The overall shrinkage of the print market has challenged dealers like never before. A smaller potential customer base forces them to diversify their product lines further, and to try to enter new potential markets. This is far from easy, as (successfully) entering a new market — especially against existing competitors — takes lots of time and money. And this also works against new suppliers trying to enter the U.S. market.
So, why did I title this small piece “bragging rights?” Well, when we (IBIS) attended the awards dinner on Wednesday at our first Inkjet Summit, it turned out that we had been nominated for the best case study in the publishing segment. We didn’t WIN, mind you, but we got a nomination, in company with some of the biggest industry vendors. It was a great way to end our first Inkjet Summit.
You can produce short-run, hardcover orders in-house, and with great quality.
Hardcover book production seemed to be under serious threat not too many years ago.
The manufacture of hard-cover books has never been more advanced or accessible for the average printer.
We see tons of packaging in retail every day, but luxury packaging is a different breed.
It's no secret that we're dealing with a greatly compressed printing industry as opposed to the "roaring '90s." For trade binderies, the news has been even worse. In the last few years, some of the largest trade shops in the Chicago-land, the East Coast, and more have closed their doors. But, amidst the bad news, there are trade binderies that are not only surviving, but doing well, thank you. What are their secrets?
Many finishing operations wonder which machines to invest in. Given the shifting sands of the market, this is not an easy decision.
There's been tremendous progress in developing the inventory-less "book-of-one" technology over the past few years. Despite the gloom-and-doom forecasts of the demise of the printed book, sales have proved otherwise. E-books sales have "plateaued" and even declined over the past few years, and study after study confirms the benefits of the printed page over the glow of the screen.
The IBIS Smart-Binder was designed from the get-go as a true saddle stitcher for the digital print environment.
