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Within six months, Yaffa brought its 35-plus magazines from the dark ages into the next generation of publishing. More importantly, Creative Folks helped them to shave weeks off production times, cut those costs in half and achieve better overview and flexibility.

Passionate publishing
Yaffa was founded in 1925 with the publication of Newspaper News, the forerunner to Australia's top-selling advertising, media and marketing magazine AdNews. Nowadays, Yaffa Publishing Group is still an independent Australian-owned operation, producing more than 35 magazines, 20 events, 10 directories and multiple websites and e-mail newsletters. More than 20 trade publications reach thousands of small to medium-sized businesses. Almost 15 consumer magazines find their way to nearly one million “truly obsessed” readers: people passionate about everything from health to pig hunting, from fishing to photography, and from yachting to the great outdoors.

Lost mailbags
Matthew Gunn, production director at Yaffa, recalls the way things were. “We hadn’t changed our production structure since the times we were still outputting film, 15 years ago. We were slowly chugging along. Editors would brief layout staff with a hand-drawn flatplan for the upcoming magazine. Layouts were created mostly in QuarkXPress with help from Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. We would write articles in Microsoft Word or even Windows Notepad, and e-mail or even post them to the office, where layout staff entered the content onto the pages.”

All reviews and markups were done via hard copy. “We used to print hundreds of pages and send them to the editors, often remote, for correction. That review process could occur up to three times per issue. You can imagine the printing and shipping costs, not to mention the many lost mailbags. And because ads were inserted at a later stage, we often had to do tons of last-minute changes, resolve conflicts between ads and editorial, repaginate entire sections and circulate two or three extra hard-copy prints back and forth, pushing our deadlines to the limit.”

Proving an impressive ROI
Matthew Green, managing director at Creative Folks, approached Yaffa in mid-2008. “We demonstrated the concept of streamlining their editorial systems with WoodWing, and they immediately saw the great potential for their business. Of course, they looked into other options, SoftCare’s K4 and also Teambase because of their Quark-installed base, but neither product progressed past the phone call stage.”

Gunn: “Creative Folks simply were the only vendor who could show us a complete
system, incorporating WoodWing, Adobe InDesign, InCopy and ID Server as well as digital flatplanning. They promised an impressive ROI, so we asked them to prove it. We commissioned them to scope our new workflow and run a pilot." 

Pilot: 2 issues in 4 weeks
WoodWing’s modularity made it easy to implement in a staged process. The pilot consisted of a B2C and a B2B publication: an issue each of Fishing World and FoodService News. Matthew Gunn explains why: “They represented Yaffa’s publishing content well, and their editors were both technically capable and willing to adapt their working habits. A studio manager and a senior designer were also involved. Both are monthly magazines, so the pilot took four weeks.”

Gunn led the pilot, with guidance from sales and project director Andrew Lomas of Creative Folks. Lomas: “Together we interviewed all senior editorial, design, production and prepress staff to analyze the current production methods and determine how to apply these best practices to WoodWing’s workflow. In two weeks, we developed a proof of concept, including standard terminology and defined statuses.” Gunn adds: “We presented it to the senior management team and operators for user acceptance. Only minor modifications to the principal starting points were necessary, so we could quickly agree upon a rollout timeline. Then we converted the QuarkXPress 6 templates to InDesign CS3, with intensive hands-on training for the users involved.”

Implementation: 5 monthly batches
The one-month pilot with the first two issues was a success. The review resulted in some additional adjustments to workflow and terminology, and after that, full implementation for all 30-plus publications got under way. Green: “That’s when we really could get cracking. Together with Matthew Gunn, we built a rigorous template migration, training and rollout schedule for the next five months. Each month, we migrated a batch of magazines, based on publication schedules and editor availability. In July 2009, we finished the sixmonth rollout project with the two fortnightly titles ragtrader and AdNews.

Server and desktop installation
First, the Creative Folks project team assisted Yaffa’s IT staff in installing all the necessary software. The new WoodWing Enterprise server was configured on an in-house Windows 2003 Server, and the workflow database was migrated and tested on the live server. The desktops were installed with PlanMaker fE and the necessary Open Type fonts, plug-ins for WoodWing, and either Adobe InDesign CS3 (Mac) or InCopy CS3 (Windows). Everything was tested with the live server. On Windows desktops, Smart Layout allowed “copy to fit” editing in InCopy, even though the layouts were created using InDesign CS3 on the Mac.

Linking layout and flatplan templates
For each batch of magazines, several steps were involved. The art director and studio manager recreated the artwork into sections specific to each magazine in InDesign CS3 using new Open Type fonts, labeling the text elements inside the WoodWing InDesign plug-in and checking them into a special category in the WoodWing Enterprise server as layout templates. Meanwhile, Matthew Gunn, assisted by Creative Folks, created publication definitions and signatures in PlanMaker fE for each magazine. Then the InDesign layout templates were linked from WoodWing to these digital flatplan templates, so that the run of sections could be planned according to each publication's specific flow.

Ensuring optimal use
While the layout and flatplan templates were being set up, the editorial teams for each batch of magazines were brought together in groups for an intensive two-day training session by Andrew Lomas. “This incorporated the use of InCopy, WoodWing Smart Connection and its tools, Web Editor as well as PlanMaker fE. After the training, Matthew Gunn assisted each editor with building his first flatplan, adding ad bookings and generating layouts.”

