Category: blog

ProImage NewsWayX Cloud workflow enables the Kingsport Times-News to Publish after local virus attack.

On Saturday ProImage received an urgent phone call from The Kingsport Times-News, owned by Six Rivers Media, LLC was the first newspaper to serve Kingsport. Printed weekly as the “Progress,” at first in Johnson City. It later started semi-weekly editions and thrived with the prospering city. Daily publication began in 1924.

The Incident:
Dan Strickler – System Manager received a cell phone call from one of their morning weekend employees stating that the phone system was not operable. Dan states “After checking the phone systems power and finding everything normal, I noticed that we were unable to access our virtual systems that run our data center. It is believed that an internal user opened a malicious hyperlink. It appears that the malicious program ran early morning on Saturday October 28, 2023.”

The Faust ransomware, a Phobos ransomware family variant, had encrypted our entire Virtual SAN infrastructure. The encryption caused us to have to rebuild the system. After restoring the infrastructure, we started the long problematic recovery process.

The ransomware also encrypted our in-house ProImage NewsWayX workflow system servers, so we had no way to output pages internally. Chris Jones, our prepress supervisor, reached out to ProImage at 7:30 PM to see what they could possibly do to help us through this situation.

The Solution:
Tony, at ProImage support, reached back out to Chris within minutes of his initial support call.  Chris says “Tony was able to work with us and setup a cloud instance for us to use to process the pages via FTP. This process worked well, and within two and a half hours ProImage cloud workflow was operational, and we had no problems getting the pages processed and output through our CTP systems. We were able to produce pages and deliver a printed product to our customers on Monday morning. All five of our publications had to be moved to the cloud. We have two daily newspapers and three weeklies that publish every Wednesday.”

“We had several folks from different Companies help during the recovery process, but we felt ProImage was the best support team we worked with, and we are grateful for the help they provided” stated Dan Strickler.  “We were also surprised to find out that ProImage has over 60 customers using NewsWayX in a Cloud workflow environment” mentioned Tim Archer – VP of Operations.

Cloud Benefits and Decision:
The Kingsport Times-News has since decided to move to ProImage’s AWS based redundant NewsWayX Cloud workflow permanently. The ProImage hosted solution provides The Kingsport News-Times Publications a custom workflow on our Cloud servers with no single point of failure. Their users have logons just as if the servers were local to softproof, approve, and track pages & plates. Plate ready Tiffs are automatically sent to their local CTP devices for output. ProImage maintains the Servers, RIPs and Software so versions are always current and protects against future virus threats.

In a global effort to streamline their printing production workflow and lessen their dependencies and related costs tied to managing and supporting on-premises data centers (hardware and software), Gannett has already implemented ProImages NewsWayX Systems in 10 print locations with more planned in the coming months. The ultimate goal is to have all Gannett print sites utilizing the NewsWayX centralized cloud production workflow provided and hosted by ProImage.

NewsWayX is ProImage’s proprietary production management workflow that is entirely cloud-based and allows to manage all print publishing workflow essentially needed within a single environment using a combination of integrated tools and workflow interfaces all via a standard browser. With this centralized, cloud-based production workflow, Gannett is streamlining their technology footprint and related support to individual press locations by having the NewsWayX system deliver plate-ready TIFFs directly to local PCs which drive their CTP imagesetters.

For Gannett, anyone in their organization with an account has visibility to track pages in real-time, including the handoff of the final page-paired TIFF to a CTP device at any of their locations. Account permissions control what is visible to the specific user and what can be tracked. Deciding who would receive specific user access sparked several valuable discussions, such as how to best handle incoming and outgoing commercial print work and where to separate global processes and interfaces from tenant (site) level processing. Such options showcase NewsWayX’s key strengths and its flexibility to be customized to any specific production workflow needs – no matter how complex.

