Upping the ante, pushing the limits of technology, wooing publishers big and small—these Asian suppliers are unstoppable!
For Asian print manufacturers, 2004 was a good year: exports of printed materials from Hong Kong/China to the U.S. amounted to nearly $1,255 million, a year-on-year increase of $202 million.
Certain categories, such as games, catalogues, calendars and Bible/lightweight print manufacturing, are showing significant growth and evolving fast. That being our cue, our 2005 annual report deviates from the usual alphabetical who's-who format. Print manufacturers are now discussed according to their niche segment(s) or known expertise. The main focus is on the complex and interesting projects that came across their desks, and the challenges at hand. It's worth noting, however, that PW is not pigeonholing anybody. All print manufacturers covered here are more than capable of offering and producing a multitude of services and products at the drop of the hat.
With the manufacturing pool so big and editorial space limited, PW had to employ one yardstick: the supplier must derive at least 20% of its business from the international publishing industry. Our subjective selection does not endorse or promote any particular company or product. Our caveat to buyers remains unchanged: do your homework before signing on the dotted line.
Not to Be Taken Lightly
The exodus of lightweight printing, mostly of Bibles, from North America and Europe to Hong Kong/China is stirring debate of a nonspiritual nature. Logically, high-end types that require handwork would migrate to lower-cost China. But why are conventional ones trudging down the same path as well?
To answer this question and more, PW calls on Derek Hill, head of production services at the British and Foreign Bible Society. He explains, "Bible work has been in Asia for a long time, especially the shorter runs in South Korea. It's just that lately the work is shifting in large volumes to China, following the same route taken by other publishing segments." Hill points out that recent Chinese mill expansion has made available relatively inexpensive lightweight paper of reasonable quality. As such, publishers are now more than happy to try their mass market products in Hong Kong/China before sending over expensive, value-added editions."
Business development director John Currie of CTPS (China Translation and Printing Services) agrees with Hill's analysis of lightweight grades from China. "The quality improvement has been significant, and such grades are often used for cost-sensitive products. Dictionaries and reference work publishers are most keen to try them out. Generally, lightweight grades now have better printability and runnability, especially high-end coated and semi-coated ones from Norscan [North American and Scandinavian] mills. Pricewise, it has remained steady in the first half of 2005." Major mills, according to Currie, have "increased their inventories in tandem with this lightweight manufacturing shift to Hong Kong/China. Some go further: French mill PDL, for instance, has installed its own sheeting facilities in Hong Kong to cope with demand."
Turning to Bible publishing trends, Hill says, "Fashion has arrived in the business: covers are now available in plush polyurethane [PU], in denim material or camouflage colors. There are metal cases and even a rubberized type called Tru-Grip from one publisher." Hill, a production consultant for United Bible Societies, spends most of his time assessing printers around the world and looking into supply-chain issues. Since United Bible Societies, a collection of interdependent Bible societies, produces 21 million to 25 million Bibles annually, Hill definitely has the insider knowledge. So what's his take? "In order to appeal to the younger generation, there is but one marketing philosophy: be fashionable. The Bible has to feel good and look good as well as be readable."
For CTPS—one of the few China companies approved for export printing of religious publications—both the exodus to China and the trend toward fashionable Bibles are cause for cheer. Says Currie, "While low labor cost is crucial to high-end Bible designs requiring fancy and decorative covers, reliance on just that would be myopic. There is an immediate need to look beyond the labor advantage, and this is where R&D comes into play. CTPS works with customers to set up production lines for PU and semi-PU materials to meet their requirements. At the other end, major European manufacturers are directly and actively promoting these materials to the Bible industry. Proactive cooperation between publisher, PU material manufacturer and print supplier is key to the sector's robust growth."
As for the general Asian print manufacturing industry, Hill notes that "it is rapidly going up the value chain into areas European and American suppliers thought they owned. The massive investments made by Asian suppliers mean that their equipment and workflow processes are as good, or better than, what many European and American printers have."
Hill's point on capital expenditure is reflected in recent CTPS capacity expansion. To meet its anticipated 40% growth in lightweight products, the company has added new casing lines, including a PUR (polyurethane reactive) adhesive line 0for high page-count titles, and additional gilding machines. Its hand-assembly capacity has been increased accordingly. CTPS's lightweight printing business can be divided into two major categories: Bible/religious products, which require diverse production applications and handwork, and elhi/science/reference products, which are mostly high page-count titles like dictionaries and encyclopedias. Its adoption of a different operational stance has helped CTPS grow its lightweight printing business.
"We buck the trend by using sheetfed presses as opposed to the standard web-press method. There are two major advantages in this: the ability to do small and medium print runs and the feasibility of multicolor printing." Adds Currie, "Publishers are moving toward manufacturing full-color high page-count titles using lighter paper. This direction is given a boost by improved 50—56-gsm grades developed by Scandinavian and French mills last year. And the large output of such grades, primarily aimed at North American and European markets, means adoption by publishers is swift and sweeping. Our 'featherlight' printing program, which was launched last year, has enhanced our position within this niche market."
PW's verdict? Judging from the insiders' assessment and the way things are, the current volume of lightweight works moving to Hong Kong/China is just the tip of the iceberg.
The Plus Factor
After a while, it seems as if all print manufacturers in southern China are offering book-plus capabilities. Well, not so, says production director Durham DeWitt of Klutz, now a division of Scholastic Inc. "It's true that more suppliers are adding book-plus to their service roster, but not everyone has strong sourcing capabilities. A commitment to building a broad supply base and developing a deep understanding of international safety regulations and testing standards is still exceptional. Without it, a printer claiming to do book-plus is in reality offering hand-assembly."
