Who's Counting My Output? The Need For More Print on Demand

For some years now we have been automatingof thousands of copies to sit in warehouses or on
the process of pre-press and now pre-media toshop shelfs unsold, even worse to be returned to
make it super effieceint, some opted forthe distributors when the shop needs the shelf
outsourcing, others for setting up business units inspace for stock rotation. Lower cost options need
far away lands where the cost of labour is reallyto happen and Print On Demand for lower
cheap, unfortunately it's a far cry from Sean'squantities with no wastage and less material costs.
beach photo in the Hot At Vyre post and moreMagazine readership
like mine here.We all read that magazine readership is down, and
The focus moved onto improving the processpublishers are producing less magazines and sure
within the manufacturing facilities to ensure thatwe have seen some of our favorites disappear,
the capacity could be managed with fewer staffbut has the consumer actually been affected by
and thus allow the company to remainat least 2 forces? Firstly the amount of choice
competitive on price. More and more technologythe readers have, you only need to walk into a
was deployed to allow greater savings on thenewsagents and look at the amount of women's
actual cost of production ensuring that the qualitygossip magazines there are to see that there is
of the separations that are going to platean abundance of choice, the second is
providing a good amount of ink optimizationmanufacturing and distribution costs.
(previously done at repro stage) that provided anYou would think that as the years have gone by
equally as good cost saving on ink, but never atthe the cost of producing the printed matter has
the expenses of the quality of the final product.been reduced, and for sure it has been, pre-media
As the business requirements change for all typesautomation, manufacturing automation, digital
of printed materials, with marketing now requiringphotograpghy etc etc the list will go on for ever,
their campaigns to target audiences that no longerbut the cost of distribution and the fight for shelf
want the nuisance of paper, and with the needspace is leading publishers to take a look at new
for packaging to be sustainable, we see newoutput streams, still produced by the traditional
business models emerging into market verticlespre-media suppliers and still printed, just in smaller
that were traditionally bulk print channels. To addquantities and also provided in the new form of a
to this, there is a growing trend in personalization;digital magazine. Yesterday I was flicking through
this without fail requires a minimum order quantityone of our industry magazines.... online! No printed
of one!matter what so ever, yet I can assure you it is
So lets take a snapshot of a few markets thatstill printed and sent if it's subscribers.
have been affected over the last 5 years by theAnother example of how the printed pages are
decline of the bulk order.also available online is with Ceros, with over 100
Books & the raise of self publishingtitles available in a slick digital viewing format. It
There was once a time when publishers wouldhas the ability to add interactivity and moving
sign an author against an estimated volume ofadverts into what seems like the same as the
sales and pay the author an advance before hestatic content you would get from a printed copy.
she had even written a word. Today it's possibleOne of my favourites that isn't available in printed
for anyone to write his or her own book andform is IGizmo, yes not available in printed form
publish it with ease using everyday sites likeand yes it's free!
Amazon, Barnes & Nobel and Lulu. How isThese new output streams are undoubtedly
the possible? In the complex world of bookdistrupting the printed versions reducing the order
publishing, companies like Lightning Source or Thequantities, but new models for distribution to
Book Printing Company provide retailers the abilityreach the reader base need to be explored, it's
to order minimum quantities, even Ingram thenot that people are anti printed material, but they
largest US distributor of books will carry stock ofwant the convience to get it when and where
POD items to ensure they can supply the storesthey want, why is it that subscription prices are
the required quantity on demand.so much lower that the shop shelf price.... and
The ability to Print On Demand for the bookmaybe it could fit into my vision of a possible
industry opened a new business model thatfuture of news print...
wasn't based on the traditional need toDistribution of home entertainment
warehouse, ship and return unsold of books, theAs with the music industry, the home
cost of the actual print was, although higher thanentertainment has also been through the mill with
the bulk as an immediate cost, it actually woulda number of format wars over the past decade,
take a run of around 750 copies to get thewhen DVD burst onto the scene and the cost of
offset printing cost per book down to thethe consumer home units reached prices that the
print-on-demand cost. Here's where themasses could afford, so the demand for DVD
print-on-demand and traditional publishing modelsrocketed. Sales were through the roof as
diverge. There never are "large quantities"consumers were happy to pay a premium for
involved with POD, there are never books tofilms they owned and watched on their ropey
warehouse or cash to tie up in inventory. EvenVHS player, people proceeded to replenish their
more important for a small publisher using acollections with the pristine picture quality of DVD.
service such as Lightning Source or The BookThen the slump hit, stocks piled up around the
Printing Company, there is no shipping cost forglobe and reorders slowed down; the replicators
books sold into the distribution channels.begun to suffer and some had to shut up shop...
One company is working on bringing print onalong comes another format war to disrupt both
demand to the out of print book market, has aconsumer and manufacturing, the Bluray -
collect of 235,000 books, all pre-1923 and plan toHD-DVD formats paved the way to wastage on
more than double that in the coming weeks,an astronomical scale that again (remember the
what's more their innovative scanning methodsDAT tape or the minidisc that consumers
and the use of the Cooliris technology allowsinvested in only to slip away un-noticed) hit the
them to provide a free online viewing, but notconsumers who backed HD-DVD, who would
stopping there they also have an Invest Inhave known which way it would go, and people
Knowledge program that allows you to subsidizewere holding onto their pennies to be safe, thus
the cost of digitizing the book in return for 5% ofneither format was moving in any sort of
the future books takings. Content providers canquantity... Was it the inclusion of Bluray into the
partner with KirtasBooks and provide their MARCPS3 that tipped the scales, or was it the sheer
records to make them instantly available for sale,power of the studio's that backed the format?
the books are then digitized on demand as well!With a new format, a decline in sales of the old
The decline of music salesformat, new manufacturing models and a
Ok so moving from the printed word to thereduction of orders a new business model needs
vibrating sound waves of music, I won't coverto be formulated to move away from the 1000
the raise and fall of the music industry, Steveunit order and move towards smaller minimum
Knopper did a well enough job of that in his bookquantities.... The studios need to move away from
Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacularthe old paradigm of manufacturing and into an on
Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Agedemad one to reduce the cost of production.
But the rollercoster ride that saw the musicThe future
industry change from the large format vinylIn just 4 examples of consumer facing products
printed on stiff board and cassette inlays withthat have been disrupted by the changing times,
double sided 18 folded paper, into the era of theall have had an impact on the pre-media and print
CD then onto the digital download has had aworld of manufacturing we see the need for new
massive impact on the pre-media industry. Oncebusiness models to handle the changing distribution
an industry of double time overtime and overrequirements that fill now just one of the
night "must have" campaigns followed by printconsumer engagement output stream. Print On
runs into the 100's of thousands, now we seeDemand has never been so relevant to reduce
that the distuptive force of the internet and thethe manufacturing costs and allow smaller order
raise of broadband speed access as all butquantities. The increase of personalization will fuel
removed the quantity order. It hasn't completelya new wave of consumer driven products and
removed the requirement for the printed copymanufacturers are able to make the most of
that people can buy instore or online, but thetoday's technology. Those that struggle to move
sales of this format are in a decline and newforward wont' be left behind, but will suffer from
business models need to be found inorder for thea decline in their consumer support and
music companies to maintain this retail channel, noawareness.
longer can they afford to print and replicate 100's