Another critical segment of NewsWayX is the Cortex Resource (CRS) for securely communicating and efficiently transferring content from the cloud environment to a local device. Installing CRS on the local PCs that drive the CTP imagesetters allows secure bi-directional communication with AWS-hosted servers via HTTPS and without the need to adjust firewall settings by initiating the connection. This is an easy-to-use service that is more secure and easier to manage than FTP upload/downloads. The beauty of the Cortex Resource is that no local output workflow hardware or software and associated support are required at any local print sites. 

Outstanding Product Features for Flexibility, Adaptability, and Cost-Savings in a Multi-tier Organization

NewsWayX provides a multitenant architecture, and each individual environment has its own security, permissions, and privileges. This allows Gannett’s multi-tier organization user flexibility and specific user privileges. Depending on the employee’s role, a typical tenant (site) operation will be utilizing the edition planning Wizard and the form approval workflow to manage plate output. On the other hand, Gannett’s enterprise output IT support team manages products and sets up normalization rules to automatically resize pages to fit specifications. Lastly, management utilizes ProImage’s ViewFlow360 cloud-based information to track weekly and monthly output.

ViewFlow360 provides a 360-degree view of the prepress workflow. Every flow step, such as RIP, Ink Save, Preflight, Output, and so on, is monitored, and automatic daily reports are sent to predefined users with summary information about the workflow activities.

Another feature of NewsWayX that stands out to Gannett’s team is the GUI Navigation. It allows users to open and toggle between multiple tabs and provides a bird’s eye view of the entire workflow.

When asked about any time-saving benefits, Gannett’s Mark Panorese,

Senior Director of Application Services, states: “The biggest impact is with the edition planning module, which automatically builds the print edition from a feed from Gannett’s enterprise layout system – eliminating what is now a manual step at many of our print sites.”

Smooth Integration and Interface Points

NewsWayX is smoothly integrated with other systems of the Gannett production environments: For editorial, they are working toward a typeset status from their editorial CMS. They also have OneVision Asura Preflighting servers in AWS along with the NewsWayX servers. For edition planning of Gannett-owned publications, they are ingesting layout edition files from their SCS Layout 8000 servers. They are considering the same workflow for a few of their larger commercial print customers. They also have interfaces to all local sites inking systems.

Quantifiable Financial Benefits

In any organization, cost and time savings are the cornerstones of any project consideration and business goal. For Gannett, one of their main requirements in pursuing a centralized workflow was to reduce their overall costs – both annually and through cost avoidance tied to TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) with hosting internally. Now with NewsWayX, they no longer bear the cost of supporting, maintaining, and eventually upgrading and replacing software and hardware.

But besides cost and time savings, a partner with proven SaaS experience was another critical point in selecting a publishing workflow. NewsWayX and ProImage checked that box as well. As Mark Panorese states: “NewsWayX is extremely stable and requires very little routine maintenance.”

As they are planning to implement the workflow throughout their network of publications and commercial accounts, being a partner of more than 20 years, ProImages has once again proven to be the right choice. “They have been reliable, responsive – and most importantly committed to what is a significant and challenging project.”

Princeton, NJ (15th of February 2023) – How to efficiently manage the workflow of 200+ publications, including 30 dailies and hundreds of commercial products across 15 production facilities. This was the question the Adams Publishing Company management team was asking when looking for a streamlined, cost-reducing workflow solution that would also improve quality and reduce onsite hardware.

Adams Publishing Group (APG), a family-owned community newspaper company, was launched in 2013 and strongly believes in the critical function community newspapers fulfill in their local communities. For its many dailies across 19 US states, it was crucial to implement a production management system that would be easy to use, cloud-based, provide cost savings through automation, deliver ink optimization, and have the ability to output from a ‘hub’ structure.

ProImage and its suite of next-generation newspaper and magazine production workflow were already well known to APG through its positive industry-wide reputation. Conversations between the two companies started, and in early 2023 the implementation of ProImage NewsWayX Cloud workflow is well underway. It will replace local workflows at all 15 print sites from four different software vendors that Adams Publishing Group used. All 15 locations will use the NewsWayX Cloud workflow to provide much-desired consistency among sites and streamline their production.

