Case Studies and Testimonials

Rachel Cartwright, Operations Director at Osprey Publishing

Osprey Publishing, based in Oxford, specialises in the publication of military history books, often featuring full-colour artwork, maps and photographs. The company is best known for its Men-at-Arms series, which comprises more than 400 titles, each of which is dedicated to a particular army or unit.

"We switched to digital printing three years ago. It was something we'd considered for a long time but every year that we approached it, the quality just wasn't there. As a specialist publisher of military history titles, accuracy and quality are absolutely crucial. Our readers will not accept anything less and have no qualms about writing to us if the precise colour of a uniform, for example, is incorrect. Our books are considered by many readers to be historical records. They are seen as a source of reference that can be relied upon not just now but for many years to come. Our refusal to compromise on that is one of the reasons why our books are frequently used as source material for designers working on films or TV productions, which is something we're very proud of."

"It wasn't until 2007 that we discovered two digital printers that were producing very good quality books, and that's when it became a viable option. We initially worked with another supplier but were hugely let down by the standards of scheduling and the appalling communication. That's when we moved over to Printondemand-worldwide and since then we haven't looked back.

"Working with Printondemand-worldwide was truly a breath of fresh air. The company is very proactive in terms of customer care, checking with us regularly rather than leaving us to chase up any problems. And on the occasions when there is a problem, they are very responsive and it's resolved very quickly.

"Most importantly, working with Printondemand-worldwide has revolutionised our back list. Having had hundreds of titles out of print, we have been able to make many of them available again. We now have 958 of our 1,500 titles available on demand, and we hope to increase that to over 1,000 before the end of 2010. Previously, all our books were printed in the Far East, and we still print many of our new titles there when the runs are longer. But we couldn't print any less than 500. The difference now is that we can print, for example, 60 titles on short-run for the same cost as 10 titles in the Far East. So while our overall budget remains the same, we can do more with it, by offering our customers a greater range of titles."

Rachel singles out Printondemand-worldwide's global network of print partners as a distinct advantage. The company's alliance with a US printer has been particularly useful, since that represents 50% of Osprey's market. The ability to place orders with the UK company and have a proportion printed in the US is a highly cost-effective and efficient solution. In today's impatient society, it also drastically shortens the period between order and delivery.

"When we printed solely in the Far East, we shipped books from Hong Kong to the UK and the US. We still follow that pattern for many of our new titles because the level of business keeps the overall cost reasonably low. But you're talking about a period of six weeks. With Printondemand-worldwide, all the files are approved and uploaded to a single site. Some of those are then digitally transferred to the US for printing and direct delivery to our warehouse. That process can take as little as a day in some cases, so getting books to market is that much faster."

Osprey is a growing company, with an outstanding record of year-on-year sales growth and the ability of Printondemand-worldwide to grow with it and adapt to its evolving needs are key strengths, according to Rachel.

"I'd be lying if I said we hadn't been affected by the recession but in comparison with many others, we have remained very strong. We cater primarily for the hobby market and we've found that, in recessionary times, people often go back to their hobbies. We are doing more reprints now than ever before, so our relationship with Printondemand-worldwide has been very beneficial."

Osprey Publishing acquired local history specialist Shire Books in 2007 and in the process took on a backlist of 1,500 titles. These are likely to be transferred into the Printondemand-worldwide system in the future, says Rachel.

The company is also considering entering hundreds of titles into Printondemand-worldwide's unique BookVault system to make library management and order processing more straightforward. And as Osprey considers new international markets, Printondemand-worldwide's global network could prove hugely beneficial.

Gareth Jarrett, Inventory Manager at Taylor & Francis Books

Taylor & Francis, building on two centuries of experience, has grown rapidly over the past two decades to become a leading international academic publisher. Based in the UK, the group has offices in London, Hove, Basingstoke and Abingdon, as well as international offices in New York, Boca Raton, Philadelphia, Singapore and Melbourne. The group publishes more than 700 journals and 2,500 new books each year, with a backlist of well over 60,000 specialist titles.

"Printondemand-worldwide is one of our core Print on Demand (POD) suppliers, and it has grown rapidly to become a very valuable partner for us, primarily because of its flexibility, outstanding customer service and excellent quality.

"We first started working with Printondemand-worldwide five years ago, when we decided we needed more options for supplying our growing POD list. We needed more variety and resilience, and Printondemand-worldwide was able to deliver that. The company is relatively new to the market, compared with other suppliers, but has grown very quickly and offers a high level of quality. Clear text and illustrations printed on good quality paper are important to us and to our customers, and we have deliberately placed some titles with Printondemand-worldwide to achieve that quality level."

Gareth pinpoints the responsiveness and constructive approach of Printondemand-worldwide as a distinct advantage. "The process of setting up titles and uploading them for printing is very straightforward, and when tweaks or corrections are necessary, the company responds very well, which makes a big difference. They clearly grasp that customers should be absolutely happy with the product. And as our list has grown, Printondemand-worldwide has grown with us."

Taylor & Francis has been producing a growing proportion of its titles through on-demand digital print for several years. Gareth says the benefits are clear. "The advantages are twofold - you can make better use of your backlist by having more titles available and therefore increase your potential revenue, and at the same time you reduce the costs of holding stock, and perhaps even stock write-offs, which is always a risk," he says. "It's not a model that's suitable for all our books but certainly lends itself well to the academic market."

As a printer with an international presence, Taylor & Francis has also been a beneficiary of Printondemand-worldwide's global network of print partners. "We have taken advantage of those partnerships, particularly in the US and Singapore, because essentially it assists with our preference for trying to print locally to the market. It keeps costs down in terms of shipping, and the simplicity of working with one printer that is able to transfer files overseas is certainly useful. The environmental aspect is also very important to us. We insist upon FSC-approved paper so it's pleasing that both Printondemand-worldwide and its partners have established rigorous policies on that. Of course, on-demand printing is by nature a sustainable method because you are not printing what you don't need, and therefore you avoid pulping. In addition to that, we can reduce our carbon footprint by avoiding, as far as possible, shipping to international markets. While the use of approved FSC paper stock is now widely accepted, the benefits of local printing have not yet been fully embraced in the marketplace but I think this will become increasingly important in the future."