The Challenge
F.A. Davis needed to address inefficiencies in its editorial and production workflows.
In 2013, F.A. Davis set out to address inefficiencies in its editorial and production workflows. The company wasn’t able to take full advantage of its existing technology solutions, and the Editorial and Production teams worked independently using manual, decentralized processes based on paper, email, and spreadsheets.
As a result, collaboration and visibility were limited and delivery was slow. In addition, staff was spending around 120 hours a month on the manual work of searching, collecting, and managing rights for its digital assets.
“We evaluated vendors knowing we needed an enterprise architecture that we could work with now, but that could also grow with us in the future. censhare was extremely strong on both counts.”
— George Ricciardi, Director of MIS and Internet Services, F. A. Davis
The Solution
In alignment with the principles of Davis Forward, the technology procurement process was collaborative.
“...because workflows and tasks are embedded into the system, staff can continue to do their exceptional work—but now they can work more collaboratively and efficiently with one another.”
— Bob Lane, Lane Consulting
F.A. Davis initiated a business and technology transformation program, called Davis Forward, that was designed to position the company to thrive in the digital era. This “grass roots to executives” program is managed by a collaborative, cross-functional team of employees that executives have empowered to make decisions about technology adoption and workflow best practices. Their charter was to shepherd F.A. Davis through a complete rethinking of its technologies and day-to-day processes, with the goal of helping employees work smarter while delivering their exceptional content to more platforms—faster than ever before.
The Davis Forward team engaged FYI Solutions and Lane Consulting to help them with change management as well as technology selection and integration. FYI Solutions led the effort to break down internal silos by evaluating employee strengths and creating the Davis Forward steering committee and teams. Lane Consulting managed the technology needs-assessment process, in which technology requirements were driven by the company’s strategic business objectives. In alignment with the principles of Davis Forward, the technology procurement process was a collaborative one in which end users within the company made the final selection of the censhare solution.
In the Davis Forward project, called Digital Workplace, the team worked with IO Integration to implement a digital asset management (DAM) system as its first step. The ultimate outcome will be an integrated content management solution (CMS) consisting of three major censhare components: the DAM, a content collaboration solution for text manuscripts, and a workflow solution that interfaces with existing F.A. Davis enterprise systems and business processes.
The Benefits
Our solutions brought faster time-to-market, competitive advantage, and cost savings.
• Faster time-to-market — With enhanced project visibility, team members’ roles are clear and they’re more accountable for their work, which has led to true collaboration and faster delivery.
• Competitive advantage — With censhare automation, F.A. Davis will be able to quickly output their course materials in multiple formats and media, including interactive iPad apps.
• Cost savings — With new DAM and rights management capabilities, staff members spend far less time managing assets and can focus more of their time on high-value work. As a result, the company will be able to gain efficiencies that drive bottom line results.
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