On-Demand Printing for Initial Print Journals

Situation (Challenge)

In early 2016, The American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) set a goal to take their monthly publication, AAPG Bulletin, online only by 2018. Wanting to keep the needs of their members at the core of the decision, they laid out a thoughtful, long-range plan as they collaborated with their print partner, Sheridan. Knowing that some of their members and subscribers would still prefer the print version, and in exploring a print-on-demand solution, AAPG learned about Sheridan Select’s POD functionality and automated data integration. Sheridan’s solution would allow AAPG to retain a print model for subscribers on a much smaller scale. It would also enable single-issue consumer purchase without requiring any physical inventory or associated forecasting. If successful, the approach would allow AAPG to reduce their print costs, eliminate storage costs, mitigate risk with their readership, and at the same time, reduce or eliminate internal resource requirements by virtue of automating the entire process.

AAPG also shared with Sheridan that they wanted to explore a similar solution for their books; allowing for a direct to consumer fulfillment model, on demand, with zero inventory. In addition to creating a transition plan for moving new book releases to POD, AAPG determined that Sheridan Select’s POD functionality would enable them to put out-of-print books back into printed form with no financial risks.

The first phase in the process was to launch a mobile app for the Bulletin, while maintaining the option for their members to obtain a print copy. The app launched in early 2017.

Solution

The team at Sheridan proposed to build an order intake model that would integrate with AAPG’s existing online storefront, and support all three of the following functions:

• Initial Print (subscriber) orders
• Journal consumer orders
• Book consumer orders

All orders are fed from the same iMIS member management system at AAPG. All three models are channeled to a single integration point—Sheridan Select—using the same standard data model with each one having subtle differences related to how the specific orders are handled, such as product type, shipping, tracking, etc.  The interface was launched in mid-2018.

Results

Within the first six months of moving the Journal to online-only and taking the Select solution live, AAPG has seen more than 1300 orders processed through automated data feeds from their iMIS system. They are achieving their goal of supporting their members and subscribers who desire print, and can also sell single issues and books direct to the consumer, manufacturing those orders on-demand. The best part: AAPG doesn’t pay for print copies until after they have received the income from selling the copies.

Ultimately, the ability for Sheridan’s Select platform to serve as a single solution, addressing multiple business models across both books and journals, made it easy for AAPG to turn their thoughtfully developed goals into reality.

Beverly Molyneux, AAPG Technical Publications Managing Editor, commented on the transition: “Given the natural difficulties of having to work with an already established online storefront with its own particular processes and limitations, the Sheridan Select staff and overall system have operated very well. We have had no negative comments from our journal subscribers about the shift from traditional print to POD, and have had enormous positive response from our members about shifting our out-of-print books from digital-only to back in print in an on-demand basis.”

Products and Services Used

• Sheridan Select
• Sheridan Print

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