Alpha Players in the Game

Once upon a time, say, 10 years ago, you knew where you stood with offshore print manufacturing in Asia. You had your conventional printer over here, packaging supplier over there, and print broker somewhere in the middle. But those simple days had gone the way of the manual typewriter. The present print manufacturing landscape is populated by a dizzying assemblage of suppliers capable of producing anything that combines paper, ink, plush and plastic. If your idea of a dream product is something that's never been seen on the shelves before, well, relax, you can bank on any of these suppliers to turn it into reality.

The upside to this massive supplier pool is, of course, choice: you're frankly spoiled. The downside? Confusion. Our advice? Size up the following export suppliers for a start and see which fits your project best. With that in mind, we made this review less daunting by dividing the suppliers into three main categories: conventional printing, digital printing (or print-on-demand) and plush-and-plastic.

Conventional Printing

Did we say 'conventional'? Well, don't take it literally. We are simply referring to the printing process whereby the paper passes through the roller and gets inundated by inks. Anything else that comes before, during and after is fair game, or so the "unconventional" wisdom goes. This means that, as consumers, we get multiple gatefolds, numerous tabs and inserts, colors that would put a chameleon to shame, and postpress add-ons that would take twice—or thrice—the time taken to print those glossy pages.

And as Bundy Walker, chairman of Colorcraft, puts it, books and fashion have much in common: "They come and go in cycles. This year, for example, board books are back; same goes for pop-ups, especially those sporting simpler mechanisms such as push-tabs. Holograms and foil printing are in, too. That's the way the industry goes: A product type will be fashionable for a few years, and then it will be replaced by the next in thing. Somewhere down the road, the publishing community goes, 'Hey, what about that great stuff we did four years back?' and there we go again." Armed with a portfolio that is 50% conventional book printing and 50% book-plus/sourcing projects, Walker knows what else is hot. "Leather, as in leather binding and more elaborate binding. Some publishers go for covers with flocking effects. Usage of fancy paper for both jacketing and printing of interior pages is getting much attention as well."

The need for small quantities but still wanting all the price "breaks," according to Walker, is the major factor driving publishers to Asia for value-added products. For Walker, the last 12 months have seen several complex jobs, but one that is most memorable deals with the intricate subject of feng shui. "It entailed sourcing a mold maker for very small and delicate items as well as finding a candle supplier who used the right amount of beeswax. These items then had to be redesigned to fit a box of certain dimensions, which in turn needed to fit certain bookstore shelves. You can say that we had to make sure the feng shui of the title and its items were all in positive alignment!"

As complex and troublesome as box manufacturing can get, Walker says it's fun to do. "Just look at the original concept of a box, the 'let's have a house shape with a roof that lifts up' idea. Now we have smart squares loaded with funky artwork that are contrived to fit the shipping carton without wasting any space. By the way, that last factor is something designers often overlook: that the designed box must have a good fit with the shipping carton. Failing that, one will be looking at additional costs in terms of manufacturing new cartons to fit the box or spending more on shipping."

And speaking of boxes, none is more striking than the yellow case specially designed by Konstantin Gricic for Phaidon Design Classics. It ranks as Midas's most complex project of the year. "The print order was for 120,000 sets, and each set contains three volumes with a total of about 1,000 pages. Just do the math and you can easily visualize the amount of paper, ink and plastic required. Lots of effort went into assembling the volumes into the unique three-layered case and proper packing to protect the case against damage during transit," says group managing director T.L. Kwong. Special packaging projects are aplenty at Midas; Taschen's Favorite Websites, with silver ink printing on vinyl cover, and Rockport's Complex Index in a metal box are just two outstanding examples.

Children's products with pressure-transfer ink are another Midas specialty. "The trick lies in the printing process," says marketing manager Andrew Hsu. "Close attention has to be paid to ink viscosity: if it's too thick, the outcome won't be satisfactory after silkscreening. Making sure the preceding ink layer is sufficiently dry before the next ink is printed is the most basic—and essential—requirement. To achieve the best effect, the inks must also be printed evenly with precise registration." Adds Hsu, "The above titles underscore one reality: that publisher demands are getting ever more complex. They require not just prepress solutions and complicated printing processes—five- or six-color is considered usual nowadays—but also more sourcing for add-on items."

Says Kwong, "Orders with toys, accessories and electronic components are growing fast. So now we have to effectively deal with a new aspect: safety. It necessitates lab tests and thorough understanding of the safety regulations in the different countries where the products we manufacture will be sold. At the same time, publishers are asking for design ideas and product development assistance. So now we have product designers on board, and more people in our sourcing/development department. Overall, book-plus items and pop-up books, especially those for children, remain our best categories. Our short-term plan is to leverage on our ample hand-assembly capacity and product development/sourcing abilities to grow these two segments further."

Pop-ups, of course, are something Hua Yang knows very well. Its ongoing collaborations with some of the world's top pop-up creators, such as Robert Sabuda, David Carter and David Hawcock, have brought many paper engineering challenges. Says v-p for international marketing Tony Brooks, "Castle, the latest from the Sabuda/Reinhart team, for example, combines complex pop-ups with multidirectional pull-tabs, while the follow-up to Carter's OneRedDot—entitled BlueTwo—employs a range of mechanical effects and solid, bright colors which call for consistently good printing and assembly quality. These authors are paper engineers in their own right and they know what is and what is not possible. For others who are less conversant with the principles of paper engineering, we are here to offer a helping hand and, if necessary, suggest an alternative, workable solution."

