Anyone who makes books knows how crucial timing, print runs, and quality are. Sometimes it’s about thousands of copies that need to be shipped worldwide at lightning speed. Other times it’s about that one unique book, carefully printed and personally packaged. It’s exactly in that balance that the combination of Printforce and Digiforce shines. Two sister companies, under one roof, each with their own strengths. Printforce excels in scale, automation, and international reach. Digiforce is the agile specialist that produces books starting from just a single copy. Together, they deliver what every publisher, educator, or author is looking for: efficiency and flexibility, large print runs and tailor-made editions.
Behind this flexible branch is Roeland Lamme (53), digital process consultant at Digiforce. He quite literally grew up among stacks of paper. “I was raised with the smell of ink and paper,” he says. His father ran several print shops, and the presses were part of daily life. Sometimes, when young Roeland got too mischievous, the printers would lift him into a tall paper bin, leaving him giggling as he caught his breath. “For me it was a playground. But it was also where my love for books began.”
A different level
After studying business administration, Roeland worked for a while in his father-in-law’s print shop. Still, he felt change was coming. When digital printing emerged, he jumped right in. “My father said: ‘There’s no future in that. A book needs to be printed, not copied.’ Digital was seen as filler work, useful for small jobs but not serious. But I knew: this is the future. This will take our craft to another level.”
Where traditional printers still thought in pallets, Roeland saw the power of small-scale printing. “Suddenly you could make a single book without it becoming unaffordable. No more full warehouses, no more dusty stocks. Just producing what’s needed. That felt like the future.” And more possibilities followed: personalization, variation, fast delivery. “It allowed us to respond much better to what a customer truly wants. That energized me.”
From this conviction, Digiforce was born, which Roeland now runs together with his colleague and brother-in-law Frank. “Our principle: making books starting from just one copy. Today we also print runs up to a few hundred, but that foundation still makes us unique.” Through the online platform printItEasy, the process is simple for customers: upload, order, done. “From production to delivery, fully automated. And for those who need extras such as design, editing, or publishing guidance? That’s where our partner Boekenmakers comes in.”
Collaboration with Printforce
The collaboration with Printforce completes the picture. Both companies work with the same workflow system, which allows jobs to shift seamlessly. Digiforce doesn’t have its own print hall; everything runs through Printforce’s ultra-modern printer line. “That’s basically our production floor,” Roeland explains. “We handle the coordination, the customization, the specials. Once an order enters the workflow, it comes off the same printers as Printforce’s large runs. Only our approach is different. If a job grows too large, Printforce takes over. If Printforce needs something flexible or out of the ordinary, it comes to us. That way we complement each other perfectly.”
Roeland gives an example: “We often produce books with ribbons or unusual formats. Those kinds of specials fit us. But when it’s about bulk or global distribution, that’s where Printforce’s strength shines. The beauty is: the customer doesn’t notice. Everything flows as one whole.”
For Roeland, it sometimes still feels like a childhood dream. “From playing in a paper bin to pioneering in digital printing – I never could have imagined it. But one thing has stayed the same: my passion for paper. Only now, the possibilities are infinitely greater.” He sums it up simply: “It’s not about machines. It’s about stories that want to be shared. And we make sure those stories always become a book – whether it’s one copy or a thousand.”
