Lighting the Way to Fully Automating Product Publishing

Medical Lighting
PIM, Data Publishing
On-Premise PIM, Printable Product Catalog, Product Data Sheets, Localization, Complex Data Structure

Derungs Licht is a Swiss lighting manufacturer based in Gossau, St. Gallen. The company develops and produces advanced lighting systems for hospitals, clinics, dental practices, and laboratories. With over 80 years of experience, Derungs is part of the Waldmann Group, an international network of lighting specialists.
Its portfolio includes examination lights, ceiling systems, and task lighting, all designed for precision, hygiene, and visual comfort. Every product is developed and assembled in Switzerland under strict quality and regulatory standards.

Derungs serves customers across Europe and worldwide through a network of distributors and partners, emphasizing reliability, compliance, and ergonomics. As a global supplier in a highly regulated industry, the company manages detailed product specifications, configurations, and certifications across multiple languages and regions. To handle this complexity efficiently, Derungs required a centralized system to control and publish product information across all digital and print channels.

Lighting the Way to Fully Automating Product Publishing

Challenges

Derungs Licht faced major challenges managing product innovation and meeting international requirements:

  • Complex Product Structures: Product data covered accessories, sub-components, and regulatory information but lacked a unified multilevel structure. Maintaining relationships and dependencies was difficult.

  • Multilingual Documentation Bottleneck: Creating and updating product data sheets (PDS) in six or more languages required manual work, consumed significant resources, and was prone to errors.

  • Complex Catalog Customization: Generating product catalogs was manual and resource-intensive. Marketing teams had to assemble static branding pages, dynamic product lists, and correctly display all variants.

  • Disjointed Web Presence: Product data and PDF documentation were not integrated with the corporate website. This caused data lag and inconsistencies between print and digital channels.

  • PDF File Size: Large documents were hard to distribute and manage because of their excessive file sizes.

  • Time-to-Market Pressure: Manual data handling, multilingual updates, and catalog preparation slowed the launch of new products and variants.

Goals

The primary objectives for the PIM implementation focused on robust data structure, multilingual efficiency, and seamless omni-channel delivery:

  • Create a Central Product Repository: Consolidate all product data, images, and relationships into a single system for easy access and management.

  • Build a Structured Data Foundation: Import product information into a multilevel hierarchy to establish a central, well-organized repository.

  • Improve Multilingual Publishing: Enable both manual and fully automated creation of product data sheets in six languages from a single source, reducing errors and saving time.

  • Automate Catalog Generation: Develop a system to automatically produce catalogs, including static introductory pages, dynamic product lists, tables of contents, and variant-specific pages.

  • Ensure Omni-Channel Data Consistency: Integrate product data and PDF documentation with the website through the PIM API for accurate, real-time updates across all channels.

  • Enable Parameterized Catalog Publishing: Use flexible parameters to dynamically define catalog content, layout, and product selection based on specific needs.

  • Optimize PDF Output: Reduce file sizes for faster downloads and easier distribution without compromising quality.

Solution

Derungs Licht implemented a structured PIM system to centralize all product data and automate catalog and PDF creation. Key features included:

  • Central Product Data Repository & Hierarchy: All structured product data was imported into a central repository. A multilevel hierarchy links parent products, variants (voltage, arm length, color), and accessories for easy management.

  • Advanced Catalog Automation: The system automatically creates catalogs, including static pages, tables of contents, and dynamic product pages for all categories and variants.

  • Parameter-Driven Publishing: Marketing teams can define which products appear in a catalog and control how each product and its variants are displayed. Custom catalogs can be generated instantly.

  • Unified Product Information: All technical data, images, and documentation are centralized to ensure accuracy and reduce manual work.

  • Time-Saving Automation: Outputs such as PDFs and catalogs are generated automatically, reducing effort and minimizing errors.

  • Improved Collaboration: Product, marketing, and engineering teams work from the same dataset, keeping everyone aligned and up to date.

Results

  • Faster Product Launches: Multilingual documentation and catalogs are generated in minutes, reducing time-to-market for new products and updates.

  • Accurate and Consistent Data: Centralized management ensures product information is reliable across websites, PDFs, and internal systems.

  • Simplified Regulatory Compliance: Regulatory data is centralized, making audits and international compliance checks easier and faster.

  • Flexible Catalog Creation: Marketing teams can instantly produce tailored catalogs for regions, clients, or product lines.

  • Efficient Variant Management: All product variants, accessories, and technical configurations are tracked and displayed correctly across channels.

  • Operational Savings: Automation reduces external design, localization, and manual publishing costs.

  • Scalable Digital Publishing: The system supports expansion to new markets, languages, or digital channels without additional effort.

  • Focus on Innovation: Teams can concentrate on product development while trusting that all documentation is accurate and up to date.

  • Improved Customer Experience: End-users receive complete and consistent product information across all platforms.

  • Reduced Manual Workload: Teams spend less time on repetitive tasks like data entry, document formatting, and version control.

  • Improved Cross-Team Collaboration: Product, marketing, and engineering teams work from the same up-to-date dataset, reducing miscommunication.

  • Better Resource Allocation: Staff can focus on strategic tasks rather than manual data maintenance or document assembly.

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