Definition: Media Supply Chain
The definition of a media supply chain could be summarized as:
The process of creating, managing and delivering different types of digital media (video, pictures, etc.) from the points of origin - the content creator/provider/owned - to a destination, e.g. end-consumer/your clients/etc.
The meaning of a media supply chain is to have the right content created and delivered to the right platforms, for the right devices, to the right audience.
Managing your Digital Media
Digital media, especially video, was once a concern only for the media and entertainment industry (M&E) but is nowadays a prime focus for pretty much all industries and types of companies. The now and the future is digital, and if you don’t keep up and take control of your media supply chain management, you risk falling behind the market and all your competitors.
By signing up to the Vidispine scalable cloud-based platform VidiNet, you can take control of your media supply chain management where we help you solve some of the most complex challenges with media content management there is, regardless of your industry or size.
What Are the Challenges of Media Supply Chain Management?
The physical supply chain alone comes with a plethora of challenges, add on top of that the factor of the digital sphere and you can imagine the challenges of digital media supply chain management that exist.
The following are some of the top challenges with media supply chains and the management of them:
Consumer expectations on accessibility
Consumers have come to expect that all content should be accessible on any device at any given time where the company needs to adopt siloed systems and processes to meet customer demands and expectations, resulting in increased costs.
Large variation of formats and metadata
Due to a lack of widely adopted standards, a large variation of video/audio/other content formats and metadata are being used where an effort in handling them is increased.
Increased complexity when more service providers become involved
As additional service providers become involved in the media supply chain, there will be an increase in the propensity to outsource key content processing tasks. This will, in turn, expose the company to new risks such as compliance with regulations or business continuity.
Lack of visibility to end-to-end content
Content might either be spotted too late or not at all, or the company lacks the ability to be able to properly prioritize content to manage, resulting in operations failures and/or reputational risks which can lead to loss of sale and/or customer confidence.
Lack of capacity planning
When a burst of demands arise it can be tough to handle the increase, resulting in lost sales and/or customer confidence. The same principle applies when you see a decrease in business and instead a lot of resources go to waste since there is no one to use them.
Lack of industry-wide benchmarks and KPI:s
Without any concrete benchmark it becomes hard to determine the quality of one’s service. Being in the dark about this, companies risk investing in technology and processes that won’t add any value.
Service provider relationships based on throughput
By having one’s service provider relationships based on throughput (quantity) rather than outcome (quality), the business won’t be able to improve their customer service to reduce fulfilment costs since they aren’t able to leverage supplier/service provider capabilities.
Learn how Vidispine's MAM solution was used to build a complete Media Supply Chain in only three weeks.
The Solution
So, how do you resolve these potential issues and challenges?
Unfortunately, there is no cure-all pill that will magically resolve all of them. A company will have to work hard with each individual challenge to optimize their media supply chain.
However, there are ways and tools to help speed up this process and help take control of the media supply chain. First and foremost: VidiNet.
VidiNet is a completely scalable cloud-based digital media supply chain platform giving you access to a fully customizable metadata framework and transcoding functionality. The Vidispine digital media supply chain architecture can adapt to the requirements of any native cloud, on-premise or hybrid cloud environment. It gives you the ability to meet the above-mentioned challenges head-on and work towards resolving them completely.
Read more about media supply chains and digital content supply chains.
Understanding the Media Supply Chain Workflow
The media supply chain workflow essentially consists of 5 steps:
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Content acquisition
Media files and metadata can arrive to you in several different ways and shapes depending on your area of business. Either you create it yourself, or a 3rd party supply it for you.
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Media processing
Most media files and metadata need some sort of processing into a house format before it becomes available and accessible in your media supply chain workflow. Master files, for example, might need to be transcoded into smaller and more lightweight proxy files.
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Quality control
Quality control is a vital part of the media supply chain workflow and could refer to various things such as ensuring the correct codec, format or audio mapping for a file. Simply, making sure all the pieces of the file is in order preparing it for the editing process.
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Editing
Editing a video and/or audio is the creative centre point in your media supply chain workflow where you edit your media files to fit a certain target group, platform or device, and simply prepare it for distributing it to your audience/customers.
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Delivery/Distribution
Lastly: the distribution/delivery of your media files. This process involves the preparation of both your media content as well as metadata where the files might need to be transcoded into different formats for distribution on different platforms and devices.
Take Control of Your Media Supply Chain Management With Vidispine
We provide you with easy access to technology that supports your business needs and media supply chain, applicable to all industries regardless of size and area of business. Contact us to get a free demo and more information, or let us help you create a customized trial based on your needs.
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