Professional Documents
Culture Documents
HONG
KONG & CHINA
Print Business
I
Print suppliers are t has come to this: fast turnaround, great pricing, and best qualitythe proposi-
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Located in: Suitable for large or Supports reduced
Hong Kong, small quantities. inventory model.
China and
Singapore. x100
x10
BOOKS
Yum notes. This resulted in the closures of small and medium- and investment to bring about environmentally friendly pro-
sized outfits with outdated technology and limited cash flow, duction, including the adoption of materials, technologies, and
which in turn restrained supply and pushed up paper prices. measures as well as equipment that controls volatile organic
New regulations on social welfare payments to workers have compound (VOC) emissions. Systems for central dampening
led to higher labor costs, Yum adds. But we need to consider supply for web presses, water treatment, and VOC purification
the long-term benefits. The compliance and adjustments may are among those being changed or replaced for greener results,
be painful and arduous, but having a cleaner environment, a Lee says.
better and fairer society, and being a responsible global citizen At Hung Hing, improving energy efficiencies while reducing
is definitely the right way to go about it. greenhouse gas emissions is a major initiative. Most of our
For Howard Musk, president and CEO of Imago, adherence solvent-based raw materials have been replaced with water-based
to social and safety compliance is non-negotiable. We monitor varnish, glue, and cleaning fluids, while our lighting has
printing plants carefully to ensure that the necessary compli- changed from the traditional T8 fluorescent to T5, and now
ances are in place for particular retailers or licensors, Musk LED, notes Yum, whose upgrading projects over the past
says, adding that international safety standards evolve with decade have received numerous environmental awards in Hong
each new chemical that is added to banned lists, and it is critical Kong and Guangdong. The initial investments in the upgrades
that we remain up-to-date on this. Imago retains a safety con- were high, but the ROI averaged less than two years, adds Yum,
sultant who is involved in some of the legislation efforts to assist who plans to implement new solutions to track and conserve
the team. If a project is more than a simple book, we undertake energy and improve internal air quality and environment con-
risk assessments at a very early stage of product development trol, creating an improved workplace for Hung Hing employees.
so that we can help the client in redesigning any problematic Another top priority for print suppliers is protecting content
areas or components, Musk says. against counterfeiting and piracy. Musk of Imago finds that it
In environmental protection and regulatory compliance, very is an area of concern for publishers, especially for high-profile
few companies are more aggressive than Leo Paper. The company titles with wider global appeal. We have worked on several
has been ISO 14001-accredited since 2001; 10 years later, it was movie tie-in projects recently, and we were able to provide the
recognized as an eco-factory by Marks & Spencer. Last year, Leo highest level of security at the factory for all processes, from file
Paper was accredited with the China Environmental Labelling handling to delivery, including ensuring that waste sheets were
Products Certification, which focuses on controls of hazardous secured prior to shredding, Musk says.
substances, factory pollutants, and environmental policy. In To protect online content that supplements a book, Imago
line with our China market expansion plan, we also obtained the has added a Web key to the inside front cover. It was a great
3C CertificationChina Compulsory Certification, which is solution for Black Dog & Leventhals The New York Times Book
comparable to the European CE Certificationa year ago, says of the Dead, Musk notes.
Andy Lau, Leos general manager for sales. At CTPS, product protection and authentication is the goal
of the companys QR-code-enabled solutions Phygitalbook.
Protecting the Environment and Empowering publishers with back-end analytics to assess stu-
Content dent performance and provide dashboards to stakeholders are
At C&C Offset, printing for a sustainable future is not just a just some of Phygitalbooks features.
vision for social responsibility, says Ken Lee, business develop-
ment director. It is also a corporate mind-set that pushes us to Getting in the Middle
improve production efficiencies and reduce waste in all areas Leveraging Chinas growth in childrens books is a no-brainer
that we can think of. It is about sustainable development and for many print suppliers including Leo Paper, which counts
green printing. many big-name overseas childrens product licensors as clients.
C&C has continued to put in extensive management effort Local publishers want to offer a wider variety of well-known
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WE
BOOKS
printing is our passion
licensed products so as to be seen as international, but they have take over this additional workloadand that is a compelling
limited ways to reach the licensors, says Lau, noting that local value proposition to our clients.
publishers also may not have the know-how to fully comply with CTPS is currently handling case-bound titles for library orders
the stringent requirements on quality, safety, information secu- ranging from 200 to 500 titles. Gang-running 25 copies is
rity, and image branding of producing licensed products. achievable while maintaining the price points, Currie says. The
Overseas publishers and licensors, eager to expand their usual print run averages between 25 and 1,000 copies per title.
