Xerox Launches Web Service for Printing Books One at a Time

Xerox Corp. launched a new outsourcing service for publishers that permits “virtual book browsing” on the Web, offers one-to-one publishing and “provides the industry’s first guaranteed shipping dates to fulfill customer orders.”


The Xerox “Book In Time” service, which is available immediately, offers the
first fully integrated end-to-end capability for marketing, selling, printing
and distributing books on demand, one at a time, to reach any location
anywhere in the world, the company said.


The system can help publishers increase sales, limit costly book returns and
inventory costs, reduce printing costs and improve turnaround time and cash
flow–without a loss in book quality, the company said.


The Book In Time service is built around two core components addressing Web
commerce and digital printing, and using technology from Xerox–including
the DocuTech 6180 Publisher–and partners. The service produces softcover
books economically in run lengths from one to several thousand, enabling
publishers to keep books in print longer and to address new market
opportunities for niche titles, customized books and even main-line trade
offerings.


Book In Time optional Web components–also available separately–provide
global reach with Internet-based book-viewing and ordering, a Web store front
offering security-protected financial transactions, and satellite printing
locations, Xerox said.


“Book In Time permits publishers to do what they do best–develop and market
books–and to do it with a powerful new set of tools that eliminate many of
the traditional technological, geographic and capital budget constraints,”
said John Stempeck, vice president, strategy and business development,
Document Services Group at Xerox . “This is a whole new class of service that
takes a significant amount of risk out of many potentially lucrative new
business opportunities in publishing.”


The service currently has two customers: the Georg Lingenbrink GMBH & Co.
(Libri), Hamburg, Germany, and The National Academy Press, Washington D.C.
Pricing details were not disclosed.

Get the Free Newsletter!

Subscribe to our newsletter.

Subscribe to Daily Tech Insider for top news, trends & analysis

News Around the Web