BIC Training Courses

Created by the book industry, for the book industry

For an empowered, informed supply chain

Established in 1991, BIC is an independent, not-for-profit organisation at the heart of the UK book industry. We pride ourselves on working collaboratively with key stakeholders in the industry to produce quality training courses that are created and delivered by expert, highly respected trainers on a wide range of supply chain topics. Being a not-for-profit organisation, BIC is able to offer all of its training at highly competitive rates. If there is a topic that you would like us to provide training on, that we do not provide at present, get in touch; we also welcome enquires about the provision of bespoke in-house courses.

All BIC Production courses are designed in conjunction with a panel of Production Directors from leading publishing houses to ensure that they focus on what you need to know. Each course contains a formal assessment recognised by many of the UK’s publishing houses.

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BIC's Digital Printing for Books Course

Purpose of the Course

Knowing which print method to use can be critical to the profitability and success of a book and publisher. By looking at the different digital print technologies and workflows available, this course provides delegates with an understanding of the pros and cons of each and shows them how using different print methods can help them manage their inventory.

Benefits of Attending

This course will provide delegates with the knowledge and confidence to pick the right printing method for a project and the skills to identify and solve problems that they might encounter.

Delegates will spend time in CPI’s pressroom and bindery, seeing first-hand how books are produced on digital presses and how the different workflows work in practice.

As the factory can be noisy and to ensure our attendees get the most out of the day, we limit the number of delegates for this course to 6.

Course Level

This course is aimed at those who are responsible for the production of digitally-printed books, whether they are short run or Print On Demand (POD), colour or mono. Those new to digital printing and those who would like an update on the changing technology and production methods available would also benefit from attending.

Course Outline

This course has a practical emphasis, ensuring all theoretical elements are accompanied by a practical application. The topics covered include:

What are the environmental impacts and benefits when printing digitally?
What is POD / short run printing?
The POD process from consumer order to delivery
How the different digital print technologies work
How to select the right digital print method for your book
How the different workflows can be used to increase the profitability of a project
How the costs for digital printing are calculated
How to prepare a file for digital printing
Which papers are suitable for digital book production
How the lack of / minimal make-ready affects the publishers costing
The binding process for short run and POD books
How the books are distributed, i.e. whether to a warehouse or direct to customer
The other opportunities that the technology makes available, e.g. custom publishing, personalised editions, test runs, etc.

Read the full course outline here.

The Trainers

Heather O'Connell

Consultant

Heather has more than 20 years’ experience in book publishing. Specialising in book production, she has held various positions including Production Director for Penguin UK and HarperCollins Publishers. Heather now runs a consultancy, using her passion for and knowledge of the industry to support a broad range of print and publishing clients and industry initiatives.

Martin Collyer

General Manager at CPI Antony Rowe

CPI Books UK

Martin has more than 30 years’ experience in the UK book and journal industry. He specialises in colour reprographics and digital operations, workflows and inventory management solutions. Martin is currently the divisional General Manager of CPI Antony Rowe, and oversees the operations of both the Wiltshire and Eastbourne plants.

Feedback for this Course

What component of the training was most effective for you? “Information on the technical side of inkjet printing, what’s in the machine and how it works, and the pros and cons of the various print options.” - Anon.

“It was an extremely informative course and it was helpful to have the flexibility to ask questions.” - Anon.

What component of the training was most effective for you? “The balance between presentations and discussion.” - Roger Christiansen, Ricoh Europe

Date & Frequency of this Course

Thursday 15th May 2025. This course will run once in 2025

Bespoke and In-House Training

BIC is committed to providing high quality, accessible training for the book industry. We are able to provide both bespoke courses and in-house training to suit your requirements. This courses is suitable for in-house training so please do contact us to request further information or to make a booking: info@bic.org.uk

Course Location

CPI Group UK, Melksham.

Course Length

This is a full day course.

Prices

BIC Members £350 + VAT

Friends of BIC £415 + VAT

Non Members £480 + VAT

NB: Eventbrite fee, travel and accommodation costs are not included in the ticket price.

Discounted rates apply to BIC members only.

Not sure if your organisation is a BIC member? Check our members list here.

Alternative Payment Option: If you would prefer BIC to invoice your organisation directly, please contact info@bic.org.uk. Please note that this process will incur a £25.00 administration fee.

On the Day

All of BIC’s full-day courses include refreshments and a full working lunch.

Dress Code

Please be aware that delegates will spend time in the factory at CPI, so we ask that you should please dress appropriately, i.e. no open-toe shoes / sandals.

WiFi Access

A password will be provided on the day to delegates.

Travel Information

Rail station:

Chippenham www.nationalrail.co.uk . If you are travelling by train, we will arrange collection for you at Chippenham station. If travelling from London, we recommend you catch a direct train from London Paddington to Chippenham.

Airports:

London City Airport – 110 miles, ca 140 min by car

Heathrow – 100miles, ca 80 min by car

Luton – 120 miles, ca 120 min by car

Stansted – 140 miles, ca 135 min by car

Gatwick – 125 miles, ca 120 min by car

Car parks:

Should you choose to drive to this course, there is ample parking on the CPI site.

Course Cancellations

Please note: as we price our training courses so keenly, the running of them is dependent on there being a set minimum number of delegates registered by the time the booking period ceases. For this reason, please be aware that unfortunately some courses may be cancelled if this requirement is not met. Should this happen, BIC will arrange for full refunds for all training courses booked. We will liaise with registered delegates at least 2 weeks prior to each course date regarding this. BIC apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Refund Policy

Please take a few moments to familiarise yourself with our refund policy:

Should you need to cancel your ticket, refunds may be given as follows:

Up to 6 calendar weeks (i.e. 42 calendar days) before the event: full refund minus Eventbrite fee
Less than 6 calendar weeks, but more than 2 calendar weeks (i.e. 14 days) before the event: 50% refund
Less than 2 calendar weeks before the event: no refund.

If you (or a colleague in your place) do not attend the training course you have booked, no refund will be given.

Please note: Tickets are transferable within your organisation.

BIC's Digital Printing for Books Training Course