Andrews McMeel Publishing has reached an agreement with Simon & Schuster under which S&S will handle all fulfillment functions for the Kansas City, Mo., publisher. Beginning February 1, 2002, S&S will take over the warehousing, fulfillment, returns processing, customer service, and credit and collection functions for AMP and its eight distribution clients. AMP will continue to do its own sales and marketing. As a result of its alliance with S&S, AMP will close its own warehouse, which will result in the loss of 110 positions.
An AMP spokesperson said the decision to outsource its distribution operations will give the company "access to a state-of-the-art facility that will improve the turnaround time" it takes to fill orders. The deal with AMP is in keeping with S&S's strategy of adding clients to help the company leverage its distribution and fulfillment capacity. AMP publishes approximately 300 titles annually as well as an extensive calendar line.
