Ministry of Defense and Self-Defense Forces Specialty Paper 'Asagumo' Digital Edition Fully Renewed: Consistent Support from Page Production to Printing and Digitalization

TONICHI Corporation (Headquarters: Koto-ku, Tokyo; President: Mitsuaki Nishikawa), has received an order for the website production of 'Asagumo Digital,' the digital version of 'Asagumo Shimbun,' a specialty paper for the Ministry of Defense and Self-Defense Forces, published by Asagumo Shimbun Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo; President: Takahiro Nakajima). The site has been fully renewed and was launched on April 1st. TONICHI has previously been responsible for the page production and printing of 'Asagumo Shimbun,' but with its digital division, established two years ago, undertaking this renewal, it has become possible to provide consistent support from paper to digital. This has led to improved efficiency in Asagumo Shimbun Co., Ltd.'s article updating operations and reduced operational burden.

Background and Challenges

'Asagumo Shimbun' was founded in 1952 as the official publication of the National Police Reserve Mutual Aid Association and has served as an important information source for Self-Defense Forces personnel. However, there were many situations, such as remote islands, overseas deployments, and long voyages, where information could not be delivered through paper newspapers.

In the conventional digital version operation, the site system was old, and the available personnel were limited, leading to a significant labor burden and inability to disseminate information in a timely manner. To solve these challenges, a抜本的な renewal of the digital version was decided upon.

Features of the Renewal

TONICHI has been promoting the strengthening of its digital division since last summer under the 'TONICHI MediaGate Concept.' By introducing Wix Studio training and increasing the number of digital staff, it has become possible to handle production with Wix Studio in addition to WordPress, establishing a system capable of meeting the diverse needs of media companies.

For the production, a tour of Mainichi Shimbun's digital operation was conducted in advance to enhance knowledge of large-scale media site operations. In newspaper production, many changes occur from the first draft to the final proof, but Asagumo Shimbun Co., Ltd. uses TONICHI's newspaper production and printing services, completing all processes from manuscript submission to printing within the same company. Leveraging this consistent system, a mechanism was built to extract manuscript text from newspaper printing data and provide it to the digital version, allowing page creation without worrying about differences from the first draft.

Improved Operational Efficiency

Following the launch of the new site, updating the digital version can now be done by a few staff members. The introduction of CMS has reduced the difficulty of tasks, increased the number of capable personnel, and resolved issues of labor burden and timeliness. By improving the efficiency of article updating operations, it has become possible to provide more timely and accurate information to Self-Defense Forces personnel.

TONICHI will continue to leverage its strength of providing consistent support for page production, printing, and digitalization to help media companies solve their challenges.

Press release here (PDF)

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