Bertelsmann Closes Once-Iconic Offset Paperback Manufacturers (OPM) Book Printing Plant

Bertelsmann Printing Group USA is closing the Offset Paperback Manufacturers (OPM) book printing facility in Dallas, Pa., citing a drop in demand for mass-market and digest paperback books.

The final chapter has been written for Offset Paperback Manufacturers (OPM), based in Dallas, Pa., with the end of May closure of what, in its heyday, was among the largest paperback book manufacturing plants in the world (surpassed only by the former Arcata Graphics, Buffalo, New York, mega-facility) — employing nearly 1,000 unionized workers, within a 24/7 operation, and capable of producing more than 250 million books per year.

Founded in 1972, several generations of local families were employed at the OPM Back Mountain facility, but the employee head counts had dwindled over the years with various rounds of cutbacks and retirements. CapEx investments were also not being made at OPM to replace what was an aging fleet of offset presses and ancillary equipment, which impacted OPM's efficiency and operating cost structure. Publishing models have also shifted to on-demand inkjet production, which eliminates waste and the need to carry large inventories. That all contributed to output at OPM being nearly cut in half since 2017, to approximately one million books a month.

In mid-December, OPM's parent company, BPG (Bertelsmann Printing Group) USA, notified the more than 100 OPM workers who still remained of the impending closure and filed a WARN notice with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry on Feb. 15, 2024. Employees received a memo from BPG USA senior management announcing the closure, which stated:

We are very sorry to inform you, regretfully, the Board of BPG USA has decided to close the Offset Paperback Mfrs. operation in Dallas, Pennsylvania. We plan to cease operations on or about May 3, 2024, with OPM's Mass-Market volume to be relocated to the company's plant in Martinsburg, West Virginia. ... As we have mutually experienced, we have faced an ongoing and rapid decline in market volume for Mass-Market and Digest books — specifically in the past six years and, according to our customers, this secular decline will continue in the coming years.

The memo also cited another determining factor: The Martinsburg, West Virginia, facility — which is geographically closer to BPG USA's Berryville, Virginia, book manufacturing hub — houses a much more state-of-the-art pressroom, and is also capable of producing softcover trade books.

It was signed by both CEO Christof Ludwig and its COO, Jorge Velasco, who recently departed BPG USA to serve as the CEO of BR Printers. (Headquartered in San Jose, Calif., BR Printers has facilities in San Diego; Denver; Appleton, Wis.; Cincinnati; and Independence, Ky.)

According to an article published by the Wilkes-Barre Citizens' Voice, despite BPG USA's efforts to respond to a decline in demand for mass-market paperback books, coupled with a shift toward shorter runs lengths,  the memo noted that "the Dallas facility, along with its Martinsburg plant, posted a 56% decline in combined mass-market unit production between 2017 and this year, from 149 million units to 65 million." That number is expected to drop further to 53 million books in 2024. The Citizens' Voice also said the memo to employees indicated that digest book production at OPM had declined 48%, from 25 million units in 2017 to 13 million units in 2024.