Leading Short Run Printers Join NetLibrary to Launch
Global Print Solution™
US and International Printers Join with NetLibrary to Create the
First Truly Global Short-Run Digital Book Printing Service
BOULDER, CO – February 7, 2001
– NetLibrary Inc., a leading provider of eBooks and Internet-based content
and collection management services, today announced the launch of the Global
Print Solution™, a short-run digital printing
service that allows publishers to make their content available to a secure
network of quality digital book manufacturers. The service allows publishers
to increase the number of titles they consider for short-run printing by
decreasing costs associated with title conversion and print procurement. The
combination of eBooks and short-run printing enables publishers to better
manage overall costs and forecasts.
NetLibrary has signed agreements
with premier short-run printers in North America, including Bookmobile, Dehart's
Printing Service, Edwards Brothers, Integrated Book Technology (IBT) and Matrix
Digital Printing. NetLibrary has also signed agreements with leading international
printers including Antony Rowe and Basingstoke Press in the United Kingdom,
dBooks in Australia and Silkbook.com in Hong Kong and Taiwan.
"Global Print Solution™
gives publishers the most effective and efficient short run solution available in the market
today," commented Rob Kaufman, NetLibrary President and CEO. "We continue to listen to our
publisher partners who have asked us to come up with offerings that lead technologically,
yet minimize risks to profitability."
Global Print Solution™
combines NetLibrary's proven file conversion, storage and distribution capabilities with a
network of leading short-run digital book manufacturing facilities strategically positioned
throughout the globe. Each Global Print Solution printer has passed NetLibrary's Printer
Certification Process by demonstrating that its facilities produce books that meet minimum
book manufacturing standards.
After working with publishers to select
appropriate titles for Global Print Solution™, NetLibrary
converts each title into a print-ready format. NetLibrary has developed a proprietary
software process that enables print-ready files to be printed on all high quality digital
printers. Publishers select specific printers for print jobs from NetLibrary's printer
network. Printers securely pull files from NetLibrary and print and fulfill the order.
Participating printers provide publishers with a variety of fulfillment options including
drop-ship, warehouse and fulfill, and traditional print and ship.
According to Jeff Nock, who directs NetLibrary's
Global Print Solution™, "the service provides enhanced
efficiencies for those publishers already using short-run digital printing and an easy start-up
process for publishers who have yet to gain the benefits of digital printing."
NetLibrary's Global Print Solution™
addresses head-on one of the key stumbling blocks to the emergence of short-run digital
printing; the lack of available digital files for books that fit the short-run model. With
Global Print Solution™ NetLibrary offers an economic model
that makes it less expensive for publishers to convert their titles to digital print-ready
format. John Edwards, President of Edwards Brothers, stated, "I am excited about the influx
of print-ready files that NetLibrary will bring to our growing digital printing business."
Greg Mroczek, Manufacturing Manager for Harvard
Business School Publishing and a strategic advisor for Global Print
Solution™, says "I applaud NetLibrary for building a
service that has allowed us to look at short-run digital printing in new and effective ways.
The service gives us new flexibility and allows us to increase the number of titles we consider
for short-run."
Antony Rowe set up his unique short
run book manufacturing facility in 1983 in response to Publisher's ever increasing
demands for shorter production runs. This was further enhanced with the introduction
of digital technology (DocuTechs) in 1991 for ultra short run books and on-demand
(single copy) production was pioneered in 1996. Subsequently Antony Rowe has grown
considerably and now offers on-demand and short/medium run production of books,
journals and loose-leaf products. Antony Rowe aspires to offer the 'total' package
in conjunction with Tradespools (our front end unit based in Frome, Somerset,
England) plus fulfillment via a strategic partnership with Gardners book wholesalers
based in Eastbourne, England.
The Basingstoke Press
(www.basingstokepress.co.uk) was
founded in 1975 and is a privately owned organisation. The company has evolved
from providing general commercial printing services for local businesses into
one of the most respected and innovative printing companies throughout the world
and leads the way in advancing the benefits of On-Demand printing and publishing.
