Multilingual Lighting Catalog Implemented for Elektro-Material

Background information

Kittelberger has just completed the catalog production for Elektro-Material AG. The current trilingual lighting catalog features EM’s top product range and is fully produced using the advastamedia® Print Engine. This includes the automated import of article data, structuring, execution of the correction process, and the multilingual production of the catalogs.

Key data
  • em katalog 04 detail image 4
  • em katalog 04 detail image 5
  • em katalog 04 detail image 6

Automated Catalog in Three Languages

Elektro-Material AG, headquartered in Zurich, is the leading electrical wholesale company in Switzerland. With over 250,000 quality products and a comprehensive range of services, EM offers the best all-in-one package. EM is represented across Switzerland with nine branches and the EM Lighting Competence Center.

Kittelberger has been supporting EM since 2017 with services related to automated catalog production.

The project just completed consisted of several components, each handled by different expert teams at Kittelberger:

  • Data Structuring: In advance, the object model, data types, and relationships between data elements were analyzed, and the catalog structure was defined.
  • Data Acquisition: Data exports from EM's system were imported into our advastamedia®/O product media database.
  • Data Correction: The current catalog status is output via a PDF generator. Using a change log, corrections can be communicated with various stakeholders. This allows the data to be reviewed, adjusted, and extended during the correction cycles.
  • Approval Processes and Translation into multiple languages: Once the German version is approved, a standardized export from advastamedia® is provided to the translation agency and automatically re-imported afterward.
  • Data Refinement including Web-Based Proofing Tool and PrePress: An export is generated that is manually finished in InDesign and delivered to the print service provider.

"One particular challenge was the large number of pictograms that needed to be placed in the catalog as automatically as possible," explains Daniela Haid, who heads the Media Management and Service division at Kittelberger and led the project. Together with colleagues from the software development team, she implemented a pictogram mapping system that automates what was previously a manual task—based on the technical product data.

The project concluded with the coordination and delivery of the print-ready data by Kittelberger.