One change in pop-up manufacturing—or for that matter, in any print segment—that is here to stay is compacted production schedules. Brooks says, "Publishers, driven by retailers, tend to wait as long as possible in order to secure late co-edition orders, which allows them to combine print runs with minimal plate changes and leverage on the economies of scale." And what about pop-ups that fail to "pop"? "This shouldn't occur, really, and should have been identified at the outset of the design or production QC stages. Problems are usually due to poor design, incorrect use of paper grain leading to weakened mechanisms, inaccurate gluing or excessive use of glue, resulting in gummed-up mechanisms. When it comes to gluing, it's essential to leave glue-point areas unvarnished for better adhesion," Brooks notes.

Meanwhile, co-edition projects with European publishers are growing steadily. Says president and CEO Kevin Murphy, "One particularly interesting project with an Italian client involved a high-end board book with a windowed compartment in which an object or accessory is placed that can be illuminated by a light module. It has certainly created a lot of interest for our client at recent book shows." Presently his design and development team is working with a high-profile French perfume and fashion house on an eye-catching luxury box packaging design that incorporates pop-up and paper-engineered elements. "If this project comes through, it will certainly be a first in the industry," adds Murphy.

Uncompromising attention to details is the hallmark of complex pop-ups, and this is evident in Nova'sSuper-Galactic Pop-up. Says production director Cathy Ferrara at Callaway Editions, "The supplier must fulfill two criteria: the ability to work under a tight production schedule while maintaining the quality standards required for such a complex project. We chose GlobalPSD based on their proven expertise to deliver what is required. This book, with its eight 3-D spreads, eight gatefolds and various interactive elements, required an expert paper engineer and extremely competent coordination with our production department. There was quite a number of die-cutting from nesting sheets—the hand-assembly team followed a map for attaching each die-cut piece to its respective glue points, from which the pieces were again affixed to other additional pieces to form the final pop-up. There were challenges, of course, as there is with any nonstandard format like Nova's. However, the team at Global was quick to offer concise and workable solutions for our paper engineer to approve, which allowed us to move quickly through the production stages."

Adds Ferrara, who has over 20 years of offshore manufacturing experience, "The success of a complex piece like this depends on the quality standards and hand-assembly precision. We're pleased with the seamless transition from one stage of the production to the next." And what advice would she give to anyone thinking of executing a similar project? "Start early and expect the unexpected. And make sure you choose the right vendor."

At Global PSD, its president and CEO Steven Goff recalls, "In view of the tight schedule, verification mock-ups were sent out for Callaway's approval on several continents simultaneously. At the same time, our production team worked very closely with Callaway's paper engineer during actual production, as some of the pop-up hinges had to be redesigned or reconfigured or both. This was a team effort from the get-go, and both parties came away very pleased with the final product." Besides manufacturing complex pop-ups, high-end illustrated titles and collector editions, Global is also moving into more kit-building projects, such as those involving CDs and sourced items. "In addition, we're working with our clients to repackage some of their existing products into book-plus items, breathing new life into previously successful trade titles." (Goff should know how the publishing business works: after all, he owns the high-end photographic coffee-table book publishing house Channel Photographics.)

The book-plus segment now accounts for 40% of Global's projects. The company still does a large percentage of its manufacturing in southern China, even though its sourcing and production teams are turning to northern cities like Ningbo and Shanghai to meet their clients' demands. Says Goff, "Some of our clients require long runs at competitive prices, and some require specific sourced items. We have to move beyond southern China to accommodate these needs. I'm also looking into opening up several satellite QC offices in other provinces in China to support larger-volume manufacturing projects and more intricate sourcing demands."

Generally speaking, seeking competitive cost advantage tops every supplier's to-do list. But everybody has a different take on it. For managing director Ken Chung of Everbest, rising cost spares no one. "We're all in the same boat. One can either grin and bear it or look for a faster way to do the job, adhering to the fast-to-market, fast-to-cash principle." How about moving further north to take advantage of the purportedly lower labor costs, PW asks. Chung, who moved his production facilities from Hong Kong to Nansha in 1997, is horrified by the very thought. "I don't think I can take another major excitement like that. Anyway, labor costs all over China are on the rise. Just think about this: between 2004 and 2006, there was a minimum wage increase of at least 30% throughout the mainland. So relocation based on low wage cost is just a short-term escape plan. It's better to think of long-term solutions, which—for us at Everbest—are to consolidate our business and to both automate and innovate." For Everbest, which is now 85% owned by Singapore-based Times Printers, scaling back is definitely not an option in these competitive times riddled by shrinking print runs. "We need to forge ahead with foresight and careful strategic planning."

As for North American suppliers aggressively purchasing the latest machinery and actively (re-)building their customer base, Chung says, "I look at this spurt of competitiveness as a temporary aberration. Those new machines cost money; matching Asian prices and absorbing the shortfall at the same time is simply not sustainable in the long term. In terms of innovation, yes, I agree that the Americans are much quicker to adopt new technologies, which usually shave turnaround time and are more cost effective. But we now live in an increasingly globalized world: those ideas and innovation will catch on in Asia the next moment. And even though China's labor costs are rising fairly quickly, the price gap between us and North America is still very wide. The educational textbook segment is perhaps an exception to the rule, as there are political and timing issues at play here, which necessitate keeping the titles on American shores. Other than that, everything else is up for grabs."

