Acme Bookbinding Company (Acme) and The HF Group (HFG) are pleased to announce  a new partnership and  that, effective immediately, these two established family businesses have merged.

Acme and HFG are industry leaders in the fields of trade & edition binding, library binding, pre-binding, digital printing and binding, print on demand (POD), deluxe leather hand binding, book and paper conservation, digital conversion of  books and paper documents, and records & data storage and management. The merger of Acme and The HF Group brings their combined resources, vision and commitment to new opportunities created by recent market transitions.

“The book manufacturing industry has experienced rapid change as the Internet Revolution has necessitated new products and services. With this merger, Acme and HFG not only leverage their strengths in mature markets, but increase their capacity in growing markets. Acme and HFG, while growing and investing in these new markets will continue to preserve historic treasures, build tomorrow’s collectible, convert analog to digital for wider access, store and secure data, deliver a book that memorializes a life, or a creative dream, and with a product that always brings a smile,” said Paul Parisi, President of Acme.

The focus of the new company will be to provide affordable products that exceed client expectations in its core book and binding markets, while growing in emerging markets. Jim Heckman, Vice President of The HF Group, said, “By joining forces, our new company will increase manufacturing scale so that we can be the best provider for the continuing demand for high-quality traditional book products, but more importantly, strengthen our capability in growth areas such as short-run digital and on-demand books.”

Both Acme and HFG have  roots in the library binding industry.  Both have also invested heavily in technology to diversify their product mix and to maximize efficiency. Acme has focused on the trade binding segment. Acme’s “coffee table” hard cover and soft cover bindings are considered to be of the highest quality and the Boston, Massachusetts operation is a  unique facility qualified to serve discriminating publishers, designers, printers and authors.  HFG has  diversified  and grown its historical preservation services through Etherington Conservation, its book and paper Digitization division and  County Records restoration  division.  Both Acme and HFGhave  experience in digital short run  and print on demand book manufacturing, producing a myriad of book products including travel books, year books, children’s books, photo books and books for the self-publishing author. The combined company is committed to further investment in its digital and on demand production, which it currently serves from its facilities in Boston, Massachusetts and North Manchester, Indiana.

Jay Fairfield, President of The HF Group says, “Publishers, scholastic, and library markets, booksellers, printers and binders are all looking for partners and service providers who evolve, grow and remain financially strong as industry paradigms change. The heart of this merger and the partnership among the Parisi, Heckman and Fairfield families is our combined experience, manufacturing resources and leadership in our core markets as well as in our growth markets.”