The Swiss Library Service Platform (SLSP for short) is a service provider for libraries and together with them operates the national library platform swisscovery, which pools scientific information from currently 500 libraries in Switzerland and makes it easily accessible and easy to find. SLSP offers participating libraries a wide range of services for their end customers as well as for their internal operations. Around 50 employees currently work for SLSP at the two locations in Zurich and Lausanne.
SLSP was launched in 2015 as a project by 15 university libraries with the motto “By libraries for libraries”. The common goal was to create a national platform that bundles all scientific information in Switzerland. The 15 university libraries and Swissuniversities, as part of the P‑5 program, have significantly financed the SLSP project. This gave rise to the non-profit SLSP Swiss Library Service Platform AG in 2017, which today operates the national library platform swisscovery. With Go Live in December 2020, Swisscovery replaced the previous academic library networks and research platforms. In total, swisscovery now lists more than 40 million books, series, journals and non-book materials as well as more than 3 billion electronic articles.
With swisscovery, SLSP stands for a major innovative step in the digital development of the Swiss scientific information landscape. It contributes to scientific progress and new findings thanks to easily accessible and easy-to-find information.
Customized logistics solutions for public service institutions
7Days is a high-performance, efficient and innovative logistics service provider with a strong geographical presence in Switzerland and offers smart, holistic and sustainable fulfillment solutions. The combination of operational and transport logistics based on cross-process system solutions ensures stable, transparent and effective processes. The services are particularly lucrative for many industries that want to impress their customers with service and the rapid availability of the desired goods. Customers of 7Days benefit from the shortest throughput times and attractive cost positions. Planned by highly specialized experts, commissioned with advanced technology and implemented by a motivated team. 7Days Switzerland has many years of logistics expertise (both forward and reverse logistics as well as in the area of Shop2Shop delivery), intelligent software solutions, a national and comprehensive network as well as technically competent and professional customer service staff. As a press wholesaler, 7Days still provides a public service and delivers newspapers and magazines to retail outlets throughout Switzerland every day as a cultural and social asset. In addition, 7Days offers its customers professional storage, cross-docking and order picking, supported by modern technologies and processes, to optimize the flow of materials and information from the supplier to the end customer.
“7Days is our national logistics partner for the professional and fast transportation of books. We appreciate having a competent partner who supports us 365 days a year with expertise in transport, control, customer service and process optimization.”
Jürgen Küssow, Vice Director SLSP and Head of Network Services
Business case: National parcel logistics for the transportation of media between libraries
Before swisscovery was established by SLSP, the regional library networks used individual courier solutions to transport books between the libraries. With the dissolution of the existing networks and the go-live of swisscovery in December 2020, a new, national solution for the transportation of media between libraries was to be found. The newly created national courier solution should cover the needs of both small and large libraries in terms of user frequency. During the tendering process, 7Days was able to impress with its experience with comparable customers, the expertise it has built up over many years and its high level of customer orientation in the form of a holistic solution concept. SLSP Courier” was developed and implemented jointly during an implementation phase. Processes were discussed, scrutinized, optimized and written down in order to be able to train library employees with a high degree of standardization. An on-site presence was essential as part of the implementation process. This enabled the new processes to be tested, validated and refined in close cooperation and regional circumstances to be taken into account. With the newly implemented process, the growth in volume can be withstood and resources can be used sparingly and sustainably. With its Switzerland-wide parcel service 7Days Next Day Delivery, 7Days has impressed with its performance, taking over the entire transport process along the value chain and ensuring the availability of goods in the connected libraries.
Our efficient logistics network and agile organization make it possible to create individual solutions for collection, goods handling and cross-docking for regional or national parcel delivery. 7Days transports an average of 28,000 books per month, serving more than 180 libraries throughout Switzerland. 7Days collects the books picked in a returnable box from the sending library for delivery to other libraries. The return transport takes place via the decentralized regional hubs back to the main 7Days distribution center. There, the collection boxes are opened and picked at the level of the receiving library. On the following day, the books are delivered to the relevant target libraries, with the end customers entitled to collect them on the same day. The use of reusable containers and the national bundling of volumes, and consequently the consolidation of transportation, made it possible to create a sustainable and resource-saving industry solution. The overall solution developed with SLSP along the value chain creates sustainable added value for the participating libraries and their users.
