The focus on growth markets, such as conventional and digital packaging printing, is a key element of the successful Koenig & Bauer (KBA) strategy. With its decision to re-enter the market for presses dedicated to the processing of corrugated board, the company has now taken the next logical step along this road. The new Koenig & Bauer presses were officially unveiled to the market at the FEFCO Technical Seminar 2017 in Vienna. And just a short time later, the Klingele Group was welcomed on board as a top-class cooperation partner for the high board line rotary die-cutter CorruCUT.

“After Koenig & Bauer announced its return to the corrugated market at drupa 2016, we followed the further developments very closely. The branch was simply lacking another potential supplier to the premium segment,” says Dr. Jan Klingele, managing partner of the Klingele Group and president of the European Federation of Corrugated Board Manufacturers (FEFCO). Over the past two years, Koenig & Bauer has gathered a strong new team to push ahead development of the press. Koenig & Bauer executive board member Christoph Müller: “We studied the market very carefully and also spoke directly with many of the companies. On this basis, we then sat down to design a press which mirrors the specific needs of the customers as precisely as possible.”

The Klingele Group has ordered a six-colour press with a working width of 2,800 mm for its Delmenhorst box plant. The press is in every respect a completely new design – from the feeder, via the printing units and rotary die-cutter to the delivery. The CorruCUT also incorporates a number of unique features such as a vacuum-belt feeder without infeed shaft, a new solution for anilox roller exchange and an overhead vacuum delivery. Dr. Jan Klingele: “The concept presented by Koenig & Bauer and the many new technical ideas embodied in the press sealed our decision in favour of the CorruCUT. We are now looking forward to accompanying the new rotary die-cutter through to series maturity in cooperation with Koenig & Bauer.” The new CorruCUT will first be set up and tested at the Koenig & Bauer manufacturing plant in Würzburg, and is then scheduled for delivery in early 2019. In addition, the two companies have already concluded an agreement on further presses in the future.

The Klingele Group was founded in 1920 and current managing partner Dr. Jan Klingele represents the third generation of the owning family. The company is an international supplier with a total of around 2,400 employees. The product range covers corrugated base paper manufactured using recycled waste paper, innovative and sustainable packaging solutions for a diversity of industries and applications, as well as adhesives. Together with affiliated partners, the company’s paper and packaging divisions serve customers through two paper mills, twelve corrugated board plants and eight processing plants in Europa, Africa and Central America.