Handling the distribution of almost half a country’s books is a mammoth task. Booksite Afrika performs this with great efficiency in South Africa with the help of IBS Bookmaster.
IBS book distribution software has allowed Booksite Afrika to drive down operational costs, improve production processes and fuel business growth according to Glen Davison, Managing Director of Booksite Afrika.
Booksite Afrika is South Africa’s largest distributor to the book trade with somewhere between 45 and 50% of market share. The company’s strength is based on strong partnership relationships with major publishing partners, who play an active role in managing the business together with Booksite Afrika.
Glen Davison, Managing Director of Booksite Afrika, explains, “We have a symbiotic relationship with our publishers in that we are each key to the other’s success. Therefore, to be most effective we need to work very closely with them so we understand each other’s businesses and can optimize our processes throughout the supply chain.”
Booksite handles the distribution for seven major publishers in South Africa. These are Struik Publishers, Map Studio, Struik Christian Books, Penguin Books, Random House, Pan Macmillan and Quartet Sales & Marketing. Products are held in Booksite Afrika’s 9,300 m2 warehouse in Cape Town where up to 20,000 order lines are dispatched every day. The warehouse stocks 25,000 active titles amounting to a staggering 3.5 million books at any given time.
Integrated ERP system
“Success in this business means excelling in many areas,” says Davison, adding, “We recognized many years ago that to maintain our market leading position, we needed software in place that could drive our business forward and ensure we kept ahead of the competition through greater efficiency and ever-improving customer service. So in 1998, after extensive research, we implemented IBS Bookmaster software and frankly, we have never looked back.”
Key to the selection of IBS Bookmaster software was its ability to provide a fully integrated ERP system that was specifically designed for the book industry. “Having a complete one-stop-shop solution has delivered many benefits. The integrated ERP system, operating a single database, allows us to dispatch orders within 24 hours of receiving the order. We have also integrated an RF solution, which has dramatically improved accuracy and further improved lead times. This has had a hugely positive effect on customer satisfaction and, as a result, customer loyalty,” he says.
Warehouse optimization
A major benefit in the warehouse is IBS Bookmaster’s excellent inventory management system. Davison explains, “Managing stock effectively is of huge importance to our publishers. The IBS Bookmaster inventory management system is very robust, very detailed and gives us absolute control in the warehouse. The addition of the integrated RF solution also means the system is measuring stock levels in real-time, which allows for highly responsive and accurate information for management decision-making.”
The openness of IBS Bookmaster software means Booksite’s publishers can have controlled access to the ERP system in order to manage their item master files and carry out any necessary product management. “IBS Bookmaster allows our publishers to have much greater input into the sales and distribution process. This input is beneficial in terms of optimizing sales streams and ensuring the right products are available in the right volumes. We provide the real-time information and our publishers can respond appropriately to it. This gives us a major advantage in the marketplace and ensures a more complete purchasing experience for our customers,” says Davison.
First with EDI
More recently, Booksite purchased IBS Bookmaster’s EDI module. Booksite was the first book distributor in South Africa to go live with an EDI solution and is currently partnering with many large retailers, including CNA and Exclusive Books. Davison explains, “More than 50% of our orders now come in via EDI and these are fed instantly into IBS Bookmaster, removing the need to manually capture those orders. This has helped to further reduce lead times by up to 2 days because the information is available immediately to the rest of the system, ensuring accurate flow of data throughout the supply chain from origination to receipt.”
The IBS Bookmaster e-Commerce solution has allowed Booksite Afrika to create a separate web site portal for each publisher. The customer sees the individual web site, unaware that it is working from the same centralized system and database as all the others. Information is not duplicated and orders go straight into the ERP system without having to be recaptured. Davison adds, “This means that stock and title information is all managed from the ERP system in real-time, making us much more responsive to on-line customers.”
Excellent teamwork
Davison has also been impressed with the knowledge, understanding and support of the IBS project team. “Our relationship with the people at IBS has been fantastic. The service we get and the personal interaction and understanding of our business and requirements is wonderful. They are very specialized people who really understand book publishing and the systems required to deliver highly efficient and cost-effective supply chains.”
IBS Bookmaster is a comprehensive solution dedicated to the very specific needs of the publishing industry. It comprises a series of integrated modules, each of which is optimized for publishing and book distribution. “IBS Bookmaster has allowed us to drive down operational costs, improve production processes and fuel business growth,” says Davison, concluding, “IBS Bookmaster has been an essential element in the success of our business and a solution we simply couldn’t do without.”
Name: Booksite Afrika Region: South Africa Operation: Book warehousing and distribution Products: Books, Audio CD’s, DVD’s and Gifting Employees: 80 Website: Booksite Afrika