NewsWayX – the powerhouse of publishing in an excitingly efficient and affordable package

NewsWayX is a proven automated workflow solution for Page & Plate Tracking, Ripping, Imposition, and Output management for printing productions.

It features a single, integrated user interface that monitors the production status, both at origination and at print sites, irrespective of location. Because it is based on HTML5, NewsWayX is fully accessible from any computer with a browser. With its easy-to-use interface, the production staff does not require lengthy software training sessions. In addition, it easily integrates with editorial and press control systems, providing one cost-effective integrated end-to-end production solution.

For APG, the feature-rich offerings of NewsWayX, such as ink optimization, automated image toning, pre-flighting and monitoring, and detailed tracking tools, were just some of the strengths and advantages of NewsWayX that led to the purchasing decision. Being able to notify operators of a system error and keeping track of all pages and plates generated for each site was another key advantage that led to selecting ProImage. Lastly, the investment cost was very attractive, and the anticipated cost savings through automation, ink optimization, and reduction of onsite hardware made this a justifiable investment decision.

Simplifying a complex workflow while reducing cost and saving time

It was important for APG to significantly reduce costs and simplify and streamline the complex processes usually associated with running productions across multiple production facilities in 19 states. Being able to do that and only needing a standard browser while reducing the onsite hardware previously required on each site, plus the upkeep of such, was another major reason NewsWayX was the perfect solution. Further, it allows APG to use personnel assets across their production facilities in a hub-based format since some production personnel will be given access to output to multiple facilities’ CTP devices. “We believe NewsWayX not only enables us to automate and provide both our internal and external customers a proven workflow but also one that will grow as APG continues to grow. The Cloud based system and out ability to create standardization, centralize some operations while bringing savings was very attractive” states Doug Wilson Vice President of Production.

APG is expecting significant cost and time savings by being able to output to multiple locations from anywhere and eliminate hands-on processes due to the use of the web portal. Since the implementation process is currently underway, it is still early, but APG has already seen an improvement in color off-press in their early test runs.

In addition, centralizing the workflow in the cloud will result in a reduction in support contract costs due to the elimination of multiple workflows currently in place, as well as the elimination of upkeep and replacements of onsite hardware.

Seamless integration

NewsWayX seamlessly integrates with software components within any enterprise to provide additional value in production. Other components belonging to ProImage or third-party providers appear to the user as additional workflow steps in the system. For APG, NewsWayX will integrate with Editorial, CTP devices, proofing software, and CIP3 for ink presets for certain press control systems. APG will also upgrade their CTP spoolers across all production facilities that will receive files directly from the cloud.

Professionalism and support are vital components of success.

With any large-scale project across multiple locations and facilities, smooth and efficient implementation and training are crucial for the success of such. This not only starts at the installation but already when discussing and scaling the project with sales. As Ryan M. Pruse, Operations Director for Adams Publishing Company, states: “Professionalism and support have been top-notch since the day we began talking about this project.” It is too early to provide a full testimonial since the project is in the early launch stage, but to quote Mr. Pruse again: “For now, I can only speak to the support we’ve received during the initial launch, which has been excellent.”

Wick Communications has chosen ProImage, an AGFA Company, to streamline its production process of five print sites into one centralized hub at their Wenatchee plant. ProImage’s NewsWayX Workflow management system and several additional plug-ins are handling the centralization, while each of the print sites will have a custom workflow to manage their unique requirements.

Since 2004, the Wenatchee production plant in Wenatchee, Washington, has been using NewsWay workflow and added ProImage’s OnColor ECO ink optimization software in 2009. With this new, centralized production process, ProImage’s NewsWayX can now be used for all sites without difficult and costly integrations, modifications, or new software.

NewsWayX and OnColor ECO make complex publishing simple.

