SECTOR REPORT: PUBLISHING\\\


oving container- and truck- loads of books is only one


part of the story in publishing logistics. A lot of the really clever stuff is in moving books into, or even within, the bookstores themselves. Paul Brooks, a director of Unipart Consumer Logistics – which handles all Waterstone’s store and internet fulfilment activity – uses a sophisticated sorting system similar to those used in the express


parcels industry at its 160,000sq ſt hub at Burton-on-Trent. Moreover, the hub also includes a mezzanine floor where all Waterstone’s online fulfilment activity is handled. In addition, the hub also handles returned


books from internet


buyers. Brooks explains: “We run a SAP


system to pull orders from the stores and process them through to publishers and suppliers. In


Books balance trade for Davies Turner


D


avies Turner has been active in the books market for a


quarter of a century and there can be few of its trailers to Europe and the Middle East that do not carry a few tonnes of printed matter. The company is perhaps best known for its involvement with the Tehran Book Fair and while the future of this annual event is uncertain with Iran facing trade sanctions and boycotts, there are plenty of other substantial markets in the Middle East and central Asia, not to mention Europe. The English Language


community runs far and wide and there is scarcely a country in the world that does not buy medical and other textbooks. Even English- language versions of the latest Harry Potter books found their way in numbers to some quite unlikely parts of the world, adds Davies Turner’s divisional director of book services, Chris Cox. The key to Davies Turner’s


success in the book trade, he continues, is the forwarder’s ability to give up to date information of where stock is in the supply chain through its IT systems. Everybody involved in the supply chain can tap in to this – buyers, publishers, printers or booksellers – to check on the status of consignments, a boon where time differences or differing weekend holidays (as in the Islamic world) make it difficult to get information by phone or other means. The IT system is part and parcel


of Davies Turner’s specialist book division, which handles traffic not only from the UK but, via direct consolidations into its main Dartford terminal, from the major New York publishing houses too, points out Cox. Success tends to breed success in this business, he says. “Over the years, we’ve increased volumes in our regular markets and added many new ones.”


The book trade has its ups and downs like any other, though they are distinctive. As well as the surges in traffic generated by book fairs in many parts of the world, there also tends to be a big increase in flows in the run-up to the start of the school and university years in September and October, which tends to boost volumes in about July. However, these buyers are well versed in their ordering and generally place orders in good time, so there isn’t the unpredictability of, say, the Christmas rush in the general retail sector. At busy times, Davies Turner will ship complete trailer and containerloads of books to specific destinations but the regular services it offers to many other destinations are ideal for keeping stocks topped up at other times of year. Even at the quieter times, for instance, “of a 20-tonne load to Turkey, perhaps 5-7t might be books or related material such as CDs,” Cox says. So far at least, Amazon hasn’t had


any discernible impact on Davies Turner’s book carryings. In fact, the online retailer has generated a certain amount of business itself, “so we get to carry the business anyway.” Like other forwarders in the trade,


Davies Turner’s specialist book teams are well aware that books can sometimes be a valuable commodity; some of the more specialist hard- bound volumes can sell for upwards of £100 apiece. Publishers however generally pack books in stout cartons, as much to avoid damage as for security reasons, which are then shrink-wrapped onto a pallet and then banded – enough to deter any casual thief. For the latest release of Harry Potters, the company also ensured that the books were wrapped in anonymous outer packaging and also signed an undertaking with the publishers not to deliver the volumes before the official launch date.


GLOBAL LOGISTICS MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT SPECIALIST SERVICES


fact, the whole operation was set up to make deliveries to store more efficient.” Unipart sends tote-box loads of books daily by express carrier DPD to every store operated by Waterstones, which is now the UK’s leading high street bookstore. Totes are pre-sorted according to which individual floor in the bookstore they are going to, quote a complex operation in itself


for a shop spread over four floors or more. The book trade has worked


hard to streamline its supply chain, but until quite recently there was a dearth of standardisation, both from a physical standpoint and even in areas such as order processing. There are also a myriad number


of publishers. While six suppliers account for 95% of


Issue 6 2011


33


Publishing logistics – Unipart could write a book on it M


Waterstones’ stock, another 300 produce the remainder. Some work through wholesalers, but that is still a very long ‘tail’ of small suppliers. “We are working hard to get


standardisation and standard ways of working, and this industry does have a history of cooperation, but it is still a very big challenge,” says Brooks. A fair proportion of the


Waterstones volume does come in from overseas printers, especially since many of the university textbook publishers have offshored to the Far East. The trend might have levelled off now since freight rates have risen, but the concept lends itself well to books that can be printed in large runs and then stored relatively cheaply at source.


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