PERFORMA

11 September 2006 – The KBA Performa 74 printing machine in the SRB2 format has now infiltrated into Czech printshops. The five-colour Performa 74-5 was one of the most recent installations provided in June for the Retis company in Krnov.

Retis, s.r.o. started in 1993 in rented premises. “We have managed to continue using the original equipment for almost nine years” said the Company Executive and co-owner of the printshop, Mr Martin Buček. The production structure was outweighed by regional orders and after the year 2000, the printshop extended its market into other regions of the Czech Republic, Slovakia and also into Poland. The customers and the high quality demands meant that further investment into new machine technology had to be made. As a result, Retis decided to purchase the Dobruška printing machines with the company purchasing their first four-colour printing machine, the Polly 466 in 2002.

Company Executive Retis Krnov Mr Martin Buček (on the right) and printer Mr Martin Repček by the delivery unit of the KBA Performa 74-5 printing machine

This year, the printshop moved over to the SRB2 format and since 1st June, the production has been operating the KBA Performa 74-5. "The new printing machine was partially supported by a European Union grant", said Mr. Buček. With the help of a consultancy company, Retis prepared a project of technological innovations which mainly targeted the transfer from the four-colour machine of the SRA2 format to the five-colour machine of the SRB2 format. Part of any request for support from EU funds involves a tender, of which the tender conditions were best fulfilled by KBA-Grafitec.

The new KBA Performa 74-5 replaced the four-colour Polly 466 in the Retis printshop which was in turn sold to Poland. Mr Buček commented on the choice of the larger format machine: “The fundamental reason why we made the decision to go for the machine of the SRB2 format produced in Dobruška was a combination of its construction solution and the financial factors". The SRB2 format is more advantageous for the majority of Retis orders from the cost and deadlines perspectives. The majority of the Retis production is focussed on the Polish market where the use of the SRB2 format is more traditional than in the Czech Republic.

Good experience with the service also played a role when selecting the machine. The Retis Company Executive evaluates the service provided by KBA Grafitec in a very positive manner. “The Dobruška service is reliable and it works just as we need it. It is one of the strong points of Grafitec". The installation process of the new machine exceeded printshop expectations. “We even began printing by the fifth day after delivery of the machine", pointed out Martin Buček. The printers were trained during installation and in the following days, when the company press instructor from KBA Grafitec was present. The method of operation of the Performa 74-5 with the GrafiControl system is of course on a higher level than for the Polly 466 from 2002. “One gets quickly used to the better conditions”, noted Mr. Martin Repček, the new machine operator.

The Polly 466 printing machine was used by the company in a two shift production including weekends. The quick changes of orders on the Performa 74-5 machine allowed for an increase in the capacity while the weekend shifts were cancelled. Two printers now take turns in operating the machine. The Retis company employs 18 people and the printshop is currently working on the sales and marketing foundation for a three shift capacity utilization of the Performa 74-5. The older printing machine had limited printshop productivity during refining of the products as the print varnish had to be implemented as an additional step. The new machine uses the fifth printing unit for in-line print varnishing. “Cutting down on the order completion times eventually led to us abolishing the weekend shifts", stated Mr. Buček. Another advantage is of course, the possibility to use the fifth printing unit for direct inking.

The KBA Performa 74-5 printing machine in the Retis printshop in Krnov

This was at the same time as when Retis purchased the new machinery of the SRB2 format and could then say goodbye to the old Romayor and with that, finish the processing of small format orders. The small format low issue prints are a specialization of the Krnov cooperating company which is equipped with Minolta digital technology.

The Retis printshop possesses its own DTP studio and uses Apple Macintosh computers while processing data created on a PC platform. The transfer from the traditional technology of plate preparation to the Computer to Plate technology was solved by the Retis printshop from Krnov in cooperation with two companies from nearby Opava which operate CtP Heidelberg Prosetter equipment. “Last year, we were preparing more than 80% of plates on the CtP, this year we have convinced the remaining customers and fully converted to CtP," said Martin Buček. Data for preparation of the plates is electronically passed to the Opava companies and the data in the CIP4 standard for pre-setting of the KBA Performa 74-5 printing machine is received in the same manner. “The utilization of the data from the pre-press for the pre-setting of the machine and the overall speed and quality improvement of the preparation provide us with a pleasant surprise", said the Company Executive. 

After the Drupa 2004 exhibition, the company also purchased a Polar 78 XT cutting machine for the bookbinding department. For cutting, numbering and perforating, the Heidelberg Cylinder machine is used by the company. The printshop also possesses the technology for production of V1 and V2 bookbinding and the latest investment in the bookbinding department was for the Minipack Modular 50 wrapping machine. The main advantage of the Retis printshop is the fast processing of atypical advertising products. Part of the complex service provided by the Retis company is also the delivery of the order to a location of the customers choice. This also concerns the Polish market which represents, from the transport infrastructure aspect, a more complicated territory in comparison with the Czech Republic.

Mr Martin Buček, co-owner of the company Retis s.r.o. by the KBA Performa 74-5 machine

The Retis company is located in their own premises in Krnov although the building is also the address for another company employing disabled people. The Retis printshop cooperates with this company in terms of manual operations for the finishing process. Examples of cooperation can be given as restaurant stands, supermarket labels, manual gluing of tags, production of instructions and Braille symbols. The completion of printed materials containing the client’s sales products is also in demand. The cooperation allows the Retis company to quickly respond to orders including the production of promotional material with a high ratio of manual finishing operations.

By installing the KBA Performa 74-5, the company has updated its printing capacity. “The company is considering as the next investment step, the purchase of our own CtP”, added Martin Buček, the co-owner and Company Executive of the Retis company in Krnov.