Why Has The Growth Of On-demand Printing At Ji Gong She Been Hindered, And Why Has Traditional Thinking Become A Development Obstacle?

On-demand printing, as a brand-new concept and production model that integrates digital and intelligent technologies, possesses the typical characteristics of new-quality productivity and offers new ideas and solutions for the innovation and high-quality development of the publishing and printing industry. Since its inception, on-demand printing has evolved from being a choice of "whether to do it" to a question of "how to do it." At the 21st "Digital Printing in China" Technology Development Forum in 2025, we specially invited five guests to discuss the theme "How to Deeply Advance On-Demand Printing under the New Situation?" Together, they will explore the current status of on-demand printing, the core bottlenecks that urgently need breakthroughs, and its future development prospects. Today, we will share the insights and reflections of Yan Yan, Director of the Publishing Center at China Machine Press Co., Ltd.

Yan Yan, Director of the Publishing Center, China Machine Press Co., Ltd.

The business structure of China Machine Press (hereinafter referred to as "CMP") is divided into three major segments: textbooks, science and technology, and general management. The application of digital printing varies significantly among these segments: the science and technology segment, due to its narrower audience and smaller print runs per title, has become one of the primary application areas for digital printing; the general management segment, with stable market demand and larger print runs, has relatively low demand for digital printing; while the textbook segment, characterized by a wide range of titles but small print runs per title, has become the core to support digital printing business. Since introducing digital printing in 2019, CMP's digital printing business has grown rapidly, driven by the textbook segment, even achieving a year of growth up to six times. However, in recent years, the growth trend has gradually leveled off, falling short of expectations.

Essentially, digital printing should not be limited to merely substituting in the production process, but should bring deeper changes to the publishing industry's sales models, topic planning, and overall operations. At present, digital printing has only partially replaced traditional printing and has not yet truly driven the reconstruction of the industry model.

In practical terms, CMP still faces some real bottlenecks. For example, textbook orders typically require 450 copies, and ideally only a few extra copies of sample books would be printed. However, in actual production, the minimum print run remains 500 or even 1,000 copies. Discussions with branch editors revealed a traditional mindset: editors, concerned about subsequent small reorders, warehouse management errors, and the cost of reprints, prefer to print in full batches at once. This conservative approach limits the development of on-demand printing. Additionally, in the reprinting of out-of-print books, CMP's cooperation with Jianhong Printing has achieved some results, more stable than expected, but has not developed further.

The traditional business model of the publishing industry is a key obstacle to the deeper promotion of digital printing. In the file transfer stage, publishers are reluctant to provide a large number of textbook files to printers in advance. Even when discussing the "transfer files only upon order" model with Founder Yunsu, a feasible solution has yet to be found.

In terms of the production process, even if only five copies need to be printed, a full new print-run process must be initiated, involving repetitive work by printers, editors, and management personnel. Layout companies need to modify the copyright page information and re-upload files, which also incurs extra file storage costs. Overall, the process is cumbersome and inefficient.

At the system level, modifying the ERP system to enable "reprinting based on the original edition" faces significant resistance. Senior management is concerned about the risks of system modification, and the system itself requires substantial structural changes, making modification very difficult.

Moreover, publishers have low profit expectations from digital printing, resulting in insufficient enthusiasm for its promotion, which in turn affects the transition of book printing from two-color to four-color printing. Currently, digital print runs at CMP account for about two-thirds of print editions, but only about one-third of the paper usage, with minimal annual growth. Continuous exploration will be required in the future.