Wholesale companies typically have a lot of database publishing needs. Regardless of their sector, the requirements and possible opportunities usually are the same.
Data entry / PIMS
The source of database publishing is obviously the data itself. The absolute rule here is: Garbage In, Garbage Out. A lot of care needs to be taken to make sure that the data entered into the database publishing system is valid. The actual data entry usually starts in the wholesale company's purchasing or logistics software. But since these systems are typically more suited for logistics than for actual database publishing, they are usually synchronized with a tool that is more suited for marketing purposes (such as the DMP FLO Suite). In rare cases, the entire product database can be maintained in FLO (resulting in an actual PIMS implementation).
Data validation
After the data enty, validation is usually required to make sure that all information is correct. Database publishing tools can help in this regard. On one side, the database publishing software will typically contain approval workflows (both for the content and the publications). But even if those tools do not exist, the publications themselves are usually very suited for approval of data. Most people tend to find mistakes much easier when the data is represented in a visual way. By using the normal output of the database publishing system for the validation processes, mistakes are much easier to detect.
Translations
And the same applies for translations. The quality of the translations can be increased and the amount of mistakes (and/or design corrections) can be decreased by linking the translation process with the database publishing workflows. And like with data entry, often this results in the output of the database publishing tool to be created during the translation process itself. This obviously saves a lot of time later on.
Printed Catalog
Once the data is ready, it is time to start focussing on the "publishing" part of database publishing. And the most rewarding output typically is the printed catalog. While lots of variations exist on this, it is always almost a part of the database publishing process. Even more so since the arrival of good quality digital printing, allowing for smaller volumes and higher frequencies.
Product leaflets / brochures
Once the product catalog is part of the database publishing software, it is usually a much smaller effort to add product leaflets and brochures. The basic data is available, so in many cases it is as easy as publishing to a different template. Although in some cases, the database will be expanded with new sets of data, specifically for this purpose.
Webshop
Quite similarly, the same data or new subsets can be used for database publishing to a website. The online catalog is more and more becoming an integral part of database publishing solutions.
Content targeting
In the old days, it was hardly possible to publish more than one catalog per year. But new technologies have made radical changes in that. Digital printing makes it affordable to print the catalog more often (but at lower volumes). And database publishing tools exist to make the creation of these catalogs affordable. A logical next step is to use the database publishing software to also make distincitions in the content of the catalogs. Rather than a single catalog, wholesale companies can use database publishing solutions to create a number of catalogs, each with content aimed at a specific market.