Nebraska Book Company, Inc. Brochure 2018

Nebraska Book Company

a digital education

Nebraska Book Company

Nebraska Book Company: a digital transformation 02 WRIT TEN BY

CATHERINE S TURM AN PRODUCED BY

DENITR A PRICE

03

ht t p:/ /ne bo o k. com /

04

By investing in new technologies and utilizing data science, Nebraska Book Company has sought to futureproof its diverse portfolio.

T

he use of textbooks across

supplier – Nebraska Book Company

the education sector is facing

(NBC) is expected to see rapid revenue

considerable challenges. As

growth. This is an impressive feat, but it

the average student continues to spend

has also brought a number of complexi-

hundreds of dollars on textbooks each

ties to its operations.

year, rising prices, increased national

Appointed two years ago, SVP of

competition and the threat of new tech-

Operations & Strategy, Peter Grenier

nologies are leading traditional business-

is responsible for running NBC’s complex

es to look at new ways to attract and

supply chain, distribution center, e-

retain market share.

commerce, data science and project

After assuming the wholesale division of multibillion-dollar lease competitor, Follett Higher Education Group – becoming the company’s number one

management processes as the company enters a new phase.

“While we trade in textbooks, we buy from our customers and sell to the same

“ We buy from our customers and sell to the same customer.We buy from bookstores and sell back to bookstores which makes it a very unique supply chain” — Peter Grenier SVP of Operations & Strategy, Nebraska Book Company

05

client. We buy from bookstores and sell back to bookstores which makes it a very unique supply chain,” he explains.

“There is, therefore, an awareness of how much our markups are, the prices that we charge and the prices that we buy at. This circular supply chain puts pressure on customer service, because if you mess up the buy side, you’ll lose the sale side as well. It’s very tricky.

“The student is apathetic about where the book comes from and they often only purchase it for their studies,” he continues. “So, we deal in a commodity ht t p:/ /ne bo o k. com /

DEFINING & AUTOMATING MODERN DISTRIBUTION Velociti Alliance North America has been perfecting the art of advanced distribution for more than 20 years.

With innovative clients in the top echelons of their respective industries, Velociti continues to push forward in the specific areas of inventory control, order fulfillment, and supply chain visibility. www.velocitialliance.com sales@velocitialliance.com

“ The student is apathetic about where the book comes from, so price is key. We compete on the sale side and also on the buy side on price” 08

— Peter Grenier SVP of Operations & Strategy, Nebraska Book Company

where the customer doesn’t want to buy, so price is key. We compete on the sale side and also on the buy side on price.”

With extensive experience in merchandizing and planning, Grenier has witnessed the rise of EdTech players who have sought to cater to increasing demands for digital content and open education resources. Millennial and Gen Z students in particular are looking not only at affordability, but also towards unlimited access and interactive content, placing further pressure on the standard textbook business.

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘TEXTBOOK AFFORDABILITY’ 09 “There are large online marketplaces,

although the majority of our business is

such as Amazon, Chegg, E-Bay, Abe-

from a bookstore and back to bookstore.”

Books and Alibris, all which sell books online. There are also arbitrageurs, which

SEASONAL DEMANDS

are smaller companies that buy low

The need to find the right books at the

and sell high. They stock trade books,

right price, but also from the right person

where they just physically move them

and at the right time has led Grenier to

from place to place. However, those

refer to his role as “a real hustle,” but

other markets help us with the supply

one in which he thrives. From problem-

chain,” he says.

solving and the need to be creative in

“I can buy books from the market, sell

the deployment of various solutions,

it into the store or buy books from the

NBC continues to look at ways to be-

store and sell it out on the market.

come increasingly agile to retain its

Crossing marketplaces and industries

market position.

makes the supply chain very complex,

Housing up to 215 permanent staff, ht t p:/ /ne bo o k. com /

10

“ We can now pick triple the number of books processed. Over the last 11 months, we have bought in tools to completely simplify our processes” — Peter Grenier SVP of Operations & Strategy, Nebraska Book Company

numbers in the warehouse swell to over

we complete work. The digital screen

300 at peak times to cater to seasonal

walks temporary staff through the

demand. Throughout the winter months,

process and allows us to train them

temporary workers get up to speed on

in less than 15 minutes, so they are

company processes, in order to become

immediately adding value. Within three

fully operational at the start of the

days they’re able to operate at roughly

academic year.

