Digital inkjet book printing first began to draw the attention of printers and publishers at drupa 2008. Today, just a few years later, Kodak has multiple customers in Europe, North America and Asia producing and selling millions of digitally printed books that are virtually indistinguishable from their offset counterparts. Kodak and other leaders in digital book publishing recently gathered at the InterQuest 2011 Digital Book Printing Forum to discuss the latest trends, opportunities and success stories in an industry brimming with change.

During the forum, many leading book publishers, printers and distributors highlighted their success with short-run digital printing strategies. The presenters discussed the savings on inventory, waste and obsolescence costs that are enabled by digital printing. Presentations showed that high-speed digital inkjet printing enables niche books that otherwise wouldn’t get printed to be published. As part of its market update and forecast, InterQuest indicated that the move toward shorter runs is the leading trend in the European publishing market, followed by the adoption of e-books, impact of inkjet presses and demand for faster turnarounds.

“High-speed inkjet digital printing with the KODAK PROSPER 1000 Press delivers better quality graphics than offset and provides unprecedented flexibility in production operations,” said Guillaume de Courcy, SAGIM, a company that specializes in quick-turnaround book production for the French market.

SAGIM was the first site in Europe to install the KODAK PROSPER 1000 Press, along with a HUNKELER Book Finishing Line.

At the event, Erwin Busselot, Marketing Director, Digital Printing Solutions for Kodak’s Europe, Africa and Middle East Region, spoke about the role Kodak is playing with its customers by providing comprehensive solutions.

“Today our PROSPER Press customers produce between 8,000 and 10,000 books per shift. The ability to efficiently produce short runs is what will keep printed books competitive in the e-book era,” said Busselot. “It was rewarding to hear the panel validate digital short-run strategies during the first event of its kind in Germany. Kodak’s recent PROSPER Press installs demonstrate that our customers are benefitting from this transformation.”

“Kodak continues to listen and apply learning from events of this kind to help guide printers and publishers through a changing market,” said Chandni Dighe, Worldwide Marketing Manager, Publishing, Digital Printing Solutions, Kodak. “We provide a compelling blend of offset and digital technologies, comprehensive workflow solutions and world-class business consulting services.”

By greatly enhancing supply chain efficiency, the KODAK PROSPER 1000 Press delivers a book production solution that, in many applications, is superior to offset for run lengths up to 7,000 copies. When combined with leading finishing systems, the PROSPER Press delivers a complete files-to-books system that enables better system utilization, low startup and makeready waste, and savings in paper consumption. Those benefits are combined with improved energy efficiency and the use of water-based inks, which align with an increasing customer demand for environmentally responsible printing practices.

Kodak also offers the KODAK DIGIMASTER Digital Production System and a KODAK NEXPRESS SX Digital Production Color Press for on-demand printing of low-count books and unique book covers.

The InterQuest 2011 Digital Book Printing Forum was held on Oct. 14 in conjunction with the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Kodak is a global advisor and provider of integrated services to help companies transform and optimize their businesses. Through a network of service professionals in 120+ countries, Kodak provides technical, professional, consulting and managed services to enable customers to focus on growing their businesses, maximize productivity, and more effectively manage risks. All KODAK Products and Software are backed by KODAK Service and Support. To learn more, visit www.graphics.kodak.com.