Click here for photos from the event.
Publishers, industry figures and a Federal minister converged on McPherson’s Maryborough facility in central Victoria yesterday for the first glimpse of its brand-new ‘Onyx’ digital book system.
Onyx is an in-house brand and the system is a first for Australia. It comprises an HP T400 inkjet web press, an HP Indigo 7500, a Flex Book finishing line from Magnum Digital Solutions and an Acoro binding line from Muller Martini.
Commissioned in January, the Onyx system has been a collaboration between McPherson’s and its new owner, Opus, with HP, Canadian developer Magnum and Muller Martini.
Opus chief executive Cliff Brigstocke told guests the Onyx system was named after the precious stone for a good reason – it represented renewed value in the publishing supply chain at a time when traditional dynamics of supply and demand in the book industry are undergoing massive transformation.
McPherson’s chief executive Alan Fahy said the book printer has invested $35 million in new capital equipment over the past seven years. “It allows us to weather a hostile environment and look to the future.”
Fahy noted the inkjet line complimented McPherson’s digital toner and offset technologies for book printing. The company installed a 10-colour Heidelberg Speedmaster XL 105 last year.
Pressing the ‘green button’ on Onyx, newly minted Federal Industry and Innovation Minister Kate Lundy described the launch as “a great day for McPherson’s and for Maryborough”.
Overseas visitor Doug Sexton, HP’s global publishing strategist for inkjet, said the book life cycle now requires a range of technologies – short digital runs to test the market, volume litho for the prime of a book’s marketing life, and then some more digital to top up supplies in the latter phases.
Tim Cooper, founder of US marketing consultancy The Consulting Garage, talked about “hybrid” demand for both printed and e-books, and reflected that the Harry Potter books might have been the last mega-bestseller phenomenon of the printed books era.
Even the way printed books are purchased is undergoing a revolution, argued Cooper. “In five years, 80% of trade related revenue in books will be transacted online.”
Traditional book publishers like Random House and HarperCollins are now being challenged by the likes of Apple, Google and Amazon, in what Cooper termed “the clash of the IT titans”.
The HP T400 represents a four-year culmination in R&D originating before Drupa 2008. Technologically, HP’s Edgeline bonding used in the T-series inkjets prevents ink seepage with uncoated media, generating more vivid colours and blacks.
The seven-colour Indigo 7500 is a valued component of the Opus configuration, said Currie’s Phillip Rennell, who was at the launch.
Muller Martini’s Acoro A7 perfect binder and Merit S inline three-knife trimmer are ideal for medium and short-run book production, said Muller Martini Australia’s managing director Livio Barbagallo.
Flex Book, in conjunction with a T-series press, has a maximum page signature of eight pages, significantly reducing the amount of blank pages required to be inserted at the back of a book.
Canadian Steve Fyfe, digital development director and founder of Magnum Digital Solutions, told ProPrint his company enjoyed a growing installation base for its Flex Book line, and the Australian first was a real breakthrough.
Opus Group’s reverse takeover of McPherson’s is all but a done deal after shareholders gave it a ringing endorsement last week.
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