Case Studies

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Wyndeham Heron Pulls Off Instant Proofing Cycle With Vio Red Hot Icons
March 28th, 2003

One of the UK’s leading web printers, Wyndeham Heron, has established an instant soft proofing cycle for the British Medical Journal, using an automated workflow solution integrated by Vio.

An early subscriber to Vio’s services, Wyndeham Heron works tirelessly in partnership with the Vio team to push the boundaries of its digital workflows, with the aim of increasing efficiencies, sharpening processes and shortening turnaround. Its latest innovation for the British Medical Journal uses Vio Red Hot Icons. These enable the editorial, display and classified advertising departments at the BMJ to drag and drop files ready for proofing straight onto an icon on their desktop, without having to open the full Vio interface.

Vio routes the files from the client site for automatic retrieval to the correct workgroup on Wyndeham Heron’s LAN. With seven BMJ publications going to press at Wyndeham Heron each week, including BMA News, Vio gives Heron total control and visibility of the various files and folders coming in, making it possible for the team to use a single server to survey all the incoming data.

The data arriving from Vio for the BMJ titles is channelled into a RIP at Wyndeham Heron. The RIP ‘hot folder’ holds all the information needed to RIP the job and channel it into Heron’s workflow. This then passes straight to the Agfa Apogee Print Drive, which generates a soft proof published through the web on the RealTimeImage application. Almost a third of all pages coming to Heron from the BMJ are put through this instant proofing cycle, amounting to some 250 pages every week.

Wyndeham Press Group’s Divisional Group Sales Director, Jon Hearnden, explains: "The deadlines for the BMJ are such that the client needed us to be able to deliver a proofable page within fifteen minutes. It seemed like a tall order, but with Vio completely automating the process of routing the file from the sender to the proofing device, we’ve actually managed to shave the time down to six minutes, end to end. The speed of turnaround is pretty phenomenal."

The BMJ gladly switched file transmission from ISDN and FTP to Vio Send To Me. Editorial Services Manager, Andrew Woodward, comments: "Right from the tender stage, it was clear that Heron was at the cutting edge when it came to technology, and they bent over backwards to accommodate our requirements. Using Vio to send files to them has been totally straightforward, and transmission is double-quick, whether we’re sending simple editorial text and images, more complex advertising files or even complete sections.

"From the time we drag and drop the files onto the Vio Red Hot Icons, we’re confident that we’ll see soft proofs in a matter of minutes, and with Vio we can see at a glance when and where the files have gone, and that they’ve been sent successfully – the guesswork’s all gone.”

Since the successful implementation of the automated proofing solution for the BMJ, Wyndeham Heron has supplied Vio Red Hot Icons to other clients, including the Royal College of Nursing, which now has two separate icons, one for straightforward data transfer and the other for remote proofing. "Installing the Red Hot Icons is a breeze”, comments Jon Hearnden. "We just email the customer the icon, along with the Vio Send To Me application, which allows them to send files to us without needing their own Vio connection, and with no limitations on file size. All they have to do is download the icon and they’re up and running in minutes.”

With these positive experiences under its belt, Wyndeham Heron’s drive for greater automation is in full swing. "Tools like Vio, that cut out time from the production process and eliminate margins for human error, are a godsend in today’s publishing environment”, says Wyndeham Heron’s Technical Director, David Brown. "With digital communication technologies, computer-to-plate and highly automated presses, things move at a mind-blowing pace. We just don’t have the luxury of time to resolve problems – half an hour lost is as significant nowadays as several days would have been a decade ago.”

"What’s more, solutions like the automated proofing workflow for the BMJ instil tremendous confidence with the client that things are progressing as they should. Clients rely on us to deliver, but that doesn’t mean they feel they can relinquish control. They still need constant reassurance that everything is running smoothly and to schedule. Service, response and proactivity are the watchwords of our business, and Vio is a key partner in helping us to deliver.”