the same speed as a full-time employ-

To accelerate its ability to train new-

ee. We needed temps to get in, get

starters, Grenier sought to ‘temp-proof’

operational, and get up to speed quick,”

the warehouse by investing in updating

he explains.

its outdated software and implement-

The company has also invested in

ing a number of ‘self-led’ digital tools.

new induction lanes from Velociti, which

“With the help of our warehouse tech-

provide instructions at each stage,

nology partner Velociti, we have made

flagging books which are counterfeits

significant improvements to the way

or highlighting which books are new

ht t p:/ /ne bo o k. com /

11

12

14.5m

Students served each year

or used, for instance. NBC’s put-awayand-pick applications are also now

1915

Year founded

300+

Team members

98%

Customer retention rate

accessed through the use of mobile technology.

“Each employee is given a mobile device and technology on their wrist to pick up a book or to put one away.

Bluetooth scanners are also used.

We can now pick triple the number of books processed than before. Our pack stations, called pack-to-light enable workers to scan a book; a light will then show where to put them. Over the past 11 months, we have bought in tools to completely simplify processes.”

However, despite such advantages, many veterans with up to 30 years’

ether. It was a tough transition, but most minor stuff has been nailed down.”

experience in the warehouse were initially reluctant to engage with such

USE OF DATA

a technological shift.

With extensive experience within

“Our warehouse used to be alpha-

inventory management, wholesale,

betical order, so employees had

sourcing and buying patterns, Director

memorized where books went, for

of Analytics, Nichole Nobbman has

example. Now, we organize the ware-

been leading NBC’s data science team

house based on demand. Like items

for the past six months in order to dev-

are stored together to both managing

elop the company’s strengths in predict-

counterfeits and meet our customers

ing new trends and demands.

need for us to box similar books tog-

Predicting future demand and supply 13

Nichole Nobbman Director of Data Analytics, Nebraska Book Company ht t p:/ /ne bo o k. com /

“ I am a data nerd at heart, so getting to find company insights or opportunities through digging through data, you can find things that people never think about” 14

— Nichole Nobbman Director of Data Analytics, Nebraska Book Company

in a constrained market remains complex.

can hurt us months from now,” ob-

To drive high-quality standards across

serves Grenier.

its operations, NBC’s data science

“We have tons of different pricing

team uniquely predicts what to buy, how

solutions for different marketplaces,

many to buy, how much to buy it for,

buying solutions for different market-

where to sell it and how much to sell it for.

places, and then predicting demand so

“The data science team predict both

we can go out and acquire supply to

future sale and buy prices. Some of our prices we set up to five months in adv-

match that demand.”

“We had a lot of systems that worked

ce so we have to have pretty secure

really well for the time that they were

and strong predictive analytics to

produced, but needed to be updated,”

ensure that we don’t set a price that

explains Nobbman.

C OMPA N Y FA C T S

• Millennial and Gen Z students are looking not only at affordability, but also towards unlimited access and interactive content, placing further pressure on the textbook business.

• Grenier has ‘temp-proofed’ the warehouse by updating outdated software and implementing a number of ‘self-led’ digital tools.

“Even when we moved to computer systems it was hard to get access to a lot of data - even if you could get access, you couldn’t process it in an efficient manner. However, this has changed.

We’re trying to dig through all of our historical processes and move the company to modern statistical processes to optimize our sales and purchasing strategies.

“We do a lot of buyback manage-

• To drive high-quality standards across its operations, NBC’s data science team uniquely predict where it can source books, encompassing all price models.

• NBC’s sister company, PrismRBS delivers ERP, POS e-commerce back office store solutions for college, universities and campuses.

• NBC has become the largest provider of ERP software, which can run any transaction on campus.

ment for stores. Rather than the store ht t p:/ /ne bo o k. com /

15

having just its list of needs, we go in and help manage the process so that they can have our list of needs as well. Then they can buy more books from the students, we manage all of the price models for that,” she adds.

Although NBC’s data remains on a mainframe, it is also housed outside of this in SQL servers, promoting accessibility. The team also utilizes SPSS modeling tools.

