Business Challenge
Magazine publishing is a many–layered business — with multiple departments, multiple offices, and multiple functions, all of which have to operate in careful synchronization to keep the publication on a steady schedule. Articles must be planned and written, advertising must be solicited and prepared for the press, accounts and circulation must be managed, and contact must be convenient and reliable for subscribers.
All these functions generate a vast amount of information that often must cross department lines, moving from office to office and from desk to desk in a steady, uninterruptible flow of data. If one link in the chain fails, the entire system may be compromised, and the publication thrown off its vital schedule. That's where a powerful database system is a necessity. "We needed a database to manage our marketing, sales, production, billing, circulation, subscriber services, and media assets," declares Shoreline Creations' IT Manager Duane Weller.
That's a tall enough order for any database application, but Duane notes that Shoreline also wanted a system with built–in flexibility — a system that could be easily responsive to the ever–changing demands unique to the publishing business. "We don't sell widgets," he stresses. "Other solutions might lock you into a preset method of doing business, but FileMaker Pro allows us to be flexible."
