The UK printing operation of Lightning Source will go live with an eight-hour day shift by the end of August.


The first printing and binding line at its Milton Keynes plant is operational and there are plans to fit a second line early next year.
It has signed up a number of UK publishers and wholesalers, including Blackwells Books and Cambridge University Press.


In the USA Lightning Source handles production for Amazon.com and the UK is talking with Amazon.co.uk about a similar service.


Milton Keynes is its second site after La Vergne in Tennessee. It plans to open another US site later this year.
UK managing director Malcolm Allen has set a first-year target of 400,000 units, although some have already been produced in the USA.


The printing line is based on a twin-unit IBM Infoprint 4000 R3/4 reel-fed laser printing line with in-line Stralfors folder for book blocks. A Xeikon-engined IBM InfoColor 70 prints colour covers, which are then laminated.


The target turnaround time is within 24 hours of order, with delivery within 48 hours.


Story by Simon Eccles