Product information management (PIM) and database publishing at Praher Kunststofftechnik GmbH

Schwertberg, 21/02/2007: Plastics manufacturer Praher Kunststofftechnik GmbH, based in Schwertberg (Austria), has a high level of efficient in-house production and uses state-of-the-art injection moulding equipment and CNC machines.

Using more than 3500 injection moulding tools, it manufactures over 8000 different parts - plastic valves, swimming pool equipment and OEM parts - from elastomers and thermoplastics on 50 injection moulding machines. The Praher group of companies has production sites in Austria, Canada, Germany, Spain and the Czech Republic and operates with partners in more than 80 countries worldwide.

Central functions of the solution

Data import and structuring

To optimize its product communication, Praher Kunststofftechnik GmbH opted for the crossbase solution. After the relevant data was transferred from the ERP, the information was enhanced with marketing-relevant text and images, and edited for output - initially for the print edition. Text and images were then allocated to the product and catalog structure for the print edition.

Multi-lingual product catalog with language mixer

The crossbase solution allows different language versions to be flexibly managed with crossbase.trans for the production of a multi-lingual print catalog. This allowed the customer to produce a bilingual (German and English) price list for the Peraqua sales division using the flow frame technique with a combination of crossbase.print and Adobe InDesign. The product catalog for the Praher Valves division is already on the drawing board.

Up-to-date product data and automatic print production

Because the catalog is directly linked to the ERP system, the data is always kept up-to-date, for example with regular price updates. This link also results in significantly reduced production times and further error reduction, as product details are sourced directly from the ERP system. For database-based print production, product tables are placed in flow frames and page make-up is performed automatically. This, in turn, results in significant savings of time when creating print products.