But at CTPS, a different el-hi/STM/MRW picture is emerging, thanks to its participation in global procurement programs with major publishers. "On the average, our prepress department processes 40,000 plates for this particular segment in a month," says business development director John Currie. "Short to medium-length runs are well suited to our lineup of six Heidelberg 8-color perfectors. We're seeing continued growth in the medium-run category while U.S. web printers focus on time-sensitive jobs and longer first runs." Ergo, the recent addition of four 8-color SpeedMaster 102, two 6-color CD-74, and Muller-Martini VBF hard-line and Kolbus soft-cover with PUR finishing equipment. Meanwhile, liaison with customers on ERP and remote-proofing initiatives—with "live" application expected to commence next year—is ongoing.

Its previous testing and marketing of full-color printing 39 to 50 gsm grades have resulted in a growing interest in full-color Bible and dictionary production. "This is where our capabilities lie: we print on our Heidelberg 8-color perfectors rather than on web presses—which represents an industry first—and the resulting quality has surpassed our customers' expectations," Currie says.

Most publishers, he says, are moving toward lightweight grades for el-hi titles, a trend heavily influenced by the improved quality and greater capacity of China mills. "Last year's strike at M-real's Scandinavian mills is also a factor, turning publishers to alternative sources. On the other hand, high page-count STM titles still use European grades of 45—56 gsm, with mills such as PDL and Trierenberg proactively selling paper solutions directly to publishers. For us, we are part of the value chain, doing test runs on specific grades for both mills and publishers. Concurrently, we have formed strategic partnerships with European mills specializing in Bible grades to counter long indent/shipping lead time. Spanish mills are also actively supporting our stocking program, and we expect our stock volume to increase steadily over the next three years." Fashionable Bible products continue to grow with leather-bound, Tru-Grip, metal-casing finishing and other hybrid packaging solutions. "More novel packaging ideas and components are being added to the expanding range of innovative PU [polyurethane] materials. Accordingly, we have expanded our hand-assembly operation—with the addition of 150,000 square feet of floor space—to accommodate the volumes projected for the year and beyond."

Over at Black Dog & Leventhal, handwork—lots of it—has made possible The King, a 160-page, 15"x17" pictorial volume on Elvis Presley. "Rhinestones took center stage in this production," says production director True Sims. "We had to make sure the rhinestones not only stayed on the leather-like case but were positioned straight and aligned. Then we worried about damages, especially scratches, during transit, which we subsequently solved by putting each copy in a reusable, thick poly bag." The whole production process took 18 months. A lot of dummies and proofs were made: some for presale purposes, some just for seeing how things would look.

"A lot of cases was made with different colored rhinestones, materials and post-printing processes. In the end, we agreed on three colors—white, black and gold—with just one color of rhinestones—blue." Preproduction and printing challenges were aplenty. Adds Sims, "Many of the images came from archives and a variety of sources, and were blown up substantially, even though the original quality was iffy right from the start. Fortunately, our designer, Matt Boloutian, came up with several ways of enhancing the pictures with varying amounts of silver." Five-color printing also gave her the opportunity to do a variety of duotones and tritones. At the same time, the pages were printed in two-up and then hand-bound. "This considerably lengthened the turnaround time but it allowed for tighter quality control. We're really fortunate to have Elegance with us every step of the way. I had to make sure I communicated what we wanted and the look we were trying to achieve, and they had to do it."

For customer services manager Candy Leung at Elegance, the different quality of rhinestones—even in just one color—posed a major concern. "We had to ensure that the rhinestones were a consistent blue despite doing the high print run in different batches. The technique of setting the rhinestones onto the cover was borrowed from the garment manufacturing industry. We first embossed the title on the case, pasted in the rhinestones, making sure they're properly positioned, and then heat-set them." Oversized and specialty titles like The King are Elegance's forte. Says its New York—based managing director Frank DeLuca, "We do any title required by our client, and in general, this would be in the high-end illustrated category. One great example is the duotone 176-page Mark Seliger's In My Stairwell. Besides meeting Mark's high-quality demand and his schedule to approve each and every sheet on press, we also had to meet his demand to emulate the quality of his photos during printing. He came to Hong Kong with his own production manager for the press-check, and for this we dedicated four presses—for a week or a total of 250 hours. A few months later, he was back for the reprint, and we ran the title on multiple presses to fit his schedule."

In general, book-plus projects are on the increase. Adds DeLuca, "You can say that we have grown together with our clients. When I first joined this company, we had four presses and 500 people in the handwork department; now there are 30 and 3,000-plus respectively."

