What Wilco does

Wilco is a Netherlands-based industrial printing group headquartered in Amersfoort, founded in 1958 and controlled by the family-owned holding Wilco Beheer BV. The company produces books, magazines, catalogs, and tear-off calendars for publishers and corporate buyers across the literary, educational, scientific, art, and consumer segments, with named reference customers including Springer. Operations run at industrial scale: Wilco processes approximately 9.1 billion pages and 23,643 tons of paper per year, prints 750,000 tear-off calendars annually, and employs 461–504 FTE across Amersfoort (headquarters and binding) and Zutphen (CtP plate production and short-run printing).

Production is built on in-house offset printing — Heidelberg XL sheet-fed presses complemented by Timson rotogravure web presses — combined with computer-to-plate prepress, folding, sewing, binding (including PUR adhesive), and finishing services such as lamination, foil stamping, embossing, and UV coating. Color management follows ISO 12647-2 (sheet-fed) and ISO 12647-7 (prepress) with Fogra 51/52 profiles, and Wilco uses the VIGC PDF correction tool to ensure incoming files meet printing requirements. The 12,500 m² Clean Climate Neutral Printing House opened in Amersfoort on 1 February 2022 is gas-free, uses heat pumps and ground energy, and saves approximately 1,300 tons of CO₂ per year; total CO₂ emissions in 2024 were 1,686 tons, fully compensated via VCS credits in the Thangarabalu Small Hydel Project in India. Wilco holds ISO 9001, ISO 14001, ISO 12647-2, ISO 12647-7, FSC (FSC-C004472), and PEFC (PEFC/30-32-821) certifications, and achieved ClimateCalc basic certification in October 2024.

The commercial model is sales-led B2B: dedicated account managers and order managers handle publishers from quote through delivery, with pricing provided on a custom quote basis (no public price list) and a response time of one working day. Multi-year contract billing is indicated. Distribution is executed through Wilco's own fleet supplemented by external carriers, and digital file handling is via an SFTP portal and the Mijn Wilco customer platform. Wilco Art Books is an internal specialist division for high-quality art and museum publications. The parent group operates through subsidiaries Wilco BV (main operation), Wilco Art Books BV, Wilco Zutphen BV, and Coers & Roest (wholly owned), plus minority stakes in Drukkerij Roelofs BV and Jongbloed Grafisch Bedrijf BV. In October 2024 Wilco was named Printmedia Company of the Year at the Print Inspiration Awards.

Name

Wilco

Legal name

Wilco BV

Website

https://wilco.nl

Company type

Private

Founded year

1958

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

Wilco is a Netherlands-based, family-owned industrial printing group producing books, magazines, catalogs, and tear-off calendars for publishers and corporate buyers, with ~9.1 billion pages processed annually across its Amersfoort and Zutphen facilities under ISO-certified, climate-neutral offset production.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Commercial Printing Services

NAICS

Books Printing (323117), Commercial Printing (except Screen and Books) (323111)

SIC

Book Printing (2732), Commercial Printing (2750)

akta.pro primary industry

Print-on-Demand Production (Book POD, Short-Run Fulfillment) (MPAJALAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

POD Fulfillment, Warehousing & Drop-Shipping Services (MPAJANAJ)

Keywords

• Commercial printing services
• Offset printing
• Book printing
• Magazine printing
• Climate-neutral printing

Headquarters

HQ city

Amersfoort

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Offset Printing Services: Wilco generates revenue through industrial-scale offset printing services for books, magazines, catalogs, and tear-off calendars, primarily serving publishers in the literary, educational, and scientific segments. The company processes over 23,643 tons of paper annually, handling everything from printing to binding and distribution under one roof.
2. Binding and Finishing Services: In-house binding services including stitched, sewn, and sewn-adhesive (PUR) binding, perfect binding, cold glue, hotmelt, or PUR adhesive, with paper or linen spine covers. Includes lamination, foil stamping, embossing, and UV coating performed in-house or through long-term partner companies.
3. Wilco Art Books (High-Quality Art and Museum Books): Specialized high-quality printing for art books, museum publications, and photography books in close collaboration with graphic designers, museums, artists, and art galleries, involving specialized lithography and intensive production support.
4. Tear-off Calendars Production and Distribution: Annual production of 750,000 tear-off calendars in sheet-fed or web offset, including packaging in crystal-clear film and distribution to specified addresses. The 640-page format is designed to fit through standard letterboxes.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Wilco is an industrial-scale printing company that produces books, magazines, catalogs, and tear-off calendars using sheet-fed and web/rotary offset printing. The company operates a fully integrated in-house production chain spanning paper storage, printing, folding, sewing, binding, finishing (lamination, foil stamping, embossing, UV coating), and distribution, serving primarily publishers and corporate customers across Europe.