DeWitt has worked with suppliers in China, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore, as well as Malaysia, on more than 150 book-plus projects over the last 17 years. "Although China enjoys a well-deserved reputation for manufacturing virtually everything, there're still specific cases where other countries are a source of higher-quality material or smaller-scale manufacturing. An overreliance on China has resulted in products that have a sameness about them, reflecting the emphasis on the ease of sourcing rather than insistence on excellence." As for the flow of smaller and independent publishers to Asia, DeWitt says, "There may be some hesitancy owing to concerns about the distance and linguistic difficulties or cultural misunderstanding. But most publishers have overcome these concerns. It's telling that few, if any, publishers that have moved some production to Asia ever move it back to the U.S. It's far more likely that they will move even more production there based on the success of their initial experience."
Does DeWitt see any future shift from low-cost China to supposedly even lower-cost Indochina? "Labor is only one factor in determining where something should be manufactured. Infrastructure—roads and ports—is also a significant. If goods cannot get to a port and on a vessel with ease, labor costs, no matter how low, simply aren't worth saving. In the case of book-plus manufacturing, the ready supply of components outweighs labor costs."
With so many possibilities for things to go wrong in a book-plus project, a print broker can help ease the way. And that's precisely the approach taken by Peter Pauper Press. Says production manager Ginny Reynolds, "We use brokers like Regent because they provide a level of quality control and security. Brokers are able to establish deeper relationships with local suppliers and, in the process, obtain deeper discounts than we could acting alone."
Peter Pauper Press produces more than 200 titles, including book-plus gift kits, journals and keepsakes, as well as books with CDs. "Our products have a high visual appeal, which requires a high degree of control over aspects such as color. In terms of the approval process, we insist on press proofs and dummies for most jobs," says Reynolds.
As for China's rising costs, she says, "Hong Kong/China is known for producing high-quality products at competitive prices. We expect labor costs to rise over the next few years, perhaps with brokers moving further into the interior and northern regions to satisfy the demand for labor. At the same time, we're seeing other Asian countries coming up in terms of manufacturing capabilities. It'll be interesting to see what develops in India and other parts of south Asia over the next few years, whether the region's infrastructure will develop at the same rate as its technological capacity."
Speaking of costs, managing director George Tai of Regent says, "Most book-plus components are being sourced from China because of the lower manufacturing cost. But this also represents higher risks because these factories are mainly selling to the domestic market. Overseas publishers working with mainland factories have to consider the vendor's manufacturing ability and understanding of the international market and quality requirements before placing an order."
Tai currently uses fewer than a dozen component factories in China, and his four sourcing personnel—hailing from different industries: toy, textile, electronics and premium items—work closely with vendors. "We carry out temperature/humidity and rust tests in-house." he notes,. "We try to anticipate potential damage that may occur to products due to climate changes and work to fix the problem before shipment or even before production commences. Other tests, such as chemical content and safety, are done by a qualified laboratory."
Asked what a print broker can offer book-plus publishers, Tai explains, "We are better placed to select the right component and packaging factories because of our proximity and knowledge of the vendors. We supervise the manufacturing process, check on product quality, ensure the schedule is being met, streamline the production processes, test the products, ensure proper packing and handling and so on." For publishers who buy assembling and manufacturing separately, Tai's advice is, "Either ask the assembly factory to do the final component QC or assign a third party to do the job. One can never be too cautious. A small percentage of inferior-quality components is enough to ruin the whole project and your publishing reputation!"
For Andrew Clarke, president of Asia Pacific Offset, coordination is the key to successful book-plus projects, which usually call for multiple item sourcing. "We often work to realize a concept that's only loosely defined at the outset. The final components are chosen after careful sourcing and prototyping." A recent Scholastic project, for example, was a music box with a ballerina, nail stickers, a Mylar mirror, a tiara, bangles, rings and a book.
Quantity, says Clarke, restricts the creation of unique products in book-plus projects. "The mold or set-up cost may prevent customization, so buying finished goods off the shelf is often necessary." But that wasn't the case with his project for Company's Coming. "The client wanted to package two cookbooks with two ceramic serving bowls in an elegant but sturdy display box. It was our first time dealing with ceramics and, surprisingly, manufacturing the dishes with customized artwork proved to be less of a challenge than we had expected. Finding the most advantageous and safest packaging, on the other hand, was a lengthy process involving multiple tests."
To see the ingenuity of Palace Press at work, look no further than Suze Orman's Ultimate Protection Portfolio—the impressive package it produced for Hay House. From the design of the floatable, translucent blue briefcase equipped with a blinking emergency beacon to the software used in the product, it's all "about thinking out of the box," says CEO Raoul Goff. "The book-and-kit project is one of our specialties. We don't just print a book and source the add-ons. We collaborate with the client to develop and refine the concept from its very inception."
To further illustrate such book-and-kit projects, general manager Michael Madden says, "We have one project that involves hand-sculpting and tooling of multiple figurines based on the book's theme. After the painting process, these figurines are inserted into a box with die-cut acetate windows and a blister tray that was custom-molded to showcase the figurines while displaying the book inside." Another example was a series of book-plus kits manufactured for Baby Signs, a company that publishes educational kits in the area of childcare and parenting. "One of these kits included a custom-created silk-screened cloth book using 7-color printing—giving us major registration and trapping challenges—a terry-cloth baby bib that was also silk-screened in several colors, booklets, CDs and videos."
And production issues are just a part of such book-plus projects. "The coordination of a dozen or so factories can be a major project-management challenge," says Goff. "Paper import and transfer licensing in China, CD licensing, trucking between factories in inland China and obtaining the necessary component approvals all require close supervision."
