New Inkjet Press Being Installed at Mercury Print

ROCHESTER, NY—Mercury Print Productions, which specializes in digital book printing for publishers in the education market, has begun installation of a Kodak Prosper 5000XL inkjet press. The press will boost its ability to produce short-run and on-demand books in color, meeting publishers’ needs in the education/textbook market.

Mercury believes the resulting faster time to market, offset print quality and automated inventory replenishment that the press affords will allow it to increase its business from the largest textbook publishers, including McGraw Hill Education, Pearson and Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

“The trends that we’re seeing include a mandate from publishers to reduce their inventories, incorporate more customization and reduce the price point of textbooks,” said Christian Schamberger, Mercury vice president of operations. “With the Prosper 5000XL press, we can provide our customers the product they need at the quantities they need, when they need it.

"The tremendous volume it can print in a month, along with the reduced price point per page will allow us to grow our business here in the United States," Schamberger added. "The press will allow us to compete effectively with printers in China, where many publishers are sending their printing now. We can drive down the cost to keep the business here."

Mercury opened its book publishing division four years ago, when publishers began to turn to digital printing for its short turnaround times and on-demand capabilities.

The Kodak Prosper 5000XL system installed at Mercury includes Lasermax Roll Systems wide unwind and rewind units. The finishing lines feature the Stack 2230 systems that, via a Shuttleworth conveyer, feed the Muller Martini Sigma Binder system. The first Prosper 5000 LX installed at a printer in Rochester, Mercury will work with Kodak to promote its press jointly to the industry, providing on-site demonstrations for Kodak customers, as well as for book publishers.