To continue to meet growing demand for short and medium run length book titles, book manufacturer King Printing Co. Inc. has installed a second HP T350 Color Inkjet Web Press. Installed early in Q1, the high-volume digital color web press adds to the company's extensive line-up of digital and analog presses.

King Printing is also installing a new Hunkeler PF7 Double Plow Folder with SD7-II from Hunkeler for streamlined, inline finishing that increases overall throughput.

"By meeting publishers' medium-run needs, the HP T350 is changing the dynamics of the publishing supply chain, reducing the warehousing and waste of the analog book printing world," said Aurelio Maruggi, vice president and general manager, Inkjet High-speed Production Solutions, HP.

 “As digital page volumes continue to grow, and as publishers see the advantages of printing with inkjet technology, the additional press capacity will be a well-suited and logical next step for King Printing and its publishing partners" said Adi Chinai, managing director, King Printing.

Taking print-on-demand production to the next level
Founded in 1978 and based in Lowell, Mass., King Printing is known as a progressive provider of short-run hardcover and softcover books. The new HP T350 web press will help King Printing to continue to grow its page volume at a time when publishers are looking to produce shorter runs at higher frequencies with print-on-demand digital printing.

The company first adopted inkjet book manufacturing in 2007, and its experience in digital book printing makes the adoption of the HP T350 platform an ideal expansion opportunity. The added press capacity rounds out King's current installation of heat-set web- and sheetfed offset presses, toner-based digital sheetfed presses and inkjet-based digital web presses.