As for printing techniques such as duotone, tritone and quadratone, Madden says that the key lies in film testing. Laser die-cutting is another fun and innovative technique that the company did a lot of last year. "Like stochastic and lenticular printing, it's critical to learn how to set up the files, do a lot of testing and have a hands-on understanding of the machinery the supplier is using."
Palace Press is in the process of enhancing its creative and development services. "With our own divisions in publishing [Mandala Publishing, EarthAware] and packaging [Insight Editions], we offer design and prepress services that are sought after by even the largest and most sophisticated publishers," says Goff, who is also the creative director. And that means the term "print broker" is definitely inadequate to describe Palace Press.
For some, manufacturing five editions of 84 titles in three languages—totaling well over a million copies—and shipping them to six different destinations may be a nightmare. But for 35-year-old ColorCraft, this is, literally speaking, all in a day's work. "The logistics of proofing 1,260 different books was daunting," says director for planning and development Alasdair Kinloch. "When last-minute editorial changes occurred for about 10% of the books—with some already on the press—our client FTP-ed the editorial and pictorial changes over, we retouched or enhanced the images, amended the text, sent over the soft proofs and obtained the go-ahead within hours. Digital workflow is absolutely wonderful!" The 1,000 sets printed were later assembled and packed into custom-made cartons that were film-laminated to withstand varying humidity during transit.
Another example of complex projects revolves around the production of boxed DVDs from 10 different artists for an upscale art studio. "Color was a major issue: the silkscreening on the discs and the printing on the board boxes meant color tone variance was unavoidable because of the different substrates used," recalls Kinloch. "For projects like this, the challenge is in getting the final color to match the original artwork and the proofs."
As for trends, in the last few years ColorCraft has seen growth in the demand for boxes filled with fun items that both educate and entertain children. "Overall, our educational kits segment is growing fast, and the projects mostly come from the U.S., Australia and New Zealand," says chairman Bundy Walker. "One recent project involved making a plastic board of 18 square inches with 100 moving parts. From the outset, we had concerns about the use of polypropylene plastic made from a standard injection mold, and the sample showed a two-inch warpage. So we advised our client to use the more expensive but higher-quality hot runner molding technique, using high-impact polystyrene [HIPS], which is more durable and gives better silkscreening colors."
Says Walker, "It gives us a great deal of pleasure to help out a first-time publisher or an ex-schoolteacher with a great idea. We can help them design their products and packaging, and seeing them come back several months later for reprints is extremely satisfying."
Talking about Leo Paper Group without mentioning Leo Touch—a series of secondary processes that it has developed—would be next to impossible, because no other print manufacturer has put in as much effort in developing these processes. Says group co-sales director Kelly Fok, "About six years ago, we realized that traditional printing and binding no longer satisfied the customer. The demand had moved beyond design and graphics toward far more innovative offerings—the post-printing processes or the so-called secondary processes. Customers want products that are both visual and tactile." Leo has developed more than 40 processes in different series, such as sand-blast and wrinkle-frost in the frost series and hi-rise and image-soft in the flocking series.
Secondary processes are mostly used in children's novelty items, says Fok. "When it comes to children's products, consumers are looking for the most value for the money. Interactivity is the new thing for this category. Publishers look for ways to differentiate their book covers and dust jackets to ensure their products stand out on the display. There is increasing use of secondary processes and materials such as fabric, plastic and metal." With 17 product categories under its belt and more in development, the 17,000-strong Leo is capable of meeting creative ideas thrown out by the publishing community.
But at Leo, sustainable growth is not just about new products or processes. "Our current and future plans revolve around our employees, the Leonians. We want to enhance their living standards and increase their sense of belonging to the company," says Fok. And this is the idea behind the creation and development of its Astros Greenfield Garden, which will include sports fields and a golf range, plus a food/entertainment center once it is completed by 2007. "We are also expanding our factory/warehousing complex from 3.7 million square feet to 5 million. Another 540,000 square feet of land has also been acquired for expansion beyond 2007." Business aside, Leo is known for its concern for the community, organizing charitable activities, relief funds for tsunami victims, volunteer teams, tree-planting programs and so on.
Specializing in high-end coffee-table publications, book-plus and interactive kits, Global Printing Sourcing and Development (Global PSD)—the only new supplier in this review—has extensive reach, with offices in San Francisco, New York, Hong Kong and China. Steven Goff, president and CEO says, "We have the ability to develop these products from a manufacturing, sourcing and logistics platform specifically designed to streamline any project our clients can think of. We like to say, 'If you can dream it, we can make it happen!' " Take for example the acclaimed Hotel LaChappelle and reissued special edition LaChappelle Land. "These titles required heavy ink saturation and careful press supervision to achieve accurate reproduction of David LaChappelle's famed high-octane photography. These 11"×14", oversized books demanded exceptional attention," says Goff.
One of Global's book-plus projects, Classic Marvel Superheroes, is most exciting. Says Goff, "Our Hong Kong team developed a more efficient package to house the collectible figurines and book. We created a custom-molded blister sporting three die-cut acetate windows, all while maintaining the same price point. Next, the resin figurines: polyresin by nature is very fragile, and curious young fingers could give rise to production and safety issues. So our team initiated reconstruction of Wolverine's knife-claws. We won approval from the client and their internal departments with the first set of samples sent. Proactive considerations like this on the client's behalf that set us apart from other suppliers."
Resin is just one of the materials Global has used in its projects. "We work with metal casing, injected plastics, molded items, wax and ceramics. This work is handled by our Hong Kong/China development and sourcing team, which works closely with clients during the creation of a project," says Goff.
Cataloging (and Calendaring) Success
Catalogues nowadays are getting glossier, more design oriented, and definitely more challenging to manufacture. "In the last five years, there was a shift toward Web-based catalogues. But there is now increasing recognition that the Web-based catalogue isn't sufficient and that both print and Web versions are needed to do the job," says managing director Jeremy Owens of Stimulus, a product catalogue producer based in Sydney, Australia.
