An Australian manufacturing plant for Lightning Source, the corporation’s book manufacturing arm, is expected to be up and running by July 2011.
It will become Ingram’s fifth networked book manufacturing facility worldwide, joining two facilities in the US and one each in the UK and France.
The Australian plant will manufacture both paperback and hardcover black and white interior books.
The exact location and set-up has yet to be announced. However, Lightning Source facilities in other countries are based on a similar model and have significant digital capacity.
In 2006, its main US plant was kitted out with 15 Océ VarioStream 9210 presses for B&W, along with a brace of HP Indigos for colour work. The UK plant in Milton Keynes (pictured) follows a similar, if lower-capacity, approach to production.
The company said its Australian facility would give local publishers “options to reduce or remove the need to warehouse local inventory and reduces transportation and potential stock write-off costs”.
Ingram chief executive David Prichard said: “This expansion of Ingram’s global presence, from the United Kingdom to France and now Australia, provides publishers with expanded market reach and sales opportunities, as well as makes thousands of books available quickly and affordably to booksellers and their customers.
“Our Lightning Source operation in Australia will build on our already solid relationships as a leading retail and library supplier in this market. We now look forward to offering our customers an in-market print-on-demand model and introducing the benefits and flexibility that virtual inventory affords.”
Lightning Source has a digital library of more than 4.4 million books and has printed and delivered more than 99 million books on behalf of publishers around the world.
The company is also a distributor of the Espresso Book Machine (EBM).
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