CB and Printforce explore further integration of print and logistics of the book

Logistic service provider CB and printing company Printforce are exploring the possibility to further strengthen their partnership. By doing so, the companies are looking to optimize the alignment with the market’s ‘on-demand printing needs’. This applies as well to larger print runs, special productions, and to foreign books and magazines. The use of new technologies will furthermore drive down costs.

More and more publishers these days choose to publish books only after these have been sold. The main reason underlying this choice is the unpredictability of the market demand and the related stock risks. CB and Printforce, through their Joint Book Service (JBS) partnership, have been offering a fully-integrated print on demand facility in CB’s distribution centre since 2010. Today, JBS primarily produces titles with low turnover ratio and best sellers of which no stock is currently available. In order to roll this out on a larger and also international scale, the parties set out to expand their partnership.

Fast and high availability, even with zero stock

Hans Willem Cortenraad, CEO at CB: ‘We want to offer new production options, which applies in particular to titles boasting higher annual sales volumes of up to 1500 units, so that we can rapidly produce these and make these titles available to book stores and online retailers immediately. We’re looking to deploy the latest printing and binding technology in order to enhance production capabilities and drive down production costs. By increasing the alignment between logistics and print, publishers and booksellers will never have to say no again. Fast and high availability, without any stock risk, is becoming increasingly important.’

Foreign and educational books produced here

It also becomes more attractive for international publishers to have their titles for the European market managed and produced on demand by CB and Printforce. Cortenraad: ‘This will obviate the need to hold stock on the mainland or to wait ages for transports from the USA to arrive, for example.’ A second market development that the combination wishes to respond to is the personalization of educational books for schools and educational institutions.

Successful partnership

CB and Printforce explore the path to further cooperation. Rombout Eikelenboom, Managing Partner at Printforce: “Printforce and CB complement each other perfectly and have proven over the years that they can work together successfully for their joint customers.”   

CB and Printforce are expected to announce the new structure of their enhanced partnership before the summer.