A strong proponent of the digital workflow, Owens would not consider using anything other than CtP. "Our photography, design and proofing processes are done digitally. I can sit in my office and send out soft proofs to anyone with Internet access and get a response almost immediately. We have an Epson printer with BestColor RIP, which allows on-the-spot color corrections and offers inline proofs of photographs. We can take the photos in the studio, have them proofed in five minutes and then make the necessary color adjustments."
Stimulus also has a remote proofing system—thanks to its strategic partnership with Magnum Offset (Hong Kong)—to expedite prepress and approval processes. Says Owen, "We have the workflow down pat: the photography can be done in Brisbane, the design in Sydney, text from sources worldwide, printing in Hong Kong, and delivery to places as far as Norway and New Zealand." A typical Stimulus catalogue project looks like this: 160—400 full-color pages using 130-gsm coated paper and 300-gsm covers, with a print run ranging from 5,000 to 70,000 copies.
So do catalogues prescribe to the 'Gimme more' principle as well? "Over-embellishing a catalogue that has a 12—18-month shelf life is not necessarily going to make it a better catalogue. In most cases, we use celloglaze on the cover. Trend-wise, Owens says, "The 'in' thing now is to print barcodes next to product photos and to have a mix of wire-o and section sewing on the same print run."
And such a catalogue of mixed binding recently landed in Magnum Offset. "Oroton, a fashionwear company, wanted perfect binding with section sewing on a proper spine for its catalogue. We were concerned about the machine binding quality, as the spine didn't reach the minimum 3-mm requirement. In the end, we bound each copy by hand using sewing machines," says business development manager Anita Lam. It was a complex 150,000-copy print run, with 16 pages of text, an eight-page gatefold, an eight-page endpaper and a four-page cover.
Lam says, "The high-end catalogues go for fancy binding and finishing using printable velvet, suede or cloth paper, and are mostly hand-bound. The mass market types, on the other hand, are usually full-color with spot matte varnishing for the background and spot gloss varnishing for product photos." Even though catalogue printing accounts for less than 6% of Magnum's current sales (the bulk—over 50%—comes from the publishing industry in the conventional printing, packaging and children's product segments), he expects this figure to double by the end of this year. Plans are afoot to recreate its strategic alliance model with Stimulus in France and the U.S. Lam elaborates: "Our partner will provide design, photography and prepress services to its local clients, while Magnum does the printing and binding in Hong Kong or China to leverage the lower production costs. Our French partner will be on board this third quarter and our U.S. alliance will be up and running a few months later."
Calendar printing—mainly for export to the U.S.—is another niche at Magnum, contributing about 10% to its bottom line. "We do mostly wall calendars, which usually have small runs with a few versions. Some are more complicated. The Hong Kong Tourism Board's Year of the Rooster calendar, for example, required a lot of post-production processes in China, including collating, die-cutting, making the 3-D rooster photo and hand-gluing, for its two-version 30,000-copy print run."
And what challenges does calendar printing pose? "Since the print run for each version is relatively small and there are so many versions required, production scheduling and management is comparatively more complex than other printing jobs," says Lam.
Marketing director Peter Nustedt of Paramount Printing notes, "Calendars are seasonal and very time-sensitive. We had an order for five million calendars from one publisher last year, and we were able to order the paper during a quiet period at the mills, ensuring good pricing in one bulk purchase."
As for catalogue printing, Nustedt says, "Scheduling is the most important issue. Advertisers and exhibitors usually cannot make up their minds until the very last minute what to put in the catalogue. Late inserts, polybagging and special mailing requirements are common, though extra production time is rarely given."
Beyond Perfect Pixels
Heavily illustrated full-color books are the cornerstone of the Asian print manufacturing industry. The region's ability to produce such titles at a much lower cost than anywhere else in the world is a given. And coffee-table/ full-color trade book printing has evolved in complexity.
The 2.8-kilogram Mountain Ranges of Colorado from Westcliffe Publishers is one good example. Its granite-like cover was an inspired choice. "Nature is view as well as touch, say, of the bark of tree, or, in this case, the feel of pink Eolus granite from Colorado's Needle Mountains," says publisher John Fielder. "C&C Offset took a couple of months to test and print the cover. Creating the desired effect was an elaborate process of printing, embossing, debossing, foil stamping, laminating and varnishing. The granite needed a soft look, so we used matte lamination; but the type and photo needed to stand out, hence the gloss varnishing over the photo and black foil stamping for the type."
The publisher in this case is also the author and photographer: "It's all about managing one's expectations, striking a balance between a photographer's pursuit for his pictures to be in the best light possible and a publisher's need to juggle costs, cycle time and sales," says Fielder.
"C&C has always met the challenge of the unique cover treatment we wanted and I stick with a good supplier when I see it." As for cycle time, Fielder says, "Four months to proof, print and ship a book is not a problem if you plan it from the very start. As long as whomever you are dealing with understands your expectations—be it in person or via fax, e-mail or FedEx—distance isn't a problem."
Unusual covers are nothing new to Charlie Clark, Portland, Ore.— based C&C director, but he is seeing a movement away from clothbound dust-jacketed illustrated types to printed paper cases with additional processes such as thermal embossing. "Mountain Ranges of Colorado is one good example. What this means is that the actual production starts way before the project is ready for the press. We're looking at more brainstorming sessions and closer collaboration between publisher and print manufacturer. After Mountain Ranges hit the stores, I got about a dozen calls from publishers wanting to know how we did the cover."
