A great many companies, in particular those which either make or sell products, face the recurring problem of how best to produce their catalogues and related documents.

Whether for paper, CD-ROM or the web, the standard software used to compile catalogues offers only a partially automated process.

This shortcoming means that each time a new version of a catalogue is published, the layout has to be reworked from A to Z. The workload this involves, the time restrictions and the costs it incurs can be a major hindrance to any business.

Catbuilder provides a highly effective solution to this dilemma. It is a highly visual and intuitive user-friendly tool which enables in-house members of staff to create their own professional sales documentation quickly.

Documents can then either be printed out internally or sent on to a printer, or can be burned onto a CD-ROM for publication on the internet without worrying about changes to the page layout. All the user has to do is define their presentation templates; the software does everything else!

You define the page layout for your catalogue yourself. It couldn’t be simpler: Catbuilder provides you with various graphical elements (presentation templates, headers, footers, backgrounds, chapter headings, etc.) which you can then use as the reference framework within which to insert your data (headings, descriptions, tables, images, etc.).

These graphical elements can be applied to all of your documentation (catalogues, price lists, product sheets, etc.), enabling you to complete the entire process in record time.

Alternatively, you can create a different page layout for each chapter, product range or product and even adapt your graphic design to the target group and/or medium used.

Catbuilder has advanced text and image management and table definition functions.

Catbuilder also enables you to automatically generate various kinds of index and tables of contents.

With Catbuilder you can add, delete and move products as you wish in the blink of an eye. Catbuilder will automatically reset your page layout and reorganise the overall structure of your catalogue.

Catbuilder also has a language management function. Consequently, you can publish your sales documentation in the language(s) of your choice without any disruption to your desired page layout.

Catbuilder enables you to use various calculation formula, and variable pricing displays (without or without the price, in multiple currencies or prices linked to the quantity ordered) are a piece of cake.

Integration

Catbuilder offers a host of data integration possibilities for your sales documentation, from simple manual coding to integral recovery of relevant data using a plugin that is specially designed to suit your needs.

Using the plugin, Catbuilder will connect up to your IT system to either recover data or automatically update the information contained in your sales documentation.

With Catbuilder you can extract all or part of the data from a specific document and forward it on. Text, images and page layouts exported in this way can be directly used by your branches or business partners for their own Catbuilder documentation.

If some of your branches or partners do not have Catbuilder at their disposal, it is possible to create a data transfer file in XML or another standard format.

Catbuilder can be used in conjunction with the CatPublisher module to create a CD-ROM that can be easily consulted and distributed to your clients and business partners alike.

Catbuilder can also be used together with the Catsite module which will update any data you have uploaded onto the web in a simple click of the mouse. Details on the Catsite module are given in a separate brochure.