Ah, book-plus. And what better example than the 2,500 signed and numbered copies of Dressing a Galaxy: The Costumes of Star Wars manufactured by PalacePress? For a start, the title is encased in a cloth clamshell box wrapped in Japanese silk and come with an assortment of goodies. Says CEO Raoul Goff, "There is a hand-painted replica of a Wookiee belt buckle, a fabric swatch of Darth Vader's cape, a DVD with actors' comments, a facsimile costume folder with fabric swatches and a foil-printed booklet depicting the movie's computer-generated characters. Other unique items include a cut-out paper-doll book, booklets printed on specialty craft or vellum stock, and cards with numerous special printing effects. The development of the facsimile costume folder alone involved management and production coordination of nine different factories, dozens of components, strict quality control, licensor approvals and elaborate import/export documentation."

Another project, The Art and Making of Monster House, sports gatefolds, trading cards and hidden items contained in envelopes, foil pouches and vellum overlays. Twelve different paper stocks are used in this slipcased and jacketed product. This is just one of the several movie/TV tie-ins that Palace Press—and its publishing imprint Insight Editions—is working on right now.

Multiple gatefolds, for Goff, continue to be the mark of high-end illustrated titles, and their popularity is not diminishing. "There is a growing appreciation for the craft of book-making and traditional attributes like multiple gatefolds. More small publishers and even self-publishers are also working to make their titles stand out by adding values to their products and using special printing techniques which are available in Asia but may be difficult to source in the U.S., such as including hand-made or hand-bound elements, using unusual formats and configurations, and special packaging. In general, smaller publishers are also diversifying into book-plus projects and they're seeking a single-source solution to help them." Presumably, this is where the Palace Press team steps in to hold the publisher's hand. Publishing director Michael Madden at Insight Editions says, "Being on the ground in China and being able to find a special material at a moment's notice can often make a difference between a product being just another book versus an innovative work of art."

Proximity to China—i.e., its manufacturing supply chain—is also sought by managing director George Tai of Regent. In fact, he has the best of both worlds: he stays put in Hong Kong and sends his production controllers across the border frequently to visit manufacturing plants and audit product quality. "We can be more efficient in liaising with overseas clients from Hong Kong. We just need to work closely with our suppliers to prevent, right from the very start, any error or communication breakdown which may result in products being rejected, rework or delayed delivery."

Year 2005 is Regent's best on record. "Our revenue grew almost 15% and this expansion came mainly from educational kits, journals and packaging. There was also an increase in art books and highly illustrated titles." Tai attributes the growth to his company's reputation for looking after its clients' interests and meeting their quality and delivery requirements.

To anyone visiting its Shaukeiwan office, the many samples of miniature gift books with doodads such as a 24-karat gold-plated charm or bookmark on the shelves could hardly go unnoticed. Says Tai, "The requirement for this product type is actually very simple: to source the right suppliers who are capable of delivering the required items and meeting our quality standards. Our main concern is whether the charm or bookmark will rust during handling." In general, however, Tai observes that miniature gift books have more or less reached the peak of their popularity, and the segment is not showing much growth in recent months. "Other products requiring a combination of materials—such as paper with fabric—are on the rise. We have done several projects involving silk-screening on fabric for book covers. This type of product, which calls for additional processes and handwork, is the major factor prompting many international presses and even self-publishers to move their production to Asia, specifically Hong Kong/China and Singapore. The Asian printing community as a whole is able to provide the range of products and services required, at price levels and quality standards that are unbeatable. It's not far-fetched to say that suppliers in this region can manufacture anything which the publisher could possibly imagine," adds Tai.

Matthew Yum, managing director of Hung Hing and the person PW turns to whenever we need to take the pulse of the Hong Kong/China print industry, shares Tai's sentiments: "The most significant change in the past 20 years has been the tremendous growth—and, presently, the domination—of Hong Kong/China players in the book-plus segment. Not only that, the overall capacity has expanded across all product segments and the production quality has meet or even surpass international standards." All things considered, the past year and a half has been good, for Hung Hing and for the industry in general. "That, however, doesn't mean the challenges are no longer there. Rising cost is an issue. But this being a macroeconomic issue, the best one can do would be to automate production processes as much as possible, exercise tighter cost control and find ways to improve production efficiencies," says the voice of moderation and cautious optimism.

The global appetite for China's paper manufacturing sector is clearly evident in Hung Hing's convertible bond offering, which ended four months ago and raised more than $97 million. "It builds more financial flexibility, which in turn would enable us to take advantage of new opportunities as they arise," says Yum. And seizing new opportunities is part of the drive behind its new production facility in Heshan and the upgrading of its existing Zhongshan operations. "Production has started at our Heshan plan, and we intend to have about 3,500 workers in place by the end of the year and to finish constructing the whole complex—occupying 3.6 million square feet—by 2010," adds New York—based v-p Bill Tollin.

A vertically integrated one-stop shop, Hung Hing is always quick to grasp emerging trends and new products or concepts. Tollin says, "Some time ago, we felt that lenticular printing would have a much broader application if the time and cost of its prepress preparation could be reduced, and we decided to bring the whole process in-house. We're happy to say that we have achieved that. Now we're capable of applying lenticular printing to products ranging from high-end coffee-table titles to premium decks of cards." Conductive ink was another area his team looked at. "Besides adding value to the product, conductive ink has many potential applications in segments other than children's products," he says.

