Automated Catalogs directly from Opacc

As one of the few enterprise software developers, Opacc – like brix – combines all competencies from project management and software engineering to training and customer support under one roof for decades. Experience and know-how from a wide range of professional profiles are a permanent source of small and large innovations.

Industry

Designed for all industries

Technology

Opacc ERP & CDM
PDFlib

Feature

CI / CD Compliant

Key figures

950 pages in < 10 min
190 pages in 2 min

Challenges

The previous catalog generator of an Opacc customer was no longer being developed further and had to be discontinued. Those responsible at the leading technology company for innovative solutions around drinking water have therefore looked around for a solution that would require as few changes to the existing processes as possible, while at the same time saving manual effort. The Opacc ERP system for product management and the Opacc CDM for catalog management should continue to serve as the data source for catalog production. The proprietary solution generates text files from Opacc, with each text file corresponding to a catalog chapter. Previously, this data was read into the catalog generator and processed into PDF files for print or web.

The challenge was to develop a new PDF generator that could automatically create a catalog from the Opacc text files according to CI/CD specifications. At the same time, it should significantly reduce the workload – while maintaining the previous process steps so that catalog production could continue without interruption.

Preparing the data in Opacc
Triggering of the text file generation
Automated import into the new catalog generator
Configuring the country-specific PDF output
Generating and downloading the print or web PDF

Manual layout editing was not desired – designed pages (special pages and insert pages) should be inserted directly in the finished PDF catalog. For a quick and easy editing of the content, without having to invest time and effort in layout editing.

Solution

Individually designed web application

Programming of a web application in which virtual catalogs can be created. The user loads the Opacc text files into these catalogs.

Easily configurable output parameter

Various parameters can be set directly on the web interface.

High & low resolution PDFs

After triggering PDF generation, a print PDF is created, which is additionally made available for download as a web PDF in the second step.

Transparent Log-files

When generating the PDF, log files are automatically saved, in which the key data of the process can be found or errors that occurred during the creation of the PDF.

System landscape

Success

Process

A seamlessly integrated process solution where existing processes do not need to be changed.

Performance

An illustrated catalog consisting of approximately 950 pages produced ready for print in under 10 minutes or 190 pages in 2 minutes. For comparison: the original catalog generator required one minute for approx. 8 PDF pages.

Flexibility

It is possible to modify the product data – especially the prices, which should be up-to-date at the time of creation – until shortly before printing.

Easy Management

The management of prepared and generated chapters and catalogs can be performed directly in the web application.