BY MARK B. SOLOMON, EXECUTIVE EDITOR–NEWS
THE DC VELOCITY Q&A
thoughtleaders
IT’S A BRAND SO ASSOCIATED WITH FILMMAKing that it’s hard to think of it being in any other line
of work. Yet over the years, Technicolor SA has built a
successful third-party logistics (3PL) business, first in
the video and entertainment field, and then in other
industries. The company, based in the Paris suburb of
Issy-les-Moulineaux but with a strong U.S. presence, has
long supported its traditional core customers with logistics and distribution services. However, several years
ago, it decided to leverage those capabilities in a bid to
branch out beyond video and entertainment.
In an interview with Mark B. Solomon, DC VELOCITY’s
executive editor–news, Elaine Singleton, Technicolor’s
vice president of supply chain, describes how the 3PL
services came to be, what drove the company to explore
opportunities outside its core business, and how the
changes in the way content is distributed influenced its
strategy.
Q Can you describe the history of your 3PL strategy?
AThe impetus came about a decade ago as Technicolor began to review opportunities to expand our service
offerings in the logistics space. We started offering full-blown logistics services to our core studio customers
by, among other things, providing final-mile deliveries.
This included parcel, truckload, and less-than-truckload
(LTL) shipments to retail distribution centers (DCs) as
Technicolor has been part of the filmgoing fabric for decades.
But as Elaine Singleton, the company’s vice president of supply chain,
explains, there is also a thriving 3PL brand behind the credits.
INTERVIEW WITH ELAINE SINGLETON
Lights! Camera! Logistics!
