Dynamic Control of the Printing, Postpress and Distribution Operations in Newspaper Publishing

Open database solutions and intelligent control systems in the press, mailroom and distribution areas mean not only new possibilities to automate routine tasks. Information technology may also be used as an efficient tool for global monitoring and control. Modern data management, such as client-server applications and query processing, enable dynamic methods to improve the scheduling and control in the printing plants, i.e. platemaking, printing, inserting, bundling, truck loading and distribution operations. In a joint project with a distribution company, owned by two of the largest morning newspapers in Sweden, a research group at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden has been mapping and analyzing systems and daily operations from the mailroom to the customer. The processes, their timing and their needs for production information have been identified. Special attention was directed at the propagation of delays as well as intersystem monitoring and messaging. The knowledge of the process can be used in order to create dynamic models of systems and routines. In a joint project with a distribution company, owned by two of the largest morning newspapers in Sweden, a research group at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden has been mapping and analyzing systems and daily operations from the mailroom to the customer. The processes, their timing and their needs for production information have been identified. Special attention was directed at the propagation of delays as well as intersystem monitoring and messaging. The knowledge of the process can be used in order to create dynamic models of systems and routines.