Top 30 Book Manufacturers — The Plot Thickens

KREHBIEL: Consolidation has created more juggling for market share retention and growth. Many vendors have been left out after these mergers. Some customers are feeling too heavily committed to the conglomerates. And price pressures continue with leveraged buyouts.

HEGWOOD: Based on our observation that short-run, on-demand printing is increasingly becoming the trend among book manufacturers, the market for large web houses is shrinking, leading to excess capacity and consolidation. This consolidation has actually provided additional opportunities for [us] because we specialize in short-run, on-demand printing.