Digital Book Production: The Demands of On Demand

For the majority, then, it is critically important to understand how to implement digital, on-demand printing—with all its disruption of adjacent cost and profit centers, like finishing, inventory management, resale channels, fulfillment, and customer relations.

Root Causes

Digital printing itself—replacing offset inks with charged bits of toner or sprayed droplets of pigment ink—is actually a byproduct of a much larger shift in consumer behavior. The Internet-driven demand for personalized, customized content—or at least content aimed at smaller and smaller interest groups—has changed the expectations of consumers who prefer their media content in book form. "Readers want what they want, when and where and how they want it," says John Crumbaugh, Marketing Executive, Ink and Paper, at Canon Solutions America. "This is the beginning of a mass customization focus for publishing. Four years ago, people would have said that's crazy, but today you can get the same book with a different cover, based on your preferences. That's only going to increase."