Mounting CDs or DVDs to the back of illustrated titles is another trend, notes Clark. American publishers are also moving toward illustrated trade paperbacks instead of casebound versions. "This is partly due to cost-cutting measures at publishing houses. We also see an increase in monotone hardbound books and requests for sewn casebound, which is comparatively cheaper to do in China."
Remote proofing is something C&C is definitely good at, especially in the Chinese periodical printing industry. But, says Clark, "I don't see it being ready for the prime-time world of illustrated hardbound books over in North America. The whole issue of supplying high-resolution files and the complexity of the process is not one that the market is ready for. Right now, we have an interesting mix of reactions: some publishers are holding firm to press proofs, some are willing to deal with Epson proofs and others—the younger generation, really—who have never seen a press proof and who only know Epson printouts, wonder why we bother with proofing at all!"
Meanwhile, at Thames & Hudson, every project has its own considerations. "For Zaha Hadid: The Complete Works, the British architect wanted the book to cover four clearly distinct areas of her work, and that each would be a book in itself. But she wanted them to be combined in one book or object," says production director Neil Palfreyman. "We also had to make something that was not only stylish and sensitive to the architect's cultural influences but which booksellers felt they could sell successfully." The end result was a two-tiered, translucent injection-molded slipcase in semi-opaque red plastic housing four books of different sizes and formats.
Palfreyman recalls, "Then there was the monograph on the work of British photographer John Deakin that called for scanning original vintage prints—all unique and irreplaceable. On the other hand, You Can Do It—the do-it-yourself manual for the B&Q chain, which has outlets across the U.K., Europe and China—involved a huge amount of on-site photography and project management. At 384 pages, it was a massive logistical exercise involving design and editorial expertise in areas quite new to us. We also produced a small cultural history of rubber recently, and this title was bound with rubber commonly used for making hot-water bottles. However, when considering nonstandard bindings, the key word is always appropriateness: one shouldn't be driven just by novelty value; we always have to consider the increasing awareness that consumers have of books as objects."
Palfreyman believes that paper selection can make or break a book. "One must always be aware of the relationship between the production cost and the final retail value of the book. For top-end books, we tend to be pretty uncompromising on the quality of paper used. But for those with aggressively pitched price points, we are much more flexible."
While writing about Thames & Hudson's Zaha Hadid project is easy enough, the complex project took over 18 months to develop and finish. Says managing director Kendrick Cheung of Imago (Hong Kong), "For the slipcase, we tried different materials before finally deciding on hard plastic. The next stage, producing the right injection mold and getting it approved, took six weeks. Then came the challenge that could break the project: just a tiny variance in the gluing process would make insertion of all four books into their intended slots difficult, if not impossible. It took us four weeks just to produce the 11,000 slipcases."
Print broker Imago excels in such high-end titles; in fact, illustrated trade books and coffee-table books account for 50% of its projects. It recently printed Getty Museum's catalogue, which required extremely high-quality color separation and printing. "They're very demanding in terms of color and often ask for several rounds of proofs. Previously, they'd send their own personnel to supervise the printing, but nowadays they allow our staff to do the press checks," says Cheung. "We also did a series of monochrome casebound titles with cloth covers and gilding for CRW Publishing (U.K.), which sells predominantly to Barnes & Noble. Over the last one and a half years, we have produced more than two million copies for them. Imago can compete in the monochrome segment when most of the world thinks of Asia as cost-effective only for color work."
Imago has seen a significant increase in duotone and tritone projects of late. Cheung says, "In many ways, such titles are much more difficult than full-color ones. It requires close collaboration between all the players. In terms of printing, it's often more subjective compared to full-color printing, where the color values are much easier to define." Every publisher, says Cheung, is looking for some way to differentiate its titles from the competition. "Formats vary, and additional features like multiple gatefolds, flaps, add-ons and different binding materials are becoming commonplace. We send out a monthly e-newsletter to keep our clients informed of what's new and available in the market and to inspire them in their project conceptualization."
For Paramount Printing, coffee-table book printing means more than just delivering glossy pages. Says marketing director Peter Nustedt, "In one recent first-book project with a British photographer, in which all 2,500 large-format copies required hand-binding, we had the photographer staying on site to do the press check, and the specifications changed throughout the whole process. For an Indonesian design studio, we produced a quarter of a million concertina-folded jewelry brochures that required die-cutting, printing on special paper and heavy printing on envelopes made from a type of tracing paper."
Says Nustedt, "Publishers are always looking for ways to make their books stand out on the shelf. Size is one way; using different materials another. More publishers are using matte lamination with spot UV on book covers and jackets. We also have requests for high line-screen printing. One of our recent projects required us to use 300 lpi—our normal specification is 175—and we ended up with one of the best books we have ever printed."
At Everbest, coffee-table book production remains its core segment, despite the company's growing web-printing activities. Says managing director Ken Chung, "One of the most memorable projects last year was a volume on Princess Diana. The combined print run for the various publishers was about 400,000 copies, and it was a nightmare in coordination. Waiting for publishers to submit their materials for their own edition as the production window shrunk was a difficult time."
New technology investment in keeping with customer demands, for high line screening for example, is par for the course at Everbest. "Our Agfa CtP system can produce up to 340 lpi—almost double the usual standard—in what is called sublima screening. Our customers love it, especially since there's no extra charge," says Chung. "We can even use sublima screening on our new Mitsubishi web press—the first in the world to print such fine lines on a web press!"
To Chung, customer demands coming through his London, Hong Kong and Sydney offices are basically similar. "Sure, each market has its own quirks and special requirements, but the demand for cheap prices and fast turnaround is universal."
