The term 'Automated Document Factory' (ADF) was originally coined by the Gartner Group in response to the clear HVTO market trend towards viewing the entire, end-to-end document production process as a manufacturing process, including inputs (raw materials), transformation (manufacturing), and delivery preparation phases.
In the past decade, efforts around ADF have ranged from point products to enterprise solutions, provided by vendors that serve HVTO users, and user implementations as varied as each ADF.
The goal, in all cases is to deliver HVTO faster, better, and cheaper, with improved efficiencies and quality control. The mandate of the modern ADF is, simply, to do more with less. 