Fairfax Media is linking its eight print sites in a wobe-team prepress workflow, the order following expansion of a system at Times of India publisher Bennett, Coleman & Co.

First stage of the Fairfax project has been to bring the wNewsNet workflow to its sites in North Richmond and Canberra, Australia, with staff taught how to implement and apply the Windows-based software. Fairfax have already brought two more sites into operation, with the remaining four set to be operational by the end of the year.

The contract - the German specialist's first in Australasia - is the result of a global partnership with Kodak.

At Times of India, two additional sites are being equipped with the wobe-team workflow through Krause, continuing a long-term cooperation with one of the world's biggest newspaper groups

wNewsNet is an integrated PDF and TIFF workflow with features including PDF management and preflight/correct, sheet assembly (pictured), and TIFF management. Automatic versioning triggers if new PDF files or TIFF-separations are received, and the system also includes an approval, archive and administration functions.