CHICAGO, June 27 -- R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company today launched Pipeline(SM), a major new tool within the MediaCompass suite from RR Donnelley Premedia Technologies. Pipeline introduces an entirely new set of online project planning and status tracking functionality that allows customers to gain greater control over the management of multiple premedia projects in their marketing, advertising and publishing efforts. "With the debut of Pipeline, we have added a major new capability to our MediaCompass suite of customer tools," said Grant Miller, Senior Vice President of Product Planning and Development for RR Donnelley's Premedia Technologies. "As the introduction of new workflow technologies has reduced cycle time, we recognized the challenges our customers have trying to manage the process with inadequate tools. Pipeline is designed to provide a mechanism to manage multiple, complex projects simultaneously." Pipeline allows RR Donnelley Premedia Technologies' customers to define projects, plan workflows and establish timelines and milestones, all online. The new Customer Information Manager tool establishes a single central repository for vital job specifications and contact data. A digital job log allows workgroup members to post comments and announcements in a place where even remote team members can access them easily. "Phone tag has been a staple component of premedia workflows for far too long," said Mary Lee Schneider, President of RR Donnelley Premedia Technologies. "The key to effectively managing multiple projects with increasingly diverse productions teams is communication. With Pipeline, we can coalesce mountains of job planning and status updates into a single, effective communication tool for the entire enterprise. Getting it done accurately and on-time is what it's all about." In addition to the planning, communication and scheduling tools, Pipeline features live updates from RR Donnelley Premedia Technologies' production centers. Job status on every aspect of the project from creative to photography to final release is constantly and automatically streamed into the customer database. Powerful graphical reporting tools tell project managers exactly where every effort stands, right down to the individual element, through an easy-to-understand user interface. "We're excited about bringing this new functionality to our customers," said Schneider. "This opens up entirely new horizons for users seeking to build effective workflows for their publishing enterprises. We will continue to invest in tools like Pipeline in order to further streamline and improve the integrated workflows of our customers."