Catalog Automation at Pico
Catalog automation at Pico is about producing and maintaining catalogs, price lists, bills of materials, and other product materials directly from structured data. Instead of manual layout and proofreading processes, automated flows are used where content is always based on the current data foundation.
For Pico, catalog automation is not an isolated desktop tool, but an extension of the work with product data, PIM, governance, and integrations. The goal is to ensure that printed and digital materials always reflect the same data as the rest of the business.
Why is catalog automation relevant for Pico's customers?
Many of Pico's customers still use catalogs, price lists, and technical documentation as a central part of their sales and operations setup. At the same time, products, prices, variants, and documentation change continuously.
When catalog production is manual, long production times, repeated rounds of corrections, and the risk of errors often arise. This makes it difficult to respond quickly to changes in assortment, prices, or markets, and it increases the risk that materials are not up to date when they are put to use.
Catalog automation addresses precisely this challenge by connecting layout and publication directly to product data and business systems.
EasyCatalog as a central tool
Pico works with EasyCatalog as a central tool for catalog automation and is among the most experienced partners in Denmark. EasyCatalog acts as a link between structured data and layout in InDesign, so catalogs and price lists can be built and updated automatically.
Product data is typically retrieved from PIM, ERP, or other data sources and used directly in the layout. When data changes, catalogs can be updated without manual re-entry work. This ensures that content and structure remain consistent, even when the volume of data is large and complex.
How does Pico work with catalog automation?
Pico works with catalog automation by first ensuring that the data foundation is correctly structured. This involves clear data modeling, unambiguous fields, and clear ownership of data. Without this foundation, automation will create noise rather than value.
Catalog structures, templates, and layouts are then designed to handle variations in products, languages, and markets. The automation is built to support both standard catalogs, customer-specific price lists, and technical bills of materials.
Pico also helps define which data may be used where, and how changes in PIM or ERP should flow through to catalog materials. In this way, catalog production becomes a controlled part of the overall workflow.
Automation of price lists and bills of materials
Price lists and bills of materials are often among the most error-prone materials when maintained manually. Small changes in prices, units, or variants can be difficult to detect and correct consistently.
With catalog automation, price lists and bills of materials can be generated directly from the systems that own the data. This reduces the risk of input errors and ensures that materials always align with current prices, assortment, and structures.
At the same time, automation makes it possible to quickly generate different versions for markets, customer segments, or currencies without additional manual work.
Benefits of catalog automation
Catalog automation delivers significant benefits at multiple levels. Time-to-market is reduced because updates and new publications can be produced faster and with fewer rounds of corrections. Errors are reduced because data is not copied manually between systems and documents.
A significant benefit is also that catalogs, price lists, and bills of materials can always be kept up to date. When the data foundation changes, materials can be updated without starting the process from scratch. This builds greater trust in the materials both internally and externally.
For the organization, this means that work can shift from manual maintenance to structure, quality, and further development of content.
Connection to PIM, integrations, and governance
Catalog automation is closely connected to Pico's work with PIM, integrations, and governance. PIM often serves as the master for product data, while integrations ensure that data flows correctly from ERP and other systems.
Governance ensures that there are clear rules for who owns data and when it is ready for use in catalogs and price lists. The automation respects these frameworks and supports consistent workflows.
When catalog automation is integrated as part of the data landscape, it becomes a stable and long-term element in the company's overall product communication.
The report generator in Perfion
As a supplement to catalog automation, the report generator in Perfion plays a central role in the work with insight, control, and quality assurance of product data. The report generator makes it possible to extract and present product data directly from the PIM system in structured reports without the need for manual data exports or external analysis tools.
Reports are typically used to provide an overview of data coverage, consistency, and readiness in connection with catalog production, releases, and ongoing maintenance of product information.
Working with live product data
Reports in Perfion are always based on the data currently held in PIM. This means that reports reflect the actual state of the product catalog at the time they are run. There are therefore no discrepancies between product data in PIM and what is shown in the reports.
This direct connection to live data is particularly important in environments with frequent changes, many variants, or parallel catalog and channel processes, where decisions must be made on an up-to-date and reliable basis.
Reuse, automation, and control
The report generator supports reuse by allowing reports to be saved and run repeatedly without new setup. This makes them well suited as regular control tools in the work with data quality and catalog automation.
Reports can also be connected to Perfion's Action system and form part of automated workflows. This makes it possible to run reports at fixed times or at specific events, for example as daily or weekly checks of missing attributes, incomplete products, or deviations in data structure.
Sharing and use across the organization
Reports can be exported to formats such as Excel and PDF, making them useful for stakeholders who do not work directly in Perfion. This supports collaboration across roles and departments, for example between product managers, marketing, sales, and management.
In the context of catalog automation, the report generator acts as a link between the operational PIM work and the management overview. It makes it possible to document data status, track development over time, and create a shared understanding of what is ready for use in catalogs and channels.
Typical connections to other areas at Pico
Catalog automation is closely connected to Pico's work with PIM, data modeling, integrations, channels, and automation. The same product data used in e-commerce, marketplaces, and documentation can be reused directly in catalogs and price lists.
This connection makes it possible to work consistently across digital and printed channels and ensures that the company communicates accurate and up-to-date product information – regardless of format and channel.