Reengineering the Basic Print Proposition

While 2006 headlines bemoaned sky-high oil prices, a shaky Wall Street, a flighty euro, flagging consumer confidence and escalating geopolitical unrest elsewhere in the world, Hong Kong suppliers rode out the year in style. That is not to say that they were spared the anxieties or the rising costs. (Who was, anyway?)

But their creativity, stability and maturity won the day. Call it unwavering optimism, call it chutzpah. Whichever, they are storming ahead even as their North American counterparts are busy merging with one another, rightsizing their business units or adding new equipment. Blasé they are not because these Hong Kong suppliers are well aware of the stiff competition, paper-thin profit margin and flaky customer loyalty. But the fact is, there is substantial capacity expansion on the production floor everywhere PW looks, and most of it is demand driven. Here's another fact: it has come to a point where North American and European publishers (and even Australasian ones) are actively seeking out Hong Kong suppliers in order to shave off some zeroes from their manufacturing overheads and transferring the savings to additional handwork components to increase their products' perceived value. It's no exaggeration to say that there will always be new customers seeking out Hong Kong (or other Asian) suppliers. The sprouting of self-published photographers and small niche publishers has led to a rising demand for high-quality print manufacturing at comparatively low costs.

The only factor staving off a full-scale exodus to Hong Kong seems to be the minimum three-week shipping requirement. Not exactly the slow boat, but in this fast-food, fast-everything era, three weeks may mean making a killing in the bookstores or seeing red on the balance sheet. So, let's state the obvious: short runs requiring even shorter turnaround will not be migrating to Hong Kong (or anywhere else in Asia) anytime soon. The rest is a done deal.

Meanwhile, remote proofing and a tighter workflow to speed up production are the norm. The pursuit of automation continues. Understandable, since automation takes labor—which is getting more expensive, yes, even in China—out of the manufacturing equation. This is especially true in production functions requiring low-level skills, which can be easily replicated by machines. Publishers, at the same time, are working on better forward scheduling, level loading and inventory management. Some suppliers are going a step further: checking out their clients' backlists and proactively suggesting reviving old titles by repurposing or repackaging them. Such partnering stance is becoming increasingly evident in recent months. Figuratively speaking, the two parties are really thick as thieves.

A recurring theme in this year's report is the greening of the print manufacturing supply chain. Perhaps the massive coverage of global warming and the earth-friendly publicity generated by Hollywood celebrities have done the trick. Perhaps the movement that began with calls for tree hugging and saving the baby seals has found its mark by tackling clear-and-present issues that have an immediate impact on our daily lives. Whatever, you know green is mainstream when a dry PowerPoint presentation becomes a box-office hit called An Inconvenient Truth. Not surprisingly, all suppliers—even those not commenting on it in this report—are taking big eco-friendly steps and advocating green consumerism. References to FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), alternative energy, sustainability and carbon neutral crop up every so often. (Just so you know, "carbon neutral" is the New Oxford American Dictionary's 2006 Word of the Year.)

On the following pages, PW talks to 17 suppliers about their outstanding projects, production facilities and future plans. Purely unscientific in approach—and totally discriminating, featuring only those with at least half of their export business derived from the publishing industry—this review is not rubber-stamped with our endorsement. It is meant to be your starting point in your search for the most suitable supplier(s) to kick-start your offshore manufacturing program.

(www.candcprinting.com)

Barely six months after major construction was completed, C&C's purpose-built Shanghai plant already has seven sheetfed presses, two M600 web presses and a full bindery (one case binder, two perfect binders and three saddle stitchers). Director and deputy general manager Ken Lee, who spearheads the Shanghai operation, expects to see 10 sheetfed presses by year-end. "Currently, we have 300 people here, and half of the production is geared to exports. This new facility, together with our Shenzhen and Beijing plants, will strengthen C&C's print production network in China," says Lee. "The emphasis is now on streamlining and networking its operation with that of our fully export-based plant in Shenzhen so that our overseas clients need only go through one channel." The new facility is also within easy reach of Yongshan, Shanghai's largest port, which offers a shorter sailing time to the U.S. West Coast.

Located within one of the city's greenest and newest industrial zones, C&C Shanghai boasts many environmentally sound practices. In fact, all C&C facilities have implemented extensive green programs, which include the use of ecologically friendly materials (recycled/FSC-certified paper, soy ink), conservation of energy (autosequencing in the chiller system, T8 fluorescent lamp-ballast systems, adjusted luminance levels) and reutilization of exhaust air. "The high-temperature exhaust air generated by our M600 web press dryer, for instance, is converted into energy to power the air-conditioning system," adds Lee, who is working on getting the company FSC-certified by the end of the year. "Our green program also involves reducing waste and raw material consumption. Back in 2004, we installed two central ink supply systems to reduce ink wastage by 70% to 80%, and we have since saved over one million metal tin containers."

Over on its production floors, book printing accounts for half of C&C's portfolio. Conventional printing—if V&A Publications'Kylie with faux gold cloth covers and metallic pink foil blocking typifies what you would consider conventional—is the main product segment. "Many conventional titles now require special effects and handwork. Tricia Guild's 224-page Pattern Book is one good example: its interior uses several types of paper—making printing a challenge—while the covers have heat-sealed velour for the flocking effect, producing a special patterned texture," says deputy general manager Ivy Lam. "Scroll-shaped products are also an emerging category. We recently did one that showcases the artwork of artist Felicidad Moreno. It called for precise double-sided printing followed by meticulous handwork to glue the printed sheets together to form a long scroll with 210 pages." And nothing, says marketing manager Margaret Kong, "beats the Japanese edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which has over 200 pop-up effects. We had to break the manual process into various steps to ensure it was the most efficient and neatest way of assembling the book." This title went on to win the Gold Ink award and the Hong Kong Print Award in 2006.

