Digital Assets - Dividing the Labor (1,077 words)

Who manages your digital assets?

VWR Scientific Products is a leading worldwide distributor of scientific equipment, supplies, chemicals and furniture, with headquarters in West Chester, PA.

The peacefully quiet offices belie a massive workflow that produces thousands of catalog pages per year.

VWR went from "desktop to database" in 1992, a change many catalogers are making now. "It's the most dramatic transition you can make," says Lynn Homann, marketing communications manager at VWR. "If you want to tweak your book in a year, [with a database] you don't have to update multiple Quark files."

To take its automated workflow and database publishing to the next level, the company recently implemented Chicago-based Pindar Systems' CMS (Catalog Management System). The primary benefit for VWR so far has been the flexible database approach that will allow VWR to get its product descriptions on the Web more quickly and easily.

"I like to use the motto 'write once—publish many,'" says Homann.

Ron Reichenbach, Pindar Systems' Eastern region vice president, reinforces that, "Our approach is to have one source of data repository and one place to create, edit and manage data, as this eliminates a lot of potential confusion and double work."

To market its 400,000 SKUs via two main catalogs, several specialty catalogs and on the Web, many hands are at work.

At VWR, a marketing manager chooses products for each publication. Then, a traffic coordinator in the publications department schedules products for release into a publication cycle. Next, a writer produces descriptive copy blocks and checks these with the respective supplier (of which there are more than 2,500). Then a photo coordinator steps in to gather the necessary art—the system helps track the photos, since some SKUs have more than one.

Efficient labeling of assets becomes crucial when you're dealing with hundreds of thousands of SKUs. The Pindar Systems CMS solution allows for detailed product identification, so that the design department knows automatically which photo goes with which SKU and which caption with which photo, etc.

Homann points out that while the workflow is automated in a database process, communication between team members is still critical in VWR's production cycle.

The Human Factor

"Just as the Library of Congress needs a librarian, so does a catalog company," observes Gretchen Kirby, editor of Publishing & Production Executive magazine. Kirby views the complex but increasingly efficient digital asset management (DAM) systems used by many catalog companies as being akin to "digital libraries or archives."

While the choices out there for managing your assets are many, "Content management shouldn't be intimidating," says Carol Swanson, marketing manager at Banta Catalog Group. "It's a tool of organization that allows images, layouts, fonts and product data to be shared within production teams," and in marketing and merchandising departments.

Orchestrating a workflow that involves all of these departments is tricky. Yet, even huge companies are moving products dynamically into multi-channel selling outlets.

Thus, expertise and access within your organization become central questions to answer as you decide whether to buy or outsource your DAM needs.

But, "Implementation of a solution is only one aspect of the decisions [catalogers] face," says Kirby. "Just as important is how the company will handle maintenance of the system."

Setting Up

VWR has its own internal IT staff, which has minimal involvement in the day-to-day operation of the CMS; it was more involved with the set up, says Elizabeth Sipera, VWR's publications production supervisor. Pindar Systems also sent a team to train VWR's staff, which took about two weeks.

As for technological updates to keep the system fresh, Pindar Systems offers a "continuing update path," taking advantage of the company's innovation department in York, England.

Sipera works with Pindar Systems on updates and version releases. Sipera says she deals with a technical account manager plus several help-desk people at Pindar Systems to discuss status and system-upgrade issues.

One Central Administrator

Marlain Carroll, as VWR's database coordinator, maintains the administrative functions in CMS. Carroll monitors version control and holds all security/access rights. "Basically it's [segmented] by group. All the writers, for instance, have access to a certain set of screens. You can, however, fine tune [access] for an individual," Carroll explains.

This central administration does not mean that workers are disempowered, however. For instance, writers can delete obsolete data and the photo coordinator can get rid of old photos. In VWR's case, with large and infrequent books, the mix precludes easy disposal of entire folders. "Some images (i.e., thermometers) last a long time—five or six years. Other products are more short-lived (i.e., apparel)," says Carroll.

Sipera likes CMS's centralized gatekeeping: "It's very important because you could lose control," with too many sources of input and no regulation, she says.

Carroll says VWR keeps assets "archived" for a period of time, though they can be deleted anytime. "If products are discontinued temporarily, I'll keep them online for a while." Carroll also notes that no deletion is forever: The prepress house keeps archives of content on permanent file.

An Outside Job

As the industry has grown, prepress houses and printers have continued to maintain high-resolution image assets at their facilities. Many catalog operations have decided that their printer or prepress house can handle all or some of their DAM needs.

The drawback is that the cataloger only has control over the low-resolution images, and it can be difficult to get the hi-res ones back, should a prepress or printer vendor switch occur.

Rudy Galfi, director of technical services at Quebecor World's Arlington Heights, IL, facility, says catalog clients who decide to outsource their asset management often rely on their printers' advice in choosing a system.

Galfi says that rather than develop a proprietary system, Quebecor World has formed partnerships with numerous approved DAM vendors and can recommend a range of solutions based on client needs. "DAM can mean a lot of different things to different people, even within groups of one catalog company. We look at it as enterprise wide, beyond just merchandising, production, etc. If the system is going to serve all groups, you have to look at the global situation of the company," Galfi says.

A recent survey by Banta Corp. found an even split between catalogers who use an in-house content management system and those who outsource these functions. n

Targeted Production:VWR is aiming at the most advanced level of product-information publishing for all forms of electronic delivery, with the Web as the driver and print as the foundation.