Book-Printing Machines Are Getting Faster, Simpler, and Easier to Maintain — Here's How
Reducing maintenance requirements and overall manufacturing costs helped to put book printing machines in libraries, schools, and bookstores.
Edited by Terry Persun
Cool Stuff
Dec 16, 2025
We are all familiar with how eBooks have changed the face of publishing. With lower cost digital books on the market, more books were sold and read. But there were still many readers who wanted to hold the book in their hands, to feel the pages as they turned, and to smell the paper and ink. During the time when eBooks were becoming widespread, print book manufacturers were already working on machines that could print books quickly and for lower costs. The aim was to put book printing machines into the hands of bookstores and libraries. This was where the concept for Print On Demand (POD) books started, and is now used by bookstores and libraries but also by small publishers and large publishers alike. This article is about one of the ways this technology progressed and is now even more important that eBook prices are on the rise.
On Demand Books originally came up with the POD solution they called the Espresso Book Machine®. This machine was a collaborative design effort, first conceptualized by Jeff Marsh and On Demand Chairman Jason Epstein. The Espresso Book Machine was further refined for manufacturability by DT Engineering to reduce the overall assembly part count, improve performance, and reduce the total cost of printing. DT Engineering is a specialty engineering firm that focuses on machine design, build, and replication (build to print) of custom machinery.
The first working prototype from On Demand Books was presented to DT Engineering, whose task was to bring in a more refined design that increased manufacturability, decreased machine complexity, and operated reliably. One issue with the original design was the numerous linear motion components that made up the system. Rails, mounting components, fasteners, and pillow blocks combined to take up a considerable amount of space resulting in a complex assembly. DT Engineering developed a modular approach for the internal sub-assemblies and sought out maintenance-free components for longer-lasting performance.
DT Engineering began by working closely with PBC Linear to simplify the linear motion system, and finally decided on their Uni-Guide linear slide for the three critical tasks of the book printer. The simple, two-piece rail and carriage assembly of Uni-Guide provided a more streamlined design without bulky mounting pieces or painstaking assembly work. In addition, the carriage’s internal Simplicity® plain linear bearings glide smoothly and reliably without the need for additional lubrication or preventative maintenance.
The rails have dual shafts that are precision machined along the edge to ensure perfect alignment and parallelism. All of these Uni-Guide advantages were essential to improving the performance of the Espresso machine’s smooth cutting of the book pages, gluing of the pages to the cover and spine, and collating the pages for binding. All in all, the Uni-guide provided long-lasting transfer and adjustment for some of the Espresso’s most important operating tasks.
Uni-Guide linear slides are available in carriage widths of 75mm, 100mm, and 125mm, and feature a ceramic coated aluminum rail and anodized carriage with an underliner of self-lubricating maintenance-free FrelonGOLD®. This Gliding Surface Technology™ eliminates tolerance stack-up and dampens vibrations and shock loads. The guides are designed to be easily incorporated into existing applications, facilitated by their two-piece assembly. The fact that the device has no rolling elements eliminates the possibility of catastrophic failure.
By implementing Uni-Guide technology from PBC Linear, DT Engineering was able to reduce each linear motion assembly from roughly ten pieces down to two, creating a simpler, cost-effective printing machine. Today, the on-demand Espresso Book Machine is used by a wide number of publisher and is also available in college libraries and bookstores worldwide.
For readers who want a print book that they can hold in their hands and put on their bookshelves, the machine automatically prints, binds, and trims perfect bound, bookstore-quality paperbacks at the point of sale, eliminating the need for overstocked inventory. What’s better is that the Espresso Book Machine boasts the added value of offering rare, hard to find titles just as easily. Books are first selected using EspressNet® software developed by On Demand, and then printed within minutes. The final book is complete with front/back covers and is ready for immediate purchase.
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