(www.colorcraft.com.hk)

At Colorcraft, PW's comment of "What a morbid subject!" upon chancing on some bereavement books in the showroom is countered by a "Not so!" from chairman Bundy Walker. "Look at it this way: once family and friends of the deceased fill the pages with condolences or memories, the book becomes a form of celebration of the person's life and a consolation to the bereaved." So what are the challenges in producing this type of book? "Not in the production technicalities themselves but rather with the look and feel. By nature, the design has to be restrained and tasteful while not being overly morbid. The colors used are perhaps subdued but not dreary, and the design on the inside pages is kept simple. It's the purpose of such books that differentiates them from the other product categories."

Possessing such product and production know-how is, of course, the hallmark of a great project manager, and Colorcraft's solutions-based approach to clients' projects is known to many. "It's about recommending the best solution and helping clients make better and more cost-effective products," says Walker. Take, for instance, a design brief that her team received last year. "We were asked to produce a box with a curved lid to resemble a treasure chest. The packaging idea was sound, but we identified a potential problem: the curved lid would require special packaging for shipping, thereby increasing both production and shipping costs. It would also be difficult to stack up the boxes for store display or for use. So we suggested a flat lid that maintained the original design of a treasure chest but minus the potential problems."

In another project, one requiring an unusual trim size, Walker and her team saw considerable paper wastage leading to unnecessary additional costs. "Not to mention being environmentally unfriendly, of course. We recommended a paper of equivalent quality but of a different sheet size: this solution kept the trim to a minimum, controlled the cost and caused less damage to the environment."

Boxed products, says Walker, continue to be popular; and ancillary items—teaching aids, boxed sets, publishers' promotional tools, etc.—have shown growth in recent months. And as projects grow in complexity, so too the role of a project manager. "Providing logistical support is one such growth area. Since we are already managing the project and tracking its production progress on the client's behalf, we have a 360-degree view of it. We have the advantage of offering a truly integrated service—from advisory service through to sourcing, production and export logistics—which enables us to quickly adapt and adjust to any schedule changes at any stage of a project. Such capability is especially crucial for educational projects timed to meet school terms, and for split shipments going to several destinations," adds Walker.

(www.ctps.com.hk)

For this particular company, which specializes in lightweight printing, PW asks: How low can one go? "For Bible printing, the norm for one- and two-color is 28 gsm, and for full-color it ranges between 39 gsm and 45 gsm," says business development director John Currie, whose team printed Zondervan's 2,336-page Archaeological Bible on 39 gsm. "In recent years, we have also seen publishers of medical journals and textbooks, travel guides and major reference works lowering basis weight requirements to save shipping and postage costs. So for these products, we typically use 45 to 65 gsm paper." As for the choice of alternative paper sources to circumvent the problem of long shipping time, he finds that American publishers are willing to accept Scandinavian and Chinese papers. "But when FSC concerns come into the picture, Chinese mills capable of making the grade, so to speak, are limited."

Paper, or rather the waste aspect of it, figures prominently in CTPS's recent expansion plan. Last year, it added another two 8-color Heidelberg Speedmasters to its existing six. "Two of these are equipped with CutStar, a roll-to-sheet system which offers the cost benefit of web offset and the flexibility of sheetfed. We see lower paper wastage besides bypassing the costlier practice of indenting presheeted paper," says Currie. One 5-color plus five 4-color and 2-color perfectors have also been acquired since our last report. "We have just commissioned our first large-format (40"×56") 4-color KBA press, an installation which will give our travel guide and map printing segment a major boost."

Half of CTPS's full-color presses now utilize CIP3 standards, with implementation on the remaining presses to be completed by 2008. "With this in place, we can better monitor machine readings and press quality, thereby improving production efficiencies and maintaining high printing standards," adds Currie. "Both CIP3 and our recent GRACoL accreditation are crucial to achieving the high-end quality exacted by products such as European travel guides."

Unique to CTPS is its participation in the procurement programs of major el-hi publishers. Needless to say, keeping an eye on the educational publishing space and North American book printing industry is par for the course. "One thing is certain: the price gap between North American and Asian suppliers will continue to narrow. Position-wise, we are a short- to medium-run supplier, while our North American counterparts continue to aim for long runs," says Currie. Meanwhile, "the publishing industry's consolidation and ownership changes—especially those going into private equity hands—will no doubt affect print-buying practices. At the end of the day, however, it's still the bottom line that counts, so we expect to see increased migration of work to Hong Kong and China to achieve higher savings on manufacturing overheads."

(www.everbest.com)

Two million copies—100,000 sets of a 20-book volume—to be produced in three weeks: that was one of the most challenging projects Everbest handled last year. "We also had to place a 3-D flashcard on the back cover of each book prior to lamination and then collate and insert these sets into slipcases. Each book may be of less than 100 pages, but the full order was still daunting. We had to scramble a bit, but the mission was accomplished," says deputy CEO Ken Chung, who is adding a new five-story building (completion by mid-2008) adjacent to the Nansha facility. "This new land acquisition and construction will double the size of our premises. Aside from this big-ticket investment, we have been into the usual stuff: adding more presses and binding equipment."

