a close with more than 13,000 visitors at the Open Day on 23 September. 650 guests from all over the world attended the official ceremony in the Vogel Convention Center (VCC), with the former Federal President Horst Köhler as main speaker and short presentations by three CEOs of renowned printing companies. Many customers and business partners visited the spruced-up main factory in Würzburg and experienced historical and modern printing presses in action.
Koenig & Bauer in new outfit at IFRA World Publishing Expo 2017
Debut - At the IFRA World Publishing Expo in Berlin in mid-October, just a few days after the company's 200th anniversary celebrations, Koenig & Bauer made its first major public appearance in its newly launched corporate design and with the new slogan “we’re on it”.
165 years of securities printing presses from Koenig & Bauer
The birth of securities printing at Koenig & Bauer can be traced back to 1852, when a press intended for use in securities printing was supplied for the first time, namely to the company Giesecke & Devrient in Leipzig. Another 100 years later, Gualtiero Giori and Dr. Hans Bolza signed a cooperation agreement which resulted in the establishing of a securities printing department at Koenig & Bauer in Würzburg.
Print & Postpress Innovation Days in Radebeul
Between 29th November and 1st December, KBA-Sheetfed invited international print and finishing specialists to a series of Print & Postpress Innovation Days at the company’s facility in Radebeul near Dresden. Over 250 participants from 30 countries took the opportunity to gather information on the latest automation solutions for commercial, label and packaging printing, as well as innovative postpress solutions. As the final highlight of the show, the Rapida RDC 106 then ran the self-adhesive label production at the world record speed of 17,000 sheets per hour.