For Sun Fung, manufacturing full-color illustrated titles remains its core business. "We do have a small assembly capacity at present, with just over a hundred workers; handwork projects contribute less than 10% to our total revenue," says sales director Leung Kam Ming. But catering to the masses means hand-assembly capacity expansion is almost inevitable. "We just built a new plant with 60,000 square feet of production space, for handwork projects and product sourcing."
As for new trends in the illustrated trade segment, Leung hasn't seen anything significant in the past few months, but he did receive more complex orders involving hot stamping. "This technique, of course, is nothing new, especially for casebound titles. But clients aren't stopping there—they are now combining hot stamping with flocking or glittering on the covers or dust jackets. Such requirements mean a trickier production workflow and longer manufacturing cycle time. Special binding requests are also on the rise," says Leung. "Recently, we had one title that the client wanted side-sewn—i.e., American library binding. This isn't unique or novel. But the standard thickness recommended for side sewing is 3mm, and the title was almost 9mm, so we had a challenge. Fortunately, we were able to ship the titles out as scheduled despite the binding issue, and we got high marks from our client for that."
"Fluctuation of paper prices is something we'd like to control, or at least stabilize for our customers' sake. But that's simply not within our power. The best we can do is to indent and stock certain tonnage in our warehouse, based on previous orders and anticipated demand. We also try to get the best prices possible by negotiating directly with mills to fix the price for our orders for a certain period of times. In this way, our clients won't have to deal with rising manufacturing costs midway through their projects," says Leung.
When it comes to Hung Hing, PW has to pause for a moment. Putting this company in any single product category does it a disservice. It's truly a vertically integrated one-stop shop, known for its excellence in everything from children's book manufacturing to conventional printing and packaging. It even has its own paper converting and corrugating business units. But it's not resting on its laurels. Says managing director Matthew Yum, "In 2004 alone, we spent $25 million on the latest equipment and technology. Our conventional printing segment, which focuses on coffee-table/illustrated trade titles and children's board books, has benefited from this investment, as new technology and equipment make for more efficient manufacturing and better-quality printing. Shorter turnaround time, cheaper pricing and more gimmicks are here to stay. And the only way to meet these demands is to expand our capacity and leverage new technology and methodology."
Hung Hing's recent purchase of a 3.6 million-square-foot manufacturing complex in Heshan has given its handwork segment a boost. "The first phase, which will be completed by the end of this year, is targeted for hand-assembly projects. Our Shenzhen facility will retain the more automated production work, while those requiring extensive handwork will be transferred to this new facility. Once completed, the Heshan complex will accommodate some 25,000 workers," says Yum. And this new hand-assembly capacity might just be what New York—based Bill Tollin, v-p of Hung Hing (USA), needs to cater to demand for more interactive children's board books: "It could be as simple as adding a sound module: an inexpensive method that gives the book a 'plus' factor."
With all these investments and expansion going on, is Yum worried that publishers will view Hung Hing as being too well-established or too big for their projects? "No one thinks that Wal-Mart or Barnes & Noble is too big to service the consumer. Our wide network of sales and customer service teams in the U.S., U.K., Germany and South America make sure we are can assist small and independent clients, as well as those who have just started offshore manufacturing and need a lot of assistance. We have well over 100 customer service personnel in our Hong Kong/ China facilities standing by 24/7/365."
Glossy titles boasting high-end quality printing and hundreds of photos are one Midas specialty. And two recent titles have pride of place in its showroom: the Anne Geddes/Celine Dion collaboration Miracle: A Celebration of New Life and the Museum of Modern Art's Lee Friedlander. "The first title—a book/CD/DVD pack with a 400,000-copy printing in several editions—required complex coordination and project scheduling. We had collaborated with Geddes on other projects before, so meeting her requirements and knowing what she was looking for was a bit easier. Still, we set up a special project committee to ensure effective communication with the author and the publisher—a crucial step in a big project like this," says marketing manager Andrew Hsu. "For Lee Friedlander, the printing was high-end—300 lpi—and all 504 pages of the book contain well over 800 duotone photographs. With a book this thick and of a larger size than normal came the need for meticulous binding and packing processes. At the outset of this 20,000-copy project, we tried to anticipate possible production issues. We're happy to report we did it!"
Monotone, duotone and tritone projects, especially for large-format art books, are nothing new to the Midas team. "We were awarded the top prize in the monotone/duotone category at the Hong Kong Print Awards for three consecutive years since 2002," says group managing director T.L. Kwong. But the company isn't all about perfect pixels. "Our strength, undeniably, is in high-end printing. But we're also focused on children's books, activity kits and book-plus items. We're expanding our hand-assembly and sourcing capabilities to meet an increased demand."
While over 50% of Midas's sales still come from North America, its boasts a double-digit growth in European sales for the last two years. "Our market presence in Western Europe has increased significantly, and we have some big publishers from France and Germany," says Hsu, adding, "Projects from this region are mainly odd-sized, extra-large art books that require meticulous color separation and prepress processes and equally careful binding and packing to ensure they arrive at the destinations in tiptop condition."
Nobody, it seems, does co-edition print manufacturing better or longer than WKT. Perhaps it is the lingering publicity surrounding its 1994 purchase of the first 10-color MAN Roland in Asia. "We have always been a co-edition printer, using 5-color presses very early in our establishment," says marketing director Jeremy Kuo. And in this category, efficient digital workflow is paramount. "Prinergy makes processing of files easier, faster and more efficient. Same goes for generating printing plates. There is no standard method in dealing with the complexities of co-edition printing, of scheduling or of the files supplied. As ever, the answer lies in our ability to adapt, adjust and advise."
