Darmstadt, 17 July 2003 -- “Standardization is a vital requirement for higher efficiency and transparency in automated newspaper production. The AdsML Consortium is, after CIP4, the second standardization committee to which we are actively committing ourselves,” says Norbert Ohl, managing director of ppi Media in Hamburg, Germany. “With respect to the crisis in the advertising business at present, AdsML opens up new perspectives for increased sales and more efficient work processes in the advertising work flow.” ppi Media recently joined the AdsML Consortium, it was announced here today. It joins a growing list of other organizations and associations — including Agfa, Associated Mediabase, CCI Europe, Mactive and Rosetta — that are involved in the print, electronic and digital publishing industries. “We are very pleased that ppi Media has joined this global initiative and is supporting an effort that will save time and money for everyone involved in the business of advertising, even as it creates exciting new opportunities for growth,” says Harald Loeffler, chair of the Consortium. “The presence of ppi Media strengthens the drive to create an internationally-accepted standard for the digital change of advertisements and advertising information.” ppi Media is an IT specialist for publishing and printing houses that integrates and automates newspaper production workflow from page planning to the mailroom. The AdsML Consortium is an initiative supported by Ifra, an international association for media publishing, and the Newspaper Association of America (NAA) in order to create a single, comprehensive, global standard for end-to-end advertising workflow. Implementation of the AdsML standard, which is based on the widely-utilized XML standard and supports other electronic exchange standards, will reduce advertising costs, speed workflow and open further business opportunities. Additional information on the AdsML Consortium and the AdsML standard, as well as Consortium membership, can be found at www.adsml.org.