PRESS RELEASE

Author_ / Coastline Public Relations / No._ / 1705-014
Inquiries_ / Eric Frank / Date_ / May 31, 2017
Phone_ / 1-469-532-8040 or 800-532-7521 / Release_
E-mail_ / / Pages_ / 3
/ Photographs_ / 1

New Rapida 106 LED UV Press Ushers In Double Productivity at Cedar Graphics

This “first impression” printer chooses KBA innovation to maintain its high quality reputation

  • First LED-UV press installed at Cedar Graphics
  • KBA press will deliver double productivity
  • New eight color Rapida 106 provides perfecting and high speeds of up to 18,000 sph
  • Strengthens its environmental status

Cedar Graphics has built a stellar reputation for delivering high quality work and complicated projects, always pushing the envelope in terms of quality and creativity, and finding solutions for its nationwide customers that demand a variety of eye-grabbing coatings and special effects. To continue this mandate, the Iowa-based commercial and packaging printer is adding another dimension to its pressroom: a new fully-automated eight-color KBA Rapida 106 straight and perfecting LED-UV press—it’s first with this configuration delivering a speedy 18,000 sph and strengthening its environmentally friendly status.

“The driving force in our decision to purchase the KBA Rapida 106 press was its productivity and its LED-UV capabilities,” says Hassan Igram, CEO of Cedar Graphics. “We’re anticipating a plethora of benefits for our company and our customers after installation including two times more productivity, improving and streamlining our workflow, delivering the highest quality day after day, servicing our existing diverse group of customers from colleges and universities to DVD packagers to defense contractors with new specialty work, and supporting our own business growth.”

With its glittering Gold Ink awards lining its hallways indicative of its well-deserved name recognition, Cedar Graphics has earned the nickname “first impression printer” for imprinting a superior mental image of the innovative and creative work that it produces. It’s a world class, full-service printing and communications giant boasting aglobal clientele that includes Fortune 500 companies, publishers, ad agencies, storefronts, and entrepreneurs.The job mix at Cedar skews 65% offset and 30% digital with its newest offering, the wide format production of posters and signage, at 5%. The coherent thread that runs through all of Cedar’s customers is its demand for color consistency. The new KBA Rapida press will anchor the pressroom at Cedar Graphics.

“We felt that KBA offered us unique print features that no one else can offer, such as KBA SIS (Sensoric Infeed System) making super-fast press speeds possible, KBA Plate Ident recognizes and registers plates and automatically presets job information preventing errors while saving time and money,” says Humza Igram, president of Cedar Graphics, “as well as the strong investment and support that KBA has put forth in its LED-UV technology. We are on the forefront of UV curing technology and we anticipate that LED-UV will become the next big trend, so we want to stay ahead of our competition.”

KBA believes that Cedar Graphics will realize faster lead times with LED-UV technology, increased use of plastic substrates, more finishing options, and less wear-and-tear on equipment, as well as ecological aspects such as high energy savings, lower ozone and CO2 emissions when drying, and elimination of spray powders---all extremely important to this large printing company.

Pushing the envelope

“We are known for printing amazing products for innovative brands and creatives, as a result our customers are always looking for new substrates and pushing the envelope with eye-catching or tactile coatings and varnish combinations like soft touch, UV grit, or strike-throughs” says Justin McDonald, marketing solutions manager at Cedar Graphics. “We love partnering with these customers to experiment with these specialty substrates and unique coatings. Our new KBA press will give us the flexibility to easily move LED-UV lamps on press depending on these printing demands. This will help us to utilize all stock types including not only all common paper and board stocks, but also non porous synthetic papers, foil laminated sheets and plastics. Having the ability to achieve faster makeready and less waste will reduce customer costs for these premium substrates and print effects.”

When the management team at Cedar Graphics headed by Scott Burnett, Cedar’s production manager, evaluated the KBA Rapida versus other manufacturers, what impressed them the most were a number of highly-automated features such as simultaneous makeready, inline color measuring, fully-automatic format setting and change-over between straight printing and perfecting, a video system for monitoring the sheet travel underneath the perfecting drum and in the swanneck of the delivery, and the strong backing of its Service Select technicians to monitor the performance of the press and its maintenance. What made headlines for them, however, was the KBA SIS, a popular ground breakingside lay free system developed by KBA to reduce make ready times, increase productivityand provide consistent register at high printing speeds.

As spring turns to summer in the Hawkeye State, Cedar Graphics, one of the largest printing companies in the U.S. and among the largest sheetfed printers in the Midwest, awaits the delivery of its KBA Rapida press later this year. This family-owned business, which prides itself on being voted numerous times as best commercial printer and providing a robust printing platform with enhanced access to a multitude of marketing solutions, will switch out its older KBA 10-color perfector press for its new KBA Rapida 106 at its 98,000 sq ft facility in Hiawatha.

Cedar Graphics is a family owned commercial printer located just north of Cedar Rapids in Hiawatha, Iowa specializing in UV offset, digital, and wide format printing. Since 1986, their unique combination of passionate print people, industry leading equipment, and a single source approach has propelled them into an industry leader and printer of choice for innovative brands, creative agencies, and Fortune 500 companies.To learn more about Cedar Graphics capabilities or to access their collection to printing tips and tutorials visit

KBA North America is located in Dallas, Texas and a member of the KBA Group. Established 200 years ago this year in Würzburg, Germany, Koenig & Bauer AG (KBA) is the oldest and second largest press manufacturer worldwide. KBA's banner, 'People & Print', reflects its dual focus as a leading innovator for print entrepreneurs. The group's product range is the broadest in the industry; its portfolio includes sheetfed offset presses in all format classes, post press die-cutters, inkjet presses and systems, flexographic presses,commercial and newspaper web presses, corrugated presses, special presses for banknotes, securities, metal-decorating, smart cards, glass and plastic decorating. For more information visit the company's web site at

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Caption:

Photo 1: Left to right: The team at Cedar Graphics: Justin McDonald, Marketing Solutions Manager; Hassan Igram, Owner and CEO; Scott Burnett, Production Manager; and Humza Igram, President.