Press release : $9-million investment at Marquis

Marquis Book Printing announces a partnership with U.S. firm EPAC and a $9-million investment at its Montmagny plant. This major initiative is launched to meet market imperatives and the needs of book publishers, and initiates a shift to a new industry 4.0 model. 

Our environment is changing and Marquis is adapting. We are following our plan towards becoming the best printer in Canada and North America! The entire book and printing sector is changing. Print runs and order volume are increasing and require a quick turnaround; print-on-demand and on order is up, with a trend toward zero inventory. Perfectly balancing supply and demand is becoming a necessity for content publishers, for all titles. In reaction to these dominant trends, Marquis announces a partnership with EPAC and the addition of new equipment at its Montmagny plant. This investment is one of the first steps on our roadmap to accelerate our growth, increase our global productivity, and better meet our clients' business needs. 

The EPAC solution manages equipment from different manufacturers in a single integrated and automated work flow. Therefore, Marquis can combine cutting-edge technologies so as to offer its clients the same high-quality products as traditional offset printing, but manufactured on demand with unprecedented efficiency.

The transformation of our Montmagny plant is already underway. The first step has already begun, with the installation of three digital ink jet presses, two assembly lines and two perfect binder lines. This first phase, which requires a $9-million investment, allows us to produce an additional 3 billion pages at our Montmagny plant. Other steps will be announced later in 2018 and will deploy incremental capacity. 

The key component of today's announcement is that all of the new equipment to be installed will be interconnected using an automated production flow developed by EPAC and called PACEX. This industry 4.0 version technology enables direct communication with the equipment without human intervention and cutting down on paper usage. EPAC's new production software is already used by some of the largest publishers, including Interforum. According to Eric Levy, President of Interforum and Editis COO :

“Since June 2017, Interforum has partnered with EPAC to propose a revolutionary new print-on-demand solution: Copernics. We are thrilled to hear that the leading printer in North America has chosen to work with EPAC. Together, we are going to reinvent the world of publishing and printing to open new worlds for our publishers and booksellers.” 

Marquis clients will therefore have access to the EPAC network, which includes facilities in Asia, the United States, Europe and Latin America. Starting now, Marquis is an even more efficient gateway for the production in North America of books from Europe. Furthermore, this network opens horizons for all of Marquis's current and potential Canadian clients wanting to print closer to their readers for most export markets. Discussions are taking place on this subject between Marquis' and publishing leaders to create decentralized printing solutions. The technical performance of the Marquis–EPAC partnership, along with simplified ordering on our Marquis Express platform, which is powered by SoBook Hub, will allow booksellers, distributors and publishers to more efficiently deliver books to readers.

Serge Loubier, Marquis President and CEO, stated: “Aligning technology with publishers' needs has always been one of Marquis's strengths. The entire Marquis team is convinced that this new, carefully considered investment, will give our clients wings on all the local, national and international markets. This shift allows us to once again adapt and remain the book printing leader in North America.” 

Marquis is therefore continuing to pursue its mission of being a preferred partner of book and bound publication publishers, through its innovative, integrated graphic production and printing technological solutions.

Serge Loubier added and concluded: “It's a major milestone in Marquis's history and teamwork is what allowed us to achieve this technological breakthrough. We are following our plan. I'm very proud of my team—the best team in the industry—and you haven't finished hearing about us!”

Our team will be pleased to answer any questions you may have.