NewsWayX controls and manages production workflow from a variety of front-end systems through to output. Using a web browser and being fully HTML5 compliant, NewsWayX is able to monitor production status from both origination and print sites – regardless of location. It supports ICC profiles, PDF as well as Bitmap workflow, imposition, and page pairing. In addition, it easily integrates with editorial and press control systems, thus providing a single, cost-effective, integrated end-to-end production solution.

ProImage OnColor ECO ink analyzes and optimizes PDF pages to reduce color ink usage and intelligently applies gray component replacement (GCR) to replace the right amount of cyan, magenta, and yellow ink for black ink components, resulting in reduced ink consumption while maintaining the highest print quality and sharpness. The result is perfect output using less ink. The Wenatchee print location alone was able to reduce their ink expenditures by roughly 20 percent using the ProImage OnColor ECO module, according to Rick Shafranek – Vice President Sales & Marketing at ProImage.

Multi-Site Production Made Easy

Wick Communications will use Wenatchee’s existing ProImage workflow to centralize its production across five additional print sites, as each site will have a custom workflow to manage its specific requirements. Plate-ready TIFF files will be sent from Wenatchee’s NewsWayX system to TIFF Spoolers for output to local CTP devices for each instance of plate output. Load Balancing and Color Locking are supported, and TIFFs for ink presets or CIP 3 files will also be sent to individual press control systems as required by the production.

Frontiersman, Wasilla (AK), will have a remote NewsWayX Workflow and ProOut license, which is Wenatchee based, to drive two additional output devices at their Alaskan print site. The Sierra Vista Herald in Arizona handles circulations ranging from 2000 to 15,000 and uses the same configuration. The Argus Observer in Ontario, OR, the Madison Leader in South Dakota, and the Montrose Daily Press in Colorado are also tied into Wenatchee’s workflow each with two additional output devices at their respective locations. The Wenatchee plant services 80 to 100 commercial customers, with circulations ranging between 500 to over 100,000.

Benefits of a Centralized System

“One of the major reasons for our move to the centralized system is to increase our web security,” states Scott Green, Production Director for Wick Communications  “Another major reason is the depth of knowledge we will have in our own company for support and thus the ability to help other print sites by using NewsWayX.”

Don Judd, IT Director for Wick Communications adds: “We were facing an end-of-life systems issue that required the upgrade of hardware, operating systems, and production software at each of our facilities. Centralizing these systems on a virtualized Hyper-V environment means significant cost savings for the entire company, as we have a much smaller digital footprint to upgrade and maintain, which also means we can utilize fewer people in fewer hours to keep things running at peak.”

When asked why NewsWayX was selected over other workflow systems, Don replies: “The use of group 4 1-Bit TIFFs gives a large advantage and allows to centralize these systems in more remote and rural areas where bandwidth availability is not available.”

Because it is based on HTML5, NewsWayX can be fully accessed from any computer platform that supports a browser.  In this particular case, the software is hosted on-site but can also be installed on the AWS Cloud and hosted by ProImage. In the Cloud, Servers, RIPs and software are maintained by ProImage so versions are always current, eliminating costly upgrades.

Customers approve of NewsWayX

The ease of use of the user interface and customers liking the approval portal is another major reason why Brian Koenig, Production Manager at the Wenatchee plant gives NewsWayX thumbs up. It is easy to create new customer logins and passwords for the approval managers. It thus allows customers to be self-sufficient in uploading and approving their pages after production has done the initial planning for their jobs; automating the process. Russ Dixon, Prepress Manager for Wenatchee, explains: “It is very easy for us to create new and adjust existing layout templates – especially compared to previous versions of NewsWayX. We have been successfully using NewsWay for about 20 years now, but NewsWayX is the best version so far.”

All sites will have their own login to see only their plans and pages but have all the NewsWayX features available in their own workflow. The single, integrated user interface keeps all users informed about editions and their status. Web Growth (Fan-Out) plug-in for shifting and scaling TIFF separations is also included and is one of the favorite features because of its ease of use and effectiveness, as stated by Scott Green. The centralized workflow will replace various local workflows and support previously needed at each print site.

