Supply Chain Committee

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About the Supply Chain Committee

Our work improves the communication of product data and specifications across the supply chain. This includes understanding trends that help publishers, retailers and manufacturers better plan products and inventory availability, as well as establishing standards to help publishers and retailers coordinate and comply with best practices.

                     
Headshot of Ken Brooks, Supply chain committee chair
Committee Chair:

Ken Brooks, Amplify Education

Join this committee        Committee charter 
             

Committee Objectives

  • Increase awareness about changes and challenges in the book industry supply-chain changes through research, communications, and other actions
  • Explore the impact of developing longer-term partnerships on the efficiency and effectiveness of the book industry supply chain
  • Promote the value of prevailing standards and best practices
  • Update or implement standards and best practices that impact multiple parts of the supply chain

What we do

The Supply Chain Committee works to investigate issues, formulate new approaches or enhance existing approaches to identify supply-chain challenges in order to reduce overall cost and increase transparency in reporting.

 

Headshot of Cathy Felgar, Publishing Operations Director, Princeton University Press“The Supply Chain Committee includes members from across the industry and the topics we discuss are always relevant to my work. We've addressed sustainability, book paper shortages, printer capacity strain, digital printing, forecasting, transportation and logistics, and returns – all within the past year! I feel free to ask questions and speak my mind at meetings and I benefit greatly from the perspectives of peers from other publishers and suppliers.”

Cathy Felgar, Publishing Operations Director
Princeton University Press

When We Meet

Icon of a calendar with rounded corners. Six boxes in two rows, with the lower middle one filled in. Blue-green gradient lineart.

The 3rd Tuesday of every month at 10:00 a.m. ET.

View all Supply Chain Committee events

What We Produce

We created and maintain a “State of the Supply Chain” index, as well as administer periodic BISG surveys of the industry.

Check out our work


Committee Working Groups

Some topics addressed by the Supply Chain Committee are handled in smaller working groups. Current efforts include:

  • Sharing information about work done to define and establish goals around sustainability. (charter)
  • Transforming supply chain communication. 
  • Evaluating market requirements for including a price extension as part of the ISBN bar code.
  • Updating sales reporting standards to include provisions for digital sales models. This project is undertaken in concert with the Metadata Committee.

 

Committee FAQ

No; industry sales data is available through NPD Bookscan (subscription required) and the Association of American Publishers (AAP), which releases monthly updates of its member company sales. The AAP also produces an annual estimate of the size of the U.S. book publishing market. That report, which is typically released mid-year for the period ending the prior December 31, can be purchased from AAP.

BISG does not sell barcodes for books. A number of companies based in the U.S. market can provide art, film, or a digital file of a barcode that contains an ISBN and in many cases a price extension for the book. These companies are listed in our section on Barcodes and Labels, but BISG does not endorse or represent any of these providers.

The short answer is yes, but BISG has convened a working group to study and report on this question. Assessments and recommendations are expected in 2023. A suvery of retailers and publishers suggests that not all retailers require the price extension, but some larger retailers do still look for the price extension. Look for an update here.

Explore Our Committees

Metadata Committee       Rights Committee      Subject Codes Committee      Workflow Committee

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