Yesterday evening, about 60 of the about 100 guests arrived in Radebeul. Seeing the production is always amazing, but this time, part of it was transformed into a fantastic venue with food, drinks, music, and, of course, networking. 

Now, Thursday morning, about 100 attendees have set the course for Radebeul to see and learn about the Rapida 76. Often, the big OEMs focus on their largest and fastest machines, but this time, Koenig & Bauer is showing the half-format B2 machine.

The Rapida 76 is a fast B2 press with high flexibility: 18,000 sheets an hour, and multiple configurations for commercial, label, and packaging production. For packaging, the Rapida 76 can print on carton up to 1 mm thick without slowing down. The Rapida 76 presented today is a 7-color with a logistics solution.

As always, the demos are razor-sharp, well-planned, and, of course, demonstrate various applications in a controlled environment.

Tuesday, November 18th, we will publish a film from Rutgers in the Netherlands that uses the Rapida 76. After speaking with him yesterday, I am still very pleased with the investment.

After the presentations of the Rapida 76, three customers, Matthias Hermann from Schmidt & Buchta GmbH, Kurt Schergen from Druckhaus Wittich, and finally Oscar Pebermans from the Dutch packaging printer, Rutger. Very pleased customers, not only with the technology, but also with the service, and the collaboration in general. Thomas Göcke from Koenig & Bauer was an excellent moderator, and learning, check, loads of fun - check as well :-)

Besides the customers, Koenig & Bauer also invited a few speakers - on the photo above is Dr. Wolfgang Jeschke. He spoke about the three major pain points in the printing industry: revenue, gross margins, and costs. Interesting perspectives, but personally I didn't agree with him on most - but that's, of course, the reason for the book I am writing - but great to have different views.

Thomas Grübner from Elbe Leasing also gave a presentation. Though I didn't hear it, I would be surprised if it wasn't about financing and why Elbe Leasing is a serious finance partner in the German market.

Learn more about Thomas Grübner and Elbe Leasing, in the two films we have done with him here:

The Rapida 76 event ended around 15.00, and the guests from Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland, and many more returned to the printing companies across Europe. Based on the numerous conversations and many questions, maybe soon another Rapida 76 will find a new home. Thanks for a great day!