It used to be easy. A generation ago there was only one zone, and any advertiser that bought inserts also bought the full run.
Like it or not, those days are gone forever.
As competitive pressures have forced newspapers into small editorial zones and even smaller "micro" advertising zones, the mailroom's job has become much more complex. What was once a straightforward process of preparing an inserting machine for a night's production run has become an elaborate dance, as managers shift insert skids and hopper setups to accommodate rapidly changing miniruns and microzones.
To help manage these complicated scenarios, newspapers and inserting-equipment vendors have turned to--what else?--the computer.
Typically, production staff keys circulation, product, and zone descriptions into a system that sets up inserting equipment for the next production run. Such systems can be home-grown or can come from traditional post-press vendors or specialized development firms.
While this approach has alleviated the problem to some degree, it's often both error prone and labor intensive. Advertising and circulation usually prepare requirements for a run using proprietary front-end systems, which are then re-entered by production staff into back-end production systems.
Clearly, we need compatibility and standardization. Across the industry, front-end systems are not even compatible with each other, let alone with back-end systems. Software languages, databases, hardware and process-control equipment simply do not "talk" to each other.
To address the problem, NAA's Technology and Telecommunications Committee formed the post-press data-interchange guidelines task force. NAA Post-press Manager Harshad Matalia, who has been working with the group for several years, believes that considerable progress is being made. He says that by early next year a set of specifications will be nailed down that will enhance newspapers' ability to integrate and manage information from various vendors.
Traditional post-press suppliers are also listening to their customers and are modifying their systems accordingly. At Heidelberg Finishing Systems (formerly Sheridan), "total systems solutions" are the guiding principle. Julia Bright, director of marketing for newspaper products, says that the company's focus on integrated systems has become even more concentrated since it was acquired by Germany's Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG.
According to Bright, the company's Prima mailroom-integration system supports planning, production and distribution. It also uses an open-systems architecture to interface with front-end, plant and all major machine-control systems. Heidelberg also offers Prima-Lite, a Windows-based version of the system for smaller newspapers.
Major front-end systems vendors also see the need for tighter integration. Michael Brier, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Neasi-Weber International, believes integration is especially important as newspapers move toward database marketing and sales-force automation. He feels that these customer-oriented sales approaches require a level of accountability for inserts that traditional approaches simply cannot deliver. While Neasi-Weber is talking to several large dailies about integration, the mix of equipment dictates that each project is a custom development.
Some newspapers are taking matters into their own hands. At The New York Times, for example, a prototype system that achieves across-the-board standardization of front-end, pre-press and post-press systems is up and running. According to Dave Thurm, vice president of production, the Times decided to integrate its systems by using successful models from outside the industry. The Times established standards (only two types of programmable logic controllers are allowed throughout the plant, for example) and insisted that vendors comply. While the effort was long and difficult, the Times firmly believes it was worthwhile.
Steve Ostrofsky is president of Publishing Productivity Systems, Bremerton, Washington. E-mail: stevevelo@aol.com; phone (360) 308-0121.
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