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By December 13 last year, the earnings of Czech sheetfed press manufacturer, KBA-Grafitec, surpassed one billion korunas (US$40m) for the first time in the company’s 50-year history, according to CEO Jens Junker. Total annual turnover increased by 31 per cent over the previous year.
A third of KBA-Grafitec’s earnings originate in the Czech Republic and Poland, where it ranks among the leading suppliers, especially in the market for SRA2 (26in) and B2 (29in) presses. However, there has been increased demand for the Performa 74 and Performa 66.KBA-Grafitec, which is now part of the KBA group, exports to over 50 countries. One third of its exports go to western Europe and North America, 55 per cent to central and eastern Europe and the remainder to emerging markets in southeast Asia and the Middle East.
KBA-Grafitec, which celebrates 50 years of press production in Dobruška but dates back 120 years, sees the provision of machines as far more than just sales through its own international network. One of its competitive advantages is also a fast and high-quality customer service which contributes to the brand’s good reputation as well as customer satisfaction.
Users of printing machines from Dobruška have at their constant disposal a team of experienced and qualified service engineers and electronic engineers prepared to provide maintenance work anywhere in the world. There is also a worldwide system in place for the distribution of replacement parts, which is done both by direct delivery to the customer and through territorial trade and service representatives.
KBA-Grafitec is targeting further growth and a further double-figure increase in total earnings in 2007. To achieve this the company has taken on an additional 30 staff, bringing the total to 451, and plans to raise this to 498 in the course of the year. KBA-Grafitec is looking for highly qualified CNC and machine-tool operators, technicians, CNC programmers, design engineers and other print professionals.
