M+E Daily

Sony Seeks ‘United’ Supply Chain Across Electronics, Software

Sony Corp.’s various consumer divisions are adopting an increasingly coordinated approach to supply chain management to strengthen the company’s retail relationships, according to Yuka Yu, VP of Global Supply Chain Operations for Sony Electronics.

The electronics unit has recently embarked on a number of joint supply chain projects with sister divisions such as Sony Pictures and Sony Computer Entertainment, under a broad corporate theme entitled “Sony United.”

The theme, Yu says, “has been expressed more and more in the past few years. For example, Sony Pictures and Electronics have collaborated to make exclusive streaming content available on Sony TVs; Sony projection systems in movie theaters have been used to host multi-player gaming events in support of the Sony Computer Entertainment group; and Sony Supply Chain Services supports both the electronics and gaming divisions.”

“From a supply chain perspective,” Yu continues, “we are starting to think about how to present one face to key retailers and potentially leverage areas of expertise across the different companies.

“For example, Sony Pictures has store-level fulfillment capabilities and VMI relationships built into their distribution network, so we now have a project within Sony Electronics to work with the Pictures supply chain team to explore joint operations.”

Yu will moderate a workshop on supply chain issues for the home entertainment industry at the Consumer Electronics Supply Chain Academy (CESCA) on January 8, 2010 at the International CES. For more details, visit the Consumer Electronics Supply Chain Academy site.