Once a distribution for publishers – now a modern, diversified logistics service company
1974 – the beginning
For two centuries, scores and books on music of the Schott publishing programme had been delivered directly from the publisher’s head office in downtown Mainz to customers throughout the world. Gradually, the publishing house became more and more successful and the publishing catalogue more and more comprehensive so that in the early 1970s the management looked for premises that would be suitable for setting up a distribution centre. Eventually, an area of land was purchased in the then newly developed industrial park of Mainz-Hechtsheim which was large enough to allow space for future expansion.
Expansion of warehouse and distribution area
In the 1990s, the development of the music distribution centre even sped up so that it was necessary to enlarge the distribution facilities by a pallet high-bay warehouse as well as expand the storage area and reorganise the dispatch department. In the meantime, it was not just Schott’s stock that was distributed, but also material from other publishing partners under the brand SMD – Schott Music Distribution. At the beginning of the new millennium the management decided to continue investing in the expansion of the distribution centre. Pallet racking became necessary, along with a bigger warehousing facility and a newly designed distribution area. Major investments were made in modern conveyor systems and future-oriented warehouse and distribution logistics. To ensure that our business partners and customers could easily reach our customer service team, a call centre was set up. All these investments had become necessary for us to be able to provide the best possible service to our business partners and customers.
Founding of mds
On 1st July 2004, the publisher distribution was founded as an independent limited company under the name “mds – music distribution services”. Other publisher catalogues from home and abroad were welcomed, and along with articles on a consignment basis from publishing partners, other articles were added to the mds distribution portfolio such as music accessories, audiobooks, manuscript paper and CDs. Nowadays, around 100,000 titles from more than 100 music publishing houses are consolidated via mds and sent to customers all over the world.
Enlargement of industry portfolio
New distribution agreements signed with business partners of various branches reflect mds‘ continuous growth strategy and its ambition to integrate, nurture and leverage other brands. Thanks to our many years of experience in publisher logistics, with a focus on warehouse management of small items, we can supply a flexible infrastructure, multi-warehouse IT systems, staff, customer and payment management as well as expert know-how to fully support all operations with a fulfillment solution, allowing customers to focus on the front-end of their business rather than the logistics. Today, mds is one of the leading providers of integrated logistics services in Europe, and a valued partner of numerous national and international businesses out of different industry branches, offering seamless logistics solutions.