Everbest is also in the process of getting its FSC certification, making it one of the first few in the industry to do so. "We are 100% committed to the drive to stop paper mills from buying cheap pulp generated from nonrenewable forests. As much as possible, our practice is to recommend to clients papers that are FSC certified."

In terms of paper selection, publishers tend to use papers they are familiar with. "Most of these papers are readily available through their domestic suppliers, but more often than not, we can't get hold of those specific grades or brands here. So we would propose alternative papers of similar bulk, finish and whiteness. Now that several international mills have set up shop in China, we're using more and more local papers. The quality has improved dramatically over the last few years, and it is comparable to Grade 2, the most common type used for book printing across the globe." According to Chung, there is a slight price advantage to using China-made papers, but "the selection is as few as the percentage of savings when compared to other Asian papers, or even European ones." However, the much shorter shipping time is a major attraction. "To publishers who face ever tighter production and delivery schedules, this is most advantageous. Any chance we can shave some time off the overall schedule, we will jump for it."

Everbest has also been using Chinese ports more frequently. "Shipping from Yantian or Nansha to other major ports around the world takes almost the same time as shipping from Hong Kong now. LCL [loose cargo load] shipment continues to be problematic, even if we consolidate several consignments into one container—a problem which I think is due to China's customs. So we truck those requiring consolidation back to Hong Kong. I'm sure this LCL issue will be resolved sooner or later, and by then we'll see a major contraction in the Hong Kong trucking industry."

(www.globalPSD.com)

At Global PSD, the client-supplier relationship is not limited to just sourcing unique materials to differentiate a product, providing superb printing quality or developing more efficient processes that cut costs and time to market. Says president and CEO Steven Goff, "For us, it's no longer about forming a typical manufacturer-publisher association. We want to be a true partner to publishers worldwide by collaborating with them to maximize their revenue potential. We regularly review backlists with publishers to identify projects that could be repackaged into book-plus items and potentially revive the sales of previously successful titles. Recently, our R&D team created a presentation proposing specific repurposing ideas for selected items from one client's backlist. Our client was very impressed by our team's creativity and insight. This proactive action has led to numerous new projects that included multiple sourced items as well as special packaging to highlight and repurpose existing products." Aside from extending the shelf life of backlist titles, the repurposed and redesigned products have helped the client clinch several foreign rights deals.

Global PSD's capability in handling complex coffee-table projects requiring both high-end printing and handwork means no shortage of examples to show PW. Take photographer Tom Mangelsen's The Natural World, published and distributed by Channel Photographics, Goff's wholly owned publishing house. "This 256-page 10.5"× 19" oversize coffee-table book is printed in six-color on special paper and requires special handling in sewing and binding, owing to its unique size. The finished product is exquisitely dressed in Saifu cloth and features a numbered vellum tip-in signed by Mangelsen," says Goff. "In the top pouch inside the clamshell, we also added an acid-free vellum envelope holding a signed one-of-a-kind Giclée piece." As for The American Presidents—part of a series of books Global PSD produced that highlights its handwork expertise—each casebound edition contains 27 special features, including hinged vellum-tipped envelopes and multiple gatefolds with die-cut pockets.

Interactivity, says Goff, is one major industry trend. "This is getting more evident as books compete with television, movies, games and toys for attention. As such, our team has become adept at integrating electronics, sound modules, lights and special removable features into our projects—be they books, toys or games." Another focus of Global PSD is on the adoption of more eco-friendly practices. "We offer our clients alternative manufacturing materials such as soy inks, recycled papers, phthalate-free laminates and nontoxic water-based traditional and UV varnishes. In addition, we promote worldwide reforestation programs to clients who are interested in green initiatives to reduce their carbon footprint."

(www.huayangprinting.com)

Combining pop-up mechanisms with light modules and crowd sound effects? That's a tall order but one that Hua Yang accomplished with aplomb. "It's a commemorative pop-up book of U.K.'s Arsenal Football Stadium by designer David Hawcock. Aside from the high volume, it required precision assembly of components and matching with corporate club colors. Exact reproduction and consistent print quality were critical," says v-p for international marketing Tony Brooks.

Such stringent color and printing requirements also apply to projects involving character licensing. "For one ongoing project with a French client, we have to make sure the fine paintbrush strokes in the original artwork are evident on the printed pages!" Interestingly, Hua Yang has been involved from the very outset of this project, when the publisher wanted to produce a paper-engineered title out of its series but didn't know where to start. Says Brooks, "We kicked off with just one title, in which we incorporated complex multidirectional mechanisms in one pull-tab. Now, there are eight titles in multiple co-editions." Further, the series has generated massive interest in the Japanese market and brought in huge orders. There is now a TV animation spinoff there, and it has created a substantial range of licensed merchandise—all from the initial development work done by Hua Yang.

Children's books remain the company's core segment, while luxury packaging contributes about 15% to 20% to its total turnover. "Luxury packaging is a difficult category unless the manufacturer truly understands the value of high-end branding and can consistently meet clients' expectations," adds Brooks. Well, this is definitely not something Hua Yang has concerns about, since it has been working with some of Europe's leading luxury brands for almost a decade. A recent project from a Louis Vuitton Group company involved stamped foil with effects simulating a curved silver ribbon caught by the light.

