Process Management for Newspaper Prepress - A System View.

Producing a newspaper original is a complicated process involving numerous individuals and groups working on a tight schedule. The work in newsrooms and advertising departments is characterized by unexpected events, such as new pieces of news outdating older ones and changes in display ads initiated by customer demands, causing numerous changes to the product being made. These characteristics make systems based on fixed and thoroughly planned workflows impractical. This paper describes the structure and implementation of a process management system based on managing workflows in newspaper prepress. It unobtrusively tracks and controls prepress objects (such as articles, display ads and pages) using an event-driven kernel. Control structures adapt automatically to changes in product structure as well as to unexpected events and delays, continuously attempting to optimize resource utilization and schedules. The aim of the system is to bring invisible structure and control into the creative chaos of the newsrooms and advertising departments.