BISG Welcomes the Book Manufacturers’ Institute as Its Newest Member

The Book Industry Study Group (BISG) is pleased to welcome the Book Manufacturers’ Institute (BMI) as its newest member, further strengthening a partnership that has helped shape the book industry for nearly a century.

Founded in 1933, BMI is the nationally recognized trade association representing the book manufacturing industry. Its more than eighty member companies collectively produce more than 85% of the books published in the United States and include full-service manufacturers, digital printers, binderies, component suppliers, and equipment manufacturers.

BISG itself was conceived at BMI’s fall meeting in November 1975, when a cross-section of publishers and manufacturers recognized the need for better research, operating statistics, and shared standards. 

“BMI and BISG have been connected since before BISG formally existed,” said Brian O’Leary, Executive Director of BISG. “It’s especially meaningful to welcome BMI as a member organization as we celebrate BISG’s 50th anniversary this year. Our shared history reflects a long-standing commitment to standards, data, and collaboration that strengthens the entire supply chain—from printers and paper suppliers to publishers and retailers.”

The two organizations have frequently collaborated to bring manufacturers and publishers together around practical solutions for the industry. One example of this collaboration will take place in September 2026, when BMI will hold its Book Manufacturing Mastered conference the day after BISG’s Book Publishing Next Forum and 50th Anniversary Celebration on September 16 in New York City. Scheduling the events consecutively will allow industry professionals to attend both and deepen cross-industry conversations.

The September 16 BISG event will convene industry leaders, innovators, and long-time contributors for a program that blends reflection and foresight. The program will include a retrospective highlighting five decades of BISG’s impact, keynote remarks from influential voices across publishing, and a silent auction benefiting the new BISG Incubator Fund. The fund will support pilot projects and initiatives aligned with the Book Publishing Next framework, helping BISG test innovative ideas that strengthen industry infrastructure, improve communication, and support long-term sustainability.

“Bringing our events together in New York this September underscores the close relationship between BISG and BMI,” said O’Leary. “Manufacturing is a vital part of the publishing ecosystem, and aligning our programming helps ensure that the conversations happening across the industry remain connected.”

BMI’s Book Manufacturing Mastered conference was created to help publishing professionals better understand the complexities and innovations involved in producing printed books—from prepress and workflow to finishing, paper, and logistics. By bringing manufacturers and publishers together in a focused educational environment, the event reflects the collaborative spirit that has long characterized the relationship between BMI and BISG.

“BMI’s roots stretch back more than a century to the early organizing efforts of bookbinders who believed in the value of common standards and collective action,” said Matt Baehr, Executive Director of BMI. “Becoming a member of BISG reflects that same spirit. Our organizations share a mission to drive efficiency, growth, and innovation in the book market, and we look forward to deepening our collaboration in ways that benefit manufacturers, publishers, and ultimately, readers.”

Both organizations are also working to foster greater transparency around production realities in the print supply chain. In June 2025, BISG hosted a Lunch & Learn presented by O’Leary exploring how the industry might better measure U.S. book production capacity across different timeframes and formats. Establishing a shared framework for understanding capacity could help manufacturers, publishers, and other stakeholders plan print runs more effectively, communicate expectations, and strengthen supply chain resilience.

This work represents an important step toward creating a shared framework that manufacturers, publishers, and other stakeholders can use to better plan print runs, communicate expectations, and strengthen supply chain resilience.

“Efforts like BISG’s capacity research highlight the importance of collaboration across our communities,” said Baehr. “By sharing knowledge and creating common frameworks, we can help ensure the long-term health of the print supply chain.”

BMI plays a vital role in advancing intra-industry communication and collaboration through conferences, roundtables, government relations efforts, and standards development. 

By joining BISG, BMI reinforces the importance of manufacturing leadership within conversations about metadata, rights, subject codes (BISAC), workflow, and supply chain best practices. The addition of BMI as a member underscores BISG’s commitment to broad representation across the publishing ecosystem and to solutions that improve efficiency and resilience for all stakeholders.

As BISG approaches its 50th anniversary in 2026, the formalization of BMI’s membership marks both a celebration of shared history and a forward-looking investment in the continued strength of the North American book industry.

About the Book Manufacturers’ Institute
The Book Manufacturers’ Institute is a not-for-profit trade organization that supports book manufacturing leaders in their work to drive the promotion, efficiency, and growth of book markets for readers and educators in North America.

Since 1933, BMI has provided tremendous value to its member companies and others associated with the book manufacturing industry. BMI member companies range from full-service book manufacturers to those specializing in the digital print market, specialty binderies, component printers, packagers, equipment manufacturers, and suppliers of a variety of materials and services. Read more at www.bmibook.com.

About the Book Industry Study Group
The Book Industry Study Group (BISG) is a membership organization comprised of a diverse slate of publishers, manufacturers, wholesalers and distributors, libraries, retailers, and industry partners. Its members are aligned by the value they receive in joining and engaging with BISG committees, where work gets done to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and transparency across the industry. In BISG’s committees, relationships get built and good ideas are surfaced, solving problems that affect two or more parts of the industry. BISG’s five core practice areas include metadata, rights, supply chain, subject codes (BISAC), and workflow.