"Many projects—books or otherwise—may not be overly complex, but they can become so when schedules are squeezed and special accessories or components need to be developed or sourced, or both. More often than not, the final delivery date cannot be changed. Front-end development can often take a little longer than anticipated if clients are inexperienced in the product type or if complex paper engineering is required," says Brooks, who is seeing a resurgence in pop-up books. "Publishers who have hitherto not carried pop-up titles seem to be publishing them or keen to do so. There has always been a cyclical nature to pop-up books—going in and out of fashion. Currently, they are certainly in, largely due to authors like Robert Sabuda and David Carter. We even have cosmetics clients exploring the use of pop-up elements in their luxury packaging designs. Our job is to help our clients give their products, books or packaging, the wow factor while meeting marketable price points and delivering the best quality possible."

(www.hhop.com.hk)

Eco-consciousness is regarded by many as mostly hype and fad. Well, not so at 57-year-old Hung Hing: its green philosophy has long been in practice and permeates all parts of its operations, from the dormitories to the print production floor and beyond. To managing director Matthew Yum, environmentally sound practices represent a win-win situation for everybody. "Let's start with wastepaper. Our printing plants recycle over 60,000 metric tons of it annually. Over at our paper mill, 400,000 metric tons of wastepaper is consumed annually to produce testliners and medium paper for the corrugated industry. As for fuel-saving practices, we have effectively reduced water heating costs in our staff dormitories by 60% through the use of solar hot-water systems. We also save about 50,000 kilowatts of electricity per month by using energy-saving fluorescent lights." But that's not all: Hung Hing has a waste steam collection facility, which, when in use, effectively saves some 60 metric tons of fuel per month.

Naturally, the company's ecological stand encompasses FSC and PCW (post-consumer waste) concerns. Its Shenzhen plant and paper trading division are already FSC certified, and by the time you read this report, the entire Hung Hing supply chain will be, too. In its packaging business, the materials used have more than 70% PCW content. Says Munich-based Harald Peter, who oversees Hung Hing's operations in continental Europe, "The bottom line is that all our clients are concerned about the environment, so instead of just talking about it, we are already actively doing our part."

"Active" also aptly describes its newly launched 3.6-million-square-foot Heshan facility in mainland China. "It now has over 1,000 workers with four 6- and 8-color presses already up and running. An additional two 8-color presses have been commissioned and will be operating by the end of this year," says Yum. Meanwhile, the addition of one 8-color and one 10-color perfector at its Hong Kong printing facility in the New Territories has been a boon to publishers rolling out time-critical titles. "This expansion offers manufacturing flexibility besides fulfilling orders of time-sensitive titles, which may be more suitably produced here."

As to changes in the industry, Peter comments, "In recent months, we're seeing requests for more innovative and creative solutions originating from Europe as opposed to the U.S. In general, European customers demand complex child safety requirements, a trait that arose mostly from the diversity of the region. For Hung Hing, meeting such challenges is nothing new, and our expertise has led to significant growth in our European sales. Overall, higher consumer demand is one major factor pushing up our sales here." And this growth in business, no doubt, is the direct result of a strong currency seeking maximum leverage in Asia.

(www.leo.com.hk)

Selected as one of the pioneers in the Clean Manufacturer Programme conducted by the Hong Kong Environmental Protection Department, the recently FSC-certified Leo has been doing plenty to protect the environment. Says group sales director Kelly Fok, "We have our own corporate five- and 10-year sustainability policies, and we adhere to the 5R principle—Replace, Reduce, Reuse, Reform and Recycle. At the same time, we also have policies governing waste, pollution as well as water and energy use."

The company's concern for the environment has also seen Fok advocating soft/remote proofing as a way of reducing the consumption of paper, ink, oil and other raw materials. "Soft proofing saves time as well as eliminates the production of VOC [volatile organic compounds]. Moreover, PDFs are highly transferable, via e-mail or FTP, and provide instantaneous remote access," adds Fok. And speaking of proofing (and prepress matters), Leo has been incorporating GRACoL 7 into its production system to improve color balance across its prepress and manufacturing system. "We prescribe to ISO 12647 standards on proofs and print production using the GMG color management system. Colors aside, our production workflow was recently given a boost by the introduction of InSite, an integrated Internet portal for the Heidelberg Prinergy workflow which streamlines job submission, status tracking, online collaboration, and remote proofing and approval between printers and their clients. It effectively moves jobs through the production floor faster and with less margin for error, confusion or delay. Besides reducing product cycle time and material costs, it also enhances our responsiveness to clients' needs."

Over on the production floor, RFID (radio frequency identification) technology is being deployed. Such in-house use may sound excessive to some, but it's definitely not so at Leo Paper's gargantuan complex in Heshan. "Currently, we're testing the technology on selected production floors, tracking and tracing goods within the designated areas. It provides real-time data on goods flowing through the entire system, say, from the production floor to the inspection department and onward to the finished goods warehouse. RFID enables instantaneous interdepartmental information exchange, enhancing the deployment and management of an organized supply chain," says Fok. Presently, only finished goods pallets are RFID-tagged, but the goal is to extend it to cartons and even down to the item level. "This, of course, would require support and collaboration between Leo and its clients. Needless to say, a huge undertaking such as this also requires considerable resources."