China business, are looking not just for a licensing agent but a
reliable partner who can follow up, monitor manufacturing Addressing Fundamental Issues
processes, and maintain their image branding, Lau notes. We Material price fluctuations and supply stability are two other
know the local market and players and are familiar with licensed major issues for print suppliers, says Ken Kong, managing
products and their licensors, and we are here to assist current director of Jade Productions. Paper merchants are reluctant to
clients in finding new opportunities. Licensing is one key area stock as [much] as they used to because of potential price drops
that can meet the demands coming from both China and over- and storage costs, which are now higher, Kong notes. But
seas publishers. close relationships with several major print manufacturers have
Lau adds: We can provide constructive advice on main- enabled us to store our stock in their warehouses, allowing us
taining printing and product quality to the locals and make the to maintain a level of stock for regular clients and provide better
licensed products more suitable for sales in the China market cost controlbut it does affect our cash flow.
in terms of pricing, design, construction and production. For Lee of C&C Offset, fluctuating paper prices have a nega-
Overseas publishers can be assured of our commitment in tive impact on production costs. This is where our long-
upholding their quality requirements, information security, IP, standing partnership with clients comes into play, he says.
and brand image. Our role is much more than what a licensing Their understanding enables us to provide alternative stocks,
agent can offer. while our central purchasing unit exercises better controls over
inventory levels and production costs.
Pivoting to Keep Pace While paper prices have come down somewhat after increases
In the educational and STM segments, adoption of the reduced- earlier this year, there are still some price pressures on board,
inventory model and digital ink-jet printing is gaining traction packaging, and cartoning materials, says Imagos Musk. This
even as consolidation is heating up, observes John Currie, global is due to limited recycled fiber supply and potential restrictions
business director of CTPS, whose major clients hail from the on recycled imports from the U.S. due to contamination con-
two segments. Many of these reduced-inventory initiatives cerns. There is also the high demand for corrugated packaging
have no obvious placement cycles during the early implementa- in China for consumer products.
tion stagesand that requires flexibility on the print service Low-priced competitors are another concern. Jade
delivery on our side, Currie notes. Productions Kong notes that a new client recently sent in
On the other hand, the ups and downs of the British pound samples of finished products including a 32-page case-bound
and the euro have seen British and European publishers con- childrens book with saddle-stitched book blocks instead of
tinuing to weigh order-placement decisions with Hong Kong saddle-sewn. It was both unbelievable and disheartening to see
and China print manufacturers based on their currency a printers ethics and integrity going downhill, Kong says.
strengths. We are seeing competitive prices from European There is an urgent need to assist new clients to distinguish dif-
printers such as those in Italy, says Currie, who counts many ferences in quality and service levels in the print manufacturing
high-end travel publishers as clients. Overcapacity, he adds, has industry. Saving money while compromising on quality or
led to unusual competition from Asian printers that are also service is simply not worth it, Kong adds. For small and
looking at noncore segments. Certain price-cutting strategies medium-sized publishers looking to stay in the business, shod-
are undermining the whole industry, he adds. dily manufactured books are definitely not the way to go.
For CTPS, which is focused on mid- to short-run digital ink- For Jade Productions and the seven other export print manu-
jet printing, system interfacing is a unique challenge. facturers featured in this special report, quality is certainly not
Publishers invariably have their own systems, ranging from something that they will leave to chance.
SAP to IBS Bookmaster, and in many cases, they want to run a Over time (or at least during the 31 years that PW has cov-
standard system that also differs from country to country, ered the Hong Kong/China printing industry), the roles of
Currie says. If previously the publisher did one or two print- these print manufacturers have evolved to include that of eco-
ings per year, now with reduced JIT inventory management warriors, tech geeks, childrens protectors, creative thinkers,
they are looking at possibly 1012 printings for the same logistics experts, and IP champions. On the following pages,
period. This means that the publisher will need to allocate more these eight suppliers share their observations on printing and
resources to handle the short-runs and auto-replenishment. But publishing, ongoing corporate initiatives, and plans that will
with our cloud-based system and interface, CTPS can effectively sharpen their competitive edge.
