Inkjet & Digital Printing
Océ helps TJ International in drive to digital
Monday 07. December 2009 - Unprecedented growth leads to European first for award-winning book manufacturer
Océ, an international leader in digital document management and delivery, today announced that phenomenal growth in digital book production has triggered another major technology investment by short-run pioneers TJ International. The award-winning book manufacturer from the UK is celebrating another milestone as Europes first confirmed site for the worlds fastest cutsheet printer, the Océ VarioPrint 6320 Ultra system.
Creating more flexibility to cope with soaring demand
TJ International, one of the worlds prominent companies in the book printing business, has acquired the new system – part of a family of award-winning printers – to cope with rocketing demand for digital books. It will provide more flexibility for the Cornwall-based book producers. The improved quality and speed makes it viable for TJI to expand the digital capacity in any one run. Before the Océ VarioPrint 6320 was installed, the digital unit produced anything from nine to 350.
A big leap forward for digital, the companys biggest growth market
Angus Clark, TJIs CEO, said: “This is another big leap forward for us and will keep us at the forefront of book manufacturing. For us, digital is the biggest growth market and we expect that it will increase from 16% to 25% of our current turnover within two or three years. Things for us will continue to be far more digital. Digital book manufacturing will continue to increase at a phenomenal rate just as litho production will go down in the years to come.” The average book run at TJIs overall is now around 1200 to 1300, which is down from 1600 to 1700 in the 1990s. “Everybody can see that print runs are going down overall.” said Clark. “As digital develops we see the crossover point getting closer and we will have to question whether we need to be in litho at all. However, if I didnt print litho, digital quality – which is improving all the time – would have to be even better.”
Unique printing technology is best and offers more environmental benefits
He added: “Océ offers better digital technology and more environmental benefits than any of its competitors. Its unique printing technology is extremely environmentally friendly and means the printer uses less power, fewer consumables and makes less noise, without compromising on quality. We are delighted, as will our customers be with the results!”
A big swing in the market with publishers now printing for distribution
Jan Verschaeren, Océs Executive Vice-President, Document Printing, said: “The introduction of the Océ VarioPrint 6320 printing system has taken the market by storm. Since launching this duplex technology little more than three years ago, there has been nothing comparable and it is being used for all kinds of applications – from banks and other financial institutions, to commercial printers and, of course book printers such as TJ International, a long-standing Océ customer.
“Across Europe and further afield we are witnessing a big swing in the market with established publishers printing for distribution, not printing for warehouses. That is why there is so much growth in the digital book market. The pressure that all printers are under from customers is to find ways of publishing for the whole life cycle of a book. This means from the point of getting a finished file of a book that might never go out of existence because you never know when one copy might be needed again in the future.”
Proven history of innovation in digital book production across Europe
TJ International, which has a proven history of innovation in digital book production across Europe, was the first UK book printer to install an Océ DemandStream press in 1999. Five years later, TJI was the first UK book printer to install the Oce VarioStream 9210 and in November 2006 it became the first company in the UK to install the Océ VarioPrint 6250.