Meanwhile, at the 40-acre Astros Greenfield Garden, construction has entered its final stages. Fok says, "We recently completed our third wastewater treatment plant and phase 3 dormitory buildings. A second canteen with capacity for 3,500 people is due for completion by the end of this year, while supporting facilities—community hall, theme park, indoor playground, etc.—to enhance Leonians' lives will be completed by 2009."

(www.locomotive.com.hk)

An age-old cost-quality conundrum has been bugging Locomotive frequently in recent months. And this, according to director Sarah Shrimplin, is mostly due to novelty book publishers' upping the ante. "Perhaps more than publishers in other categories, they need to maintain the 'novelness' of their products, both in design and style. So what we're seeing is a growing demand to print illustrated novelty books in a full-color process. The nature of the silk-screening process means that, traditionally, solid colors are the norm for cloth and bath books. While we can achieve full-color printing effects by silk-screening, the colors vary, and sometimes they become quite grainy due to limitations on the file resolution—92 lpi as opposed to the usual 128 lpi—that can be used. Alternatively, we can go for sublimation printing, which produces higher quality with more consistent colors." But there is a big catch. "Sublimation printing has high initial setup costs and demands a relatively large minimum order quantity. So when it comes to multilanguage printing involving licensed characters—something which we handled just recently—the sublimation option is just too expensive, while licensed character artwork can prove to be quite a nightmare to get right on silk-screening."

For plush-and-plastic manufacturers like Locomotive, safety is a hot-button issue. "Nowadays, most testing laboratories are so much stricter on every safety aspect, while publishers are keen to see their products go beyond the usual and normal. In one recent project, we had to use edible glue—something which I'm not sure is the healthiest diet for anyone!—to satisfy one publisher's demand." With product safety increasingly being regulated, ensuring that safety requirements are met basically translates into higher material costs. "These cost hikes are not always easy to pass down the line, what with stiff price competition. The introduction of RoHS [Restriction of Hazardous Substances] standards, for instance, means that a product containing electronic components—even a simple push-button sound module—will have to use more expensive raw materials. Yet we can't raise our selling price. In other words, everyone in the middle gets squeezed and yet can't do anything about it."

Saleswise, Locomotive's main market is still Europe, with the remaining split equally between the U.S. and the rest of the world. "Healthy demand continues to come in from the Baltic states, while Korea remains an expanding market for novelty books, both in Hangul and the English language. I'm still puzzled as to what drives the Korean demand," adds Shrimplin. "Touch-and-feel books, both paper and cloth, seem to be back in demand this year. So, too, are the mix-and-match packs of cloth/bath/paper books that have sprung from the book-plus-toy items, which have been hot for several years."

(www.magnumoffset.com.hk)

"Creativity" is the magic word at Magnum. "It's about standing out from the crowd and creating a lasting impression," says business development manager Anita Lam, who aims to creatively promote her business by promoting her clients'. A recent golf DVD-and-book set—a first on the subject—produced for a German client is a case in point. Since golf is now one of Asia's favorite pastimes, Lam saw a tremendous business opportunity, and she brought the client and another customer—a Hong Kong publisher—together to work on an English co-edition. For one hotel client's special-occasion dinner menu, Lam suggested adding special die-cutting so that couples get to enjoy a mini shadow play right at their table while savoring a candlelight dinner. "It's a small but fun job. To us, creativity is everywhere, regardless of how big or small a job is."

And that applies to the company's marketing strategies as well. Take the unique redemption program that starts every October: For every $150 (A$175 or 100 euros) spent with Magnum, a registered client earns one point, referrals included. "The following November, for clients with 1,000 points, we print 300 pieces of a tailor-made 14-month calendar with their company logo and profile and using pictures of their choice. Six clients redeemed their points last year, and the response has been very positive." For Magnum's online survey, Lam gave out free memo pads, printed with the client's logo and accompanying graphics, to encourage feedback; the response rate exceeded 70%. "It's a great way to gauge our clients' satisfaction with our service while thanking them for taking the time to answer the survey questionnaire." Over in cyberspace, Magnum adds an online printing tips corner to promote information and knowledge sharing in the community, among clients and nonclients alike. "We launched it about a year ago and currently have about 100 subscribers worldwide. The whole idea is to promote our corporate identity and enhance our link with the global industry."

Magnum's problem-solving approach is anything but run-of-the-mill. "Recently, we had one time-sensitive 320 gsm laser-card project that required foil stamping and glow-in-the-dark ink as well as the usage of inks for synthetic paper—for a four-color process with an additional white layer on top—and silver ink on the inside covers. Our client's original idea would mean days spent waiting for the inks to dry. Our solution? Use UV printing to shorten the cover printing process from eight to two days." For another project, which required aqueous coating throughout, a 6-color 38"× 56" press with an aqueous coater was deployed to print 27"×41" 32-page signatures. "The variety in our press lineup gives us great flexibility. In this particular case, we shaved three days off the lead-time and saved more than $10,000 on printing cost."

