The contract will begin in December 2011; with DHL taking responsibility for receiving, storing, quality checking and the order fulfilment of books for transportation from the shared user Rushden Publishing facility in Northamptonshire.
All 49 members of staff currently working at CUP’s Shaftesbury Road warehouse will have the opportunity to transfer to DHL’s Rushden, Northamptonshire facility or to other DHL sites.
Consultations are ongoing, with a final transfer planned for 3 January 2012. CUP expects the consultation to continue until this date, or shortly before Christmas.
Customer service remains a CUP responsibility and continues to be carried out by CUP staff using existing systems.
According to CUP, contracting work to DHL will mean that the company can "continue to offer a high-quality service to its customers regardless of the speed of future shifts in demand".
A combination of shifts to supplying information in electronic form, print-on-demand (POD) and printing titles closer to the markets in which they are purchased has already seen Cambridge reduce its UK printed stock holding substantially in recent years.
CUP operations director Sandra Ward said: "This is not about saving money in the short run, but about achieving flexibility for the long term, while the electronic business grows, and whether demand for print products grows or shrinks.
"DHL is a capable and experienced company. Over the first few years of working with them, we do anticipate that both partners will discover opportunities to reduce cost and space usage, and we will share those savings as they are achieved."