“My team is pretty great. Understanding the bigger picture, knowing that their work matters that is what keeps them motivated.

16

I am a data nerd at heart, so getting to find company insights and opportunities through digging through data, you can find a lot of misperceptions; and you can solve those,” says Nobbman.

“You can find a lot of things that people never think about when you’re going through the data, and that’s the thing that I like about analytics. Everyone’s trying to achieve the same goal.”

SUPPORTING STORES Not content with housing exceptional supply chain solutions and data analytics capabilities, NBC’s sister company, PrismRBS delivers ERP, POS, data insight, and e-commerce

solutions for college, universities and campuses across the country. Additionally, PrismRBS has become the largest provider of ERP software in the industry. Able to run any sales transaction on campus, the software houses integrations from the book side into technology and inventory, making it easier for stores.

“It’s better than anybody else in the industry and it continues to get better. Our number one initiative right now is to enhance the platform capabilities to expand general merchandise capabilities, online sales , and create a friendlier, easier to use solution.

“ It’s interesting how many places we have operations to be able to provide, supply and generate demand for books” — Peter Grenier SVP of Operations & Strategy, Nebraska Book Company

ht t p:/ /ne bo o k. com /

17

We’ve just launched PrismPOS 2.0, which is super cool,” explains Grenier.

“Through our e-commerce services, we also own a company called Campus Book Rentals, which is an online direct-to-student site similar to Barnes and Noble, which is also a growth portion for us. It’s interesting due to how many places we have operations to be able to provide, supply and generate demand for books.”

Additionally, NBC’s two consulting services provide further revenue streams.

18

CLICK TO WATCH : ‘ECOMMERCE SOLUTIONS’

Known as the number one store design

they don’t either have the time or the

firm in the industry, Campus Store Design

skill set to analyze,” says Nobbman.

has expanded outside of bookstores to

“Helping stores take advantage of the

whatever the campus wants the division

things that we learned through our own

to design and build. The company’s

business operations, and then also

recent launch of its Campus Advisory

doing some heavier analytics just for

Services; however, is decidedly smaller

this store specifically, we see further

but growing quickly, works to support

opportunities in the future.”

campuses making decisions on what to do with their retail environment.

FUTURE MARKETS

“There’s a lot of opportunity there to

“Carrying inventory comes with a lot

help stores. They also have data that

of risk and a traditional wholesale

ht t p:/ /ne bo o k. com /

19

20

“ Helping stores take advantage of the things that we learned through our own business operations, and then also doing some heavier analytics for stores, we see further opportunities” — Nichole Nobbman Director of Data Analytics, Nebraska Book Company

model also has a very long carrying

ized in assisting the auxiliary services

time,” explains Nobbman.

part of a college or university, which

“In a retail space, you would buy

runs the revenue generating facilities.

something (theoretically) for the next

They have to figure out a way to pay for

30 days and you would try to sell all of

all the amenities students want some-

that and then buy more stuff. It’s a much

how, so the campus is continuing to put

shorter life cycle from the purchase

pressure on those services, but we have

of the item to the sale of the item.

a good handle on this,” Grenier explains.

“In the textbook wholesale busi-

NBC will continue to pursue growth

ness, we can pay for something with

opportunities that align with helping

no intention of selling it for six to eight

college campuses create engaging

months, so that ties up a lot of cash

student experiences. Playing a critical

which also carries a lot of risk. The

role in the future of auxiliary services is

further in the future you have to buy

very top of mind for NBC.

something, the less certain you can be

Providing software, handling books,

that you’re actually going to be able to

undertaking consulting and design

sell it.

work – NBC will remain a dominant

“There are two main components of a

force in the American market and

college or university campus: Academ-

a highly respected traditional book

ics and Auxiliary Services. We special-

company. As it looks to further diversify its portfolio and explore new ventures, it will continue to look at potential gaps in the market to help serve its customers across North America

Nebraska Book Company

ht t p:/ /ne bo o k. com /

21

Nebraska Book Company 4700 S 19th St. Lincoln NE 68512 1717 N. Naper Blvd Suite 305, Naperville, IL 60563 T +800.869.0366 www.nebook.com