(www.midasprinting.com)

Two icons—actress Audrey Hepburn and activist Nelson Mandela—grace the pages of Midas's pick of most memorable projects in 2006. Says group managing director T.L. Kwong, "While the 200-odd photographs in The Audrey Hepburn Treasures demanded stringent gradient control, it's the add-ons that posed the biggest challenge. Firstly, the 34 glassine pouches containing removable mementos and documents required special double-sided tape to fix them firmly to the pages. Then there was the spine issue: those pouches and their contents account for nearly one-third of the book's overall thickness. Calculating the spine width and binding were two major technical issues that our team faced."

As for Mandela: The Authorized Portrait, processing double-page photographs and facsimile reproduction of documents took center stage. "Most pages sported solid black or color printing—something which we have been doing a lot in recent years—and the challenge here was to prevent any hickies or ghosting during the printing process," says assistant general manager for marketing Andrew Hsu. Midas produced 12 versions of the title—totaling 300,000 copies—within six weeks. "Large-format photography projects like this are becoming more and more popular. It's a niche market which Midas will further explore and develop."

Says Kwong, "Clients are also more willing to pay for gimmicks that would make their titles stand out on the shelves. The Hepburn title is one such example. A few years back, we did a similar project on golf great Arnold Palmer, which has 12 pieces of memorabilia tucked in pouches. The trend is clear: the new breed of coffee-table books has a lot of book-plus features." This has led to an obvious expansion of the print manufacturer's role. Today, publishers look to their suppliers for total printing solutions—from solving production hiccups and providing logistical support to sourcing accessories and proposing alternative designs or packaging. Accordingly, Midas has expanded its sourcing and product development departments with the goal of offering clients a plethora of value-added services, including enhancements to existing products. "Last year, we developed a number of new products that involved pop-ups, special inks and multimedia components, among others; some of these have patents pending. This has been a very successful move, as we have clients who are interested in developing such products with us as well as those wanting to buy their rights."

But Midas, which is one of the first printers to receive the honor of Business Superbrand (Hong Kong 2006), doesn't concern itself just with production quality. Early this year, it attained the SA 8000 social accountability standards. "We strive to use recycled and FSC-certified paper, soy-based inks and inks with less chemical content," adds Kwong.

(www.palacepress.com)

It's a banner year for Palace Press, which has bagged 19 awards including six Independent Book Publisher awards, three Nautilus Book awards and three Bennys. Recent months have seen the company branching out into new formats and media with more than 30 projects involving special kits or DVDs; half of the DVD products were created by Palace Press for its clients.

Take, for instance, Sculpting a Galaxy. Team Palace Press first designed the clamshell box with numerous magnetic closures and specially shaped foam to hold various pieces—including models of the Death Star, a vintage Landspeeder and the Millennium Falcon—snugly in place. "We then collaborated with Lucasfilm to create the DVD, which contains new and original content never before seen by Star Wars fans, as well as interviews with the model makers," says president and CEO Raoul Goff. "We also worked with one company to develop an innovative hybrid compound stronger than the average polyresin to make sure the Falcon model can withstand the rigors of shipping and repeated handling, and another company specializing in laser etching to refine the Falcon's contours. We then worked with Lucasfilm archivists to make sure the hand-painted colors matched those of the original Falcon models."

The accompanying limited-edition book—hidden in a compartment within the clamshell—boasts, among others, more than seven gatefolds, die-cut foldouts and six-color printing. One of the gatefolds, when fully extended, measures nearly eight feet long—the largest ever produced by Palace Press. "Two issues are often overlooked when designing gatefolds, resulting in their being inserted too close to the gutter or being damaged owing to poor paper selection," says Goff. "As a rule, we build in a 3.75 mm tolerance while making sure the paper used is capable of withstanding repeated folding and unfolding. We regularly recommend that our in-house designers assist the publisher or designer with the files and do a mock-up to show how the proposed gatefold will work."

For Surf's Up —a behind-the-scenes look at Sony Pictures' animated feature film of the same name—Goff and his team authored a special DVD explaining the film's groundbreaking technology, and conceived a companion book, which includes stickers, envelopes, a teaser movie poster as well as a special acetate booklet simulating the graphic layering used to build the digital waves. "Challenges in printing on acetate and on the rigid polypropylene slipcase aside, the usage of six different types of paper and the add-ons complicate the binding process," says Goff.

And speaking of paper, he adds, "Since we do mostly high-end art and photography books, we source for the best papers—those with better coating and ecological footprint. To this end, we have partnered with the American Forestry Association to offer publishers the opportunity to sponsor tree-planting programs to compensate for the paper used to create their books. The results are environmentally balanced, truly carbon-neutral products."

(www.qpp.com)

A new six-story factory building and a refurbished press area equipped with several new KBA machines (with speeds averaging 18,000 sheets per hour) are the two biggest developments at QP. Says sales director Sanny Liu, "One of these machines, a six-color with autoplate capability, prints on PVC as well as foil and can handle UV finishing. This translates into more choices and higher production efficiencies for both our clients and ourselves." Meanwhile, CtCP (computer to conventional plate), which combines the best of both conventional/analog and digital workflows, has been incorporated into its prepress system. "Presently, all our presses and supporting systems or components—CIP3, CtP, CtCP, MIS, etc.—are linked to Logotronic, a fully integrated data exchange system, which gives us full control over the whole manufacturing process from job implementation, machine parameter setting, data analysis and job tracking to reporting of production results. At the same time, we're networking our Dongguan and Tianjin facilities to maximize our capabilities and resource use."

