Metro US banks on ppi Media’s PlanPag and AdPag

In time for the World Publishing Expo, ppi Media has acquired new customers for PlanPag, its planning solution, and AdPag, its solution for classified ad pagination. The customer is Metro US, the most read free daily newspaper in the US with over 1.2 million daily readers. Metro US is part of Metro International network, which operates more than 74 daily newspapers in Europe, Asia, North and South America.

Hamburg, October 14, 2014. Metro US’s three editions in Boston, Philadelphia and New York are to use publishing solutions from Northern Germany as from November this year. ppi Media’s comprehensive planning software solution, PlanPag, and its solution for classified ad pagination, AdPag, will be used by the American newspapers as from the fall of 2014. Metro US will initially integrate ppi Media’s PlanPag and AdPag solutions in its workflow. Yggers Mortensen, Metro US, President and CEO commented: “We are continuously looking for innovative solutions to optimize further our workflow and free up resources for innovation. ppi Media is the perfect partner for Metro US and I am looking forward to fully integrating their solutions.”

Integrated in existing systems

The new installations also mean close cooperation between ppi Media and Lineup Systems, because Lineup is Metro US’s media service provider. PlanPag has many advantages. Newspaper planning and production processes are automated, which not only makes them easier, but also safer to handle. With AdPag, ad pagination is fully automated, secure and fast – and takes less than two minutes per page. Since AdPag is not based on produced ad files, but on the geometric data from the ad booking system, pagination times are particularly flexible. PlanPag and AdPag are fully integrated in the publishers’ existing ad and editorial systems. “This makes publishing even easier and more efficient,” says Azhar Damad, Finance Director of Metro International, who is optimistic about working with ppi Media in the future.