Prepress
Idényt automates production and boosts output with Enfocus PowerSwitch
Tuesday 17. November 2009 - Automation essential for high-volume work
The free home and garden title, Idényt (New Ideas), has turned to Enfocus PowerSwitch to help automate its production. The Enfocus solution has enabled the publisher to streamline its set-up, work faster, use less manpower and produce more publications. The company also uses Enfocus PitStop Server and PitStop Pro.
Created in 1973, Idényt is a free magazine that is delivered to 2.6 million households in Denmark. Issued ten times a year in eight different regional versions, the title earned a place in the Guinness Book of Records for being the worlds largest free magazine.
Flemming Pedersen, System Administrator at Idényt, is tasked with making the production workflow run smoothly and eliminating errors. However, ensuring an efficient, error-free workflow for such high-volume work presents significant challenges.
Beating the clock
“Were always working against the clock and under pressure,” says Pedersen. “So it made sense to automate our set-up and buy ourselves some valuable time. PDF handling is fully automated, which means this process is now much quicker. And we avoid human errors – the PDFs are checked and corrected, and we can even remove pages from the PDF if necessary.”
“We integrated PitStop Server, InDesign, Photoshop, Acrobat and Pageflex for variable publishing, and MediaBank for digital asset management. Its much faster to run this workflow on a server than on a local machine.”
Boosting efficiency
“We can send files to ftp servers, check which customer the file came from and put it directly in the correct folder. We now know exactly where the file has been, who worked on it and where it is supposed to go,” says Pedersen. “Before PowerSwitch, we had to script the path for the files to get around in our system. Every time we had a new program or a new hot folder that we wanted to save in the progress, it took a lot of manpower. Now we simply create a new flow in PowerSwitch – it couldnt be faster or easier.”
Increased productivity for all
“The main benefit of the solution is that it has enabled us to increase productivity. File manipulation is done automatically, so our staff can concentrate on delivering better-quality AD design or other creative work. Plus the fact that its so easy to use means everyone at the company benefits from it.”
Integrated programs
PowerSwitch is one of the main programs in Idényts system. Its used for following up the files and metadata, and for connecting with other programs such as the companys image database, its CRM system and Pageflex.
Delivering business benefits
According to Pedersen, PowerSwitch has had a big impact at Idényt: “PowerSwitch has made a huge contribution to how efficiently the magazine is now produced. Its so easy to create new flows that can automate otherwise-laborious daily routines. The solution is great for customers too. It lets us receive and check customers advertising documents, generate the PDF to print, and report where and when the ads will feature in the magazine. Since implementing PowerSwitch, we estimate that were saving one to two hours per production employee. And with eight staff in the department, the time savings really add up.”