The range of children's products manufactured by WKT extends from touchy-feely titles to conventional board books and those with flaps and tabs. "Our handwork capacity is relatively small; we are cautious about what we will take on. This helps us maintain the quality and reliability of our service and production," says Kuo. "Full-color illustrated titles are our stock-in-trade, and a large proportion of them are either thin or in small format. And that naturally places us in the children's market. But we also produce a large number of projects for the adult segment. Lately, with the addition of more presses, books of higher page count and larger format are making regular appearances on our production floor."
As for providing examples of recent projects, Kuo is quick to cite confidentiality clauses with clients and to note that some publishers don't like being openly discussed in any manner. "It's enough to say that our strength lies not in unraveling an especially exotic form of handwork book or complicated co-edition but in attaching our quality standards and production values to all our projects."
"Publishers are trying their best to make their products stand out from the rest of the competition," agrees sales and marketing director Andrew Yeo of TWP. "For example, publishers are using pop-ups to tell a story or jazzing up an otherwise common coffee-table book with handwork elements." And the last part is seen in TWP's recent project on a famous musician. "The sourcing for went beyond just finding the right newsprint to reproduce an article about the musician. If you look carefully, the masking tape used throughout this book is not your average tape from the stationery store. We searched for the right grammage, color tone and texture of material for printing this tape, and then die-cut it." Manufacturing such coffee-table books, illustrated trade titles, children's products and book-plus items remains TWP's core business.
And getting the colors right, according to general manager of sales and marketing Bernard Wee, goes across all categories. "It's a tricky subject. And this is partly because there are so many types of proofs out there: think Matchprint, Cromalin, Iris proof and Kodak Approval. The fact that all these use either powder or toner, as opposed to the oil-based inks used on the printing presses, means color variance between proofs and actual printed pages is a given" For TWP, any variance between their Konica proofs and their client's proofs merits a pause in the process. "We study the variance and get back to our client with recommendations. We prefer to handle the color-separation process for our clients. That way, we know for sure what we have and what will ultimately be in print."
Asked about trends, Yeo says, "We're seeing more oversized full-color trade titles, and children's board books with rounded corners. At the same time, we see a growing awareness among publishers of key environmental goals. We use materials from mills that are FSC-certified."
Applying creative solutions on high-tech presses recently yielded top-notch results for Regal Printing. Says managing director Maurice Kwan, "The book's original idea, which came from a renowned Salt Lake City photographer Ed Firmage, was to print the top landscape images 'moving' toward one end and the bottom images 'moving' toward the opposite end of the same side of the printing sheet, to minimize ink-tracking problems while on the press. Our solution was to use our 8-color Heidelberg to print the top images using the first four printing units and the lower images using the other four. This method allowed for the addition of, say, magenta to the top images but a reduction of that color for the bottom ones. This would not have been possible with conventional 4-color printing."
Another complex—and possibly the largest project ever handled by a Hong Kong/China supplier—involved 250,000 sets of a three-volume title. Kwan recalls: "Each casebound book measured 12 inches wide and had over 400 pages, and the whole set weighs in at 10 kilograms. In the end, we used over 2,800 tons of paper and 250 tons of Dutch grey board. We were given an extremely short turnaround time for such a massive project. Prior to the start of the project, we spent about US$3 million on production upgrading. I can definitely say that this project has elevated our production and logistics capabilities."
Meanwhile, one Hexachrome project earned Regal the top prize at the 2005 Hong Kong Print Award competition. "We were asked by a British publisher to print this title using CtP processes, even though the prepress work and wet proofs were already done by an overseas vendor. We had to contend with misregistered proofs resulting from overprinting of two Pantone colors. Lots of testing on our 8-color press and adjusting of our ICC profile was done to find the closest match. The end result was more than worth the efforts we put in." So what does Kwan have to say about the much-touted Hexachrome printing? "It's an expensive method, because it involves six Pantone colors. It's best for a color gamut that revolves around yellow, orange and green, or the brighter colors. If the overall tone of the intended product is of a darker color, then Hexachrome could be a waste of time and money."
Rewriting the Playbook
Ah, the games we play! There are the good old standbys Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble, Monopoly and Uno, with their redux versions. And there are hybrids now available in the form of cards, board games, puzzles, activity books, computer games, CD-ROMs and various combinations of the aforementioned. Games publishers are conjuring up new concepts, while print manufacturers, are applying existing methodologies—traditionally used on printed pages—to gild the edges of cards, add glitter to the puzzles, soup up the box and invent a myriad of other possibilities workable within the confines of existing materials and technology. The endgame is a win for everybody.
And this is great news for companies like U.S. Games Systems. In the course of its 38-year history, U.S. Games has seen the conceptualization and making of more than 400 products, including card games, tarot decks, self-help/motivational cards, playing cards, board games and gift sets, as well as books for the games industry. "We recently had two diverse and challenging products," says art director Elizabeth Kerkstra. "The first product, Golden Tarot—targeted at the high-end market—required gilt-edge finishing on the cards, a small book and an elaborate hardcase package. The second product, Lover's Path, is a gift set containing cards, a full-color book with vellum flysheet, case ribbons and other components. We had to work within a narrow price point for this. For Golden Tarot, QP—our Hong Kong/China supplier—provided gilt samples that were both luxurious-looking and durable, and came up with a complex template and dummy for the packaging. For Lover's Path, QP offered various combinations with detailed price breakdowns."
Adds Kerkstra, who has been dealing with Asian suppliers for six years, "There's always a toss-up between the price of each component and how quickly they can be manufactured. Our operating rule comes down to this: we need to have the products within the specified budget, but we must also make the delivery date. QP has a great staff and a varied stable of suppliers; they deliver the goods within the time frame given."
