crossbase PIM, MAM and cross-media solution deployed at RAYHER HOBBY GmbH
Working with granular layout modules, which can be flexibly edited in the page context and saved back to the database, perfectly combines design work with Adobe InDesign with the advantages of a cross-media database.
Gerhard Pitterle
Application Consultant, Rayher Hobby GmbH
Laupheim, February 4, 2011: Based on the crossbase standard software, a PIM, MAM and cross-media solution tailored to the individual requirements was implemented for RAYHER HOBBY. The starting point is an interface to the ERP system SQL-Business, via which all sales items are regularly imported into the PIM system together with their product characteristics.
Central functions of the solution
Data refinement and automatic generation of up-to-date text modules
The sales items are enriched in crossbase with images, documents and text modules and mapped in market- and media-specific product views. These include, in particular, the main catalogs printed in five languages, each with around 1,000 pages, as well as novelty catalogs published twice a year, each with around 100 pages. A special feature of the data maintenance is the automatic generation of promotional texts in the different languages. The result is over 2 million texts that are kept up to date on a daily basis.
Automation and flexible design with table-based layout modules
The catalog itself is created using a process that optimally combines automation and creative freedom. Images, texts and product tables are first freely arranged by crossbase.print on the blank catalog page in Adobe InDesign.
The table layout used to create individual layout modules can be saved back in the context of the page and thus relative to the other modules. The manually customized layout can therefore be reproduced at any time, regardless of the content, and allows flexible page planning.
The grouping of layout modules on the catalog page can be ungrouped and regrouped via a new menu item in InDesign. Here, layout modules (tables) are combined in terms of content without the user having to think about individual components (example: order information and associated images). Faulty groupings can also be excluded in this way.
As one of the last steps before print preparation, an index is produced from the book document and novelty markers are placed for new catalog items, which are inserted fully automatically across the entire publication within a very short time.
Solution details
The application modules and further information
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