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Printing in Hong Kong & China
C&C Offset lions of English book buyers in Chinaa market segment that
For publishers eyeing the mainland China market for sales, has been growing exponentially in the last couple of years. We
here is a news alert: C&C will be launching its logistics and will work with relevant suppliers to deliver those books to the
fulfillment services at the end of the year. We will print the buyers.
books in Shenzhen, and offer storage and order fulfillment Meanwhile, the search for different solutions in traditional
services from our warehouse in the neighboring Nansha free- print production is ongoing. It takes creativity to provide new
trade zone, explains business development director Ken Lee, solutions, and it does not have to be a new technology or a new
who has relocated back to Hong Kong after several years man- piece of machinery, says C&C assistant general manager Kit
aging the companys Shanghai printing and packaging Wong. For us, it can be as simple as harnessing our whole
businesses. groups expertisein security, offset, and digital printing as
By enabling publishers to store their titles here instead of well as packagingand experience, of about 93 years in
shipping them back home and then shipping them out again printing, to come out with new solutions. We continue to be
to their Chinese clients, we will help them save money and amazed by the potential cross-over applications that can come
increase their speed to market, which will in turn maximize out of our cumulative strength.
their selling opportunities, Lee explains. Publishers may also Now that AR is widely used in the childrens book market,
use our online platform to list their books for the tens of mil- especially in China where the segment growth has been phe-
nomenal, Wong finds that VR, conductive ink, and NFC
(near-field communication) are value-added elements
that publishers should consider for their products and for
reaching new customers. Thinking outside the box has
helped us to offer new experiences, and make childrens
books and titles from other segments feel fresh, more
appealing, and in many cases, fun, she says. We have
barely started on this.
Business diversification is also ongoing. C&Cs statio-
nery business, especially the masking tape line, has found
newer and broader markets in China. We are not just
doing B2C but also B2B businesses through our online
platform, Lee says. This growth has resulted in a better
workflow from design to distribution, further expanding
our market in this segment. We are totally focused on
finding new opportunities to leverage our printing
expertise.
Ken Lee, business development director at C&C Offset
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Printing in Hong Kong & China
CTPS
Operational restructuring is the buzzword at CTPS. With
smaller print runs from educational and professional pub-
lisherswhich are our core clientsand heightened demand
for a reduced-inventory and rapid-replenishment business
model, we have to adjust our operations accordingly, says CEO
Peter Tse, adding that these factors have also pushed more vol-
umes to the companys digital ink-jet printing business.
In fact, CTPSs digital sales are set to grow nearly 50% this year,
with expansion expected throughout 2018. It is business as usual
on the offset printing side as we continue to serve clients in the
niche segment of lightweight high-page count STM, Bible, and
reference materials, adds Tse, who is working on a much leaner
manufacturing model to improve process efficiencies.
John Currie (l.) and Peter Tse of CTPS Early this year, CTPS embarked on a partnership with a large
U.S. printing conglomerate because, as global business
director John Currie puts it, the shifts in the print
Adoption of Phygitalbook at Marshall supply chain make it the logical thing to do. Increased
Proj e ct Show ca s e
W W W . P U B L I S H E R S W E E K LY. C O M 85
Integrity, strong productivity and customer service has Europe and America, 30% in South America, 15% in
always been Jinhao s guideline. Australia and 15% other regions. In order to provide better
and efficient service to global publishers, we will set up
Jinhao Printing Group is headquartered in Shenzhen, several offices in the world, such as America, Australia,
China, with its three subsidiaries to provide offset Germany, Canada and Hong Kong. In addition, every
printing and packaging services. Our export business year we will participate in Bologna, Guadalajara, London,
started in 2012, providing printing services to publishers,
Frankfurt and the United States Book Fair.
such as textbooks, fine binding books, children s books,
cooking books and photo books. There are ten printing
At present, Jinhao has around 80 millions turnover mainly
machines and full set of binding equipment (for fine
binding, saddle stich, binding combs and card books). from services provided to global publishers. We always
Jinhao also provides gift design and printing (notebooks), consider our clientsneeds and provide solutions with
luxury product packaging and design services. long-term cooperation as a prerequisite to accompany
clients growth. Clients can find us on book fairs, our
It is our priority to develop our global market for expan- oversea offices, google, Alibaba. We look forward to
ding our business. Currently Jinhao has 40% business in working with you.
GSV
CHINA.SHENZHEN
HK*
Printing in Hong Kong & China
Hung Hing
A new building, which adds a 270,000-sq.-ft. production area
to Hung Hings Heshan manufacturing facility, is set to be fully
operational within the next nine months. The whole facility
of five buildings will be RFID-enabled for better tracking of
new material pallets, and work-in-progress and finished goods,
says chief operating officer Richard Lim, adding that all Hung
Hing manufacturing sites have started adopting Industry 4.0s
smart-factory model this year. The production floors will be
segmentized into manufacturing zones of different products
with streamlined equipment and workflows to achieve leaner
manufacturing processes.
