BISG Launches "Supply Chain Monitor"

Since 2017, BISG has fielded an annual survey of the supply chain, often reporting the results at our annual meeting of members. With so much of our industry in flux, we're announcing the launch of a more frequent survey, a supply chain monitor, that will collect information every two months and report the results to both members and the book business as a whole. The survey is open now, with results collected until June 17. Results will be published about a week after each survey closes.

The idea for the monitor came out of discussions with our supply chain committee, chaired by Ken Brooks of Treadwell Media. Members of the committee have been looking for ways to bring current information about aspects of the supply chain to the industry. One part of that effort is our brown-bag lunch series, typically held on the first Tuesday of each month. The lunches are open to anyone interested in the monthly topics, with sessions already held around printing partnerships, the state of the paper market, sourcing trends, returns, and more.

If you've attended any of the brown-bag lunch discussions, you already know how dynamic the conversations have become. Participants have taken to sharing both concerns and ideas to help address various supply-chain issues, and registrations have only grown over the past seven months. Members of the committee saw that interest as a sign that we need to do more to foster and understanding of what is happening in our industry, with the supply chain monitor serving as our next step.

The survey itself is relatively concise, and we've field-tested it with committee members to fine-tune some of the questions and answers. In most cases there are opportunities to add your own, free-text answers, as there can be unique responses when asking questions of companies located in different parts of the supply chain. While we expect to keep it constant in future updates, to allow for some degree of comparability over time, we'll also be monitoring the results to make sure the questions and responses are clear to everyone who participates.

As note, the survey is open now and will collect responses through to June 17. Participation from across the supply chain is encouraged, and you don't need to be a member to complete the survey. If you have any questions or comments about the survey, please reach out to BISG at info@bisg.org.