Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (DNP, TOKYO: 7912) is pleased to announce the signing of an agreement with Ingram’s print-on-demand (POD) company Lightning Source LLC.

DNP participated in Ingram’s Global Connect Program and forging relationships with printers in locations other than the US, UK, and Australian regions where Lightning Source maintains POD manufacturing bases. We are engaging in on-demand manufacturing and marketing the books licensed from publishers around the world. In this latest development, DNP has become the sole Global Connect company in Japan from August 2021. Ingram’s Global Connect markets around the world are Brazil, Germany, Italy, Spain, Poland, Russia, India, China, and South Korea.

"We are pleased to expand Ingram’s Global Connect programme to Japan, enabling books within our catalog to be accessed, printed and delivered in the local bookselling markets quickly," said David Taylor, Ingram’s Senior Vice President of Content Acquisition, International. "By adding DNP to our network, we are expanding our reach around the world, helping publishers and retailers grow sales and revenue while quickly meeting demand."

This is an unprecedented advantage for the Japanese publishing sector. Publishers will now be able to sell and export in several new countries through Ingram and exponentially increase their print on demand catalog. Japanese consumers will now be able to purchase a wide range of books from publishers around the world. These include books from Latin America and Asia that have been seldom handled so far,” said Nobuyuki Asaba, DNP’s Senior Corporate Officer, General Manager of Publishing Innovation Operations.

DNP and Global Connect

• DNP will commence the provision of works via Knowledge Worker, the website of Maruzen-Yushodo Co., Ltd., a DNP group company involved in the marketing of books, please visit https://kw.maruzen.co.jp/ (Japanese only). Going forward, we also plan to sell books via honto, the DNP hybrid bookstore website, please visit https://honto.jp/ (Japanese only).
• DNP will manufacture and provide the books ordered in the required number of copies, via a small lot driven POD format.
• Japanese consumers, including researchers and experts will now be able to purchase a wide range of books from publishers around the world in a variety of genres and languages. These include books from Latin America and Asia that have been seldom handled so far.

Background

In fields such as specialist and academic books, stable demand exists in Japan for works published overseas, based on the desire to read original manuscripts in the language in which they were written. Traditionally, however, the import of books from overseas has entailed great time and cost. In addition, titles of self-published works and those from outside the English-speaking world have seen only small volumes. And as these have been difficult to procure at many bookstores the number of titles available for consumers to purchase have been limited.

In response to this situation, Global Connect program has reduced the time and cost of transportation, and through alliances with printers around the world, books from countries and in languages that were difficult to obtain are now available, in a varied selection and timely manner, to bookstores and to consumers in Japan.

In answer to the challenge of the loss of sales opportunities as a result of inventory shortages, DNP has cooperated with bookstores to provide a POD manufacturing and distribution system based on consumer needs, that incorporates the needs of the market into the process. We have created an environment in which consumers can obtain the book they want to read, when they want to read it, in the format in which they want to read it, otherwise referred to as Book Lifecycle Management (BLM)*1.

DNP has also established a sales route to meet the domestic demand for books from overseas, based on Maruzen-Yushodo which has a proven track record in importing academic books and marketing to university libraries and research institutions. In 2011, we commenced POD manufacturing and drop-shipping to consumers through a major overseas academic information publisher, and established a system for accepting orders of overseas books from even a single copy. We noticed that POD manufacturing was already well-advanced in the US and European book market in 2011, and we were an early participant in this market.

Our track record of engaging in the early building of a total on-demand ordering and manufacturing system, along with the product quality of our high level printing and book-binding technologies has been highly evaluated by Lightning Source, which led to the signing of the partnership agreement.

Looking Ahead

Through DNP’s participation in Ingram’s Global Connect program, DNP will be able to offer for sale books in various genres and languages from publishers in countries and regions around the world. By offering these in Japan we will answer the needs of domestic consumers and rejuvenate the publishing business, possibly preventing the loss of sales.

DNP is also investigating the possibility of utilizing the manufacturing and distribution function of others in the Global Connect program to provide content licensed by Japanese publishers around the world. The Global Connect network includes high population states, such as the US, China, India, and Russia. As a result of these endeavours, the combined population of the top 15 countries accounting for more than half of all people on the face of the planet, now has access to the content provided by this business.

Working with Lightning Source may create opportunities for new sales for publishing companies in possession of highly demanded contents, such as traditional Japanese culture and characters. And by providing an environment for the proper distribution of official contents, we will also contribute to the prevention of the spread of pirate editions.

About Ingram Content Group |https://www.ingramcontent.com/

The world is reading, and Ingram Content Group (“Ingram”) connects people with content in all forms. Providing comprehensive services for publishers, retailers, libraries and educators, Ingram makes these services seamless and accessible through technology, innovation and creativity. With an expansive global network of offices and facilities, Ingram’s services include digital and physical book distribution, print-on-demand, and digital learning. Ingram Content Group is a part of Ingram Industries Inc. and includes Ingram Book Group LLC, Ingram Publisher Services LLC, Lightning Source LLC, Ingram Library Services LLC, Tennessee Book Company LLC, Ingram Content Group UK Ltd. and Ingram Content Group Australia Pty Ltd.

*1: BLM optimizes the entire book lifecycle from publishing planning to production and/or manufacture, distribution, sales promotion, returns, inventory, and shredding. Demand is predicted by observing bookstore POS data, and via POD manufacturing, realizes small lots and short delivery times. In addition, by proposing marketing approaches that leverage both bricks and mortar and online bookstores, it is possible to reduce inventory costs, return rates at publishers, and prevent the loss of sales opportunities as a result of inventory shortages.

*Company names, products and service names appearing in this release are the trademarks or registered trademarks of those companies.
*Product information and service details described in this release are accurate as of the date of issue. They are subject to change without notice.