Long-Term Support Essential for Success

As in any upgrade and modification, tech support before, during, and after the installation is crucial for a multi-site operation such as Wick Communications. Especially when specific customization needs are required, as it is the case with Wick Communications. “The ProImage staff has been extremely professional and very diligent in dealing with our customization needs. Every print facility has its own unique quirks to address and challenges to overcome, and thus far, the team has been responsive and helpful in the face of these issues,” says Don Judd. Scott Green chimes in: “The staff has been nothing but helpful with everything we do.” And long-time user Brian Koenig states: “Tech support has been top-notch throughout the years.”

The Argus-Press in Owosso, Michigan, replaced its local workflow with the cloud-based ProImage NewsWayX production workflow to enjoy the cloud-based solution’s speed and flexibility.

The Argus-Press, a Michigan-based, family-owned, independent newspaper, produces more than 50 individual newspaper titles on a commercial printing basis.  Its flagship newspaper – The Argus-Press – has 5,500 weekly circulations and 26,000 on Sunday (in combination with The Argus Weekly).

Given the volume of titles and the necessary oversight, it is beneficial to the production team to have the speed and flexibility of a cloud-based system instead of the locally served system they previously relied on.

As Tom Campbell, President & Publisher of The Argus-Press, states: “We appreciate the processing speed and the ability to see our workflow operation in real-time.”

The cloud-based NewsWayX provides full access to the system, and the integrated interface enables tracking and managing production from any computer. Remote users can view the production progress, workflow steps, pages, or plates and perform a variety of operations required to manage production.

For The Argus-Press, fan-out control, visible page/plate version changes, customization of plate layouts, and last but not least, the price of the cloud service made this a rather easy decision to implement ProImage. Additionally, as an Agfa plate customer, the Argus-Press was able to roll the cost of NewsWayX solution into their existing Agfa plate agreement.

The newspaper employs a well-maintained but seasoned Urbanite press that was never engineered to print four-color with tight registration. Highly proficient press operators and the new NewsWayX now provide excellent print results. Mr. Campbell explains: “We use several fan-out sets to compensate for web growth on press. NewsWayX makes it very easy to flip yellow separation in the edition plan for direct printing. We also currently use two different ink optimization plans. One for newsprint and one for offset grade paper. We use automatic approval for pages, but manual approval for plates.”

In addition, the cloud-based platform provides newfound flexibility by allowing staff and owner to work remotely on nights and weekends rather than coming into the office. The press crew has the ability to easily check on plate status for multiple publications and adjust their preparations accordingly.

Working with the ProImage team proved once again to be a successful and reliable partnership. The Argus-Press was on a tight timeline, and it took the ProImage team only roughly three weeks to implement the workflow system. As Tom Campbell reports: “We have found the staff to be very helpful in getting us set up and operational. We have also encountered their tech support to be proactive – at least once they detected that we had a problem before we did and reached out to us.”

As for the future, Campbell contemplates the addition of an e-edition that could be automated by the PDF export capabilities of NewsWayX. Regardless of what the near future holds in regards to economic upheavals, The Argus-Press has moved forward technologically, which, as they state, ‘is already a benefit!’.

SPIR@L, the latest screening technology applicable to both commercial and newspaper printing. It makes it possible to hold dots from press to paper ranging from 1 to 99% without any additional effort, guaranteeing vibrant colors and sharp images. 

Due to the shape of the screen, print artifacts such as image slur or smaller CtP imaging artifacts become invisible. As confirmed by users, this new screen avoids color contamination in the blue color range, yielding a higher quality reproduction. Due to the nature of the dot shape, the ink layer is reduced, which positively impacts drying time or energy consumption.

SPIR@L screen can save up to 15% of ink consumption for printers.

Cloud-based software certainly isn’t a new technology. In fact, the term cloud-based was first coined by Google CEO Eric Schmidt at a conference in August 2006 — and the concept itself arguably dates back much further.