Layout artists were trained as well. “We showed both the virtues of WoodWing as well as the optimal use of InDesign CS3, focusing on the benefits of placing articles. In this way, they could save time, because it was no longer necessary to correct text in InDesign.” After training each batch of users, Andrew Lomas and Michael Coorey from Creative Folks spent several days in-room with the editors, art and production staff, assisting in the hands-on use of WoodWing and making sure everyone would optimally use the new workflow. Finally, key staff (“department heroes”) and IT staff received additional technical training, so they could identify and answer common questions from users and perform routine administrative tasks.

High acceptance
For Creative Folks, the project wasn’t over after six months. They provided an ongoing Service Level Agreement and set up a WoodWing help e-mail group to allow users to post questions, thus automatically creating an in-house knowledge base. In the following months, they assisted in testing and rolling out new releases of WoodWing Enterprise and helped to further improve efficiency and take advantage of new software functionality. Matthew Green was pleased with the people at Yaffa. “They have been open and accepting of the new system. Change management has not been an issue, with everyone – right up to the managing director - embracing the new technology. We have been extremely fortunate to work with such a wonderful team.”

Layouts with ads and pagination
The new workflow process involves changes, but Matthew Gunn also sees huge advantages. “The link between the flatplan and layout templates allows us to generate each issue of each magazine by simply duplicating the flatplan template, slightly modifying the page count and allocating it to each editor for that issue. The editors adjust the editorial flow and place the ad bookings electronically on the preproduction flatplan. Next, the flatplan is routed to the production manager to be crosschecked. By then, advertisements have a particular status, such as Ad Booked or Ad For Repeat. The production manager then automatically generates the pages and ad placements using PlanMaker fE, and the InDesign layouts are placed inside each section of that issue in WoodWing Enterprise.” This means that the art team in the studio receives accurate layouts, with ad bookings and pagination already in place, which decreases issue preparation time. Combined with the routing of articles from InCopy, the time to build pages is dramatically reduced and further enhanced by the use of Smart Layout and Smart Styles plug-ins for InDesign.

From 7 to 4 weeks
Matthew Gunn does not exaggerate about the reduced turnaround time from plan to print. “We went from seven weeks to an average ofonly four! Some titles are produced even more quickly, giving our artists more time to be creative.On top of that, our sales team now has more time to sell ad space and our clients can benefit from the extended deadlines to ensure their ad is exactly what they want.”Gunn gives an example. “A gun shop owner may have booked a full page in Guns magazine, with over 400 items to potentially advertise. With our extended deadline, he can decide at the very last minute which products to advertise, taking advantage of any late vendor specials.

Working while sailing
Speed is not the only advantage. People at Yaffa are thrilled with the ability to work remotely. Clint Magro, editor of the pig hunting magazine Bacon Busters, took it to the limit. “I used WoodWing in remote roadhouses throughout Cape York and at very remote locations in the Northern Territory such as Port Keats, along the Roper River and in a remote Aboriginal settlement called Borroloola. I paginated our December issue, with the famous calendar, at an Internet café on Thursday Island, just above the tip of Queensland. The pages were subbed in a cafe in Alice Springs, which is basically the centre of the country.”

Magro is certainly not the only editor who likes to work in the field. The flatplan for a recent issue of Yachting was done off the coast of Mauritius and stories placed on server via satellite phone. And the last issue of Sailing for the year had pages that were subbed on the back of a boat on Hamilton Island in the Whitsundays, which is part of the Great Barrier Reef.

Matthew Gunn observes that WoodWing has blurred the line between work and play. “That can be a good or a bad thing, depending on which side of the fence you're standing. But the fact is that our staff now work more from home and outside of work hours. For example, to get a head start on a big job, or to enjoy the freedom of not being chained to a desk. Some have admitted they simply like the transparency and instant satisfaction of completing a job without relying on outside parties to do the work for them.”

Overview and transparency
The entire organization has benefitted greatly. Publishers have an accurate, live overview of their titles; editors have better control over wording and design; artists have time to be more creative; ad bookings are easier to manage so invoicing is more accurate; production is made simpler and there is an overall peace of mind. Gunn sums it all up: “Integrating planning, design, editorial and advertising into one streamlined workflow has been a boon for us. Editors and subs are responsible for entering their own copy now and no longer have to wait for the artists to import it for them. The publication overview is another winning feature that our management team use almost daily to monitor the progress of all our magazines.”

WoodWing has created a greater transparency across the group, which helps management to evaluate staffing levels and resource allocation. Gunn: “When we take on some custom publishing work, we can now shift design staff from less layout-driven titles to get the custom job under way. It is easier for editors to work across publications, as well, so if one is away, another can fill in with relative ease.

Saving more than 50%
Apart from the editorial and design benefits, WoodWing has brought Yaffa significant financial savings as well. Matthew Gunn reports: “We have reduced the yearly cost of contract labor from over $250,000 to less than $100,000, and we cut production costs by more than 50%! So when the global financial crisis hit we were well prepared to weather the storm. And even though the pricing was within budget, the flexible payment plan from Creative Folks also helped with our cash flow.”

Websites, social media and directories, too Yaffa wants to take full advantage of WoodWing. In April 2010, less than a year after finishing the implementation, the company upgraded to WoodWing Enterprise version 7 and incorporated Content Station. Gunn explains: “By then, we already maintained 16 websites, and we planned to have a greater focus on publishing to other channels such as the web and social media. Content Station allowed us to integrate both in our processes.” And Yaffa doesn’t leave it at that. “WoodWing is entrenched as our workflow of choice and we intend to make the most of the features it offers. In the very near future, we also want to add the Smart Catalog database publishing solution for the directories we publish.”

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