Having gone to drupas since 2000, I have seen the evolution of the market for printing presses. Back in 2000, conventional sheetfed, heatset and newspaper presses dominated, and with each succeeding drupa, there have been many more digital offerings. In 2012, I would say that 50% of the drupa show floor was devoted to inkjet.
 
For the major traditional press manufacturers – Heidelberg, Koenig & Bauer Group (KBA) and manroland come to mind – the last decade has been a challenging time. Business is down, and these companies have either been sold (manroland) or had major cuts in personnel. Sales are down dramatically. This has led some of the conventional press manufacturers to rethink their business model.
 
KBA is a major force in the press world, most noted for its Rapida sheetfed and Commander and Cortina newspaper presses, as well as a position in gravure presses.
 
In the last three years, the company has entered the screenprinting market with the acquisition of Kammann Maschinenbau and the flexo segment with the takeover of Flexotecnica. The company has also launched its LED UV technology.
 
Still, inkjet is the fastest growing segment for printing. To meet the need of converters, KBA introduced its RotaJet digital printers.
 
In early December 2015, KBA, in conjunction with HP, launched its most ambitious inkjet project yet. The two companies jointly presented the HP PageWide Web Press T1100S, which has a web width of 2.80 meters (110 inches). The HP T1100S was developed by HP Inc. and KBA-Digital & Web Solutions for corrugated packaging.
 
The two companies brought their respective skills to the HP T1100S. HP is the leading digital press manufacturer, while KBA brings experience in handling wide web widths.
 
The ability to produce short run and customized packaging is an advantage that brand owners are seeking. The new press prints at speeds up to 60 feet per minute (183 meters/minute)  and 330,000 square feet (30,600 square meters) per hour, Its Multi-lane Print Architecture (MLPA) allows different corrugated boxes to be printed next to each other. Since it is digital, there is no makeready.
 
The reality is that digital printing is rapidly moving forward in pressrooms. KBA has made the transition to digital with its RotaJet line, and the HP collaboration should help the company position itself for the future.