January 12, 2004 -- Elanders has signed a five-year collaboration agreement with the publishing group Verbum. The contract includes printing and the establishment of a production database that will be the future hub of the publishing group's production for everything from the creation of new publications to the final storage of all digital material. The total value of the order is an estimated MSEK 50. "Publishers is a prioritised segment at Elanders and the order we have just received shows the strength in our ability to offer our customers complete information solutions combined with printing production" states Patrick Holm, CEO at Elanders AB. "Verbum has previously been a traditional printing customer but through this production database we will be able to manage production flows all the way from idea to finished product. In addition, it will entail greater printing volumes," Patrick Holm continues. New projects will originate in the database and people working with a project will be given different roles and access rights. Texts and images will be stored directly in the database to facilitate publishing the same information on different platforms. "By working together with Elanders and establishing a production database that rationalises management of the entire information chain, we will be better prepared to meet future changes in the demands placed on publishing and more efficient production methods," says Gunnar Göranzon, CEO at Verbum AB. The publishing group's production flows, texts, images, documents, archives, project management and publishing on different platforms will be handled in the production database. The database will be developed, run and supported by Elanders. Publishers is a prioritised segment at Elanders. The contract with Verbum is consistent with Elanders' strategy to develop strong relationships with publishing customers by offering solutions that take care of their production and information before the actual printing stage.