Grand Master adds fifth Koenig & Bauer sheet-fed offset press

Based in Masis in Armenia’s Ararat region, Grand Master has belonged to Grand Holding, the largest employer and taxpayer in Armenia since 2006. At the same time, it is the country’s biggest investor and number one exporter. Grand Master itself produces packaging primarily for the tobacco industry and possesses equipment to handle the complete process from design and prototyping, through to actual folding carton production. A total of 22,000 sqm of production space is available.

Since 2010, Grand Master has modernized its entire machinery base. Four Rapida 106 presses are already in use at the company – and a fifth is set to join them in May. Production start-up is scheduled for early summer. At that point, the business will have been switched fully to sheet-fed offset presses from Koenig & Bauer.

With the exception of one 6-color press with coater and extended delivery, Grand Master has each time chosen an 8-color configuration with in-line coating facilities and fully automatic plate changing. This means it operates 43 Rapida 106 printing and finishing units.

All five Rapida presses are equipped with board-handling accessories and stand on 450mm raised foundations. The most commonly used substrate is 1mm board. The presses run at speeds up to 18,000 sheets per hour. Important automation features include automatic non-stop pile changing at the feeder, non-stop roller racks in the delivery, FAPC plate changers and multi-function CleanTronic washing systems. VariDryBlue dryers are installed in the swan neck and the delivery extension. Quality assurance is handled with QualiTronic Professional, providing not only color density control, but also sheet inspection. Together with the new press, Grand Master is implementing a new workflow based on LogoTronic Professional.

Grand Master also works with flexo and gravure presses. Further investments are already planned for this year, for example in corrugated production capacities, and a factory for paper recycling also in the pipeline.