Offset Meets Digital: Koenig & Bauer's Digital Showcase Dazzles at China Print 2025

• Live demonstrations with comparative prints in offset and digital printing impress trade visitors with the performance and quality of both technologies.
• In addition to machine demonstrations, Koenig & Bauer provides information about printing technologies for special applications such as hollow container and metal decoration.
• Sales successes to well-known Chinese printing companies recorded on the very first day of the trade fair

With innovations rooted in a tradition spanning over 200 years, Koenig & Bauer is setting standards at the eleventh Beijing International Printing Exhibition (China Print), which is taking place in Beijing until 19th May. Koenig & Bauer has a stand covering over 1,000 sqm in Hall 2 (W2-001) and, under the motto ‘More choices, More agility, More efficiency’, is showcasing the profound integration of traditional and digital printing.

The live demonstrations featuring an eight-colour Rapida 105 with additional coating equipment are attracting considerable interest from international trade visitors. The machine, renowned for its reliability and efficiency, and its digital counterpart, the VariJET 106 from Koenig & Bauer Durst, are delivering impressive printing products.

In a direct comparison of the sheets produced by the VariJET 106 and the live-demonstrated Rapida 105, the trade fair guests were able to see for themselves the high quality of the digital printing system in both four-colour and seven-colour productions. The VariJET 106 combines the flexibility of inkjet printing for versioning and the efficient printing of short and medium runs with the embellishment capabilities of offset printing.

Beyond the machine demonstrations, visitors have the opportunity to learn in detail about digital solutions from Koenig & Bauer, the printing and decoration of hollow containers such as glass and plastic, and about metal decorating machines at several information corners. The fully integrated digital production line MetJET ONE addresses the demand of metal printing companies for quickly realised, individualised short runs.

Through the synergies of traditional and digital technologies, Koenig & Bauer is addressing the key challenges faced by users in terms of product diversity, flexibility and production efficiency. This puts Koenig & Bauer at the centre of the trade visitors' interest and offers them genuine added value for their business areas. The initial days of the trade fair already suggest successful business.

On the first day of the trade fair itself, Koenig & Bauer handed over the exhibited Rapida 105 with eight printing units, a coating tower and double delivery extension to the Wuxi Hengchang Packaging Printing Company. The company, which has been using Koenig & Bauer technology for more than ten years, ordered the Rapida 105 as its third sheetfed offset press. In recent years, the company has continuously expanded its presence in the production of spirits packaging in close cooperation with Koenig & Bauer and, with its extensive experience, has developed into one of the main suppliers for numerous leading spirits brands in China.

Foshan Guanxian Color Printing Co. Ltd. also decided on the first day of the trade fair to purchase a new Rapida 105 to expand its high-quality packaging business. The company will receive a five-colour machine with coating equipment.

Back in 2020, Zhengzhou Huaying Packaging Co. Ltd. acquired two Rapida 145 presses. The increasing demand for large-format production capacity, combined with high automation, more colours and more embellishment, has now led to the order of further large-format Rapidas. The company ordered a six-colour Rapida 164 (max. sheet format 1,205 x 1,640 mm) with a coating tower and a seven-colour Rapida 145 (max. sheet format 1,060 x 1,450 mm) with double coating equipment.

Further interesting contacts and sales discussions also suggest successful trade fair business in the following days.