Speaking of inks, QP Printing did a range of educational products using invisible ink last year. Says sales director Sanny Liu, "The ink was used to conceal answers, which could only be revealed under an ultraviolet detector. Making sure the answers were completely invisible under normal daylight wasn't easy." Another interesting project was a toy house made of fabric and paper. "My two teams of 50 designers and product engineers spent long hours toying with different types of fabric and paper to come up with the ultimate product. First, we had to use 3-D computer rendering to transform our client's idea into a practical design. Then we had to come up with a paper/cloth combination that would stand the test of time."

For Liu, more sophisticated designs utilizing more complex structures and printing effects are now the norm rather than the exception. Translation: product engineering capabilities are paramount. Marketing communications manager Jessie Leung notes, "More customers are opting for injection molds and DVD to enhance product interactivity. For example, last year we had a board game that was printed with conductive inks to enable light and sound effects to be activated simultaneously. Requests for lenticular effects are also on the increase." With greater demand for add-on components, QP's sourcing department headcount has increased to six. "The challenges in sourcing are many: we have to source the right items in the right quantity and price range for our customers. But more importantly, the products must meet our stringent quality and safety standards. The suppliers must also comply with our code of conduct," says Liu. "We are concerned about copyright protection, especially when the suppliers are privy to the product design and development process. To prevent piracy and to maintain quality and safety standards, we conduct regular supplier audits."

Board games and puzzles continue to be QP's largest segments. Says Leung, "On the average, we handle about 1,300 projects per annum, with sales growing in the double-digit range. To accommodate the expansion, production space has been increased accordingly. New machines have also been acquired to further automate production." Interestingly, QP has maintained the same workforce—which numbers 4,500—since early 2005, while its work volume has increased by at least 20%.

Meanwhile, over at Leo Paper Group, more than 1,000 projects pass through its production floors at any given time of the day, and that has provided the push for its ISO 10012 Measurement Management Systems certification. "Together with ISO 9001:2000, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 and BS 7799, this new system integrates quality into every aspect of our work processes besides improving production efficiencies," says group co-sales director Kelly Fok. "ISO 10012 basically ensures the accuracy of all the equipment used, and we believe that only accurately and precisely calibrated equipment can churn out quality products. It goes back to the philosophy of getting the product right the first time because we simply don't have time to do it all over again." As always, continual capital and human resource investment figures prominently in Leo's plans. "We spent approximately $22 million to acquire more presses, binding lines, CtP systems and many more. Our Astros Greenfield Garden, phase II—which focused on dormitory construction—was completed last month, while phase III—comprising five dormitory buildings to house over 2,500 production personnel and 500 office staff—is scheduled for completion next June. By 2008, the whole complex, 34 buildings on approximately 60 acres, will be completed."

Book-plus/handwork titles and trade books are a significant portion of Leo's projects. "Value addition is important in children's novelty products as parents look for items with the best value for money. Now that a product has to also entertain while educating the children, interactivity is the in thing. So, too, is variety. Inevitably, more clients are turning to various secondary processes. Take flocking, for example. Initially, it was applied only to book covers. Later it moved into interior pages, and then from single-sided to double-sided application. Now it's done in one- and two-color. In short, customers want their products to be innovative, cost-effective, inspiring, interesting and different from the rest on the shelf."

Adds Fok, "One thing is for sure: clients are willing to mix several processes and cross over their products, such as a book-and-game combo, to create more value." Leo's mastery of secondary processes is evident in its products, which come with flocking, hot-stamping, multiple attachments such as pull-outs, pop-ups, a variety of "jewel" inlays and more.

Demand for secondary processes aside, there is also a marked increase in the size of the books produced, in both the format and the page count, says marketing director Jeremy Kuo at WKT. "On the handwork side, there is a significant movement toward higher-quality production, the use of white boards and an emphasis on print quality." Making educational kits is one natural byproduct at this company, which is known as a children's book manufacturer. Kuo says, "We are ideal for this in many ways: we understand the educational market, having worked with publishers in this segment for so long, and we have an experienced handwork department for the collation and assembly of kits." Perhaps less known is WKT's library-book binding capability which was recently enhanced by the installation of Moffett and McCain side-sewing lines.

As for the rising costs, Kuo says, "The only way out is always by raising productivity. At WKT, our investment is also aimed at increasing efficiency so that our capacity is maximized. There is also the question of strategy. If the strategy is price led, then rising costs may have a much bigger impact. If, on the other hand, it is service oriented, then it's a slightly different story. Some clients don't look for direct cost reduction by printing in Asia. They may be using the cost savings to enhance the perceived value of their products. In such cases, the supplier's ability to respond to that need is factored into the publisher's buying decision." Adds WKT's New York—based marketing manager, Arthur Quek, "There are always new customers who are interested in offshore printing. Publishers may be more conservative with their lists, but the print runs we get have remained pretty much the same. Overall, the demand for book-plus is still significant."

For a co-edition manufacturer like WKT, orders requiring multiple languages are much rarer nowadays. Kuo explains, "Publishers are trying to serve their customers better by responding to their needs, and this doesn't always mean producing larger runs with multiple languages as in the past. So we may reprint a title many times with fewer language changes. But it's probably also a byproduct of lower-cost production, which allows publishers greater flexibility. Whichever it is, our challenge remains the same: to remain cost-effective and responsive at all times."

