Bloomsbury Selects Virtusales’ Biblio3 Software To Run Its Publishing Operations | 10/02/2010 |
Bloomsbury Publishing is a leading independent publisher that includes such renowned publishers and imprints as A&C Black, Arden Shakespeare, Berg, Bloomsbury Academic, Bloomsbury Professional, Berlin Verlag, Bloomsbury USA and Walker & Company.
Bloomsbury initiated a systems consolidation program to implement a single set of systems and processes right across Bloomsbury. The company was looking for an enterprise-scale publishing system, across all companies and divisions, operating on a single instance and delivering a seamless workflow from book acquisition to delivery. The system was required to deliver functionality including acquisition estimating, full production costing, scheduling, purchase orders, contracts, rights and subsidiary rights, while capturing rich bibliographic, editorial, marketing information and providing this data in ONIX and other industry-standard feeds.
The new system also had to be capable of integrating seamlessly with multiple warehouses and a new accounting system.
Wayne Hayward, Publishing Consultant at Bloomsbury explains,
“After an extensive search of available publishing systems and a review of extending Bloomsbury’s in-house solution we chose Virtusales and their Biblio3 enterprise publishing software. Biblio3 proved to be the clear leader throughout the selection process, demonstrating the ability to meet complex business requirements while delivering an intuitive user experience, key factors in supporting the cultural change ahead. Virtusales immediately struck us as an organization that understands the challenges facing a modern publishing business, delivering a strategic roadmap of future systems. Bloomsbury looks forward to a long-term partnership with Virtusales that will ensure the group are placed at the forefront of technological advancement in the industry.”
Some of the other elements that led Bloomsbury to select Virtusales included:
- The availability of other integrated software modules that can be considered for the future including BiblioDAM Digital Asset Management, electronic SalesKits and a new leading-edge Royalties system currently under development
- Virtusales’ proven track record in implementing large-scale enterprise solutions for multiple locations on a single instance
Looking forward to implementing the Biblio3 publishing system, Bloomsbury is eager to reap the rewards derived from the fully integrated modular system. Accessible on PCs and Macs across all publishing divisions in multiple locations, Biblio3 covers tracks all details and commercial activities of a title from pre-acquisition through to post publication, with functionality including:
- Centralized bibliographic data management that provides bibliographic, contractual, rights, marketing and financial data to all users across all sites
- Advanced price scale functionality providing the ability for Editorial, Rights and Production to generate estimates at the click of a button
- Quick and easy automated generation of catalogs and sales information sheets drastically reducing the amount of administrative effort required
- Integrated scheduling providing improved planning and management of publication schedules, reducing average lead times and ensuring products reach the market place on time
- Comprehensive P&L reporting including costs, sales, royalties and rights estimates to track the profitability of a title or group of titles from acquisition to print
- Digital workflows between departments drastically reducing the need for paper or email based requests and ensuring smoother end to end publishing processes
- Purchase Order management generating electronic and PDF purchase orders directly from the system and linked to costs and suppliers for a project
- Head contract, rights and subrights management providing accurate and to the second data on rights acquired and sold
- Industry standards such as ONIX, Bowker, BIC, BISAC and Safety Testing
Nigel Newton, Founder and Chief Executive of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc said, “Biblio3 looks like it will establish itself as the new industry standard. We were impressed by what it could do and look forward to the results when it is implemented across Bloomsbury companies worldwide”.
Phil Turner, Managing Director of Virtusales added, “Bloomsbury is an excellent publisher with a great deal of energy and ambition and we are very proud and excited by this opportunity to implement a world-class publishing system across such a progressive company”.
