Customer Case Study

Global Journalist installs PlanSystem3 to streamline magazine production and provide industry training for University of Missouri students

IPI Global Journalist, the magazine of the International Press Institute, is a specialist publication for professional journalists across the world, produced at the University of Missouri's School of Journalism, by students training for careers in the publishing industry. Global Journalist made the decision to implement Van Gennep's PlanSystem3 to streamline magazine production and give students experience of working with a market-leading workflow management system.

About the University of Missouri
The University of Missouri-Columbia was founded in 1893 as the first public University west of the Mississippi River, and the first public University in Thomas Jefferson’s Louisiana Purchase territory. The School of Journalism, with more than 80 full time experts, is the largest of its kind in the country. The faculty uniquely balances outstanding scholarship and substantial journalist experience.

In Brief

Goal

• Improve efficiency of Global Journalist operations through a global editorial planning and production tracking system.
• Provide market-leading system as student teaching tool for future industry users
• Better monitor individual contributions to production

Solution

• Van Gennep PlanSystem3

Results

• Successful transition from manual processes to automated workflows
• Experience of industry-leading software for university students
• More balanced production workflow
• Improved planning for editorial and art
• Improved cross-department collaboration
• Automated data collection for management reporting
• Better tracking and assessment of student progress
• Tighter deadline management
• Easy-to-use system
• Excellent training and on-going customer support

The University boasts nine endowed chairs and professorships, more than any other school of journalism in the USA. Many of the facility’s professors are world-class scholars who produce some of the most important research in the field of journalism, mass communication and advertising. Additionally, three faculty members have won or shared in Pulitzer Prizes.

About Global Journalist
IPI Global Journalist defends, celebrates, reflects and explores the international media and freedom of expression in an honest and thought-provoking manner that both informs and inspires the global journalist community.

Global Journalist is distributed quarterly in 127 countries, with a circulation of 4,500. Copy and photography are supplied by leading journalists and photographers. Each semester, the magazine faculty teaches a new group of students how to produce each quarter’s issue, from receiving copy and photography to editing, design and print production of each final magazine.

Global Journalist is produced on a number of G5 desktop Apple Mac computers and G4 Apple Mac laptops with Mac OS X Server version 10.3.9. The University of Missouri has a license for 500 PlanSystem3 seats or users and the server is accessed via a wireless network. PlanSystem3 enables Global Journalist staff to have remote access to the workflow via a web browser.

Motivation for Change
The University of Missouri wanted a workflow management system that would streamline magazine production and teach students how to use workflow technology employed in the industry.

Industry training
Previously, Global Journalist did not use a workflow management system of any kind, relying on manual files and paper magazine edition mock-ups, which did not represent the fast developing technology in a modern magazine production office. The University of Missouri wanted its students to have the best experience possible to prepare them for a career in magazine production and so decided to invest in PlanSystem3.

Pat Smith, managing editor, confirms, ‘PlanSystem3 provides students with valuable experience of a key industry system that is very visual and easy to use. Each set of students has learnt to use PlanSystem3 quickly and knowing how to use it will be a real asset when they get jobs in the industry.’

Tracking progress
Prior to the implementation of PlanSystem3, deadlines at Global Journalist were very difficult to track. With new students arriving every four months, it wasn’t possible to see how well the schedule was being kept to until near the end of production.

Since the installation of PlanSystem3 the whole production process is more transparent. Mistakes can be detected early and overseeing deadlines becomes much easier. ‘We can now avoid last minute panics because I can solve problems as they occur,’ comments Pat Smith.

Van Gennep’s Support Engineers, explain, ‘PlanSystem3’s tracking capability uses customized user fields. A header, personalized by the production manager, is added to each MS Word, InCopy or InDesign document carrying information about the page. Known as meta-data, it can include the last user’s details, the time the page was last worked on and notes from previous users. This allows other users to see exactly what has been done to the document and what remains left to do.’

In addition, PlanSystem3 also provides PlanMaker, a visual, edition page-planning tool, which enables users to see the whole magazine issue in real time. Thumbnails of each page are available, so users have a visual of each page and an overview of how the whole edition is coming together. PlanMaker users can make a direct link to the production environment and visually track cross department input from advertising to copy writing.

Streamlining and security
Another priority for Global Journalist was getting each stage of production to run more effectively. Before PlanSystem3 was installed, staff would sometimes duplicate work or even miss a stage of the production. Sometimes two people would edit a document, or add elements that hadn’t been authorized.

PlanSystem3’s workflow component has solved these issues by protecting and defining each stage of the workflow, providing more control and direction to users. Using PlanSystem3’s workflow management tool, the production team can set up their own workflow steps, to suit their production needs. Once the workflow stages have been initiated, the production manager designates access rights to individual users for different parts of the workflow. Users access the workflow using an IP address, port number, user name and password.

Before the implementation of PlanSystem3, the team had to manage all its archiving and files manually. With a new MY SQL server database provided by PlanSystem3, Global Journalist staff can now find, save and archive files easily, speeding up production time.

Security had also been a concern in the Global Journalist production office. With a new team of staff every four months, it was previously very difficult to restrict server access. However, the privilege-based access rights to the PlanSystem3 server ensure that only authorized users have access to the files and pages.

Monitoring Student Progress
Finally, PlanSystem3 has helped Pat to track students’ progress. Pat confirms, ‘As the students are graded on their performance during the four months, I needed a way of checking work and tracing any problems back to where they started. PlanSystem3 has really helped me to do this.’

PlanSystem3 makes the production history more transparent by tracking and recording information about each element and page, as it passes through the workflow. This means that even when an issue has been published, it is possible to go back and view the magazine at any stage.

Customer support
Van Gennep’s on-going customer support and training for PlanSystem3 has been key to its success at the Global Journalist. With so many students to train, Pat needed the reassurance that she had someone to call on when required.

Pat states, ‘The customer support service from Van Gennep has been fantastic. I received full training when the system was installed so I am able to train each new set of students as they arrive, myself. I never worry about calling to ask a question as I always get a great response from the Van Gennep team.’

In conclusion
Pat concludes, ‘I am delighted with how well PlanSystem3 has worked for us, supervising Global Journalist is significantly easier now and production is much more streamlined. The system has fitted well to our specialized needs, helping us to deliver a professional magazine to journalists whilst training the next generation of magazine production staff. We now have confidence that our students will be well prepared when they enter the job market.’

Graduates
Over the years, graduates of the Missouri School of Journalism have gone on to work with magazines and newspapers, advertising companies and publishers across the world, including the Wall Street Journal, McCann Erikson Worldwide, Pearson Custom Publishing, the New York Post, the St Louis Post-Dispatch and the Tampa Tribune.

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