GT | The Blog

Benefits of A Synchronous Print and Digital Workflow

Written by Kate Hassey | Mar 13, 2018 8:36:47 PM

Publishers who can shed their traditional print-first mentality and achieve a unified print/digital workflow can cut project time by nearly half and save close to a third of their budgets.

This is revealed in a recently released Gutenberg Technology (GT) case study, Major Time and Cost Savings with A True Print & Digital Simultaneous Workflow, and described in a series of our blog posts:

  1. Changing the Traditional Workflow in Publishing
  2. Why Traditional Publishing Workflow is Inefficient and Costly
  3. How a Simultaneous Workflow Addresses Inefficiencies of Traditional Publishing
  4. Use Gutenberg Technology’s MyEcontentFactory to Create ROI

Parameters of the Gutenberg Technology Case Study

Available for free download here, the study shows how traditional publishers who are tied to a print-first mindset can streamline and reduce overlapping timelines and redundancies using the revolutionary GT MyEcontent Factory (MEF) software. It outlines and explains:

  • That the traditional publish-first workflow in publishing is not efficient in terms of timelines or costs. A digital-first workflow, on the other hand, can get products to market substantially more quickly, saving time and improving ROI.
  • The challenges facing publishers stuck with traditional print-first workflows face. Because the old, outdated processes are asynchronous, they impact not only the time and costs related to printed publications but also on time and cost for digital products.
  • How workflow and timelines are different when print-first and digital-first approaches are followed. By using MEF to create a simultaneous workflow, both time and costs are cut, usually dramatically.
  • Common inefficiencies in the traditonal print-first workflow including the need for too many disparate tools that can only be used for one specific function. These inefficiencies add unnecessary time to publishing projects and commonly rely on print-first content.
  • How the inefficiencies identified in the case study can be identified and overcome in a simultaneous print/digital workflow. Ultimately, a synchronous system based on digital-first content, that utilizes a consolidated set of tools, results in a fast, efficient process that dramatically improves the way the old traditional print-first system works.
  • How GT’s MEF can be used to create ROI and make money for any publishing business. The case study estimates that around 47 percent of time can be saved and as much as 30 percent of costs can be saved.
  • Which major publishing tasks offer the opportunity for optimization. These include both external and in-house product and project management roles, proofreading, composition and typesetting, content authoring, context review, and digital product creation.
  • That by scaling to more products MEF will enable publishers to get incremental additional savings because content can be reused and other processes can be optimized.

How a Synchronous Print and Digital Workflow Impacts on Publishing

The GT case study leaves absolutely no doubt that adopting a synchronous print and digital workflow will result in substantial time and cost savings. When publishing organizations are able to escape from the well-established traditional print-first mentality, the resulting simultaneous workflow for print and digital products will be unified, and as a result, ROI will be significant.

Changing the traditional workflow in publishing from print-first to digital-first impacts on the entire publishing team and its processes. Ultimately:

  • Product teams can initiate and generate new, innovative products much quicker, ensuring they meet the growing needs of an increasingly competitive market looking for rich media content that is available on multiple platforms.
  • Content teams can eliminate redundancies as well as time traditionally spent on production and project management. Creation time is decreased and distribution fields increased. Additionally, more time can be spent ensuring content is compelling.
  • Technology teams can centralize their operation and simplify systems. Escaping the need for print-based content, they can save serious money by avoiding complex integration of different technologies.

Gutenberg Technology has pledged to collaborate with educational publishers to show how investment in the GT MEF will improve ROI for printed textbooks, mobile apps for smartphones and tablets, ePub3 eBooks, and online learning management system (LMS) courses.

If you want to transform your company’s educational content into an interactive e-learning experience and create a formidable ROI, contact our dedicated team today.