Rubenstein

Under the direction of CEO David Rubenstein, Cinram International has diversified to provide full supply chain services to its core studio customers, music label clients, independents, and other consumer goods providers.  Still Blu-ray is the big news and topic of discussion on the replication front and as one of the first Blu-ray manufacturers, Cinram is gearing up its replication services for the high-definition format.   In his first ESCA conference appearance, Rubenstein will reflect on the state of development for Blu-ray manufacturing, as well as provide his view on the changing role of today's disc manufacturer.

Give me a picture of Cinram's Blu-ray activities at this point and time?

Cinram is one of the original manufacturers of Blu-ray.   What's unique about our Blu-ray development is the people involved; we are fortunate to have the original US engineering team that developed the SD DVD format.  We are uniquely positioned with the right talent to not only hone the process, but also cost reduce the process while delivering the highest quality -- with the best yields.  We have  substantial capacity in place today and are installing more capacity to come online prior to the busy fall season.

Capacity is what everyone wants to know about.  Is there enough to satisfy forecasted studio demand?

Certainly for the customers that we are the primary service provider, we will have sufficient Blu-ray capacity in place.  Manufacturing progress is being made on Blu-ray every day; however, it is a sophisticated format that will require refinement over time. Even though yields are getting better continuously, the industry still has quite a learning curve to climb...

Are you seeing Blu-ray work from independents?

Our job is to service content holders that are desirous of bringing to market both Blu-ray and standard definition titles.  From our perspective there is no better time to gain shelf space at retail and to drive sales but to be in the game early on in a format's life cycle.  Content that lends itself to the high definition experience should command attention, hence sell through at retail.

With your Ivy Hill "hat" on, what impact is Blu-ray having on your packaging business.
 
 While the Blu-ray package has already been standardized and we have automation that supports that manufacturing process , we are strong supporters  and participants in the industry's environmental efforts . We  are pursuing sustainable packages that are also either cost neutral or cost reducing.  The combination of these ingredients will make for a winning solution that would be supported by all stake holders and yield benefits for the environment.


We tend to see Cinram as a manufacturer and packager.  However, you've made some strategic supply chain investments in recent  years.

Through our Vision subsidiary we have direct links to POS Data from the major retailers, enabling us to provide VMI and demand planning services to virtually any industry segment.  For example Vision coupled with our Ditan distribution division provides complete supply chain services for the video game publishing, distribution, and retail marketplace.  For certain customers who require complete front and back offices services we even provide order to cash, and credit and collections facilities.

What is Cinram's digital strategy?

We are fundamentally a manufacturer and provider of logistic services for physical goods.  That is our core competency and it's where our expertise resides.  Fundamentally, the more product we ship to retail for a variety of companies and product groups, the more efficient we become with respect to every channel we service.  Having a robust infrastructure in place to address the needs of moving physical goods onto the retail shelf is where Cinram is placing its focus and resources.