Worzalla's Expansion Features $10M Investment in Additional Print Capacity for the US Book Market

Worzalla has invested a total of $30 million in its modernization and expansion plan.

Worzalla, an employee-owned book printer specializing in printing high-quality children’s books, cookbooks, and hard-cover best sellers, shared that it has entered its third phase of upgrades to its book manufacturing facility. Phase III of Worzalla’s modernization and expansion plan features a $10 million investment to add additional print capacity for the U.S. book market.

“We will continue to do everything possible to meet the needs of our customers, publishers across the country, as the market for books printed in the United States continues to see explosive growth,” said Jim Fetherston, President and CEO at Worzalla. “Phase III of our modernization plan will further increase our capacity and streamline our operations in order to meet this demand and deliver quality products for our customers.”

Worzalla’s Phase III investment covers the addition of a new casemaker with a wide range of casemaking applications and a non-stop case feeder for cutting and making covers of books. Worzalla has also purchased a Goss Sunday 2000 32-page Double Web Press that provides a broad range of print formats and page configurations, including 4/c full size 11” books, for high-volume printing. Installation of the press is expected to be complete later this year. Phase III completion is expected to increase Worzalla’s large book format capacity by 30%.

Worzalla has made consistent investments and improvements to its manufacturing facility over the last several years. Most recently, Phase II was completed in 2020 and included a $12 investment to add 50,000 square feet to Worzalla’s facility plus the addition of a new Heidelberg 106 press and Kolbus perfect binder. The expansion of the facility completed in Phase II has allowed for the purchase and placement of the new Goss Sunday printing press in the Phase III expansion. In total, investments in Worzalla’s state-of-the-art book manufacturing facility total more than $30 million over the last few years.

Along with Phase III expansion, Worzalla continues to grow their workforce for the day-to-day operations creating the millions of books ordered by Worzalla’s customers each year. Worzalla is currently hiring for 40 open positions on its manufacturing floor including entry-level production, skilled production, team leads, and more. Worzalla offers on-the-job training for new associates. Additional details are available at worzalla.com/careers.

“As global markets have been disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic, Worzalla stands ready to meet the needs of the book industry due to constant investment in our facility, equipment, and workforce,” added Fetherston. “Worzalla is well-positioned to take on additional capacity and to continue operating as one of the country’s top book manufacturers.”

Worzalla was listed in Printing Impressions' latest annual printing industry rankings report as the fourth largest North American book printer, as well as the 63rd largest printer in North America by annual sales. Worzalla currently prints titles from some of the country’s largest book publishers, including Disney Books, Abrams, Simon and Schuster, Hachette, Penguin Random House, HarperCollins, and others. Worzalla is best known for being the domestic manufacturer of the popular "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series.

Source: Worzalla