MFP Magazine Planning

Operations cockpit for multi-title publishing

Proof-of-concept demonstrator · May 2026

Open live system → http://142.93.40.56:8080

The challenge

Publishing at scale is a coordination problem

Many magazines, countries, and issue rhythms
Status trapped in spreadsheets and email
Content reuse invisible until late proofs
Layout disconnected from planning

Programme north-star

Potential goals & benefits

Structural realignment of print processes and costs — automation, AI, cross-business TOM redesign.

Editorial costs −30%+ from 2028

Nine design goals

Solution intent

Agentic content (where acceptable)
Pre-planning — cost & effort
Automated bulk slot fill
Centralisation (quality-safe)
Reuse + agentic together
Revised TOM
Modular black-box process
MI & KPIs
~€1M Monday cost removal

Goals ↔ demo

What you can click today

Goal	Demonstrator
Pre-planning	Blueprint · portfolio · issue board
Bulk slots	Template #1 · batch articles
Agentic	A1 agentic workflows · batch factory
Brief-led	A2 brief-driven · brief editor
Reuse	A4 cascades · serials
Monday exit	Issue-first cockpit (concept)

Top-5 use cases

What the business asked for

#	Use case	Demo
1	Bulk agentic articles	Library · A1 · batch
2	Every slot understood	Issue board · portfolio
3	Reuse into flatplans	Cascades · serials
4	AI workflow + layout	Workflow · spread preview
5	MI & KPIs	Dashboard · R/A/G/B

Product goals

What we set out to prove

Goal	Business outcome
Issue-first control	“Are we safe for press?” in one screen
Shared status	Red / Amber / Green / Blue — instant read
Traceable content	Serials, origin, cascade
Structured creation	Briefs + templates + A1–A4
Portfolio scale	All titles in one cockpit

What we built

A live demonstrator — not a slideware mock-up

Hosted web app · database-backed
~10-magazine portfolio (anonymised)
Issue planning board with colour rollup
Brief editor · article library · workflow map

Editorial workflow

Six stages from blueprint to print

Blueprint→ Issue plan→ Brief→ Article→ Layout→ Dossier

Matches how editors already think — we digitise the path.

Issue planning board

The operational control tower

Every slot shows pages, type, team, article. Worst slot drives issue health.

Blue · Complete Green · On track Amber · Attention Red · Blocked

Content creation

Steering definitions — automation level

Method	Definition
A1	Agentic — automated / semi-automated recurring formats
A2	Brief-driven — structured first draft from brief
A3	Writer-led — transcripts, interviews, rolling news
A4	Repurposing (P2) — cascades & archive refresh

Base Article Template #1: 2-page spread · 60-char headline · 200-char subhead · 400 words · 5 pictures

Portfolio scale

One group, many rhythms

Weekly titles — up to 52 issues/year
Monthly titles — 12–13 issues/year
Special editions · grades A / B / C

Same cockpit for lifestyle, homes, wellbeing, and specials.

Business value

Target state after production rollout

Fewer press surprises — red visible early
Shorter planning meetings — one board
Planned cascades — better reuse
Cleaner handoff to InDesign Server

Honest scope

Demonstrator today · production next

Now	Next
Live UI + API	SSO & permissions
Anonymised data	Real blueprints
Template articles	Optional LLM APIs
HTML spread preview	InDesign Server PDFs

Planning horizon

12 issues × 60 slots — one screen

Every blueprint row across the next quarter: colour = status, title in cell, hover for workflow and A1–A4 automation level.

Blue · layout Green · on track Amber · in flight Red · blocked

Open horizon board →

Live demo path

~10 minutes (director-first)

Horizon board — 12 × 60 matrix
Issue board → Cascades
Article library → Workflow · Dashboard

Start demo →

Decision

What we need from this review

Endorse issue-first workflow as product centre
Confirm R/A/G/B as group status standard
Approve path to production integration
Name 2–3 editorial sponsors for pilot

http://142.93.40.56:8080/