Ricoh Europe, London – Ricoh Europe’s growing influence and expertise in colour trade book production will be a hot topic at the Interquest 2015 London Digital Book Printing Forum on June 25. 

Ricoh is again a key sponsor of the annual event and will be highlighting how market and technology changes are encouraging publishers to look at new business models. This includes detailing how high quality colour inkjet enables affordable, shorter run and faster turnaround work to meet demand for flexible publishing and to create new market and revenue opportunities.  

“With innovations such as the Ricoh Pro™ VC60000, Ricoh’s commitment to offering the best in print production technology in the book printing market is confirmed and is perfectly timed to address publishers’ growing demand for colour trade books printed on inkjet technology,” states Benoit Chatelard, Vice President, Production Printing Business Group, Ricoh Europe, who will participate in the vendors’ session discussing plans for drupa. “This is a game changer because suddenly it is possible to produce colour trade books affordably as well as keep books in print while controlling supply chain costs – all at very high quality.

“So far, just a few months after the Pro VC60000 was announced,  two major publishers and a book manufacturer have all said this technology delivers the best quality they have seen,” he says. “That optimism is coupled with an increased interest from key publishers in bringing trade book production back to Europe from China and the Far East.” 

Chatelard explains that there is also a growing market for short-run pre-production samples that can be produced digitally. “This approach can help accelerate the print cycle because high quality samples prompt the placement of earlier orders.”

Also helping transform the route to market are Ricoh’s digital cut sheet production presses, as client Lantia will explain when it participates in the Innovations and Opportunities session at the Interquest Forum.  The Spanish self-publishing start-up produces books for stores and uses crowd-sourcing to fund aspiring authors. It has established a short run capability from scratch using Ricoh mono and colour cut sheet technology after being unable to locate a local printer that could meet its needs.  

“It was essential for us to improve the book printing process and considerably shorten the time to market, regardless of the number of books,” states Lantia’s Enrique Parrilla, General Manager. “Thanks to our investments and approach to the market, Lantia can now deliver more books to more customers in less time. We are closer to publishers and are able to offer improved quality in a number of different formats. We are as flexible as we can be thanks to Ricoh’s production solutions and, in turn, so are our customers.”

At the Forum, Ricoh will be using children’s book Wild Adventures to demonstrate how the Ricoh Pro VC60000 can deliver the right quality for book printers and publishers who are looking to print short run colour trade books in Europe. The book is part of the Modern Books line from Elwin Street. Other examples will include cookery and popular science books. Ricoh will also be showcasing the latest innovations in book covers and dust jackets, including a foil effect created by the Ricoh Pro^TM C7100X colour cut sheet press using a combination of white toner and metallic paper.