For next year, the major focus will be on enhancing the com-
panys childrens and novelty book production as well as inno-
vating its deluxe rigid-box manufacturing business. We have
continued to invest in automation to increase productivity and Matthew Yum (seated; second from left) with his management team at
negate rising labor costs, Lim says. We are also working with Hung Hing.
sound-and-light module suppliers to develop new products
including voice-activated capabilities and touch-sensitive tech-
Pop-Up Christmas Tree
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Printing in Hong Kong & China
Imago
China is, and will remain,
The Case of Beasts
Proje c t Sh ow c ase
Imagos core location for print
manufacturing, says president To start with, this fun-but-challeng-
and CEO Howard Musk. But ing project required the highest lev-
we are making more use of el of security since the release was
facilities across Asia to offer tied to the movie premiere, says
different solutions depending Howard Musk, Imago president and
on formats, schedules, and con- CEO. The book case also needed
tent, he adds. For instance, the look-and-feel of Newts suitcase
since we cannot print the his- with intricate stamping, emboss-
tory titles of an educational ing, UV-varnishing, and a magnetic
series in China, we had the closure. Then there were various
project done in Malaysia. ephemera from the movieNewts wanted poster in an envelope and Tinas
Imago also partners with lenticular ID card for the Magical Congress, for instancethat was tipped
European printers to offer solu- into the book. To preserve the integrity of the base pages, all tip-in areas
tions for projects with shorter were carefully printed with the background images from the pages they
deadlines. were affixed to. Last but not least, the Imago team had to coordinate 14
Trendwise, unique binding different language editionstotaling 350,000 copiessimultaneously.
styles, intricate die cutting,
and unusual cover materials
continue to fascinate pub- manage. He notes, In general, the move to these new color
lishers that are keen to enhance management profiles has been a bit slow as it requires some new
the physical qualities of their equipment, but the results are much improved.
titles. Aside from this being a For Musk, the overall print manufacturing market continues
positive sign for the industry, to be competitive and trend-driven. We aim to be broad-based
it is also a lot of fun in helping in the range of products that we can handle, and that helps us
publishers be creative, says to be nimble in keeping up with clients needs, he says. There
Musk, who has seen more cli- is also a general trend for publishers to reduce the number of
ents getting into the very high- suppliers they work with. At Imago, we offer a single-supplier
end limited editions market stopone point of contact servicefor a large part of a pub-
with significantly higher retail lishers printing requirements.
prices. There have always been
a few smaller publishers in this Jade Productions
particular segment, but some Increased self-publishing activities have seen Jade Productions
larger general publishersin managing director Ken Kong and his team working directly
the music, cooking, and fiction Howard Musk, president and
CEO of Imago
segments, for instanceare
joining the fun, he notes.
Repurposing content, Musk adds, is also becoming popular
with publishers taking existing picture books and creating new
packages with plush toys, bath books, or cloth books.
Digital printing is not big at Imago, where Musk sees a role for
it in proofing and marketing materials. We can now economi-
cally produce just a few case-bound copies at the early proofing
stages, and use those copies instead of traditional sales blads. We
also use digital printing to add unique codes to educational books
for access to online content, adds Musk, whose team has been
working closely with prepress and proofing company Bright Arts
on the new Fogra 51/52 data sets in recent months.
The new data sets, Musk adds, are a great improvement as
they deal with the common issue of optical brighteners in
papers, and it was something that previous data sets could not Chan Hon Kwong (l.) and Ken Kong of Jade Productions
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Printing in Hong Kong & China
Proje c t Sh ow c ase
Queen in 3D
This new title from astrophysicist Brian Maybetter
known as the guitarist for the rock band Queencon-
tains 300-plus photographs (mostly in 3-D) with a slip-
case that combines offset printing with eye-catching
gold foil-stamping and a lenticular
image of the groups late lead singer, Freddie Mercury.
The less-expensive version with the Lite Owl Viewer
was more challenging to produce, as we had to figure
out a way to incorporate the viewer seamlessly into
the book itself, says Ken Kong, Jade managing direc-
tor. The final solution was to mount a holding card
with the Lite Owl Viewer onto the back cover, and de-
sign the card in such a way that the viewer can be taken out and stowed back neatly.
with authors and designers who are used to print-on-demand. requires multiples of four.
