High attendance at London Digital Book Printing Forum

The 2015 London Digital Book Printing Forum held at the Royal Society on 25 June has been hailed a success by organisers Interquest, a consulting firm serving the digital printing and publishing industry. 

One hundred thirty professionals attended the educational forum that focused on key trends in the book market, the evolution of book manufacturing and the supply chain, and the use of digital printing to produce books.

Gilles Biscos, president, said, ‘The event was a resounding success with an international mix of European and North American speakers. Attendees heard about the latest advancements and innovations in the digital printing marketplace, and networked throughout the day with key vendors, solutions providers, and print buyers. We were extremely encouraged and rewarded by the excellent feedback we received from partners and participants about content, speakers, and venue.’

To set the stage for the day, Mr Biscos updated the audience on the state of the industry and presented key findings from recent Interquest research. He indicated that about 80% of European book publishers recently surveyed produce books on digital printing equipment, and nearly half say that digital printing has fundamentally changed their supply chain. He also underscored the dramatic growth of inkjet printing in the UK over the past few years. ‘Five years ago there was no inkjet presses producing books in the country. Today close to 20 inkjet presses are installed in the U.K. book market and about 75% of the digital book volume produced by the printers we interviewed is produced with inkjet,’ said Mr Biscos

A panel of industry experts representing print, publishing, and distribution discussed how they use digital printing to streamline the supply chain in order to reduce costs, increase sales, and shorten delivery times. Panelist Andy Cork, Printondemand-worldwide, discussed the more than £1,000,000 investment his company recently made on inkjet equipment. ‘We are seeing a huge growth in our POD (Print-on-demand) business. Today 70% of our orders are bespoke ‘book of one’ production.’

The morning session concluded with a panel of leading European printers who shared their experiences and insights into the market. Speakers included Enrique Parilla, from Lantia Publishing in Spain, Giulio Olivotto, from Gruppo L.E.G.O. in Italy, and Fredrik Borg, from Holmbergs in Sweden.

Following lunch, executives from leading digital printing systems suppliers highlighted their companies’ recent developments in book manufacturing and digital printing, and looked ahead to drupa 2016. Participants included: Reinhold Frech (Canon), Mark Hinder (Konica Minolta), Benoit Chatelard (Ricoh Europe), and John Conley (Xerox).

The programme wrapped up with two panels of UK and international publishers and print providers. The first explored innovations and opportunities in the market-particularly in the area of colour and personalisation. Speakers included Emanuele Bandecchi from Rotolito Lombarda in Italy, Jérôme Jallu from Sejer/Editis Group in France, and Ian Sutherland, from Lost My Name in the UK.

A second panel of publishers shared their experiences with using digital printing to produce books, and provided their reactions to the day’s proceedings. Topics discussed by the panel included opinions on inkjet printing, supply chain management, and multichannel strategies.

The 2015 London Digital Book Printing Forum was sponsored by leading players in the market, including Canon, Clays, CPI, Intelligent Finishing Systems (IFS), Konica Minolta, Printondemand-worldwide, Ricoh, Rotolito Lombarda, Tecnau, Xeikon, and Xerox.

It was supported by The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP), The British Association for Print and Communication (BAPC), The Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA), The European Publishers Council (EPC), The Federation of European Publishers (FEP), The Independent Publisher Guild (IPG), The International Association of STM Publishers (STM), The Publishers Association (PA); as well as digital printer and The Bookseller.