1. Consulting Services from IFRA GmbH & Co KG
IFRA GmbH & Co. KG is a 100% subsidiary of IFRA the worldwide research and service organisation for the news publishing industry. We have more than 30 years of experience in consulting and offer our wide range services (see below) around the globe.
Unlike many other consultancies we have to act strictly neutral. Our prices are not subsidized by payments from suppliers; still we can offer fair rates to IFRA-members. Members can always contact us with questions of a general nature free of charge. Our services are also available to non-IFRA-members but at a significant higher rate.
1.1 Advertisement / Editorial
 | Dr. Dietmar Schantin Washingtonplatz 1 64287 Darmstadt, Germany Phone: +49. 6151.733-760 Fax: +49. 6151.733-758 schantin@ifra.com |
Newsplex advisory and consulting services for editorial operations concentrate on systematically supporting newspaper management in the development and implementation of a newsroom strategy that follows a media-convergent publishing approach. More
1.2 Publishing System Selection
 | Harald Löffler Washingtonplatz 1 64287 Darmstadt, Germany Phone: +49. 6151.733-766 Fax: +49.6151.733-758 loeffler@ifra.com |
Let us assume that the phases "business strategy" as well as "content and publication strategy" are already finished and now the strategies need to be established. Here we start with the next phases:
Current situation
- processes and workflows
- organisation
- IT environment
- skill sets
- strength and weaknesses
Modelling the future
- objectives
- processes
- organisation structures
- IT architecture
- vendor strategy
- single vendor, integrator, main contractor
System selection
- Definition of requirements
- Weights for value-/benefit analysis (criteria)
- First evaluation round (not more than 10 candidates)
- high level criteria and budget
- Second evaluation round with shortlist (2 to 3 suppliers)
- detailed criteria catalogue
- workshops and demonstrations with vendors
- visiting reference sites
- evaluation
- decision
- Specification
- Contract
Implementation
Post project calculation
- have the objectives been met?
IFRA is prepared to guide you through the whole selection process, no matter what kind of system you are going to install:
- Content Management Systems
- Advertising Planning, Booking and Production Systems
- Asset Management and Archiving Systems
- Newspaper Planning Systems
- Sales and Distribution Systems
- Customer Relationship Management Systems
- Prepress Workflow Systems
Depending on the size of the project it may be possible to combine phases or to skip parts of it, others may require more elaboration.
IFRA may help in parts or manage the complete selection process from project kick-off to production start.
1.3 Newspaper Production
 | Moritz Schwarz Washingtonplatz 1 64287 Darmstadt, Germany Phone: +49. 6151.733-761 Fax: +49. 6151.733-872 schwarz@ifra.com |
Quality topics:
- on-site quality audit
- quality check in our laboratory
- IFRA ISO certification
- quality enhancement
- quality benchmarking
Investment issues:
- cost calculation
- evaluation of production capacity
- writing requirement specifications
- equipment selection process
- building planning
- equipment acceptance testing
- project management
Other subjects:
- waste minimisation
- plant reorganisation
- expert witness
- training
- testformes
- ICC profiles
- material testing
2. More services
Quality Check
We are pleased to provide you with two possibilities that enable you to check yourself the standard of quality your newspaper achieves.
Check standard of your quality
International Newspaper Color Quality Club
The goal of the International Newspaper Color Quality Club is to raise day-to-day quality in reproduction and printing. It has been held every two years since 1994. Newspapers that participate with success are awarded membership for a two-year period in the exclusive club of top-quality titles.
More about the club
IFRA Colour testforme
The IFRA Colour Testform for improving colour reproduction has been available for many years on film. A digital version is available to match the needs of publishers and printers who are producing their colour pages on PostScript imagesetters. More
IFRA Newsplex
The global competence centre for enabling newsrooms of the future! Newsplex provides support for media house management and staff for getting the next generation of newsrooms up and running.
Find out more
IFRA Executive Programmes
Strategic decisions need to be based on thorough knowledge as well as visionary thinking. Through its Executive Programmes, IFRA offers membership to exclusive topic related groups, set up to provide a innovative way to shorten the learning curve and gain insights vital to developing relevant business strategies.
Find out more
Competitions & Awards
Color Quality, Cross-Media ... IFRA is a regular host of media competitions for publishing houses.
Find out more
IFRA ISO profiles
Many newspaper houses and ad suppliers support it and have used the published ICC colour profiles for newspaper printing for many years.
Request IFRA ISO profiles
