Designing and developing a value-add portable system for 3PL in the publishing industry

The dramatic changes in demand side, together with a intensive competition in supply side, have raised the challenges to the publishing value chain. To deal with this problem, this paper proposes and develops an iPad-based portable system from a logistics provider's perspective, which is based on a real project for a 3PL. Current findings and trial reveals that a positive impacts in terms of lower unfilfillment rate, less frequency in direct order and lower in inventory level and books unsold. It indirect proves that a 3PL can achieve the above goals through optimization or process adjustment amongst the publishing value chain, without changing the decision and printing patterns of the publishers by an ITeS based on widely-adopted devices. Details about the functions system is discussed in this paper.