As catalog management the administration of electronic product catalogs is understood and the associated catalog data. Also the term catalog data management is partial. Catalog management is in particular for the electronic purchase of importance, since above all indirect goods are procured here, which can be described well in catalogs.

Substantial Prozesschritte in the catalog management is the examination and release of the product catalogs conveyed by the supplier. Only if this release takes place, the product catalogs are passed on into the enterprise-internal procurement systems. There the coworkers of the enterprise order their material directly and to the approved conditions.

Areas of application

Article and product data are in PPS and ERP systems to be usually maintained at present, however only to the extent that them for the respective production and be-economical connections be needed. In further systems illustrations, sketches and photos are reproached. The layout organization and production of the classical print catalog take place in DTP programs. Guaranteed by explicit business processes, the respective information cutouts are maintained to the products in the necessary quality in the individual systems. A consolidated and secured basis with central access to all product informations is missing however. This gap between the ERP systems and CRM systems is closed by a catalog management system.

The term "“content Supply chain"” gains here ever more significance, since for the market regularly product catalogs must be published, in order to supply the customers with the purchase-crucial information. This happens not only frequently under time pressure - "„the new series "“must still absolutely also into the catalog, which is to appear to the industry fair -, but above all interdisciplinary between marketing, product management and selling. The business process in the enterprise is coined/shaped reliable and not reproducible from manual steps, a little. In contrast to this stands however for the enterprise the high meaning of product catalogs for would tribleach representation. A further aspect resulted with the spreading of the Internets and e-commerce in the last years. Product data must be made available for the representation in the most different media. To the rather classical paper catalog CD catalogs, Internet Shops and electronic customer catalogs also individualized came. The integration and the alignment there of the products and assortments published in each case are error-prone and organized again frequently - and thus. The problem arises at the same time to want to supply also foreign language markets with information as a result of the globalization. Apart from English is it frequently meaningfully the product catalog or at least cutouts to provide in the national language. Usually been made also this manually by translation agencies and must again and again again take place. The translation work once taken place for the basis assortment must be reproached and adjusted for further catalogs and media.

Related to the print catalog, which longer already represents the starting point frequently with producing and enterprises active in the wholesale still, the technology is ripe, but not yet in the surface represent to produce from the maintained database artworks. The classical way is the delivery of the product informations to a marketing agency, which provides artworks by means of DTP tools layouts arranged and. This leads regularly, due to the extensive manual work with the agencies, to costs, additional time delay and a further disturbance of the susceptible business process. The topicality of the catalog necessary for the respective market is actually prevented thereby. The described challenges can be treated only effectively, if article and product data are only once maintained, published quality-secured and repeated for the most different media and outlets. One must be expressed individual illustration of the respective products, assortments and processes as well as an effective integration in the existing system and organisational structures ensured.

Catalog data

In the electronic exchange of product catalogs different standard formats were established.

Articles in category "Catalog management"

We found here 28 articles.