Pubnet Signs Long-Term Agreement with BookNet Canada to Extend Role as Canadian Industry’s Exclusive EDI Vendor
 
« return to previous page
Pubnet Signs Long-Term Agreement with BookNet Canada to Extend Role as Canadian Industry’s Exclusive EDI Vendor

New Providence, N.J. - June 8, 2007 - BookNet Canada, the Canadian agency dedicated to innovation in the book industry supply chain, has signed a five-year extension of its agreement with Pubnet that designates Pubnet as the exclusive electronic data interchange (EDI) vendor for the Canadian book publishing industry.

Pubnet, the publishing industry’s leading EDI provider, was first selected by BNC to supply the Canadian book industry with a centralized EDI trading network in January 2004. In the past three years, the Pubnet system has helped to automate the industry’s supply chain by allowing Canadian book traders to transact on one online platform.

“In our partnership with Pubnet, we have assembled one of the most comprehensive and dynamic trading communities in the global book industry,” said Michael Tamblyn, president and chief executive officer of BookNet Canada. “We’re looking forward to pushing the boundaries of EDI for books even farther over the next five years.”

According to Tamblyn, there are 65 Canadian publishers, distributors and wholesalers, and 186 retailers across the nation, including Indigo Books & Music, which are now participating on the Pubnet system.

“In our first year of operation in 2004, Pubnet facilitated roughly 2 million EDI transactions in Canada and last year, we handled more than 9.5 million transactions, a staggering five-fold increase in just a three-year span,” said Tamblyn.

Pubnet has invested in a number of system upgrades over the past few years, including more efficient Web-based document and shipping tracking and continues to support an expanding set of trading documents.

“Our partnership with BookNet Canada has been a terrific ‘win-win’ business relationship as we have worked together to drive EDI adoption and best practices throughout Canada,” said Charles Halpin, general manager of Pubnet and Bowker’s supply chain business unit. “Our industry-leading EDI service is built on next-generation technology and backed by an intense focus on customer service. We’re excited about a number of new developments that we are rolling out with BookNet Canada, including Pubnet expansion into the higher education market in Canada and Instant Response, a new ordering program that provides retailers with instant purchase order acknowledgments for orders placed with participating publishers, a program that will be introduced into Canada later this year. We look forward to the next phase of our partnership.”

About Pubnet
Pubnet is a leading publishing industry e-commerce exchange, allowing more than 3,000 distributors, bookstores and other retailers to place electronic orders (POs), and receive back order acknowledgments (POAs), invoices, and advance shipping notices (ASNs) through standardized electronic methods. Pubnet integrates seamlessly with a bookseller's POS system and offers advanced EDI Web-based solutions to industry participants. Visit the Pubnet Web site at www.pubnet.org. Pubnet is a supply chain company of Bowker, the world’s leading provider of bibliographic information.

About Bowker
Bowker is the world's leading source for bibliographic information. The company provides searching, analytical, promotional, and ordering services to publishers, booksellers, libraries, and patrons through national and international brands, including: Books In Print®, Global Books In Print®, Syndetic Solutions™, Pubnet®, PubEasy®, PubTrack™, AquaBrowser®, and more. In the U.S., Australia and Puerto Rico, Bowker is also the exclusive ISBN and SAN Agency and a DOI registration agency for the publishing industry. Bowker is headquartered in New Providence, New Jersey, with operations in East Grinstead, England, and Port Melbourne, Australia. For more company details, please visit www.Bowker.com.

About BookNet Canada
Created and supported by the Canadian book industry, BookNet Canada is the not-for-profit agency dedicated to technology innovation in the Canadian book industry. It is responsible for tracking national book sales, managing industry-wide business-to-business electronic commerce, bibliographic data, and other critical components of technology infrastructure.