6 Distributors' New Tools for Improving the Supply Chain

The book diffusion and distribution network is currently undergoing major changes that are expected to completely revolutionize communications among all the partners in the book supply chain.

As we have seen, some distribution companies have already adopted state-of-the-art technology that greatly facilitates stock management and the movement of books in and out of warehouses. Distributors have adopted complex high-performance computer systems that allow them to process huge streams of book diffusion and distribution information. These changes have been made necessary by the steady increase in the number of titles in circulation.

Tools as simple as a laptop with an Internet connection now let representatives meeting with retailers place orders in real time and send them to the distributor's central management system.

One area where technological development has been active is the exchange between retailers and distributors regarding books orders and returns. For this, ADELF has developed Needa (Norme d'échanges électroniques de documents informatiques [electronic document transfer standard]),¹ which has been adopted by distributors as a language of exchange with booksellers. Needa was developed and introduced to make exchanges more efficient and to reduce the costs related to communications and bookseller and distributor operations. Like EDI (Electronic Data Interchange) Needa allows secure and effective exchange of documents; however, it stands out for its simplicity and low cost — documents are submitted online, at no expense to the bookseller — and because it is well adapted to the French-language book trade.

Thanks to Needa, a single standardized document is used for all order transactions from the bookseller to the distributor and the processing of the order by the distributor. The bookseller sends its electronic order to the distributor, which sends back a confirmation, also electronically. The initial order from the bookseller is forwarded to all sectors of the distribution centre during the process of preparing the packages, and is used for the invoice to be sent by the distributor to the bookseller. The same electronic file is used by the bookseller, which receives the packages to send an acknowledgment to the distributor. Through this integrated process, data is input only once, which reduces the chance of error. These orders were previously sent by telephone or fax and had to be entered manually, which caused frequent errors. The current standard covers title ordering and delivery activities, and also allows processing of returns and claims. Needa has already accelerated order processing and generated savings for all its users. It is estimated that more than 50% of orders currently go through ADELF's electronic system.

Distributors also work with the BTLF (French-language title bank) to supplement the information available in the Memento database. Over the past few years, the BTLF has built up a database that today contains more than one million French-language titles, nearly 100,000 of them Canadian. It has recently been paired with its counterpart in France, Électre, to offer a common product, Memento, now covering publications from all Francophone countries. Memento is available by subscription to all players in the book trade (bookstores, libraries, etc.) as a tool for finding available titles in order to obtain standardized bibliographic data and title availability information.

At the time the BTLF was set up, all information (bibliographic and commercial) was provided by distributors, which regularly (usually on a weekly basis) provided BTLF with an up-to-date file of all titles included in their catalogues. It was then realized that the publisher was perhaps the one best equipped to submit bibliographic information and the distributor best equipped to submit commercial information. Thus, distributors now provide data on title price and availability. This change has significantly improved the quality of the information available in the database and considerably reduced system maintenance requirements.

The operation of the BTLF and the delivery of data on titles available through Memento have made considerable progress over the past few years. Since the network is relatively new, it appears that improvements are still needed for certain title searching and information delivery tools, particularly with respect to the availability status of titles. It appears that, despite certain pressure from the largest customers, most distributors and booksellers do not want hard numbers on title availability to be accessible through Memento. Too much detailed information on available inventories, for example, would allow a retailer to take possession of all available copies of a fast-moving title, thereby ensuring a monopoly over customer supply. Moreover, it seems that distributors do not interpret title availability categories the same way,² which causes major confusion in the supply chain. Discussions have begun between BTLF and ADELF to correct this situation.

The next revolution anticipated in the book diffusion and distribution sector is the development of a Sales Information System (SIS). Such a system already exists in certain countries, including Great Britain and Australia, and it has already been introduced in English Canada. The main difference between the system in English Canada and French Canada resides is that the agency responsible for the project on the English-language side, BookNet Canada, is not responsible for developing and managing the database. The Canadian system is connected to the database available from Bowker in the United States, which has accelerated its introduction into Canada, even though it appears that certain adjustments are still necessary with regard to the quality of bibliographic data and prices (sometimes shown in US dollars).

The Sales Information System will make it possible to collect data on every book sold directly from retail cash registers. A publisher, diffuser or distributor will be able to know in real time the exact number of copies of a title sold or in circulation.

This SIS will first of all make it possible to collect and distribute information for sharing by all subscribers. It will give access, for example, to a portrait of the overall market, data on bestsellers, obviously, but also historic data on sales by genre, network, retailer category, month, etc. Along with this shared information, every subscriber — whether publisher, diffuser or distributor–will have access to personal information in order to compare its results against the industry or its competitors in terms of specific common criteria, in order to determine its level of performance, possible changes, etc. Publisher and diffuser will be able to follow fluctuations in the sales of each title, and even be able to measure day by day the impact of a promotion event, mise en place, advertising campaign, author's tour, window display, etc.

The publisher will have reliable and accurate data on the quantities of a title on display shelves and the number of copies that still may be returned by booksellers, which will make it possible to make a better-informed decision regarding possible reprints. The diffuser/distributor will know where and when restocking should be suggested to a retailer that has sold all copies of a title. In fact, if the book trade has long wondered about how to obtain better supply information, the Sales Information System now presents a way to provide better information on demand.

Although there are already lessons to be learned from the system's introduction into the English-Canadian sector, the fact remains that implementing the SIS is an imposing challenge. A system like this cannot function unless retailers agree to provide the data that will make up its raw material. It appears that recruiting efforts among retailers have been able to rally enough partners to the project to cover 63% of the market so far. The ones remaining are the most skeptical; they have particular concerns about the confidentiality of the information transmitted and remain apprehensive about their competition taking advantage of information that until now has been kept well protected to capture a larger share of the market. However, it is crucial for as many retailers as possible to take part if we are to be able to analyse the entire market, in both bookstores and mass-market channels. A critical mass is needed to convince potential users of the usefulness of the service offered. As well, one challenge of convincing potential users is directly related to the costs of subscribing to the service, which have not yet been determined.

Lastly, the professional development required for introducing such a complex system must not be under-estimated. Data providers and subscribers (publishers, diffusers, distributors) must also be provided with readily available support so they can fully benefit from this cornucopia of information now available to them.

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