A revolutionary new service

European publishers seeking a faster, cheaper and easier way to ship books from printers to customers are being offered a revolutionary new service by experts in designing and managing global supply chains.
 
“We have taken our logistics expertise and combined it with our extensive knowledge of the publishing industry to develop eDC (electronic Distribution Centre) specifically for this market,” explains Steve Walker, Chairman of UK-based SBS Worldwide Ltd. The concept was recently launched at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
 
“We can offer our publishing customers the speed, cost-effectiveness and visibility that is available in other industries such as automotive and retail,” he says. “We wanted to integrate supply chain capabilities with total web-based visibility to the ISBN level. And we've done it.
 
The system is especially useful for the many publishers who use printers in Asia. “Many people took the decision to shift their printing to Asia to reduce costs, but did not then take the next logical step of reorganising the complete supply chain,” says Walker. A number of companies ship the books from the printers to a distribution centre in Europe or the US and then organise worldwide distribution from there.
 
With the electronic Distribution Centre (eDC), SBS Worldwide can organise the worldwide distribution of books direct from Asia. This not only reduces transport costs, it can also cut delivery times by up to two weeks and gives more flexibility to redirect books to areas of highest demand.
 
eDC helps publishers take control of costs – and of the books themselves. The software gives everyone who needs it – production, accounts, sales teams – access to the information about where the books are and when delivery can be expected, right from the pre-production stage.
 
A ‘traffic light’ system flags up potential problems or delays in production, allowing publishers to better manage the operation – and their customers’ expectations.
 
 “We are changing the perception of what a publisher’s supply chain has to look like,” adds Walker.
 
He cites the example of one European publisher who was printing in China, bringing all the books to a warehouse in Europe and then shipping out again around the world, including Australia.
 
“By distributing the books direct from China, we cut delivery from 93 to 21 days, reducing handling processes from 12 to three and reduced the cost by 80 percent,” he says.
 
Several publishers have been working with SBS Worldwide through the development stage of eDC and are already hugely impressed.
 
Stuart Toberman, Business Development Manager, Macmillan Distribution, says: “Having spent the last couple of months becoming familiar with the eDC system, I am very impressed with its functionality. I particularly like the visibility tools for monitoring the production cycle down to ISBN level and the fact that it is web-based and is flexible in relation to the needs of our various production departments. 
 
 “It enables them to measure the performance of their printers and alerts them to any issues at the production stage by viewing the information online or receiving automated email alerts. I also like the fact that it has a simple facility for downloading title information from an Excel spreadsheet into eDC. 
 
 “In my view, the eDC system will improve order lead times through visibility of information and it will enable Macmillan to look at order consolidation from China and direct shipping to the customer, rather than via a distribution centre. Macmillan will be trialling the eDC system in the first quarter of 2010.”
 
Sara Domville, President, F&W Media, says: “SBS has taken the former publishing business model, turned the supply chain around, and redefined our process. Our newly defined supply chain will reduce costs, make information more readily available across our company, and give our senior management a critical overview of this area of the business - one that is not available on any one platform in the market. 
 
“Thanks to eDC, we are planning direct delivery to distribution centres in the US and worldwide, and realise subsequent cost savings - which serve to get our books to our vendors and consumers more quickly and efficiently. I fully expect our fellow publishers will welcome these same solutions - and savings - with open arms.”