PERFORMA

The Dragon Press print shop in Klatovy was established during the revolution days of 1989. “At that time, Michal Kučera and his first partner got hold of one of the oldest types of Romayor without an inking unit and used it to print information materials,” says Mr. Josef Majer, joint owner and executive head of Dragon Press Ltd., describing the company's first printing machine. Over the course of sixteen years, the company has used a number of different printing machines – the most recent one is KBA Performa 66-4.

The euphoric revolution times of 1989 were followed by the rise of private  enterprise and the Dragon Press printing house started using their first Romayor for commercial printing. Later they purchased two one-colour Dominant machines. In 1994, the company hired additional workers and started printing on a Polly 725 machine. Two years later, a Polly 745 machine arrived at the print shop. This year, a Performa 66-4 printing machine became the print shop's newest addition. On its delivery, KBA-Grafitec took the older four-colour machine in part exchange.

KBA Performa 66-4 printing machine at the Dragon Press print shop in Klatovy

New Generation in the SRA2 Format

The new printing machine for Dragon Press was produced with standard equipment and engineers from KBA-Grafitec installed it in the middle of May. “The new machine was installed in the place of the old one. During one day they took away the Polly 745 and delivered the Performa 66-4. The installation was done very rapidly,” says Mr. Majer, describing the process. Although the printers at Dragon Press have experience with the printing machines from Dobruška, there is a difference of several generations between both types of SRA2 format machines. The most substantial changes in terms of operating the machine lie in controlling the main functions from a touch screen. Operator's training for working with the more advanced device took place during the installation and shortly afterwards. The company employs four printers. Two work in shifts on the new four-colour machine, the other two print on older machines, a Polly 725 and Adast 315.

Joint owner and executive head of Dragon Press Ltd. Klatovy, Mr. Josef Majer (right) and printer Pavel Smolař at the control panel of the KBA Performa 66-4 printing machine

The new printing machine is located in a building in the industrial area on the edge of Klatovy. The building does not have sufficient insulation, so the company quickly completed the installation of air-conditioning which provides for stable temperature conditions, allowing for good quality printing. The printing machine's equipment is now being enhanced by Prisco alcohol-free dampening. “Customer service works really well, it is available on call,” the company's executive head describes the flexible support from the producer. The print shop was also approached by competing suppliers and producers of printing machines, but the level of customer service contributed to the contract being awarded to KBA-Grafitec and to printing machines from Dobruška maintaining their position in the Dragon Press print shop.

The customers of Dragon Press come mainly from Pilsen and Prague. About 20% of their production goes to clients from Klatovy and the surrounding area. The largest proportion of printing products consists of promotional materials for companies, such as leaflets, catalogues and booklets. A smaller segment of their job structure is made up of annual reports, brochures and publications. The older printing machines are also used for printing orders from the field of civil and commercial stationery.

Joint owner and executive head of Dragon Press Ltd., Mr. Josef Majer, at his workplace in Klatovy

Customers of Dragon Press have at their disposal the capacity of a completely equipped graphic design studio working on both Mac and PC platforms. Since February 2005, the print shop has been using  CtP ECRM Mako 4 for the preparation of printing plates. Prior to that, the company used a contracted image setter in Pilsen. Besides increased quality, the purchase of their own CtP equipment also brought a cost saving. “Sometimes we would go to Pilsen for exposure even twice a day,” says Josef Majer. After the installation of their own CtP, the company quickly disposed of the conventional technology for printing plate preparation.

A Team of Fifteen

Dragon Press employs a team of 15 workers. Besides Josefa Majera, the other joint owners are Ing. Michal Kučera and Dušan Matějka. Dragon Press owns a share in the company Dragon Print in Pilsen which employs four workers. Dragon Print in Pilsen is a copy-centre type of company and uses an Océ CPS 800 device for  processing small edition printing orders.

Feeder of the KBA Performa 66-4 printing machine installed at the Dragon Press print shop in Klatovy

Besides high quality, which they consider a matter of course, Dragon Press in Klatovy strongly emphasises absolute reliability in all accepted customer requirements. It is characterized by sophisticated logistics in relation to both its regional customers and its clients from Pilsen and Prague. Due to the print shop's equipment, contracting out production jobs is not very frequent; Dragon Press processes most orders “under the same roof”, minimising problems with communication, logistics and delivery dates. However, all the necessary contracting out works without problems, since Dragon Press only cooperates with reliable business partners. 

The investment into the purchase of a KBA Performa 66-4 printing machine opens new possibilities for Dragon Press Klatovy in offering high-quality printing to its clients. The modern printing machine KBA Performa 66-4 allows the company to put higher quality products on the market in shorter times and to approach new customers.