‘We enjoyed huge interest from South African visitors to drupa, and I’m here to follow up on all the many sales leads we received at the show,’ Henning explains.
Responsible for Kolbus sales to South Africa – indeed to the whole of Africa – for the past six years, Henning is a regular visitor to this country. ‘South Africa is a very important market for us,’ he confirms. ‘We’ve done really well here and have installed at least 16 perfect binding lines.’
He comments, too, that the quality of printing work in South Africa comes very close to the quality seen in Europe. ‘And, of course, South African quality is by far the best on the African continent,’ he adds.
A century of expertise
Kolbus, based at Rahden in Germany, boasts a rich and varied history. The company’s origins go back to 1775 when it started life as a blacksmith! Its more modern history, however, begins in 1900 when the first Kolbus bookbinding machines were built. ‘This more-than-100-year experience has made us a force to be reckoned with,’ comments Henning.
And the relationship with Ipex Machinery also stretches back a long way to 1964, so it really does count as a long and successful partnership.
Remarking that the slow economy has caused some resistance to investment in capital equipment, Stephen Wood believes that sales will pick up towards the end of the year. ‘We’re working on a number of projects, and have excellent sales prospects in the months ahead,’ he says.
Returning to the Paarl Media story, the group’s heatset web offset plant, established two years ago in response to customer demand in KZN, has enjoyed steady growth since inception and MD, Aaron Ganesh, emphasises ongoing investments to improve production efficiency and to cater for widening customer requirements.
‘Within eight months of start-up, we enhanced our saddle stitching capacity by 50% with the installation of a new Müller Martini Prima Plus line. We also upgraded the Höcker paper waste baling machine and dust extraction system to cope with increased volumes, and we’ve recently installed a Cummins generator for backup power,’ he says.
And now the Kolbus KM 600C binder is the latest addition to this modern plant. It’s simple to operate and highly automated, thanks to the patented Kolbus Copilot system. Features that contribute to outstanding product quality include the angled lift feed, the rugged clamping system and a swivel-mounted milling unit that simplifies tool change.
Perfect for brochure and magazine production
The KM 600C perfect binder is the fastest member of the KM 600 series and perfectly meets the demands of today’s brochure and magazine production.
This fully-integrated line allows for quick set-up, allowing cost-competitive production of magazines and catalogues. The various monitoring screens allow complete visual control of infeed, spine processing, scoring, pressing and delivery stations, improving the operator’s control over quality.
The additional functionality of operating the PUR hot-melt system from the Kolbus Copilot system provides further control over critical gluing processes at high speed.
‘This additional technology plus a revised shift structure – we’re now running seven days a week – certainly gives us a competitive edge and the agility to respond quickly to customers’ requirements,’ Aaron concludes happily.
Ipex Machinery
T +27 021 5351515
www.kolbus.de
