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.”