Guest Columnist: Working Smarter

The traditional reaction in tough times is to cut costs, by doing the same work with fewer people or just doing less, and in recent months we have seen many announcements of job losses, moratoriums on new titles, companies pulling out of major trade shows and much else. The traditional reaction is often the right one, but it’s rarely the only option. Many companies take the opportunity to review some of their key business processes and see what opportunities there are to do things more efficiently and in a more standardized way. At BISG, where our mission for more than 30 years has been to help the book business achieve higher levels of efficiency in its supply chain operations, we have been working to help our members and the industry at large identify ways to cut costs by “working smart.”