Think Inside the Cover

True story: Even in this day and age, people still enjoy going to the library. Why? They love books. With the ubiquitous Barnes & Noble and Borders bookstores, it could be the strong coffee and sugary treats or perhaps the off chance of meeting Ms. or Mr. Right drawing the crowds. But at libraries, it’s purely book lure. Better yet, check out the way yard sale and flea market browsers immerse themselves in orphaned tomes stacked on tables or packed in boxes. They’ll caress leather bindings, gently turn yellowing pages and almost always leave with a dusty volume or two. That’s why bound publications are so effective at presenting information. Their intrinsic design somehow entices us to look inside to discover what lies shielded from view between the front and back covers.

Of course, industry professionals who produce and sell the products are well aware of this fact. Distributors who have limited to no experience at all providing books and booklets should read between the lines—these are widely used items that can generate decent profits. Just ask Richard Lindemann, president of Total Printing Systems.

Located in Newton, Ill., Total Printing Systems was originally founded to produce commercial printing, but rapidly expanded to include governmental publications in the mid 1970s. In recent years, emerging technology, combined with the company’s more than 35 years of experience, has brought Total Printing Systems to the forefront of the digital book manufacturing industry.

In 1997, the company was one of the first book manufacturers to utilize CTP technology, and Total Printing Systems is the first book manufacturer in the world to install the new Scitex VersaMark digital web press.

Today, bound publications from art books and auto parts catalogs to manuals and directories generate the bulk of the revenue. “We produce just about any type of bound product,” noted Lindemann. A variety of finishing options are available, including adhesive case binding, saddlestitching, mechanical binding and perfect binding. “The type of products [we] run most often are educational books and materials, parts books, trade publications and religious books,” he continued. “Digital color is growing substantially, and we’ve added two Kodak NexPresses in the past 18 months.”