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Sony on Keeping Track of 60 VMI Retail Accounts
By
May 7, 2006, 14:08

Walt Engler has been with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment nearly 20 years, managing its home video supply chain, the process of which “is getting more sophisticated every day,” said Engler, whose title is senior vice president of operations.

Engler will be trading notes with two of his counterparts at Disney and Warner Bros. during a panel discussion June 21 at the Entertainment Supply Chain Academy (ESCA). Sony Pictures Home Entertainment presently employs about 100 people in Culver City, CA focused on VMI (vendor-managed inventory).

The company’s supply chain process has seen some major changes in the past two years, as the result of two major developments:

The first was a vertical integration of the home video division with sister companies Sony BMG on the music side and Sony PlayStation for games, so that Sony Entertainment Distribution (SED) handles all three types of products that are all manufactured by Sony replication plants. Michael Frey, SED executive vice president, will make a June 20 ESCA presentation covering Sony’s Integrated Media Supply Chain of games, music and video. 
 
The second change came about as the result of Sony’s acquisition of the MGM catalog. Engler said Sony discovered that some of MGM’s systems in forecasting and tracking sell-through inventory were more sophisticated, and in that case, Sony adapted the MGM business model.

“We did a [VMI] software search a year-and-a-half ago, and MGM was going through the same thing. We both did it independently, and reached the same conclusion who we thought was the best,” Engler said.

Both Sony and MGM selected Web Concepts Inc. and Demantra, both of whom incidentally will be represented by executives speaking June 21 on an ESCA session dealing with VMI.



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