Brainerd, Minn.-based book manufacturer Bang Printing has acquired Delta Printing Solutions, a book manufacturer located in Valencia, Calif. According to Bang, the combined companies will take advantage of dual-facility benefits, including plant-load balancing, employee cross-training and increased purchasing power. Bang Printing’s Minnesota facility produces approximately 10,000 titles each year. Combined with Delta’s output, this number will increase to more than 15,000 titles. Together, the two facilities will employ 350 people. The 109-year-old Bang Printing provides web and sheet-fed printing, complete bindery services, and fulfillment and storage. Delta Printing Solutions, which has been in business for more than 50 years, is the largest provider
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Biographies of political hopefuls typically see a significant bump in demand during presidential election years. But a sudden spike in orders wasn’t something Publisher Kent Sturgis expected for Epicenter Press’ 2008 biography of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, Kaylene Johnson’s “Sarah: How a Hockey Mom turned Alaska’s Political Establishment Upside Down”—the one and only biography of the 44-year-old politician in print at the time. That all changed Friday, Aug. 29, when Sen. John McCain announced that Palin would be the Republican vice-presidential nominee. Almost immediately, Sturgis and his small publishing house, which consists of himself and three part-time employees, mobilized to meet the sudden, overwhelming
Edwards Brother Inc., a book and journal manufacturing firm specializing in medium, short and ultra-short runs, has received chain-of-custody certification from the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) for both its Ann Arbor, Mich. and Lillington, N.C. facilities. FSC certification verifies the source of papers utilized in manufacturing and tracks these certified products throughout the inventory and distribution process. To become certified, companies work with accredited, independent certification agents who evaluate both forest-management activities and chain-of-custody tracking of materials passing through mills, manufacturers and distributors. “This new certification is part of a larger, ongoing effort at Edwards Brothers to be responsible corporate citizens and to better
Despite the rising costs and tight supply of paper, increasing fuel costs impacting shipping prices, and growing pressure to cut inventory and increase turnaround times, among other challenges facing book publishers, two Book Business articles reveal positive news for the book manufacturing industry. In the June issue, the “Top 30 Book Manufacturers” feature showed that revenue for 23 of the 30 book manufacturers listed had grown over the previous year. According to Book Business’ 2007 ranking (in the June 2007 issue), just 17 book manufacturers had reported revenue increases. In this issue, in Book Business’ first compilation of leading digital book printers
PublicAffairs, an imprint of The Perseus Books Group, recently found itself with an enviable problem—not enough books to fill orders for a runaway best-seller. The book was Scott McClellan’s White House memoir “What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington’s Culture of Deception,” but luckily for Perseus, the appearance of McClellan’s face everywhere on TV this spring coincided with a propitious meeting at BookExpo America between John Ingram of Ingram Book Group, owner of digital printer Lightning Source, and Perseus Publisher Peter Osnos. “Demand went vertical, and there was a period of time when orders were coming in and they [didn’t have] any
Armonk, N.Y.-based Visant Corp. announced that it will permanently close its manufacturing facilities in Pennsauken, N.J., as part of its effort to consolidate its book cover and component manufacturing operations. Manufacturing will continue at the company’s Milwaukee, Wis.; Hagerstown, Md.; and Rockaway, N.J., plants. The Pennsauken plant was one of the manufacturing locations for the Visant company Lehigh, a book component and overhead transparency manufacturer. While Visant’s Milwaukee plant also produces Lehigh products, it is unclear whether the closing of the Pennsauken facility will bring an end to the Lehigh brand. Paul Carousso, Visant’s vice president of finance, says that the company has “not
ARMONK, NEW YORK, June 25, 2008 — Visant Corp. today announced the decision to consolidate its book cover and component manufacturing operations. As a result of the decision, the company will permanently close its operations at its Pennsauken, New Jersey manufacturing facilities and consolidate operations into its Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Hagerstown, Maryland and Rockaway, New Jersey facilities later this year.
Quebecor World Inc. announced Tuesday that it is integrating its magazine, book and directory divisions into a single operating structure, the Publishing Services Group. According to the company, the new structure will streamline operations, improve services and better serve existing and new publishing customers. Kevin J. Clarke, who has served as president of Quebecor World’s Book and Directory Publishing Services Group for the last 5 years, will lead the new Publishing Services Group. “The integrated Publishing Services Group is part of our ongoing efforts to meet and exceed the requirements of magazine, book and directory publishers, and to ensure we are in a
The Maple-Vail Book Manufacturing Group and Amerikal Products Corp. have unveiled a process called THINKTech that will allow books to be printed on a heat-set web press without any curing. The companies claim the new, sustainable process will revolutionize how books are printed and manufactured. The THINKTech process, which was developed after Maple-Vail switched from traditional pressroom chemistry to Amerikal’s Genesis line of sustainable chemistry, utilizes Amerikal’s Thin Ink Film Technology. The new process will be accomplished by turning off gas-fired ovens, chill drums, chill water compressors, electrical pumps, silicone applicators and electrically powered blowers; replacing traditional press cleaners and wash-up chemicals with Genesis
Speak to just about any book manufacturer these days about his or her business, and you’re likely to hear a laundry list of concerns: an economy teetering on the edge of a recession, paper’s rising costs and tighter supply, the need to respond to publishers’ and environmental groups’ “green” demands, and mounting pressure to improve turn times and to upgrade technology, among others. And yet, for an industry so seemingly wrought with challenges, a look at Book Business’ annual list of North America’s Top 30 Book Manufacturers (on pages 16-17) appears to tell a different story. Just seven of the 30 printers who appear