Meanwhile, at Magnum Offset, strategic partnership is the plan. "In merging a manufacturing-oriented business with a service-oriented philosophy, finding the right partner who shares our philosophy and quality commitment is crucial," says business development manager Anita Lam. And Sydney, Australia—based catalogue design/production house Stimulus is one such partner. With double-digit growth predicted for its 2006 catalogue production, the strategic partnership has hit the fast-forward mode. "During the past year, Stimulus has designed a software application which will expedite the initial stages of catalogue production. Our client will have better organized and more accurate information for designing its catalogues, and we can proceed with the production of the design in a more organized manner. It effectively shortens the preparation process and hence increases cost-effectiveness." Based on the present timetable, the first catalogue produced utilizing this software should be completed in September.

While Magnum's main business is still in conventional printing, two projects show how "unconventional" it can be. Lam recalls, "For the first project—a car magazine—our American client brought along a metal swatch for color matching. That swatch reacted differently to different lighting conditions: it looked red under the sun, orange under calibrated light, and brown under white light. Since color adjustment on press or during prepress is inaccurate and difficult, we took over the scanning process from the get-go. The transparencies were scanned in CMYK and then the fifth, metallic PMS color was mixed in. In this way, the printed car color has reflective properties but doesn't look too shiny as to render the color unnatural."

The second project was an annual report for a renowned local design house. "Almost without fail, this report would win us the best Hong Kong print award every year," Lam says. "This time, our client came up with the concept of using a chessboard to narrate the firm's growth. We ultimately designed a four-fold magnet box—which opens out into the chessboard—containing the annual report and four magnetic chess pieces. The development of the box was complicated, and we had to be one step ahead of any production issues so that we could advise our client on alternative methods to realize the project."

At Regal, managing director Maurice Kwan had to be several steps ahead during the manufacturing of the Father's Day must-buy The Complete Calvin and Hobbes. "This 1,400-page, three-volume, casebound title in 12"x10.5" landscape format simply didn't fit the usual binding specifications. Our binding lines had to be substantially modified. We also had to work on the schedule and logistics of shipping the 250,000-set order to our client—a tremendous undertaking, indeed. We ended up with 150 40-foot containers of books." Kwan, who has just finished the first reprint of 75,000 sets, is now busy planning for two more 8-color presses to boost the current capacity.

Expansion is also the operative word at Craft Printas well. Its new plant—directly facing the present facility—has increased its production space to more than 220,000 square feet—more capacity for more projects. Says managing director Charlie Chan, "We added a new Rapida 8-color, another CtP system, a 20-station perfect binding line, a new die-cutter and a folding machine. Our warehousing space and logistical support has also been duly expanded." Its handwork department, too, has grown. "This expansion is directly linked to the increased demand for fancier packaging. Add-ons are now the norm and freebies are in. A wine title, for example, may now include a bottle of wine or a corkscrew, or an aromatherapy title has miniature bottles of essential oils. In general, publishers, especially those in the specialty segment, are doing everything they can to captivate their well-defined target customers. For Craft Print, this means one thing: we have to offer hand-assembly and boxing capabilities. In short, you can say that we grow with our customers in terms of product range and service. And we're able to do that because of the capabilities and motivation of our people: they are keen to upgrade themselves and they often surpass the challenges thrown down by the publishers."

As for trends, Chan says, "Superficiality is the theme. The printing process has remained largely the same; it's the appearance of the products—the shape, look or composition—that has changed in recent years. Take, for instance, covers with silk dust-jackets or rich leather binding, or books with odd shapes. Dressing up a title is the new trend." After 30 years in the high-end printing business, Chan's clients are naturally publishers doing art books, calendars and gifts, as well as self-published photographers. "Reproduction of photographs is always a demanding area. Often we have to simulate photographic qualities by using special ink, printing on 20-micron screening or lower, and doing lots of testing prior to the actual run."

Business at Craft Print has never been better. "Our U.S. sales grew 20% last year, largely due to our extensive marketing campaign. In this slow-moving economy, possessing the capabilities isn't enough; you also need to be highly visible to potential customers out there."

Growth and expansion are also the buzzwords at C S Graphics. "New technology and automation are the key success factors in this competitive industry. Every supplier in town is busy upgrading and increasing their production efficiencies and capabilities. C S Graphics is not going to be left behind," says managing director Lee Sian Tee. Not a chance, PW notes. From its newly completed two-story plant right next door, giving it an additional 40% production space, to the new 8-color press, things are buzzing here. "The extra space will double our capacity and enable us to cope with the growing export business. Machinery-wise, everything is purchased with an eye toward faster turnaround and improved efficiencies. Take our new jacketing machine as an example: we decided that the time had come to abandon the old hand-work process." As for the full-scale refurbishing of the old facility, he says, "Think of it as a rejuvenation process. A new, modern look is just what we need to stay in tune with the digital world of modern printing."

For Lee, his company's forte lies firmly in high-end art books, especially for museums and photographers. Recently his team wrapped up the production of award-winning wildlife photographer Steve Bloom's two titles, Wild Spirits and the soon-to-be-released Elephant. "Needless to say, his demand for quality and precision in printing is very high. And it has to be: his readers must be able to look through the images in his book and feel the colors and the majesty of the photographs. The photos must be shown in the best light possible, and we take that literally: we give our best shot in reproducing the required photographic quality by combining our expert knowledge of prepress and printing."

