The daily newspaper “Dainik Jagran” is the flagship production of the Indian media group Jagran Prakashan Limited and, with 56 million readers, it is the largest daily newspaper in India and one of the most read newspapers in the world. It is sold in 11 Indian states with over 230 local editions. Jagran Prakashan is one of the leading media groups in the country with ten print publications in five different languages, numerous radio stations, and digital and mobile services.
The media company publishes daily newspapers in several different languages, such as Hindi, English and Punjabi. Jagran’s publications are read by a total of 68 million people. In 2015, the company decided to streamline its production processes and further develop its status as one of the leading media providers in India by introducing new planning and production solutions. One of the key requirements for its new system was the centralization of newspaper planning at Dainik Jagran: “We absolutely had to find a fast, reliable and secure workflow that was suitable for the production of different newspapers at numerous printing sites. Our key requirement for the system was the ability to work simultaneously on editorial content and ads while confidently managing our ad portfolio and centralizing newspaper planning. After testing different workflow solutions, we decided to work with ppi Media”, explained Sandeep Gupta, Executive President of Jagran Prakashan.
Central planning for over 35 locations
Jagran Prakashan produces the daily newspaper “Dainik Jagran” at over 35 printing sites across the north of India. By introducing ppi Media’s planning and production software PlanPag, ad solutions AdPag and AdMan, and DistEl for automatic page assembly and decentralized page production, Jagran Prakashan was able to replace its existing workflows with an efficient planning and production process. Dainik Jagran is now planned centrally in Kanpur, where DistEL processes are used to create assembly instructions and distribute ads and editorial page parts as graphics files. While content can be delivered and produced at every decentralized printing site, it is always planned and distributed via a central entity with access to all databases required for planning and ad production. A special workflow for classified ads has also been created for Dainik Jagran. This ensures automatic ad production by directly transferring mark-up information for classified ads, such as the fonts to be used, from the ad booking system to a PDF generator.
Since introducing the Digital Assembly Line solution developed by ppi Media, Dainik Jagran has managed to automate many of its production workflows and boost its production efficiency. The centralized planning of all local editions of Dainik Jagran has also ensured a high degree of production transparency and minimized errors in the complex planning and management of content. Dainik Jagran was able to introduce its new planning and production solutions exactly on schedule. In addition to Dainik Jagran, Jagran Prakashan now uses the solutions developed by ppi Media to publish the daily newspapers Mid-Day, Nai Dunia, Punjabi Jagran and iNext. And Dainik Jagran continues to enjoy 24/7 support from ppi Media following the successful conclusion of the project.
“Our collaboration with Jagran Prakashan has proven to be highly successful over the past few years”, explains Dr. Hauke Berndt, CEO of ppi Media. “This project has demonstrated once again that ppi Media is a strong partner for highly complex projects. During the extensive installation work at Jagran Prakashan, we were even able to develop our solutions alongside the customer. The Indian market is very important to us, and we’re delighted to have the opportunity to work with major media companies like Jagran Prakashan”.
How does the Digital Assembly Line work?
The Digital Assembly Line seamlessly integrates planning, ad management, classified ad make-up, content creation, page assembly and distribution. All modules are connected to a central data hub to ensure a fully automated, synchronized and efficient production workflow.
The most recent planning and production data is available to every component of the Digital Assembly Line at each stage of the production process. The entire workflow is streamlined through transparent, reliable and quick communication. Deadlines for editors and advertisements can be moved closer to production times. Subsequent changes to text and ads can be flexibly and quickly managed at any time. The investment pays off very quickly.
The implementation of DC-X
After successfully using the planning and production components of the ppi Media Digital Assembly Line since March 2016, India’s major publishing house launched a project to introduce the DC-X digital asset management system in summer 2019. DC-X was developed by Digital Collections, a partner company of ppi Media. It forms the basis of Content-X, an editorial system that was jointly developed by ppi Media and Digital Collections. The system enables the management of images, text and videos in one centralized pool. DC-X is being integrated at Jagran Prakashan by a team of experienced specialists from ppi Media and Digital Collections. “Judging by our experience with ppi Media over the past few years, we are very confident that DC-X will allow us to manage our editorial assets more efficiently and help our newsrooms to quickly find and use archive content”, states Sandeep Gupta, Executive President of Jagran Prakashan Limited.