SCREEN Truepress JET 520HD mono Increases Capacity for Book Manufacturer and Eliminates Need for Skilled Labor

September 5, 2025

SCREEN Americas announces the installation of the Truepress JET 520HD mono to KC Book Manufacturing of Kansas City, Missouri. The first roll-fed inkjet press for the softcover book manufacturer has already increased capacity for the company whose niche market is producing short-run jobs for small- to mid-size publishers.

As a family-owned business since its inception in 1906, KC Book Manufacturing built a team of long-time employees. With a retention rate that very few companies can boast, KC recently said farewell to three sets of experienced and skilled hands in team members who had been with the company for more than 40 years—one for nearly 50. The Truepress JET 520HD mono digital inkjet press has filled the void of experience KC Book Manufacturing is losing by providing technology that can easily be operated by one person and mastered very quickly.

With the departure of its long-term employees, the company also eliminated what remained of its conventional printing equipment—a 38-inch web offset press. KC Book Manufacturing is now an all-digital operation with the Truepress JET 520HD mono assuming 70 percent of production. “The web press was simply too slow,” said Rick Smith, owner of KC Book Manufacturing. “The digital inkjet press from SCREEN has made me more competitive. I was able to restore three former customers and acquire a brand new one since the installation last June. The new account gave me a job that included printing approximately 100 copies of twelve different titles. We were able to complete that job in four hours.”

Equipped with a resolution of 1,200 x 1,200 dots per inch, an NIR dryer and water-based ink, the Truepress JET 520HD mono prints on either coated or uncoated paper at a speed up to 150 meters per minute. Ideal for publishing applications, the mono can print 100 copies just as economically as it can print 5,000 copies. Avoiding paper spoilage is one of the biggest advantages KC Book Manufacturing has experienced with the new press. It has also benefitted from the press’s flexibility to accept the company’s leftover paper rolls from its discarded equipment.

KC Book Manufacturing specializes in perfect bound, saddle-stitched and coil-bound books. To help save customers money on their shipping costs, KC Book Manufacturing has partnered with The Fulfillment House in Kearney, Missouri—a business founded to provide enriching employment opportunities for adults with special needs. The unique fulfillment house excels in handling small lot shipments, down to single-book orders, making it the perfect solution for printers specializing in book-on-demand orders.

On the horizon for KC Book Manufacturing is the move toward investing in additional finishing equipment to keep up with the pace of the Truepress JET 520HD mono. For every two shifts spent in postpress, only seven hours are needed on the new technology from SCREEN.