Catalogforce supports many different field types, from String fields which accept basically any text you give it, to Number fields which enforce number values only. If a non-number is entered, the value will not save and will report an error. Picklist fields are a special field that also validate your data, but in a different way. A picklist allows you to define an accepted list of “potential values”, and the field can either store one (Single Value Picklist) or any combination (Multiple Value Picklist) of those acceptable values. For example, if you sell Mountain Bike Tires, they may come in these sizes: 18″, 18.5″, 19″, 19.5″, and 20″. You want to make sure that valid values are one of those, but nothing else. By defining those 5 values as part of the Picklist, the data entry person only has those 5 to choose from. Incorrect values will thus noticeably decrease, unlike if it was a simple “String” field where anything typed would be acceptable.
Lists can be created to show multiple items and certain fields as columns, like Item #, Description, UOM, and Sale Price. If you had to create each one manually, you would need to choose those same columns every time. With List Templates, you can create a template called “Standard Print” and define those 4 fields. Now, whenever you create a new List, you can pick that template and the 4 fields already come in. You can have a different List Template from one item to the next, from one section to the next, and you can create as many List Templates as you need.
Anyone who has built a manual Index can tell you that it is a nightmare task. This is because each and every Index entry has a corresponding page #, and the second you move a product from one page to another, it can completely throw it off. With Catalogforce, you can Index by any field in your database. In fact, you can create a merged index using up to 3 separate indexes! Once you choose your Index field, the plugin will search the entire book of documents and get the associated page numbers. Within minutes, you will have an Index that could have taken weeks or months otherwise. The best part? Because the entire process only takes a few minutes, as you alter the layout late in the process there is nothing to worry about because you can re-run the Index as often as you need.
Some items are specialty items that have a Kit-Component relationship with each other. Catalogforce full supports this optional relationship. For example, kit item ADF-189 has 9 component items as part of the “kit”. Both kits and components can be browsed to and searched for. Special designators show whether or not an item is a Component and/or a Kit. In some cases, an item could be both a Component of one Kit and the Kit item for other Components. Components can belong to multiple Kits as well. Each component item can maintain its own Quantity field.
Do you publish to different parts of the world? If not, would you like to? You’re going to need a database with full Multilingual Capabilities first. With this option, you can have any number of languages available as additional dropdowns for each product. Fields designated as “multi-lingual” will then allow you to save alternate language values for the same product. As an example, let’s say you have item 786767, which is a Toaster over. The field “Short Description” would have an English value of “This fully-chromed toaster has 8 slots for toast or bagels.” From the 2nd language dropdown, you could have German, Italian, French, and Russian. Select the German, and the field would show the German version of Short Description: “Das voll verchromte Toaster verfügt über 8 Steckplätze für Toast oder Bagels.” This way, when building catalogs, you can select a Language version and create a fully-formed catalog for any of your languages.
Everyone’s workflow is different, and the only way to prevent people from stepping on each other’s toes is by using rights management. Any field in the database can be designated as Write, Read, or Hidden. This means we can give Cathy in Marketing Write access to all of the descriptive copy fields, but Pricing fields are Hidden for her. Meanwhile, Jan the Product Manager has full Write access to all of the fields. And Tom the Customer Service rep has Read access to all of the relevant fields he needs. Access can also be divvied up by catalog project. So, the Marketing role can have access to the upcoming 2016 Full Line catalog while it is still Hidden from the Graphic Design team.
Designed to be completely inter-operable with your current IT infrastructure. Open source architecture ensures that you do not need to install expensive proprietary software or hire IT staff with hard-to-find skills. Catalogforce’s product information management system is designed to easy integrate with ERP systems as well as syndication engines for feeding content into websites or other digital media.
Using Catalogforce’s product information management system you’ll have access to a suite of tools to help you get produce professional, accurate and well-designed catalogs that present your products to your customers. You can preserve consistency and accuracy across your media. One central repository holds all the catalog data. The resulting catalogs regardless of whether they are print or digital editions, all feed from this one up-to-date information source. The key to rapidly building adaptable easy-to-update catalogs across a variety of media is having a strong catalog information database and a powerful product information system to manage it. Catalogforce’s integrated product information management system unifies your product management in one place.
“Using your custom templates helped cut our overall production time almost in half. Thanks to the database, our error rate has also dropped significantly. We couldn’t be more thrilled!”
Kelly, Wainright
Anselmo Electronics (Industrial Electronics Supply House)
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