Product overview

Wilco is a climate-neutral printing house offering four core print products: books, magazines/periodicals, catalogues, and tear-off calendars. The company operates its own presses and binding facilities, providing in-house printing, binding, finishing (lamination, foil printing, embossing, UV coating), and distribution. Wilco Art Books is an in-house specialist division for high-quality art and museum publications. The product portfolio is unified under one roof, with short delivery times and quality guarantees. A subject expert serves as a single point of contact from initial inquiry through final delivery.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Books (Boeken)

Quantifiable outcome

• 9,125,474,880 pages processed annually
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• VIGC (Vlaams Innovatiecentrum voor Grafische Communicatie)coreTechnology or IntegrationWilco partnered with VIGC to use an innovative tool that assists in creating print-ready PDF files with correct settings for the printing process. Wilco is certified for ISO 12647-2 and follows the guidelines of the Ghent Workgroup, which serve as the foundation for the VIGC tool. VIGC also provides further support when instructions are not clear enough.
• Thangarabalu Small Hydel Project (India)coreOthersWilco compensates 100% of its CO2 emissions (1,686 tons annually) through Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) credits in the Thangarabalu Small Hydel Project in India — a 24.75 MW run-of-river hydropower project on the Krishna river in Karnataka. The project reduces approximately 54,000 tons CO2 per year and also provides social benefits including clean water, improved infrastructure, and education/medical facilities for the local community.
• Arctic Paper Munkedals ABminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWilco uses Cradle to Cradle paper (romandruk) from Arctic Paper Munkedals AB for the literary market. This factory is the first in the world to achieve Cradle to Cradle Certified Bronze certification for a complete paper assortment.
• Farato Education FoundationminorOthersWilco partners with the Farato Education Foundation, investing in education for children in Farato, Gambia. The foundation — with ANBI status and CBF quality mark — is building a secondary school so children can continue education beyond primary school. The foundation's board is formed by six students from Nyenrode Business Universiteit.
• Stelvio for LifeminorOthersWilco participates in Stelvio for Life (www.stelvioforlife.nl), raising funds for research into personalized cancer treatment based on DNA analysis of tumor tissue. The annual fundraiser involves climbing the 1,533-meter Stelvio pass in Italy.
• Amfors Groep (Social Employment Partnership)minorOthersWilco works with Amfors Groep, the social employment service of Amersfoort and surrounding municipalities, to make work accessible for people with a distance to the labor market. In 2023, 8 people had suitable positions within Wilco.
• FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) NetherlandscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWilco holds FSC Chain of Custody certification (FSC-C004472) supporting responsible forest management. As of 2024, the total FSC-certified forest area worldwide was 162,046,390 hectares. Wilco uses 99.1% FSC/PEFC certified paper, directly contributing to preventing deforestation and forest degradation.
• Korlaar Soest (Waste Management)minorOthersKorlaar Soest provides Wilco's waste recycling and recovery overview data, used to calculate the environmental impact of metal recycling — 262,769 kg of metals and 260,138 kg of aluminum offset plates offered for recycling in 2024.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Optimal Media GmbH: German book and media manufacturer producing hardcover and paperback books for trade and academic publishers. Directly comparable to Wilco's book printing core, with similar scale and B2B publisher customer base across Europe.
• Graphius Group: Belgian offset printing group focused on books, magazines and catalogs for publishers. Directly comparable to Wilco in product mix, customer segment (publishers), and Benelux-based book/magazine offset production.
• Kösel GmbH & Co. KG: German book printer producing hardcover and paperback books for trade, educational and academic publishers. Comparable to Wilco in book manufacturing focus, premium binding capabilities, and publisher customer base.
• Clays Ltd: UK-based book printer serving major trade and educational publishers with hardback and paperback production. Comparable to Wilco in large-scale book offset printing and publisher-led B2B model.
• Drukkerij Roelofs: Dutch printing company operating in book and magazine offset production, in which Wilco holds a minority stake. Directly comparable given overlapping product portfolio and shared Dutch publishing customer base.
• Royal Jongbloed Grafisch Bedrijf: Dutch graphic printing company serving publishers and corporate clients with books and related products, in which Wilco holds a minority stake. Closely comparable given overlapping services, Dutch market focus, and shared publisher customers.
• Lannoo Group: Belgian printing and publishing group with in-house offset book production. Comparable to Wilco's book printing capabilities and Benelux publisher customer base, with similar vertical integration into publishing-adjacent activities.

Broad incumbents

• SDU (Stichting De Boer / Sdu Uitgevers): Dutch institutional printing and publishing organization producing official and governmental publications at scale. Broader and more specialized than Wilco in government/institutional publishing, but comparable in offset book production scale and Dutch market footprint.
• Bertelsmann Printing Group (Arvato): Diversified global printing services arm of Bertelsmann, offering books, magazines, and commercial print across Europe. A broader incumbent versus Wilco's specialist offset book/magazine focus, but relevant as a much larger competitor for publisher contracts.

Others

• Springer Nature: Major academic and scientific publisher and a named key account of Wilco. Not a printer but a customer; included as an ecosystem participant that shapes Wilco's revenue mix in the scientific publishing segment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/WilcoBV
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/wilco-printing-binding
• Instagraminstagram.com/wilcobv

Compliance8 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Subsidiaries5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wilco