With the traditional quality of litho, the speed of laser and the flexibility of
digital colour, we offer a printing service that fulfils the most demanding needs
in today's modern approach to marketing, communication and print management.
BookMobile
(www.bookmobile.com) is a 1996 offshoot
of Stanton Publication Services, a book design and production company serving
demanding trade and university press publishers for 18 years. BookMobile is
focused on providing high quality digital book printing services to publishers
at competitive prices, and helping publishers find ways to take advantage of
new technologies.
dbooks
(www.dbooks.com.au), a
division of major Australian media company PMP Limited, is Australia's leading
supplier of short-run digital books. Working in partnership with companies
such as Fuji-Xerox and NetLibrary, dbooks continues to operate at the leading
edge of digital print technology and has supplied books for most of the
major publishing houses in Australia. In 2001, dbooks is releasing an on-line
job management and tracking system which will minimize the transaction costs
of on-demand printing and we will expand our on-line content management system,
which allows the repurposing of stored content for use across multiple outputs,
including offset print, digital print, internet delivery and marketing
materials.
Now nearly thirty years in
business with over 80 employees, DeHART's Printing Services
(www.deharts.com)
of Santa Clara, California is recognized as a leader in the field of demand
printing and related services. With digital-based printing and full bindery
capabilities, the company manufactures high-quality books, technical manuals
and related documentation. DeHART's serves regional and national publishers,
along with many independent publishers with economical solutions for high
quality, fast turnaround on runs from 25 to 2500.
Founded in 1893, Edwards
Brothers (www.edwardsbrothers.com) is an Ann Arbor, Michigan based company
with the vision of being the leading full-service producer of short to medium
run books and journals. With a focus on the needs of customers, Edwards Brothers
actively works to lower their business partners cost of doing business and
strives to become the easiest to work with. A unique scope of
offerings(including web, sheetfed and digital printing) provides a strong forum
for publishers to compress their supply chain by reducing overhead costs,
warehousing costs and distribution costs as well as the cost of returns.
Celebrating ten years of
digital book manufacturing IBT/IBT Global (www.integratedbook.com) is considered
to be the world leader in paperback and case bound book manufacturing using
digital print engines. With over 25,000 titles archived for 250 US and foreign
publishers, we specialize in "Distribute and Print", sending files from one
facility to the other printing ON DEMAND as close to the end user as possible.
Known for state of the art electronic quality control and on line
administration. IBT/IBT Global sees the future of all books in a digital
printing master plan with worldwide capabilities by 2003.
Based in Dallas, Texas,
Matrix Digital Technologies is a leading digital printing services provider,
nationally recognized for its high quality production of digital short-run
books, one-to-one marketing materials, high volume direct mail, and other mission
critical business documentation. Matrix uses the latest technological
developments to digitally process and produce a full spectrum of print materials
for book publishers, high-tech manufactures, users requiring direct print and
mail services, and any business requiring rapid turn around of black and white
or full color documentation.
Silkbook.com (HK) Ltd. is the
pioneer in Asia for providing Print-On-Demand services. Utilizing Xerox
DocuTech & DocuColour printing technology, it offers comprehensive POD
printing and book publishing services to corporate as well as individual
clients. Its significant market presence as one the largest Internet bookshops
in Asia effectively facilitates it in marketing its POD publications to the
world.
NetLibrary
(www.NetLibrary.com) is the leading provider of eBooks and
Internet-based content management services. Hundreds of publishers of
academic, professional, reference, and scholarly books have adopted NetLibrary's
digital rights management infrastructure. NetLibrary develops, archives, hosts,
and securely distributes eBooks and print-ready files through a variety of
channels, including academic, corporate, public, and school libraries.
NetLibrary eBooks are full-text searchable and available for use on personal
computers in online and offline formats.
Contact:
Jeff Nock
NetLibrary, Inc.
(303) 381-8723
jeff@NetLibrary.com
Jim McDougald
GCI Group
(303) 381-2585
jmcdougald@gcigroup.com
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