Innovative installations are nothing new to QP. Take, for instance, the heat tunnel, which was designed specifically for board game manufacturing and comes with temperature and speed controls. "The heat tunnel removes moisture from objects within minutes or seconds depending on the material thickness. It's much more efficient than the traditional dehumidifier. This, however, does not mean that old methods of doing things are obsolete at QP: we still operate a large humidity-controlled room and several dehydrators," says Liu. "Much of our investment in machinery is geared toward increasing automation and elevating production efficiencies so as to achieve consistently high quality. Our board game, card game and rigid box lines, for instance, have been upgraded from semi- to full automation."

And what's with the air shower? PW asks. "This installation is in line with our belief that having the right environment is crucial to producing high-quality products. As such, prior to entering the press area, everybody has to step into an antechamber where jets of air blow off dust particles from their clothes. It's essentially a decontamination process," says marketing communications manager Jessie Leung. Besides installing humidifiers in many corners of its press area, QP also has an extensive water purification system to balance the water acidity and alkalinity for optimum electroconductivity.

Meanwhile, its R&D team has been busy conducting feasibility studies of new product designs, identifies potential production glitches and suggests solutions during the product development stage. "Indirectly, what we are doing is helping our clients speed up their products' time to market. For instance, the team may suggest using paper instead of plastic components for a particular project to eliminate the cost of producing an injection mold, thereby saving some money and reducing manufacturing time," adds Leung.

(www.regalprinting.com.hk)

Simple does it for Regal. Its two Benny-winning titles last year have no fancy treatment, intricate packaging or special colors. "It's back to basics for both juvenile title Tam, the Ladybird That Lived in a Pumpkin and coffee-table book Victoria Collection," says managing director Maurice Kwan. Tam, a direct-to-plate 170 lpi project, boasts surreal colors but requires only conventional CMYK printing. Incidentally, Kwan's first Benny winner, Abracadabra: Mexican Toys, is also a no-gimmick title that wowed the judges with its printing quality. These achievements were made possible largely by Regal's fully calibrated ISO 12647-2 presses and prepress system, the result of a $500,000 investment. "We do regular ECI [European Color Initiative] press tests to ensure stable ink density and level so that each printed sheet is representative of the entire print run. This leads to production and cost efficiencies—and, of course, positive client response. Our clients can effectively bypass the tedious overseas press checks and stay home, assured by our color management system of production fidelity."

Nonetheless, complex projects are the norm at Regal. Take, for instance, the limited edition Charmed: The Book of Shadows (DVD Collection), which comes with a numbered certificate and a display stand. "The biggest challenge lay in the binding process as the product contains die-cut hardboard pages interleaved with soft text paper as well as EVA foam holding the DVDs. Gimmick-wise, the cover has eight flashing LEDs [light-emitting diodes] adorning the triquetra, a mini motion sensor to activate the lights and a small battery compartment." In another project, a highly illustrated book on the pottery of Walter B. Stephen, multilevel embossing was employed to simulate a three-dimensional ceramic piece for the cover. But nothing is as satisfying—or defining—as printing Getty Images' 2006 yearbook. "This was the first time the company awarded a project to a supplier outside of the U.S. For us, it's testimony to our quality and reputation as a high-end print manufacturer."

Marketing collateral makes up 10% of Regal's revenue, and it isn't the garden-variety type. For Verizon, for instance, Regal had to tinker with audio and light effects on top of the glossy printing; while for WMS it had to fiddle with a miniature pull-tab that brings on the sound effect when the brochure is flipped open. "We never forget that we're targeting the same customers as do our competitors, so the game plan is to always be better, faster and cheaper. Our customers can easily discern that we are different, and not only do they come back for more, they recommend us new clients!"

Business aside, Kwan has been giving out financial awards to Hong Kong students pursuing a two-year degree course in printing at Wuhan University in mainland China. "We need to build the next generation of print specialists; Hong Kong/China print manufacturing industry's future and survival rests on their shoulders."

(www.regent-hk.com.hk)

"Accomplishing the purpose desired" is Regent's promise to its clients, and this literally means making the impossible possible. Hence, little fazes managing director George Tai or operations director Tina Wong.

Take The Subversive Art of Designer Toy s by a Japanese designer, for instance. "First of all, the designer wanted to use corrugated board for the covers and have the ridges exposed on the side edges," says Wong. "Since corrugated board is soft by nature, and therefore inappropriate for case-binding machines, we had to manually bind the book. It required a lengthier process, but we were assured of beautiful results." This, however, was just the start of the challenge. "The designer also wanted to print directly onto the board to maximize the effect on the grooves and ridges. But given the 0.25" thickness of the board, we had to use silk-screening instead of offset printing. His request to add an extra thick layer of white ink on the board to give it a look of purity posed quite a challenge to our suppliers and our QC team. We had to be extra vigilant throughout the manufacturing process to make sure the ink stayed 'pure.' " Of course, Wong and her team also had to build in enough dehydrating time to prevent board warpage.

Managing and brokering projects that require nontraditional and nonpaper materials is Regent's forte. Its showroom is chock-full of examples, and they show heavy "borrowing" from other industries. Says Tai, "We believe that design should not be limited to just ink on paper. In the last few years, we have worked with our clients to develop many new ideas, and our R&D department carries these concepts even further. For instance, if you have a book on quilting, why not print the designs on real fabrics, such as silk, cotton, gunny, linen or even hemp? Or if it's an art book, why not explore using Epson printouts with oil embellishment to make it feel like a real painting?"