No matter the exact date of inception, industries of all different types have been reaping the benefits of cloud-hosted systems for over a decade. But for some industries with a lot of moving parts, adoption has been slower. Newspapers certainly fit that criteria, with many publishers still relying on a mix of innovative technology and legacy systems.

Prepress operations is one area where newspapers have experienced the widest adoption of cloud-based systems, and reaped the greatest benefit. What used to be the domain of big-name newspapers is now seeing more small publishers as well. Pressroom controls and operations have begun to follow suit and there’s little doubt we’ll see increasing adoption of cloud-based systems in press and postpress operations in the next decade and beyond.

Denton Publications of Elizabethtown, New York, is among the smaller publishers that have moved critical prepress operations to the cloud. Denton publishes newspapers including The Sun Community News, which serves Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton and Warren counties in New York state, and The Vermont Eagle, based in Middlebury.

Besides printing approximately 71,000 copies of The Sun, Denton produces roughly 35 weeklies and a handful of monthlies and college papers. All of those jobs run through NewsWay.

Prepress integration

Denton completed installation of the hosted version of ProImage’s NewsWay and associated software in October. Alexander said the move has enabled the automation of several prepress processes, including integration with the publisher’s ink presetting software from QuickSet Corporation.

Alexander said color registration is now “next to perfect,” and that Denton is realizing significant savings on ink and paper. Next up, Denton will roll out cloud-based OnColor Eco, ProImage’s ink-optimization software.

“Being in the cloud affords us all of the latest versions of these applications,” Alexander said. “And certainly this has helped with efficiency, allowing us to do more with fewer bodies — and to take better care of the employees we have.”

The Las Vegas Review Journal has also moved its key prepress functions to the cloud, launching NewsWayX, OnColor Eco, and Intellitune earlier this year. In addition to its flagship daily — with circulation of approximately 65,000 copies daily and 85,000 on Sunday — the software is helping bolster its commercial printing offerings.

The installs followed the Review-Journal’s rollout of computer-to-plate equipment from Agfa, which went live in March.

“These apps can be accessed from anywhere and upgrading is simpler and faster in the cloud,” said Prepress Manager Julie Herron. “Maintenance is better managed, and as our IT staff has been reduced it’s nice to have the vendor sup- port we need when issues arise.”

Like Alexander, Herron cites the benefits of easy integration with other systems — specifically the publisher’s PitStop Server preflighting app and Asura production software.

All of these apps are helping the Review-Journal to court more commercial work, which it spreads out among its double-wide Goss Newsliner press and its Didde commercial press.

The workflow is integrated with both presses and the Review-Journal is producing glossy work, books and single-sheet inserts on the Didde pres. It is producing some smaller papers in Nevada and southern Utah on the Newsliner press.

Virtual, remote connectivity has been proven to be a life saver for many companies and their employees as well as people all over the world during the COVID-19 pandemic. While not being a new concept, it became painstakingly clear how important it is to be digitally connected despite being physically apart. This same concept applies to ProImage’s NewsWayX workflow products where virtual, cloud-based HTML5 technology is at the center of its core capabilities. This feature is one of the main reasons, the Tribune Publishing Company decided in late summer last year, to install the NewsWayX Workflow System across all of their Six print sites (Chicago Tribune, IL, Hartford Courant, CT, Baltimore Sun, MD, Sun Sentinel, FL, Virginia Pilot, VA, and New York Daily News, NY). 

Each of these Tribune Sites will have their own local workflow that includes servers, RIPs, Edition Planning, and output management to their individual, local CTP devices. But instead of upgrading their legacy workflow systems at each of those six print sites, the Tribune Publishing decided to centralize their production workflow at one cloud-based hub. This hub is integrated with Tribune’s own, pre-existing cloud where now each print site can log into ProImage’s central system and each manage their own production workflow – independent from each other.  This central system – NewsWayX – is using HTML5 and is web browser-based enabling users to monitor production status from different print sites and from any location. HTML5 supports the building of more diverse and powerful web sites and applications – and in this case, allows newspaper production operators to access their NewsWayX workflow from anywhere. Staff can log in from different computers at work, in the production area, and even from their laptops at home to monitor and work on production flow.

