The use of innovative technologies has transformed the catalog creation process in a significant way. In this article, we explain the use of the myview Product Information Management system (PIM) xmedia and the integration of priint:comet to gain insight into the highly efficient automation of complex catalogs at HAZET. The linked video grants a live demo of the myview PIM system and the templating in priint:comet.

HAZET, a leading manufacturer of tools with more than 5,500 products and a global presence in over 100 countries, faces the challenge of reaching different target groups with customized product information. From traditional hand tools to specialized equipment for automotive, aerospace and manufacturing industries, their product range and assortment composition is vast. The heterogeneity of the target groups is reflected in the composition of the tool sets, in the parameters and attributes to be presented, and ultimately in different publications.

Product data-related output channels: an efficient presentation of information

Today, companies face the challenge of efficiently presenting comprehensive product data in a wide variety of output channels. Whether online catalogs, sales apps, or printed catalogs - the data complexity finds its central management in xmedia, the PIM system from myview and the API platform xom. Xom brings the data together in a networked model and makes it available company-wide for specialist departments, partners, and customers.

• Standard export formats for different platforms: myview supports a wide range of standard export formats. These range from GAEB exports to BMEcat formats aligned with ETIM or eCl@ss as well as the specialized Relux and Dialux formats for the lighting industry. This ensures that product data can be made available on different platforms and marketplaces without any problems.
• Integration in applications and online catalogs: Another significant area is the integration of data into apps. This can be an online catalog, a store or a sales app.
• Efficient creation of print publications: The creation of printed publications such as catalogs, brochures or flyers is still an important aspect of product presentation. Thanks to efficient product data configuration and collaboration with priint:comet, print media are created quickly and efficiently in an automated manner. For this, myview offers its customers a standard priint:comet package, which is used by a large number of companies to start automated print production.

The road to automation: the transformation of catalog production at HAZET

The history of HAZET impressively shows how catalog production has developed over the years from manual implementation to a highly efficient automated process.

In the 1990s, catalogs at HAZET were still set manually in QuarkXPress, and in 1996 the first steps were taken towards automation. However, after the solution at that time proved to be impractical, HAZET started looking for a new database solution in 2002. The choice fell on the then still young company, myview, with its innovative PIM solution- xmedia. This was the beginning of a new chapter in HAZET's catalog production.

Over the course of time, the product range has consistently expanded - from around 3,000 catalog items to the current 5,500 items. Added to this are a further 2,700 articles from subsidiaries, which make the range even more diverse. This development is not only reflected in an increasing complexity of the product data, but is also accompanied by increased demands on data management due to internationalization.

With internationalization, all product information is now translated into 11 different languages. The translation of the texts takes place at scheduled intervals and is automatically exchanged between the PIM and the translation management system- Across.

In focus: special requirements at HAZET

When creating HAZET catalogs, the focus is on special requirements that require a customized approach. The following section highlights two of these, tables and parts lists of the inserts. The different inserts contain different tools and the inserts in turn are part of the different workshop trolleys.

• Tables: Another special feature is the ability to create different tables with a high degree of automation. This is because, depending on the product group, completely different attributes are output from an article in a table. But even this information, which particular information is to be displayed to which customer, is already stored in the PIM. By means of a single table template in priint:comet, it is possible to flexibly create and output very different tables for various publications. Design  rules and customized InDesign scripts also control the uniform display of distances, sizes and other design elements.

A successful implementation

Today's catalog production encompasses 536 pages of catalogs, approximately 30 language and price variants, InDesign files with 15 levels and an automation rate of up to 99% per page, illustrating the efficiency of this new process.

In summary

The symbiosis of technology, automation and design enables HAZET to efficiently and precisely present a wide range of product information in various publications.