Technology in Action
Publishers and distributors take advantage of VISTA solutions to grow their companies, reduce costs and expenses, remain competitive and integrate acquisitions. Many of these companies are facing the same challenges that you face in your organization.
Here are a few case studies of the successes our customers have achieved with VISTA solutions.
Case Studies by Function
Application Hosting Services
VISTA provides the infrastructure, equipment, communications, management and support to operate a publisher's author2reader applications off-site.
Read the VISTA AHS Customers Round Up and The Trade Counter.
Application Management Services
Application Management Services (AMS) provide customized options for the support, management and development resources that manage VISTA solutions at a customer site.
Read about the National Fire Protection Association.
Customer Care
VISTA's Customer Care solutions are designed to improve customer satisfaction, retention and profitability through the processes of ordering, customer and product inquiries, shipping, renewals and more.
Read about LexisNexis Matthew Bender, Sdu Uitgevers bv.
Distribution
All VISTA applications are designed to handle multiple, international warehouses for each shipping site, picking location and additional long-term bulk storage. VISTA distribution applications are built specifically to support publishing operations, such as packs, sets and subscription products.
Read about Bookpoint, Littlehampton Book Services, Sdu Uitgevers bv, The Trade Counter.
Financial
The VISTA Financial Management solution combines publishing-specific needs in areas such as royalties and deferred revenue accounting with the functionality required for general finance support. This solution can also simultaneously support multiple currencies and automatically integrate country-specific import-export tax and legal requirements to meet the demands of the global publishing market.
Read about Littlehampton Book Services, Sdu Uitgevers bv.
Fulfillment
VISTA's Fulfillment Solution manages all product formatsbooks, subscriptions, electronic and multi-media, handles multiple currencies and international taxation, and offers complex, detailed reporting and analysis.
Read about Bookpoint, LexisNexisMatthew Bender, Sdu Uitgevers bv.
Marketing
VISTA Marketing systems encompass both marketing and sales processes including promotions, response analysis, direct mail, list management, catalog production, sales and analysis and ABC/BPA Audit compliance.
Read about Littlehampton Book Services.
Publishing Intelligence
The combination of flexible analysis tools with publishing-specific data architecture is delivered by VISTA through Publishing Intelligence, a central information source for reporting and analysis.
Read about Von Holtzbrinck Publishing Services, Littlehampton Book Services, National Fire Protection Assocation.
Case Studies by Installation:
BookPoint
Relationship Rewards: VISTA and Bookpoint Working Relationship Yields Significant Advantages
The most recent project undertaken by VISTA and Bookpoint began with Bookpoint's announcement that they would consolidate their warehouse operations from seven sites into one.
"We used to measure service time in days, much like our competitors; but today we measure in hours, in terms of entering an order into the system, to getting it picked, packed and dispatched," states Tony Bryars, Managing Director, Bookpoint Distributors.
Von Holtzbrinck Publishing Services
Cognos and VISTA Partner at Holtzbrinck
VISTA and Holtzbrinck resolved to co-develop an entirely new Web-based front-end reporting and analysis solution to address their mutual concerns, and they agreed that Cognos would be the most appropriate OEM partner for the project.
"Cognos had the richest tools in terms of functionality and the best Web delivery strategies," says George Lossius, CEO VISTA North America. "We all felt that Cognos was the best match."
Littlehampton Book Services
Littlehampton Book Services Raises the Bar
Technology and a completely new warehouse helped UK media distributor Littlehampton Book Services achieve their first priority keeping customers satisfied.
"We decided to ask VISTA to be a strategic partner in turning our business around and giving LBS a strong competitive advantage," explains Martin Evans, Managing Director at Littlehampton Book Services. "Our goals were to differentiate ourselves from the rest of the marketplace, and to achieve a sensible and sustainable profit. We felt that VISTA could help us accomplish this."
LexisNexis© Matthew Bender
Growth and Flexibility: Matthew Bender, A LexisNexis Company, and VISTA Working Together
In 1995, Matthew Bender, then a subsidiary of the Times Mirror Corporation, chose VISTA International to implement its Publishing Fulfillment solution at Matthew Bender’s Albany, NY facilities. This was the beginning of a very successful relationship.
Gene McGovern, Senior Vice President, Operations, North American Legal Markets, LexisNexis, agrees, “My experience all along is that VISTA staff and project managers have worked very effectively and very closely with our in-house staff. It’s been a very good, very successful long-term partnership in that respect.”
National Fire Protection Association
Celebrated Service Organization Fired Up Over VISTA Solution
Prior to VISTA's implementation, NFPA used separate systems for the three components of its business: membership, publishing and subscriptions, and professional development seminars. Information had to be manually transferred from one system to another - a process that was expensive, time consuming and error prone.
“After installing the VISTA system, our system was much more efficient, as duplications were eliminated. It was more customer-friendly and we were able to better track shipments,” said Rick Sterling, CIO of NFPA. “We literally turned off the old system and turned on VISTA. After a short ramp-up period we were operating a full capacity. It was the smoothest implementation I have seen.”
Sdu Uitgevers bv
Commitment to Success: Sdu Publishers and VISTA Working Together
In 1994, Sdu Publishers began the process of selecting new business systems by evaluating different suppliers in the international marketplace.
Huib Cuperus, Manager of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) of Sdu Publishers, recounts, “Sam van Oostrom, our Managing Director, decided that we should look at a system which was already acquainted with the publishing industry. And that’s how we found VISTA in 1996.”