With NewsWayX, edition planning is centralized so a layout file is imported and an edition plan is automatically created for each of the print sites. Centralized RIPs process PDF files and create soft proofs of pages and plates. Custom impositions are created for each site along with unique furniture, text, and barcodes that are burned onto the plate image. Ink presets are routed to the sites that require them. Another great benefit is that all print sites can take advantage of ProImage’s ECO ink optimization software that the Tribune already had for some of the print sites. However, by centralizing, all sites can now benefit from the improved image quality and reduced CMYK ink consumption that ECO provides.

Highly Flexible to meet each site’s needs

To fully understand how this cloud-based system is implemented and performing for a large, multi-location publishing company like Tribune Publishing, we spoke to Jhon Marte, Director Technology Department Tribune Publishing that oversees the entire NewsWayX project from the IT-side. Tribune Publishing and their 6 print sites all had accumulated different workflow systems and different versions over the years. They were dealing with over 70 servers across those 6 print sites which is understandably a very difficult and time-consuming maintenance task. The goal was to implement a single, standardized application across the sites and with it reduce the number of servers. A centralized, cloud-based system for ad managers, rips, and OnColor ECO was needed that would allow a reduced footprint and uses a web browser so the system could monitor production from origination to print sites, regardless of their location. In addition, all sites needed to run on one, unified Windows Version – in this case, Windows 2016.

Once these project goals were established, Tribune Publishing investigated the market place for an ideal partner to put those goals into reality. Since they had implemented other ProImage products in the past and based on ProImage’s industry reputation and market leadership, it became apparent that ProImage with their cloud-based, HTML5 based NewsWayX Production Workflow System was the right partner. As Jhon Marte states: “We compared the product with those of other competitors and we found ProImage being very flexible, very user-friendly in the UI and it is a well-known product in the market. This and our previous working relationship helped us make this a fairly straight forward decision.”

As Jhon Marte explains, the primary NewsWayX workflow system is located in the cloud where all print sites are connected. In addition, there is another hub on the premises of their Chicago, IL data center with a duplicate set of licenses. This hub functions as a disaster recovery hub in case the primary hub fails or is not accessible. Files are copied to their DR (disaster recovery) system throughout the day each day so if needed it can become the primary hub with little to no loss of data. 

When asked about the implementation of the system, Jhon states that it was an overall smooth process. Since Tribune Publishing with its multiple print sites is such a complex set-up, customization of ProImage’s system was needed on several occasions. Specific tables and particular integration with their press control systems were needed which ProImage’s software team custom developed for them. Each print site was moved over individually by migrating all of their products to the new system. Once that was done successfully, then they moved on to the next print site. The overall time frame for the implementation was set to about one year. It is important for the Tribune team to follow their own time-frame so they can ensure each site is moved over correctly and transitions without negatively affecting the user or production. Additionally, some sites require more integration work and development than others, so being diligent is key. According to Jhon Marte, ProImage and NewsWayX have been proven to be very flexible in allowing them to customize their systems for each site’s specific needs.

In regards to support, Tribune and ProImage are on a weekly conference call to discuss progress, pending issues, open items, and action items that are completed. This way, everybody is on the same page and things can get done efficiently. As Jhon Marte puts it: “It’s been very positive. From a technical perspective, the guys are knowledgeable of what they do, they are very dedicated and work with us on testing, and solving any issue that might come up.”

Since NewsWayX is a true web client interface, it is easy to follow and the learning curve was pretty shallow according to Jhon Marte. It has been very well received within the company and its sites. It is easier to use than what they had before and there hasn’t been a single pushback from the business perspective.