Wai Man Book Binding, as its name suggests, used to provide binding services to print manufacturing players. Established in 1973 as a mom-and-pop operation under the name Legend Book Binding, it moved to southern China in 1993, as did many export printing companies, to take advantage of the lower wages and rent across the border.

“Printing companies were then changing their business strategies by adding binding lines,” says managing director Nathan Lui, who joined the company in 1997 and proposed a new business model. “We brought in two Heidelberg presses, officially moved into printing services in 2005, and started developing direct relationships with overseas publishers.”

Last year, Wai Man relocated to a new 34,500-square-meter facility, which is 50% bigger than the previous one, and is still in Dongguan City but much closer to Shenzhen’s Yantian port. “The relocation was completed in mid-July, but we are still improving the layout to increase workflow and production efficiencies,” says Lui, who kept all of his top management people but lost around 10% of his ground staff during the relocation. “We have done a lot of upgrading and rebuilding of production and finishing lines and integrating more automation into our hand-assembly workshop.”

Lui has around 700 workers now, mostly doing nonstandard assembly work, especially in the company’s unique segment of mini-books. These are mostly Bibles or gift books requiring lightweight printing, which is also one of its specialties; its sheetfed offset presses can print on stock as low as 32gsm. “We have custom-made several machineries to cope with the unique requirements of mini-books,” Lui says. “After spending considerable time on imposition planning, customized equipment, and upskilling a group of workers on mini-books, we now offer high-quality mini-books at reasonable prices. We also have a vast network of suppliers for accessories and handwork. So, our team works with clients on sourcing nonpaper components, conducting QC, assembling, packaging, warehousing, and logistics. In other words, Wai Man is selling not just printing services but also our customer services.”

The Bibles that Lui’s company produces are not your run-of-the-mill types. The copies often require customized covers, which have mixed media such as cloth and leather, and gilded edges that go beyond the usual gold or silver. “With sheetfed offset and proven handwork expertise, we can produce small—and unique—quantities with different finishings to fit a client’s needs,” Lui says.

Business-wise, the majority of Wai Man’s clients are from Europe and Australia. “Around 15% of our business comes from the U.S.,” says Lui, whose team is now seeing more inquiries coming from South America. “We are working on minimizing business risks due to geopolitical instability and trade disagreements while developing different markets.”

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