HOPPE and crossbase - a solution that opens doors

HOPPE AG, based in Müstair (Switzerland), is a group of companies that develops, manufactures and markets hardware systems for windows and doors. More than 2,500 employees work in seven factories in Europe and the USA. The company is the European market leader in its field of business and the global market leader in the window handle segment.

A customized PIM and cross-media solution was implemented for HOPPE on the basis of the crossbase standard software. The installation took place in Laas (South Tyrol) - access for employees from Germany, Switzerland and South Tyrol is via Citrix.

The starting point is the data interface to the ERP system. All sales items with product features, images and texts are imported into the PIM system via this connection. The products are then enriched with additional product relationships, images, documents and texts and mapped in the various market- and media-specific product views. These include the various country-specific catalogs (13 markets with 22 country variants in 19 languages) for the target groups of retailers, fabricators and architects. These publications are produced automatically via crossbase and Adobe InDesign, whereby the market variants are controlled via the catalog range.

The highlight is the automation of the product tables. The product table is very complex and structured as a matrix with eight information types. Groupings are created, special sorting rules and a hierarchical cell structure are implemented, color coding is controlled and various photos, graphics and symbols are placed in a defined order to save space. Hyphenation is automated via assigned dictionaries. An index table is produced in parallel with the product table and the corresponding page references are generated bidirectionally. Another highlight is a zipper function that minimizes white space.