With their limited exposure to offset printing and conven- In some instances, Kong finds that the designers may restrict
tional binding methods, they may not realize, for instance, that themselves to either CMYK processes or one-color black ink
the overall manufacturing cost for 200 copies is only marginally and may not even consider two- or three-color Pantone printing.
less than a 500-copy order, Kong notes. They may also ask And this is where Jade Productions comes in with suggestions
for a 26-page book quotation, not knowing that section-sewn and advice, Kong says. We always request sample pages for
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Printing in Hong Kong & China
overall production. Real-time data management can support prompted Fan and her team to advise the client to add gloss
smart manufacturing, enabling rapid responses to dynamic lamination. The multiple processes and passes through
changes and decision-making that are based on scientific and mounting and binding machines are certain to scratch and dent
objective information sources, adds Lai, whose team is working such material, and gloss lamination prevents such blemishes
on smart logistics, the building block of Industry 4.0. With while giving it a very high-end finish, she notes. For another
further R&D and adoption of new equipment such as robots project using black velvet material from France, the production
and automated guided vehicles, we aim to achieve unmanned team gloved up to keep dust off the cover and shrink-wrapped
logistics in the long run. each copy for shipping.
At the upcoming Frankfurt fair, Leo will launch Magic Paper Above all, we want to ensure the best products possible for
World, a host of unique offerings to make paper products more our clients and their clients, and therefore, every little step
inspiring and engaging through our innovation, new technolo- counts, Fan adds, pointing out that the teams innovative
gies, and paper engineering expertise, says Henry Woo, gen- mind-set, motivation, and dedication to clients and their proj-
eral manager of the companys OEM business department. ects have been integral to Magnums success and longevity. She
Licensed-character Rody (accompanied by LeoTouch secondary notes, Word by mouth from these satisfied clients has enabled
processes for case-bound books) will also make its debut at the us to expand our portfolio and market far and wide.
fair. Rody will inspire clients with ideas on mixing-and- Meanwhile, offering integrated services under one roof has
matching of innovative processes to characters of their own or been a major drive at Magnum in the past year. We have
from their licensed partners, Woo adds. Or they can obtain invested considerably in state-of-the-art color management
the right to use Rody in their markets. workflow and machineries, ranging from plating to multifunc-
In order to achieve its goals and growth in the coming years, tional folding equipment, says Fan, adding that Magnums
supply chain collaboration is all-important, Lai says: production floor is optimized for ultra-short projects with
Sustainable growth needs win-win-win results for clients, Leo stringent quality requirements such as IPO brochures, annual
Paper, and suppliers. Complex and fast-changing market situ- reports, financial statements, magazines, high-end books, and
ations call for strengthened collaboration among partners packaging projects.
because individual strength alone, no matter how secure, is Further development of the companys in-house direct-
simply not enough. mailing capabilities is another step toward offering clients
better control of their projects, specifically in scheduling and
Magnum Offset cost management, says Percy Leung, overseas sales team
For nearly 31 years, Magnum Offset has made offering clients member.
technical solutions and professional adviceoften unsolic- With clients expecting immediate response to inquiries
iteda part of its operational process (and success). Our over- using WhatsApp and instant messaging instead of emailing
riding philosophy is to go the extra mile to offer a better way or faxing and waiting to hear back hours laterFan and her
of finishing off a project, or circumvent any potential manufac- team are now offering to capture the entire production process
turing issues, says overseas sales manager Alice Fan. on video and sending that to their clients. They can skip the
One recent project involving a mirrorlike cover material flights to do press checks here, and save the airfare for other
Project Showcase
Countervision
The clients decision, prior to reprinting, to increase the
books lengthfrom 32 pages with a single tip-in sheet to
56 pages with two tip-inswould have been a non-issue if
not for its binding requirements. This book uses 160 gsm
and 280 gsm stock for its content and cover, respectively,
and 180 gsm translucent sheet tip-ins, explains Alice
Fan, Magnum overseas sales manager. These add up to
a significant increase in thickness, and unfortunately, the
sewing machine can only handle up to six mmor about
40 pages of this bookwithout breaking the needle. We
tried, and offered, different binding configurations despite
the time and budget constraints, and our client ultimately
went for Japanese binding for the reprints timed for her
photography exhibition.
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Printing in Hong Kong & China
projects, Fan notes. The whole idea is to allow clients to monitor every step of their
project as it moves through the production floor. In fact, our whole operation is con-
figured to eliminate time-zone differences and communication barriers while offering
transparency at the same time.