Headquartered in Apeldoorn, in the center of the Netherlands, Wegener Arcade NV is one of the largest regional publishing groups in the country. Its regional daily newspapers have a total combined paid circulation of over 750,000 copies, or 16% of the Dutch daily newspaper paid circulation. The group`s weeklies and free door-to-door newspapers, approximately 150 titles, have a total weekly circulation of 4.7 million.
The terms of the contract call for the installation of Hermes, the publishing system, and WireCenter, the external communications management system, first at two sites: Wegener Uitgeverij Gelderland Overijssel BV in Apeldoorn, producing the afternoon newspapers Apeldoornse Courant, Arnhemse Courant, Deventer Dagblad, Gelders Dagblad and Overijssels Dagblad, and the morning newspapers Zwolse Courant, Dagblad Flavoland and Nieuw Kamper Dagblad; and Sijthoff Pers in Rijswijk, publishing Haagsche Courant, Goudsche Courant, Delfsche Courant and Westlandsche Courant.
These two sites will go into production before the year 2000, after which decisions will be made on installations at three other Wegener Arcade publishing houses in Houten, Enschede and Vlissingen. Upon project completion, the Unisys Publishing Solutions will serve over 900 users.
At Wegener Uitgeverij Gelderland Overijssel, twin Sun E5500 servers will power both Hermes and WireCenter, while the solutions at Sijthof Pers will be powered by two Sun E3500 servers and dual Sun Ultra 2 systems.
Based on client/server technology, the Unisys Publishing Solutions will provide Wegener Arcade a highly integrated and flexible publishing system that will give journalists, editors and production staff better control over the entire production process. Thanks to the system`s flexibility, print deadlines can be postponed so that late-breaking news can be incorporated at the last minute, affording the papers timelier and more comprehensive news coverage.
"After a lengthy search and evaluation period, we selected Unisys for its leading solutions, company stability and industry know-how, especially its experience with large publishing groups and installations," said Dick Van der Moer, Project Director for Wegener Arcade. "Most importantly, we selected Unisys because we share a similar vision for the future evolution of publishing systems."
"We are happy to collaborate with such a prestigious and forward-thinking organization as Wegener Arcade," commented Gérard Perrier, the Unisys Publishing Program Director for France and Benelux. "We look forward to delivering a sophisticated, integrated solution that will benefit both Wegener Arcade and its readers."
Unisys Publishing Solutions
The Unisys Publishing Solutions have been selected by nearly 100 newspapers in 11 countries for comprehensive newspaper production and regional edition requirements. Recent sales of the Unisys Publishing Solutions have been made to top Italian newspapers Corriere della Sera and La Gazzetta dello Sport, ABC in Spain, The New York Daily News in the USA, and La Provence in France. The Wegener Arcade engagement is the first Unisys publishing contract in the Netherlands where the company has established a local publishing team for sales, marketing and installation support.
Unisys provides one of the most comprehensive newspaper publishing solutions available with a complete editorial, electronic pagination and archiving system. The solutions run on several server platforms with mainstream databases and use PCs as clients with applications running in Windows 95 and NT. Unisys systems integration expertise and capabilities allow the integration of existing proprietary and off-the-shelf specialty packages with the Unisys Publishing Solutions.
Editors note
About Wegener Arcade NV
Wegener Arcade is a Dutch-based group of more than 40 enterprises in the information, communications and entertainment industries, operating widely in Western Europe, in and outside its home country, with total 1997 revenues exceeding Dfl 1.5 billion and employment of about 5,500 people. The group occupies an exceptional position in the Dutch market. Wegener Arcade spans the full media spectrum with newspapers (regional dailies, weeklies and free door-to-door papers); magazines (professional and special interest); TV and radio stations; audio-visual products and services (music, CDs, film and video); digital publishing (financial-economic databanks, Internet activities and cable news); direct marketing services; cartographic products and municipal guides; and graphic products and services.
About Unisys
Unisys (NYSE:UIS) is more than 33,000 skilled professionals helping customers in 100 countries apply information technology to solve their business problems. Unisys solutions are based on a broad portfolio of global information services including systems integration, outsourcing, "repeatable" application solutions, consulting, network integration, remote network management, and multivendor maintenance and support, coupled with enterprise-class servers and associated middleware, software and storage. Repeatable solutions are focused on key vertical markets including financial services, transportation, telecommunications, government, publishing and other commercial markets. Headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, in the Greater Philadelphia area, Unisys 1997 annual revenue was $6.6 billion. Access the Unisys home page on the World Wide Web - http://www.unisys.com - for further information.
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