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Electronic
Publishing
Electronic
Systems
In
desktop publishing the software and hardware alternatives are
numerous and growing rapidly. This offers the opportunity to assess
the systems and processes which you use in your current publishing
operation. Publishers often seek to select the "best"
system when they should concentrate on finding the most suitable
system for their own distinctive workflow and design environment.
Lexicon can help you establish a system configuration responsive
to your current and future publishing needs and requirements.
In addition, we will help you:
- Identify
how much of the production process you can and should handle
in-house;
- Chart
the costs and possible savings with various production scenarios;
- Explore
the full range of software and hardware alternatives.
The
growth in desktop publishing has enabled publishers to accommodate
a wider range of publishing projects and needs. Networking, file
management and databases make personal computers highly functional.
Lexicon can help you establish document and copy flow management
systems and workflow procedures for an effective and efficient
publishing environment. Given the growth in desktop publishing
and the abundance of systems choices, the design to use, upgrade
or enhance desktop publishing equipment and software must be approached
with great care.
As
electronic desktop technology moves forward, design and production
are becoming more intertwined, providing an opportunity for greater
control over production and product while reducing costs and turnaround
time. Before one can capitalize on the opportunity, however, several
questions must be answered:
- How
does one find the best front-end solution for design and production
needs?
- How
can the design philosophy of a publication be protected during
the transition from a traditional design environment to the
electronic era?
- How
can resources be directed to use the technology most effectively?
Lexicon
can help you answer these questions. We go beyond decisions at
the technological level, ensuring that your organization, its
workflow and its methods make the best use of these new technologies.
Lexicon looks to the future to ensure that the system you select
positions you for growth.
Implementation
After
you have chosen a system, you will need a strategy to convert
to an automated environment. The desktop system you install will
alter the way in which your staff works internally as well as
the manner in which you interact with outside suppliers. Maintaining
your publication while installing a new system is a difficult
task. An implementation plan which answers pertinent questions
and details specific tasks must be constructed:
- Set
schedules and timelines;
- Organize
demonstrations and vendor reviews;
- If
a multi-publication environment, establish a plan for orderly
conversion;
- Determine
how your staff will be trained;
- Who
will train them and which job function should be automated first?
- Should
the workflow be updated or restructured?
- How
will individual job functions change?
As
important as the implementation plan is the selection of necessary
vendors and the management of those vendors. Lexicon has the expertise
and people skills to assist you with purchase negotiations and
contracts and to work with your vendors to ensure that this very
important transition is timely and successful.
Desktop...prepress...typesetting....service
bureaus: as publishing enters the electronic era publishers are
asked to confront issues and make decisions in a very technical
and rapidly changing world. Lexicon can provide you with a team
of professionals with the knowledge and experience to help you
find your advantage in electronic publishing.
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