The first part of the agreement begins this November when Chicago-based RR Donnelley takes over fulfillment of all HarperCollins' new releases from its Harrisonburg, VA facility. In July 2012, RR Donnelley will also begin handling fulfillment of all frontlist and backlist titles for HarperCollins' Zondervan division, the sides said in a statement, adding RR Donnelley will also provide global Print on Demand (POD) services to HarperCollins.
RR Donnelley would not comment on whether this deal will necessitate any changes to its current fulfillment infrastructure. RR Donnelley is currently the printer, binder and distributor of HarperCollins' conventionally produced titles and both parties stressed their business relationship goes back more than two decades.
In a statement announcing the deal, HarperCollins President/CEO Brian Murray said. "Our vision is to have the entire HarperCollins book catalog available for customers in all major territories and ready for delivery in minutes. This agreement with RR Donnelley provides new capabilities which will allow us to achieve this goal.
In the U.S., time and money are saved by co-locating printing and fulfillment for fast moving titles. In the UK and Australia, POD technology will enable us to competitively offer the entire HarperCollins catalog to customers without expensive freight costs and long lead times."
RR Donnelley expands supply chain agreement with book publisher HarperCollins
RR Donnelley and leading book publisher HarperCollins have partnered up on a new supply chain agreement that both sides described as a first of its kind breakthrough deal for a major general trade publisher.
