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 BURLINGTON, VT -- (October, 2004) - Lane Press is celebrating its 100th year with a fully
integrated Networked Graphic Production (NGP) environment. The company has automated its production
process from creative through press and plans to continue
that trend through finishing and delivery.
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It all began in 1904, when Frank Lane started the company as a small letterpress operation in
Burlington, Vermont. Publishers from across the country are attracted to Lane Press because of
their customer service, high-quality print standards, and innovative use of publishing technology.
Today, Lane Press is connecting and automating the functional silos of creative, prepress, customer
service, and the pressroom with the help of the Networked Graphic Production Partnership. Creo,
HIFLEX, and MAN Roland are working together to deliver this workflow in a way that delivers
measurable value to Lane Press and its customers.
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1. Frank Lane, Founder
2. Philip Drumheller, President
3. Governor of Vermont visits Lane Press for 100-year anniversary
4. Press sheet on console
5. Lane Press web press in action
6. Original 100-year-old printing press from Lane press
7. Lane Press front entrance
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According to Philip Drumheller, president of Lane Press, this action represents a sweeping
process improvement in printing. "The JDF format allows us to enter job requirements into the
HIFLEX MRP application at the start of the process. The job data is passed to the Creo Prinergy
system to automate the prepress workflow area. One of the benefits of JDF-compliant technology
is the sharing of data across disparate systems. We will have a single access point to critical
job data. As a result, we will see efficiency gains for ourselves and our customers as the process
becomes fully automated."
With the purchase of a MAN Roland Rotoman set for installation in the
summer of 2005, the process improvement will continue into the
press room through the presetting of ink key values from Prinergy and
the automatic setup of the press from the JDF job ticket coming from
HIFLEX. The press’ PECOM operating system was developed for network
production, enabling printers to take full advantage of NGP efficiencies.
The benefits of a Networked Graphic Production environment via
JDF include:
Seamless flow of data throughout the plant
Quick access to job status information
Reduction in manual processes, and in turn, error rates
Reduced cycle times
Job activity tracking and reporting for accurate costing and invoicing
Increased opportunity for interaction with the manufacturing process
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With the digitization of prepress comes the difficult task of tracking
alterations, time, and materials. Each of these areas represents costs
to Lane Press. The digital prepress has traditionally been a black hole
when it comes to accurately tracking these costs. Integrating Prinergy
to HIFLEX through Creo Synapse Link allows the automated collection
of prepress material usage, server time, and alterations, whether
chargeable or non-chargeable. Lane Press prepress operators can concentrate
on producing the quality work that their customers have
come to expect without the burden of manually tracking transactions.
"Synapse Link automatically captures any alteration from Prinergy or
upstream at the customer through Synapse InSite,” adds Thom Valley,
IS manager. “Prepress operators simply have to indicate if the alteration
is chargeable or not. HIFLEX will take care of sorting out the costs
and invoice."
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The publishing industry is continually under pressure to produce
more titles with less people and under tighter deadlines. Lane Press
allows publishers to use every available minute in the creative production
of their publications. Networked Graphic Production allows
Lane Press to minimize the non-value-added time spent on publications.
Delivery of content is automated through electronic file submission
using Creo Synapse InSite directly with Creo Prinergy. Job creation
is automated in HIFLEX and Prinergy, reducing job keying by 50
percent. Remote content proofing is offered to publishers through
Synapse InSite to further reduce overall cycle time.
With the installation of the MAN Roland Rotoman, cycle time will further
be reduced through job submission from HIFLEX to press and ink
key settings from prepress to press. This is expected to significantly
reduce total makeready on press.
"Publishers will definitely benefit from the faster turnaround the
Rotoman will provide," Drumheller notes. "Publication schedules have
been tightening up in recent years and any magazine would profit
from an extra day to fill pages with ads. Rotoman automation will
enable us to buy that kind of time for our customers."
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Lane has over 275 publications with which it does business on a regular
basis. Keeping them satisfied month after month is at the heart of
the company’s activities. "Many of our customers measure their relationships
with us in decades rather than years," Drumheller says.
"That’s why it’s so important that we meet or exceed their expectations
using equipment that is guaranteed to deliver."
"We see our job as helping publishers serve their missions as specialty
magazines, whether we’re printing for an ivy-league college or a
trade association," says Tracey Moran, marketing manager at Lane. "We
strive to understand what our customers need to accomplish and we
can proactively develop solutions to meet those needs."
Moran keeps in close touch with the Lane Press client base. The company’s
customers were the first to know that Lane was acquiring a new
Rotoman via an announcement at the Lane Press Publishers
Roundtable meeting that was made within days of the purchase.
Additional process reports will follow at every step of the process
through the Lane Press On Your Page e-newsletter.
For his part, Drumheller sees his company’s ongoing technological
upgrade as the next phase in a progression that saw Lane Press switching
to computer-to-plate imaging several years ago. "For one thing, we
offer our customers a clear migration path to a more automated digital
production environment with fast and accurate, plate-ready files
and online proofing solutions. The tools we have put in place will facilitate
a smooth transition and help our customers be fully prepared for
their future in publishing."
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| Networked graphic production is the industry-wide initiative for
automating the entire print production process by creating an
efficient, collaborative environment—from idea to delivery. The
NGP Partners are committed to using open standards, such as
JDF, to deliver seamlessly integrated cross-vendor solutions that
enable printers, converters and print buyers to decrease cycle
times, cut costs, increase revenues, reach more customers, and
become profit leaders. |
| Lane Press, located in South Burlington, Vermont, serves publishers of short- and medium-run magazines. Founded in 1904, Lane Press
is celebrating its centennial anniversary in 2004 and is distinguished by its rich history of printing and publishing innovation.
Publishers nationwide rely on Lane Press for its ability to produce the highest quality publications and its commitment to providing
technology leadership for automating the magazine production and distribution processes. More than 250 publications- association,
business-to-business, consumer, regional, and scholastic-trust Lane Press to keep its promise of delivering the best possible publication
every issue, every time. www.lanepress.com
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| Creo Inc. is a global company with key strengths in imaging and software technology. The leading provider of prepress systems, Creo
helps over 25,000 customers worldwide adopt digital production methods which reduce costs, increase print quality and allow them to
serve their customers more efficiently. Based on a solid foundation of intellectual property, Creo has an unmatched range of technology
solutions that address the needs of commercial, publication, on demand, packaging, and newspaper printers, and creative professionals.
Creo product lines include software and hardware for computer-to-plate imaging, systems for digital photography, scanning, and proofing,
as well as printing plates and proofing media. Creo also supplies on-press imaging technology, components for digital presses, and color
servers for high-speed digital printers.
Based in Vancouver, Canada, Creo employs more than 4,000 people and reported fiscal 2003 revenue of US$578 million. Creo trades on
NASDAQ (CREO) and the TSX (CRE). www.creo.com
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| HIFLEX Corp., Portsmouth NH, originated from Germany and manufactures the HIFLEX Print industry software which maps and supports all
the business processes of printing plants. The HIFLEX system covers all relevant functions and tasks to be found within a printing
company: estimating, quotations, order confirmations, job dockets, delivery notes, invoicing, historic costing, statistical evaluations,
inventory management, production planning and control, production data collection, machine interfaces, shipping, and job progress
tracking. The company has also developed an e-business module as well as a Document Management system. Every year HIFLEX re-invests
around 50 % of its earnings in research and development. HIFLEX software is represented all over the world and is available in 15
different languages.
www.hiflex.com
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