London - Maney Publishing has launched its customised production tracking system, ManeyTrack. ManeyTrack is a comprehensive web-based system which handles the tracking, information, and reporting elements of the journal production process. It has been developed in collaboration with MPS Limited.

The system was custom-built after an extensive search showed that there was no off-the-shelf solution available that fully met Maney's needs, as identified from a comprehensive workflow analysis.

ManeyTrack has been created in order to introduce a more efficient production process, and is part of Maney Publishing's end-to-end digital workflow. It enables authors to track the production status of accepted articles, and journal editors to track the status, content, and page and colour budgets of journal issues. Information displayed at article level includes estimated and actual production stages and dates, such as the expected date for receipt of proofs, and publication information. This live information can be accessed by an external author or editor at any time, whilst offering in-house staff a full overview of the real-time status of all material in production.

This new technology also reduces the amount of time between the acceptance of an article and its publication, and provides increased transparency throughout the production process for all involved.

Additionally, ManeyTrack automates functions such as article metadata capture and storage, article and issue tracking, and schedule creation, and also includes partially-automated issue make-up functionality and order generation. It measures supplier turn-around time and has an e-commerce facility for the payment processing of non-subscription revenue items, such as open access and printed colour.

Via MPS, the system is also available for licensing to other publishers, and will be branded as Journal Track. Journal Track has been tailor-made in collaboration with a production manager, to meet the needs of any academic publisher's production department, which can benefit from a more streamlined, automated workflow and production process. Journal Track can also integrate with existing peer review systems and receive automated tracking data from suppliers.

MPS and Maney Publishing will be launching Journal Track at London Book Fair 2012. If you are interested in finding out more, there will be a brief overview on Tuesday 17th April, at the Digital Theatre from 2.30pm, as part of MPS's end-to-end digital workflow presentation. Also, please feel free to visit the MPS booth W955 during the conference with any questions you might have, or get in touch with Harish V Iyer (details below).

Samantha Green, Head of Production at Maney Publishing, commented: "The efficiencies and time savings which ManeyTrack has introduced to my department are very significant. Production editors can focus on the quality of content, customer service and faster publication; whilst the Company can absorb growth more efficiently. The benefits to our authors and editors are also numerous, with real-time production information now being entirely transparent."

Nishith Arora, Chairman of MPS Limited, commented: "MPS is very excited about releasing Journal Track for publishers. We have reengineered the journal content production process with accelerated delivery for print, web, and mobile devices. This is a result of our continuous innovation in workflows. Journal Track is a hosted and integrated platform for comprehensively handling the tracking, information, and reporting requirements of the journal production process. We are sure that Journal Track will be a very useful tool as it has blended best practices in both technology and publishing domains keeping in mind practical challenges and constraints faced by global publishers."

Dr John Jarvis, formerly Senior Vice President of Wiley Europe, commented: "Over the past decade I have been involved in the development of journal tracking systems as publishers realised their importance to the smooth running and development of journal programs. On viewing Journal Track, I was impressed to discover that they have managed to build on the existing services to develop a truly intuitive system which is powerful in its functionality, yet elegantly designed and easy to interpret. It will be an invaluable resource for both in-house and external editors in the efficient operation of journal management in the digital age. Congratulations."

About MPS Limited
MPS provides end-to end services to publishers. These include platforms and software for delivery of digital and print content, graphics, animation, apps, digital conversion, and fulfilment services. We remain the leader in books and journals content production with a strong focus on digital-first workflows.MPS has also developed and evolved a boutique of products for publishers based on experience of almost four decades in the publishing domain. MPS has six large production facilities in Bangalore, Chennai, and Delhi with 2500 employees and sales and project management offices in North America. www.adi-mps.com

About Maney Publishing
Maney Publishing is a leading independent publisher of academic and professional journals. Specialising in materials science and engineering, health and life sciences, and the humanities, Maney is committed to technical and editorial innovation for the international dissemination of peer-reviewed scholarship and research. With traditional values of quality and collaboration, Maney delivers personalised service to authors, societies, readers and libraries, and publishes extensively for learned societies, universities and professional bodies around the world. Maney's offices are in Leeds and London in the UK, and Cambridge and Philadelphia in North America. www.maney.co.uk.