Solutions Showcase: Fulfilling Your Core Competencies

“Are you paying a little more per unit with digital printing? Of course you are,” says Wurster. “But you don’t have the huge capital outlay of a full offset run and storing those excess copies. Quite frankly, if you’re a struggling publishing house these days, cash is a very valuable resource that you’d like to smartly tap into.”

Though BookMasters’ roots are in offset printing and book binding, the Ashland, Ohio-based company also has offered fulfillment services (for both its print and nonprint customers) for more than two decades.

“In the mid ’80s, we started our fulfillment operations, which started out as most book printers start, with a focus on pick, pack and ship services,” Wurster recalls. “Very quickly, we began to develop more of a full-service program—meaning we’d take over customer service and accounts receivable functions for the publisher. With a full-service approach, we are able to take and process orders directly from our publishers’ customers, the book buyers, who could be from institutions, retailers or wholesalers. And for publishers who’d like us to deal directly with consumers, we also host AtlasBooks.com, our online store that’s backed by a 24/7 callcenter.”

Wurster notes that there remains a market for simple pick, pack and ship services, but he’s seeing a trend among book publishers toward richer outsourcing relationships. “The excitement I hear from publishers is this: ‘You have allowed us, as a publishing company, to focus on the things that are necessary to grow my business, such as acquiring new titles, marketing and publicity.’ It’s all about core competencies.”

Warehousing and Fulfillment Solutions
Here are some of the warehousing and fulfillment options available to publishers:

ABDI Inc.
Services: Provides fully integrated fulfillment services, including customer service, e-commerce, warehousing, order entry, kitting and assembly, packaging and shipping, management reporting, bulk mailing services and on-demand printing. ABDI also offers Web-store development and management, and CD/DVD/video/audio on-demand duplication.
Pricing: Not provided. Offers an a-lacarte pricing model, allowing publishers to pay only for services used.
Book publishing customers include: Not available for publication.
Contact: (800) 796-6471, www.ABDIntl.com