Adds Tai, "There is always something out there that can add value to a product and differentiate it from the crowd. So we say to our clients, 'Just ask and we'll figure it out. Consider Regent as an extension of your production and marketing team.' " For Tai, besides witnessing greater willingness on the part of publishers to share ideas and partner with their supplier, there is another major—and most welcoming—change in purchasing behavior in recent years. "It used to be that orders didn't arrive until a couple of months prior to the major sales period, say, end of October to hit the Christmas season, causing pandemonium and panic. Now, there is more level loading throughout the year. The benefits are plenty: for one, planning earlier means we have time to negotiate better deals with suppliers of raw materials and then pass back the savings to our clients."

(www.snpcorp.com)

The timing could not have been better for SNP. Not long after consolidating its back-office functions and synergizing the work processes within its hand-assembly plants in China and Thailand, one high-profile project by Maurice Sendak/ Sabuda Studio arrived at its door. "We had to utilize both our Excel China and Thailand facilities to accommodate this huge and complicated order," says senior v-p for marketing Kathy Kueneman. "Going forward, we foresee more such projects involving these two hand-assembly plants, and so we will continue strengthening the synergies. The good news is we brought back a former general manager to our Thai plant to work on fine-tuning and aligning its internal procedures with those at our Chinese plant. Such integration will allow us to better spread projects between the two facilities in order to meet our customers' demand for shorter turnaround time."

SNP, of course, is not just into pop-ups but also illustrated and coffee-table books, educational kits, book-plus and everything in between. "Right now, we're working on one illustrated title that uses six different materials for the text as well as embedded jewels, lamination, two types of foil, flocking, spot UV varnish and two passes of embossing for the covers. In the area of product development, we're exploring the use of hybrid inks to achieve more vibrant metallic colors," adds Kueneman, who is seeing increased demand for secondary processes such as flocking, glittering and foil stamping in children's titles. "Special cover treatments and materials continue to be in high demand for both adult and juvenile products. We recently produced some elaborate sculptural embossing, utilizing multiple passes of UV varnish."

At present, about 30% of SNP's business comes from the U.K. and Europe. "Our strength in this region is in novelty and hand-assembly products, which can't be produced cost-effectively there. Needless to say, there is less demand for coffee-table books, which are more time-sensitive and can be produced faster locally. The strong euro has made European publishers view outsourcing to Asia in a more favorable light." For Kueneman, telecommunication advances have pulled the publishing and print manufacturing communities closer. "Time zones, geographical borders and local cultures are now of less significance in business. I would go as far as saying that there is hardly a publisher out there who does not consider printing overseas."

How about a publisher who is considering paper type, the FSC kind? PW asks. "FSC-certified paper is becoming more of an important issue with certain publishers. The demand for this in the U.S. is still less than that from our U.K. clients," says Kueneman. "Our primary paper mill offers FSC papers at a slight premium, so it may take a bit longer for demand to bring the price down to a more competitive range. For those clients wanting to use FSC-certified and recycled papers, no problem, we are able to provide them."

(www.wktco.com)

"Managing the regular is our greatest strength," says marketing director Jeremy Kuo. And that is a refreshing stance given that publishers and print manufacturers are bending backward trying to introduce all things novel and gimmicky. "We do work to fulfill customers' ever expanding demands for eye-catching products. But innovative products invariably have short shelf lives, and few seem to stay on the backlist for long. So, given a choice, yes, we would prefer working on titles or series that either are or have the potential to become regular stocked items in any store's list. It so happens that such titles are often less complicated, traditional books. That's not to say that these titles remain static—publishers are continuously reinventing their bestselling products or characters in new formats, bindings and merchandise. But for the most part, such products sell for their content rather than for their gimmickry." PW gets it: steady sellers translate into steady printing orders, the Holy Grail of every print manufacturer.

"In these circumstances, we excel in providing clients with a reliable major supply chain component: reliability—in terms of consistency and quality—when the shelves need to be replenished constantly, and dependability of delivery that is vital for keeping the supply and distribution chain in motion. In addition, there is our ability to manage short co-editions and cope with complex instructions for packing and shipping to multiple destinations. So, rather than just be known for the new, we like to think of ourselves as guardians of publishers' most cherished assets: books that are perennials."

Adds Kuo, "Complex projects are not our forte. Quality is. Our projects tend not to be earth-shattering for their novelty appeal, but they do break the mold by raising the bar for quality." So while others are automating the process for making rounded corners for children's books, WKT wants to make corners that are really round—usually by manual work. "It's difficult to get good flat-lying round corners—something that, we believe, is an important feature of a good product. We continue to automate while maintaining high quality."

What about those odd-shaped children's books with EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) foam sheets between paperboards? asks PW. "We came up with the concept and proposed it to several clients. But this is expensive stuff. Process-wise, it's tricky working with EVA, especially since it stretches under pressure—while die-cutting, for instance—and that makes accurate gluing of the components quite a challenge," says New York–based marketing manager Arthur Quek. "It is often the case that the innovation is not obvious, and it usually exists in the process rather than in the actual substance. The result is a better product; the secret lies in not showing why." And that's the furthest PW gets, because getting WKT (which regards client confidentiality as sacred) to talk about new projects, product development or innovative ideas is like pulling teeth.