Value added services

Publishers —

Print on demand

MDL operates a fully integrated print on demand service in partnership with CPI, Lightning Source as well as POD Worldwide. Publishers can also use calculated stock “down-to-levels” to trigger automatic short run reprints.

Publishers —

E-books

MDL’s systems have been adapted to cope with the changing range of digital product in order to consolidate the sales information for reporting and royalties. Enhancements to our systems allow us to upload e-Book sales files direct from aggregators whenever the files are a suitable format and to integrate these sales into our reporting, royalties systems and data warehouse.

Publishers —

MIDAS (sales data warehouse)

MDL offers its clients an industry leading sales data warehouse. Through the Macmillan Information Delivery and Analysis System (MIDAS), MDL offers its publishers immediate and unprecedented access to their sales, stock and debtor information.

MDL’s MIDAS system allows the analysis of publishers’ sales, stock, returns and dues information. There are various options for analysing and presenting data quickly and efficiently.

Publishers —

What MIDAS could offer you

• Full analysis of sales and/or returns by product, customer, customer type or geographical area
• Analysis by a wide range of categories such as discount, front or back list, line value, books per line
• Trend/gap analysis comparing monthly sales by year, year to date or MAT (Moving Annual Turnover) as well as analysis by series to review sales in various ways e.g. by author
• Analysis of dues (by product or customer) or stock held, including comparison of stock held and MAT sales. We can also look at stocks which are held outside of MDL’s physical control e.g. stock held by key customers by branch
• For Publishers with a global reach, MDL has been able to provide similar functionality by taking stock and sales data from sister companies

Publishers —

Online publisher ordering

MDL launched MDLConnect, a new and innovative publisher system for online product availability and ordering. MDLConnect provides full order status visibility from the point of creation to delivery, keeping our publishers in control of sensitive orders and enabling them to better manage customer relationships. The system is configured to work on both desktop and mobile devices and is a powerful tool to support and enhance the activities of publishers’ extended sales teams.

Publishers —

Re-work / Speciality and gift sector

As the landscape of the retail sector continues to change, our publishers are increasingly selling into non-traditional markets and to retailers whose primary activities are not books.  This has resulted in an increased need to re-work products to be suitably packaged or labelled for the sector in which they are being sold. MDL is able to support these re-work requirements through a dedicated team in our Swansea warehouse.  We also provide a dedicated Speciality and Gift team with detailed knowledge of customer requirements to assist these sales opportunities.

Publishers —

MDL Solution Centre

MDL’s Solution Centre is a cloud based support platform providing our Publishers with ease of access to the business, whilst maintaining the personal touch.

Publishers can raise, prioritise and track requests, by PC or mobile app, by portal, by email or live chat. The system provides visibility on progress and contact details of the person who is dealing with your request throughout each stage. Defined service levels ensure efficient and effective resolution. Publishers have access to real time business updates and information, along with helpful solution articles.