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Just in time for the 2025 Frankfurt Book Fair, Thalia and Elanders Print & Packaging have announced a groundbreaking collaboration: Together, they are opening a state-of-the-art digital printing center in the new Thalia omnichannel hub in Marl. This partnership stands for innovation, efficiency, and sustainability in book production—and marks the beginning of a new era of print-on-demand in Germany.
A strong duo for the future of book printing
The goal of the collaboration is clear: publishers should be able to produce economically, flexibly, and in a resource-efficient manner in the future. The intelligent combination of printing and logistics creates a holistic system that simplifies manufacturing and distribution processes.
“In the future, publishers will be offered an economically attractive and flexible production solution that simplifies the entire manufacturing and distribution process,” explains Sven Burkhard, President of Elanders Print & Packaging.
“Our industry experience and Thalia’s market strength complement each other perfectly.”
Technology meets sales expertise
The new digital printing center in Marl will become the heart of Thalia’s omni-channel hub. It combines state-of-the-art digital printing technology from Elanders Print & Packaging with Thalia’s logistics and distribution expertise. This means books reach stores faster—or go directly to readers’ homes.
Ingo Kretzschmar, CEO of Thalia, emphasizes:
“With the digital printing center, we are creating a powerful print-on-demand model that sets new standards in efficiency, flexibility, and process optimization.”
A model with a signal effect for the publishing industry
Elanders Print & Packaging brings decades of experience in industrial process optimization to the partnership. With customized print-on-demand solutions, a global production network, and state-of-the-art technology, the company offers a sustainable response to the challenges facing the publishing industry.
As Thalia continues to expand its omni-channel strategy, Elanders provides technological excellence: from digital printing processes and automated production workflows to sustainable material processing.
Setting new standards together
Both partners share the vision of sustainable, efficient, and customer-oriented book production. The close integration of printing and logistics shortens supply chains, reduces resource consumption, and makes it possible to print books exactly when they are ordered—on demand.
This makes the new printing center not only a symbol of modern production, but also a contribution to resource conservation and the strengthening of the book market in Germany.
About Thalia
Thalia is the leading omni-channel bookseller in the DACH region, with around 7,000 employees and over 418 bookstores. The company successfully combines brick-and-mortar retail with e-commerce and achieved sales of €2.2 billion in the 2023/24 fiscal year.
With its sophisticated omni-channel strategy, Thalia serves a steadily growing number of hybrid customers who switch flexibly between the online and offline worlds – setting new standards in the book trade.
About Elanders
Elanders Print & Packaging is an international printing company and part of the Swedish Elanders Group. With over 26 branches and 7,000 employees worldwide, the company offers comprehensive solutions in the areas of digital printing, packaging printing, offset printing, and supply chain services.
Thanks to its global presence—including in the US, China, Poland, Sweden, the UK, Italy, and Germany—Elanders combines international strength with local proximity. Under the motto “We create solutions,” the company develops holistic, tailor-made concepts for customers from a wide range of industries—from book production to complex industrial and logistics solutions.
Conclusion: A partnership that is shaking up the industry
The cooperation between Thalia and Elanders Print & Packaging marks a milestone for the future of book production. The combination of technology, sustainability, and market proximity shows how genuine innovation can arise from partnership-based thinking—made in Germany, designed for the world.