The Märkische Oderzeitung (MOZ) in Frankfurt-on-Oder is continuing to modernize its digital newspaper production process.

NewsSpeed from Digital Technology International was integrated with the Pape + Partner Media’s newspaper planning and page assembly solution.

The project, which is now underway, will be completed by the summer of 2002.

NewsSpeed, which combines Adobe InDesign and Adobe InCopy for layout and text editing with an structured query language database — customized to the needs of the editorial department — has replaced the former editorial system at MOZ.

The production management system from PPI Media ensures a smooth transition from one system to another.

PlanPag, the PPI planning system, will control pagination in both the old and the new editorial systems during the transitional period. From the summer of 2002, the PlanPag planning system will supply a total of 145 NewsSpeed clients with production orders every day. Coordinated interfaces ensure that planning details — with binding information on editorial space, as well as on desk, ad and color placements — are transferred by the DTI system and observed by the editor.

The six editorial departments at MOZ are kept informed by the combined PPI-DTI system. Non-editorial page areas are automatically displayed as blockades or previews and are overwrite-protected. Planning changes are visualized immediately on the editor’s screen and can be transferred directly to current documents.

Within defined rules, the modern eXtensible Markup Language connection allows modifications to the planned page layout. Ad positions and editorial areas on a page are freely interchangeable as long as no planning restrictions have been imposed.

After the editorial pages have been completed they are transferred to ProPag, the PPI page assembly program, where they are automatically assembled — together with other page elements — to form digital pages.

Both Norbert Ohl, managing director of ppi, and Ernst Komberg, director of DTI-Germany, underline the importance of effective cooperation at MOZ.

According to Ohl and Komberg, both companies have demonstrated their ability for rapidly implementing optimum system connections.

The interface that has been developed is a transparent interface with which PPI-DTI system combinations can also be realized in other publishing houses — German and international alike — with minimum configuration.