In the last decade or so, C S Graphics' business has shifted from a predominantly British-based clientele to one equally shared by American customers. "It's definitely a healthier mix, and it allows us to get to know more about American publishing and the market trends over there," says Lee, who also owns a Shanghai-based printing plant catering mostly to domestic demand. "Our New York office, headed by Katherine Rosenbloom, is an indication that we're focused on building our presence in the U.S. and servicing our clients better."

Less than five kilometers away, TWP is also busy with its upgrading program. Says sales and marketing director Andrew Yeo, "The deployment of technology backed by an experienced team is the cornerstone of our success as a major industry player. Looking back, we have been especially busy in the last 12 months: we added a new 2-color perfector, 4-color, 5-color (with inline UV coater), 8-color perfector and another CtP line, as well as new machines for sewing, sheeting and stamping. And there is also our much-awaited round-corner case-making line, which is crucial to meeting the surge in the demand for round-cornered children's titles. This machine provides us with the efficiencies not found in the conventional hand-work process." TWP also purchased a hybrid printing machine that can do inline UV-coating, use water-based varnish and print on acetate/PVC materials, on top of its conventional printing capabilities.

TWP had a good 2005. Yeo notes, "We saw a marked increased in sales for most of our product lines, from general books to hand-assembled products. Trend-wise, the book industry is always about reinventing or re-versioning. The demand for pop-ups has always been consistent, while the children's book-plus segment continues to grow. Overall, publishers are trying to reposition or rejuvenate their lists to capture their target audience. Just take a look at the children's section in any bookstore, and you'll see the variety and myriad combinations of products available."

And publishers, admittedly, are always keen to push the envelope. The high-profile Random House (U.K.) title Life is a perfect example; almost all of its 304 pages contain full-color photographs showing microscopic details. Recalls marketing manager Margaret Kong of C&C Offset, "We handled its reproduction and printing in seven different editions covering six languages. High ink density was applied to achieve the rich, solid black edges that you see on the pages. Then we added matte varnish to all the black background to create a contrast to the photographs, which had a glossy finish." In contrast, the challenge of her next most interesting project had to do not so much with colors but with sheer volume. "It was a 3,000,000-copy print run for a guidebook with more than 500 pages, which we ran on our commercial web presses. The challenge was to fulfill this order within the seven-week window given."

C&C recently launched its fully automated commercial web-press center in Shenzhen—presently the largest and probably the most efficient in China—with two Sunday 2000 and three M-600 presses, along with the complementary sheetfed/binding/postpress lines. Says Kong, "Within six months of operation, this facility has already been awarded nine times for excellence in web printing. A duplicate plant in Qingpu, Shanghai, is already near completion, with operation expected to go full swing in October. It is intended to be our second production base for export products." Meanwhile, new offices in Melbourne, Australia, and Chicago have been set up; the latter focuses on commercial printed matter, such as catalogues, brochures and directories.

A wide network of production facilities and sales offices is also the hallmark of SNP. For senior v-p of marketing Kathy Kueneman, the most important step in the development of SNP as a company is the focus on integrating its plants into a more organic corporation. "An important benefit is the consolidation of back-office functions such as finance, purchasing and book-plus sourcing. This successful streamlining, for instance, has enabled our Thailand and Excel China plants to meet the challenge of producing extremely complicated and large-scale pop-up books by sharing production facilities and expertise. While both have their own specialization and separate customer bases, they are now able to work together under the same system, allowing us to maximize our capacity as well as meet high seasonal demand for very complex products."

Meanwhile, SNP's Leefung operation has undergone major upgrading, especially in its prepress department, and hired additional staff. "Presently, Leefung has four facilities in China, three of which are web printing plants serving almost exclusively the domestic Chinese market. The fourth plant, in Dongguan, is 100% for exports and has sheetfed presses with complete binding capabilities. In recent months, Dongguan has seen the emergence of one new product category: hardcover children's picture books. These are mostly 32-page, full-color titles with print runs ranging from 5,000 to 50,000 copies," says California-based Kueneman. The Dongguan plant also produces very specialized titles, such as The New Yorker book/CD set. "Now, thanks to the integration, we're able to leverage on our Leefung Shenzhen plant's capacity for export projects requiring web printing."

Its Singapore plant remains focused on security and financial printing for the local market and softcover books for export. But, Kueneman says, "Substantial changes have been made to increase its capacity and improve its efficiencies, thus allowing us to utilize this plant to serve the regional markets." Presently, SNP's business is almost evenly split between children's products and adult books. "But, as mentioned earlier, one area that is expanding fast is the children's picture book segment in our Leefung plant. This is a product distinct from the novelty products done in Excel."

Digital Printing

Quite a number of suppliers are either thinking about, or are already putting in place, plans to broaden their services to include print-on-demand (POD). What's the attraction? Better yet, we should rephrase that question: What's not to like? POD offers publishers the option to go low—as in print run and production cost—and to personalize the product down to salutation and packaging.

The pioneer in large-scale POD production is, of course, C&C. Says marketing manager Margaret Kong, "We have two digital printing centers now—in Hong Kong and Shenzhen—with plans to build two more plants, in Beijing and Shanghai, by 2008. This will raise our POD capacity as well as enhance our production network in China's fastest-growing economic zones." In recent years, C&C has seen increasing global demand for small POD orders of full-color illustrated titles. "We estimate the annual increase to be in the region of 10%. Locally, Chinese publishers are discovering the advantages and flexibility of POD, and we have started servicing them as well," she says.

