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The collaboration begins…register and join the GameSupply community!
NPD reported a record year for the video game industry for 2008 with sales of $21.33 billion, a 19% increase from 2007. Software sales of $10.96 billion registered a 26% increase, hardware of $7.81 billion with an 11% increase and accessories of $2.57 billion with a 14% increase. Pundits assure us that the industry is poised for continued growth, albeit at a more modest pace than what we saw the last two years. With the existing installed platform systems at an all-time high, optimism about growth prevails.
The GameSupply Conference, which is gathering publishers, retailers and service providers for the first time, appears to be positioned strategically to anticipate and address the challenges to be faced in the current turbulent and somber times.
While the industry is expected to continue to capitalize on technology and its creativity and innovation on the content side, a proactive approach to pursue collaboration, cost reduction and efficiency in the supply chain, from end to end, is going to be the cornerstone for the coming together of all the stakeholders of the interactive entertainment industry.
When you register for GameSupply, you have a unique opportunity to participate in an online community specifically created for attendees of this conference. When registering for the event, please be sure to say “YES” to the community question on the registration page. Once registered, please submit your questions to ask the panelists of operations and supply chain executives, the retailers and service providers in the last 100 feet at the upcoming conference on the 11th of February in Burbank.
In addition, I welcome your discussions on some of the following subjects, which I believe have the potential of ensuring the continued profitability of the industry:
The loss of sales to competitors due to out of stocks measures about $800 million. How can collaborative sales planning, enhanced store execution and B2B connectivity with POS data reduce the loss?
Considering that the industry has no returns policy, are the open to buy dollars constrained, forcing suppliers to replenish in a characteristically volatile market?
Is the level of resource deployed by the retailers adequate and qualified to manage a category that is unpredictable and short-lived?
Do we have something to learn from direct to store delivery and vendor managed inventory, successful a practice of the home entertainment industry?
Is unavailability of store-level POS data a serious detriment to allocating and managing store-level inventory?
How can business intelligence and real time, in-store inventory visibility reduce markdowns?
Both from the viewpoint of sustainability of the environment and overall cost, how effective is packaging of video games?
What can be done to alleviate the product theft and the loss of potential sales due to merchandising constraints?
I believe that supply chain practitioners, who are coming to the GameSupply Conference, are executives who play a pivotal role in improving liquidity by reducing inventories while ensuring decent earnings by reducing waste, particularly in recessionary times. So let us hear from you.
Devendra Mishra
Chief Strategist, MESA;Â
Conference Co-Chairman, GameSupply;Â and
Professor, Decision Sciences
Graziadio School of Business and Management
GameStop’s Mike Mauler talks with GameDaily about the complexities of the supply chain for interactive entertainment
In advance of the conference next month, GameDaily BIZ caught up with Mauler to discuss the challenges and opportunities in the video game supply chain. Read the whole interview here: Mike Mauler Interview
Mike Mauler, Senior Vice President of Supply Chain and Refurbishment for GameStop, Inc., will deliver one of two keynote addresses at February 11th’s GameSupply Academy in Burbank. His speech, entitled, “Supply Chain Optimization: Opportunities in Collaboration,” will address how achieving an agile, cost-effective supply chain will benefit video game customers through improved service levels and increased profitability for all partners.
Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony React to Year-End NPD Report
The console makers have responded to the December and year-end sales results, and all are seemingly pleased.
See the full article on the GameDaily website:
Go to Source
GameStop’s Mike Mauler To Keynote GameSupply Conference
Los Angeles, CA (January 15, 2009) … Mike Mauler, Senior Vice President of Supply Chain and Refurbishment for GameStop, Inc., will be delivering one of two keynote addresses at next month’s Game Supply: The Supply Chain Academy for Interactive Entertainment, conference organizers announced today. GameSupply will be held on February 11, 2009 at the Burbank Airport Marriott Hotel & Convention Center in Burbank, CA.
Mauler’s speech, entitled “Supply Chain Optimization: Opportunities in Collaboration,” will address how achieving an agile, cost-effective supply chain will benefit video game customers through improved service levels and increased profitability for all partners. This presentation will explore best practices inside and outside of the video game industry that will facilitate better collaboration and more creative supply chain solutions.
“The video game industry’s continued strong growth in increasingly volatile economic times, combined with a shift in product dimensions and variety has created unique challenges for all of the supply chain’s stakeholders,” Mauler noted. “These factors make it more critical than ever before that all parties collaborate on increasing inventory turns, moving ever-higher volumes of product with increased velocity, and reducing end-to-end costs.”
Mauler is responsible for all aspects of the global supply chain, including planning, transportation, distribution, and re-manufacturing, for GameStop, the world’s largest video game and entertainment software retailer with 6,188 retail stores in 17 countries worldwide. Prior to joining the company he served as the Vice President of Worldwide Operations for Fisher Scientific, where he directed distribution and manufacturing centers in more than 20 countries, with international responsibility for supply chain, customer service, and IT. In addition to the retail establishments, the company also operates two e-commerce sites, GameStop.com and EBgames.com, and publishes Game Informer magazine, a leading multi-platform video game publication.
The one-day GameSupply event will bring together video game retailers, distributors, and publishers to share knowledge about new developments and technologies in the interactive entertainment supply chain, network with leading executives from all points in the supply chain, and identify best practices to assist their companies in improving their individual supply chain strategies and partnerships. At a reception immediately following the conclusion of the academy, video game retailers and distributors will present their choices for the top video games of 2008. GameSupply is being sponsored by the Media & Entertainment Services Alliance (MESA) and the Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA).
Admission to GameSupply is open to member companies of MESA, EMA, sponsoring organizations, and their invited guests. The discounted registration fee for EMA-member content holders, publishers, and retailers is $295. Additional information about GameSupply and event registration is available at www.gamesupplyacademy.com.
Companies interested in sponsorship opportunities at the conference should contact Linda Buckley-Bruno at 323-965-2402 or lbuckley@reedbusiness.com.
About MESA
The Media & Entertainment Services Alliance (MESA), which will formally launch in January, focuses on industry-wide issues affecting the production and distribution of both digital and physical media and entertainment in today’s changing business and technology climate. MESA represents those companies that provide creative, production, distribution, information, and technology services for home video, interactive games, music and electronic publishing. MESA co-produces the Entertainment Supply Chain Academy and the Consumer Electronics Supply Chain Academy
About EMA
The Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA) is the not-for-profit international trade association dedicated to advancing the interests of the $33 billion home entertainment industry. EMA represents approximately 500 companies throughout the United States, Canada, and other nations. Its members operate approximately 27,000 retail outlets in the U.S. that sell and/or rent DVDs and computer and console video games and digitally distributed versions of these products. Membership comprises the full spectrum of retailers (from single-store specialists to multi-line mass merchants, and both brick and mortar and online stores), distributors, the home video divisions of major and independent motion picture studios, and other related businesses that constitute and support the home entertainment industry. EMA was established in April 2006 through the merger of the Video Software Dealers Association (VSDA) and the Interactive Entertainment Merchants Association (IEMA).
For more information, please contact:
Guy Finley
Director, Community Development
Media & Entertainment Services Alliance (MESA)
917-513-5963 or guy@MESAlliance.org
-or-
Sean Bersell
Vice President, Public Affairs
Entertainment Merchants Association (EMA)
818-728-8663 or sbersell at entmerch.org
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