Bruce F. Jacobsen (left), executive vice president, and Kent H. Larson, vice president for the Print on Demand Division, review a single book order at Bridgeport National Bindery in Agawam.Judith Kelliher

An Agawam bindery saw the writing on the, well, Internet, and realized it could expand its services to also offer digital print-on-demand, including orders for just a single book.

That decision nearly 10 years ago has accounted for most of Bridgeport National Bindery Inc.’s (BNB) current growth as many of its on-demand book orders come from online publishers or bookstores that sell over the Internet as well as publishers in Singapore, Australia and the United Kingdom, said Kent H. Larson, BNB’s vice president for the Print on Demand Division.

The company, located at 662 Silver St., in Agawam specializes in small print runs and on any given day could produce between 7,000 and 15,000 “books of one,” Larson said. The on-demand method of printing allows the company to print as ordered versus printing on speculation, he said.

“It became much more of a philosophy and paradigm shift so instead of, 'if we build it they will come,' it’s if they come we will build it,” Larson said.

Rather than a book physically sitting in a warehouse, it “resides on a digital, virtual warehouse and server,” he said.