The Ingram Content Group Inc. this week announced the launch of a print-on-demand journals program it says can help “reshape the traditional supply chain” in journal publishing. Ingram was a pioneering player in offering print-on-demand services for books and the new program extends the service, and its efficiencies, to scholarly journals.

Under the program, Ingram Content Group will provide publishers with the tools to manage their print journals “from file set-up to print on demand to delivery.” Using a Web site, publishers “upload and manage content and subscription lists, designate fulfillment requirements, place print orders for direct delivery to their subscribers.” The service can also be used to economically produce “one-off issues” for claims fulfillment. Using p-o-d for journals can provide many of the same benefits the process does for books, Ingram contends: eliminating overprinting and warehousing, reducing overhead, and providing improved inventory control.

Ingram will begin printing on-demand journals in March for publishers worldwide from its Tennessee location and has plans to expand journal manufacturing to its other locations soon.