Under an agreement signed last week, starting in the first quarter of 2011, Ingram Content Group will take over warehousing management, fulfillment and print-on-demand in the U.S. for European-based Springer. Through the agreement, more ambitous that the one Ingram signed with Macmillan in September, Ingram will hold Springer’s entire U.S. inventory and as it sells down, Ingram will transition titles to print-on-demand on titles where it makes the most economic sense. All fulfillment will come through Ingram.
“This agreement allows us to better serve our users and readers by combining physical and digital book distribution, thereby shortening the time to market,” said Eric Schmitt, executive v-p customer service, fulfillment, logistics at Springer. Springer is expected to complete the move of its inventory to the Ingram warehouse in the first quarter at which time Ingram Ingram will take over logistics and warehousing responsibility for Springer, combining warehousing with POD.
