Logistics company SBS Worldwide is attending the Frankfurt Book Fair to demonstrate how publishers printing in Asia can streamline their supply chains.
The logistics company will take part in an event on the stand (D921, Hall five) of new partner, Indian printer Gopsons, at 3.30pm on 13 October to explain how printing in India and other locations in Asia is becoming a more cost-effective and efficient solution for the publishing industry.
Experts from SBS and its supply chain consultancy, Virtualized Logistics (VL), based in the UK, France, Germany and the US will be on hand to explain how their solutions can improve stock visibility, inventory control and management reporting - making printing in Asia a more cost-efficient option.
Steve Walker, Chairman of SBS Worldwide, says: "Publishers are sometimes deterred from moving printing away from their core markets to countries with low production costs because of concerns about losing stock visibility and speed to market.
"But our industry leading software solution eDC (electronic distribution centre) can achieve visibility throughout the supply chain no matter where production is based.
"This translates into improved speed-to-market, cost efficiency, customer satisfaction and bottom-line results."
The new partnership with Gopsons brings several benefits to publishers, including cost reductions on printing and freight forwarding, accelerated times to market, condensed inventories and better visibility of international consignments.
The partnership means publishers will also be able to sign up to the Forward Print Programme, a new service which enables publishers to schedule manufacturing during low demand periods, store books at port-centric warehouses for global distribution and view inventory levels in real time.
SBS Worldwide also recently launched consultancy arm VL, which can design a tailored logistics solution for publishers that are proven to add freight visibility at ISBN level, reduce shipping costs and cut lead times.
VL has also developed eDC supply chain software in close collaboration with the book industry to offer a far greater degree of freight visibility and control.
The Frankfurt Fair is the largest book and media fair in the world and takes place between 12 and 16 October.