The last meeting of our Digital Supply Chain Group was important for a number of reasons: because it was the best attended so far; because the quality of debate on key digital issues was so high; and because it highlighted the emerging reality that digital is a serious business for us all and processes need to be developed which enable it to be integrated so far as possible with existing systems.
Wherever you look at the subjects under discussion - digital sales reporting, e-book identification, metadata creation and dissemination and so on - you can see that too much effort and cost has been expended in creating new systems and processes to cope with short-term digital issues which have cropped up and needed a quick fix.
We must hope that the industry doesn't become too dependent on quick fixes. Often companies think that it's cheaper to continue with inefficient and costly practices rather than get to the root of the problem and invest in long-term solutions which deliver long-term benefits. We have seen this so often in all areas of the publishing infrastructure: companies which hobbled along with multiple non-integrated systems for product information; a reluctance to embrace automated processes such as the industry returns initiative; failure to get to grips with content asset management systems and rights and royalties systems.
Digital is too important to handle using inadequate tools and processes. That's why the work of the digital supply chain group is so crucial. All BIC members are welcome to take part: the more the merrier. Just contact us for more information.
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