For QP Printing, manufacturing of card games, board games and puzzles contributes about half of its sales. "We started doing board games and puzzles in 1993," says sales director Sanny Liu. "We were definitely challenged at the beginning: the most memorable oversight was our lack of consideration for product deformation under different weather conditions. Now we conduct all sorts of tests—on temperature, humidity, aging, packaging, transit/freight, etc.—in simulated environments before and after the production process."
Yet, new challenges abound in the games category. Liu illustrates: "One recent project—a game in which touching certain portions of the board activates light and sound effects—used conductive ink on its trifold board. We had to make sure the conductivity level endured no matter how many times the board has been opened and closed" Also, Liu notes, "Many publishers now incorporate components such as DVDs or CD-ROMs to enhance the game's interactivity."
And is the dummy-making process as complex and challenging? Says Liu, "It typically takes us five to 10 weeks, longer if it involves the use of special materials or components. For board games, the basic material is usually local gray board and other materials from Japan, the Netherlands or Singapore."
As for puzzle-making, it provides Liu and her team many, well, puzzling moments. "Recently, we had one 'fuzzy' puzzle that combined plush material and paper. The varying tension created by two different materials resulted in lamination and die-cutting issues. We had to learn how to control and stabilize them on the fly. Then we had one publisher wanting to create animal-shaped puzzles in real-life sizes: the largest being 50"×62" and the longest 17"×80". We had to print parts of the puzzles separately. The trickiest part came was matching the colors, graphics and die-cutting so the finished product looked like it came from one single piece."
Popping up Everywhere
"For a long time, pop-up books have been unfairly viewed as only for children," says Robert Sabuda, illustrator and creator of such bestselling pop-up titles as Dinosaurs, America the Beautiful, Night before Christmas and Alice'sAdventures in Wonderland. "Today, more adults will give other adults a pop-up book as a gift."
What has changed, according to David Carter of the Bugs series and The Elements of Pop-up fame, is the acceptance of pop-ups as an art form. "This acceptance germinated from publications such as The Human Body, the National Geographic Pop-up series and The Architecture Pack, in which complex paper engineering was used to illustrate manuscripts directed at an older, more sophisticated audience. This shift enables publishers to do more complex and expensive titles, which in turn affords the artist more creative freedom."
"The challenge in creating pop-ups," says Sabuda, "is not so much making the pop-up pop up but in getting it to 'pop shut' over and over again." It takes him six months to a year to create one title. "The supplier makes four to 12 dummies, until one works properly. There're no shortcuts: behind the scene is a real person gluing and folding every single piece of paper into every single pop-up."
Adds Sabuda, "In the past, pop-ups were hand-assembled in South America by Carvajal. They stopped producing books and now our projects are done in Asia, mostly in China and Thailand. The paper must be strong enough to support the complex structures I have designed. I rely on my suppliers—Excel or Hua Yang—to recommend the best type of paper for the job." The initial print run for Sabuda's titles is usually in the 200,000 range. His latest bestseller, Dinosaurs, has already exceeded the half-a-million mark.
Carter applies what he learned from years of press and assembly checks at Carvajal for Intervisual projects. "I haven't done press checks in years. Nowadays I approve preliminary samples of printed hand-cut and assembled books from the supplier before going for the actual run. When I received the One Red Dot sample from Hua Yang, everything worked just right! It gives me tremendous confidence in Hua Yang's ability to manufacture complicated works. If I can make a pop-up title work in my studio, they can make it work a million times."
The preferred paper, according to sales manager Jame Drew at SNP Excel, "is American stock made from pine or spruce pulp. In terms of grammage, we typically choose 220 or 240 uncoated. Sometimes we use one-sided coated and reverse it so that the uncoated side becomes the back of the pop-up. The design holds the key to paper selection."
Sabuda's recent project—America the Beautiful, with its 450-plus glue-points on six spreads of uncoated 220 gsm—provides some interesting stories. "Some of the places, like Mesa Verde or Mount Rushmore, were unfamiliar to us. So we put ladders in the wrong places, or we were unsure of which face on the mountain was Jefferson's," says Drew. "Every pop-up project is a cause for both trepidation and much anticipation. Each new title invariably has a longer production cycle and is more challenging than the last one."
"The most valuable thing I have learnt about pop-ups—courtesy of Robert Sabuda—is that paper has a memory and it needs to 'learn' how to open and close the way we want it. This means we need to work each book open and closed several times prior to its shipment."
SNP Excel, it seems, spares nothing in order to get a pop-up project done. "For Sabuda's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, for example, we bought our own flocking machine to ensure we had greater control over the production cycle time and quality. That machine is now one of our most treasured possessions, so much so that a similar set was purchased for our Thailand plant," says Drew.
When it comes to pop-ups, Tony Brooks, v-p for international marketing at Hua Yang, asserts that "producing a one-off prototype is one thing; reproducing and assembling a book effectively for mass production of, say, 50,000 copies is quite another. Each individual piece has to be manually and precisely assembled. No machine can do this. Not only is it important to design the product well, it is also essential that the paper engineering staff train our production team on how to assemble the product correctly and efficiently," says Brooks. "The necessary quality control system must be in place. Other aspects, such as the thickness and strength of the paper used (usually 210 gsm one-side coated) and the direction of the paper grain, are both critical in properly supporting a pop-up structure. That's the purpose of the dummy-making process: all problems can be ironed out at this stage so that the mechanics work smoothly time after time when the title is produced in bulk and when it is out in retail stores."
Pop-up cards and other corporate or commercial products that exploit its paper engineering capabilities are also part of Hua Yang's portfolio. Says Brooks, "These range from advertising inserts to mailshots which contain paper mechanics. For example, we produced fashion and fragrance house Kenzo's office relocation cards, which contained a pop-up structure of their new office building." It looks like all sorts of product variations using paper engineering will always be possible at Hua Yang.