At Markono Print Media, POD services have shown significant growth in the last six months, which is strongly evidenced by the addition of a second production shift. Says sales and marketing director Jeffrey Tan, "Most of the orders are for courseware materials, journals and booklets on prayers and testimonials from churches and Bible societies. There is also a significant growth in journal reprints with low print runs, which could not be done economically using the conventional method."

As a franchisee of NewspaperDirect, a portion of Markono's POD capacity is dedicated to rushing out timely editions to subscribers. "In this particular model, one can see the beauty and rationale for POD services. Take for example, a Singapore-based Norwegian organization. It may need, say, just five copies of their national daily, Aftenposten. Another organization, a five-star hotel catering to European clientele, would perhaps need 10 copies of the same newspaper for its business lounge and club. It makes perfect sense for them to be able to get their hands on the most current issue and not have to wait two or three days." Another part of Tan's POD portfolio deals with newspapers printed for airlines operating out of Singapore's Changi Airport and its retail outlets, such as the Sydney Morning Herald, the Daily Mail and Le Figaro.

Journals represent another segment for Tan. "We started doing journals on POD about a year ago, and demand is growing steadily, helped somewhat by publishers like Blackwell setting up production/logistics hubs in Singapore. Demand from such publishers is usually about shaving off the already short turnaround time. Right now, most are looking at four-day cycle time instead of five." The fact that POD titles don't suffer from many prepress ills—missing fonts and low-res images for instance—does help in shortening the production lead time. "For titles going through conventional printing, most of these issues would have been fixed. For others, the increasing expertise in digital production workflow has eradicated common prepress issues. Of course, sometimes we do need to touch up images, especially if these are scanned replacements, or to reformat the title for POD workflow. But in general, I would say that such instances rarely happen nowadays," Tan says.

At Regal, POD services nicely complement its core business: offset printing of highly illustrated trade/coffee-table titles. "We added a Xerox DocuColor 8000 press with a CreoSpire CXP8000 server about 11 months ago, and the growth in this segment has been significant," says managing director Maurice Kwan. Surprisingly, almost 80% of his POD projects are in full-color, ranging from newsletters and magazines for the domestic market to export-oriented illustrated publications. "One of our self-published clients recently decided to reprint 25 copies of his poem anthology as gifts. So we printed the four-volume title on A3 pages at 2,400 dpi and passed the copies through our usual binding process."

Adopters of POD at Regal are mostly self-publishers and smaller houses. "I attribute this to their lower resistance to new printing technology, as well as their recognition of the benefits and flexibility afforded by digital printing. They view POD as a means to reduce production costs—especially when their print orders are pretty small—while meeting the quality standards required for their titles. For us, POD's flexibility is the main attraction: it is cleaner and easier to manage, more affordable in terms of capital expenditure, and faster in terms of turnaround." By offering hybrid printing options combining POD for inside pages and conventional offset for covers, Kwan expects to see more POD adopters in the near future. "This service has to go through its infancy stage first."

Plush-and-Plastic

Printing on fabric and silk-screening are a totally different kettle of fish, and the products demanded by children's publishers are positively mind-boggling. PW has seen miniature plush toys made to fit the slots of those vending machines that are so popular in Japan, animal-shaped cloth books combining sound and movement, and many, many more.

For Locomotive, small-format educational books and the resurgence of push-up pop-ups seem to be the trend in the market this year. And just like its paper-based manufacturing counterparts, Locomotive is seeing frequent orders in smaller runs. Director Sarah Shrimplin says, "Most publishers would rather order small than risk being saddled with unsold quantities sitting in their warehouses or on the shelves. Those with licensed characters are often the ones most affected by fads, and they run a higher risk of unsold inventory. So the current purchasing philosophy is to do a smaller run of a product, get the stock out to the market and, if it does well, reorder frequently."

Market dynamics and economic performance of a country or a region can also be deduced from its clients' purchasing habits. She says, "We're seeing strong demand for books in English from Korea again. The orders are generally for multiple titles with runs of 3,000 to 5,000 copies of the same format. Reorders from Korea seem to come through much quicker and more frequently than those from Europe. We believe this is largely due to increases in direct sales in the country rather than in retail sales. For us, this fast turnaround means that sometimes schedules can be very tight and hard to meet. On the plus side, there're hardly any corrections required for reprints."

Meanwhile, the Baltic States and the newer members of the European Union, quite surprisingly, represent a growing market for Locomotive. Shrimplin explains, "Present economic indicators show that these countries are faring better than the older EU member states. It could be that the affluence created by economic growth has fueled demand for products previously considered unaffordable. But the supply chain in these countries is still in its infancy; the largest hurdle lies in logistic support. Often goods are shipped to a third country in Europe where freight is more efficient and cost-effective. From there, they are trucked across several borders to their final destination." Locomotive products heading for this region tend to be in the mid-price range.

Turning to the U.S. market, Shrimplin says, "It appears to be moving in the same direction as the Europeans: away from PVC materials and toward EVA for bath books. We're following closely the ongoing debate on banning the use of phthalate in children's products in America."