How Publishing Automation Simplifies Multilingual Product Catalogs
When a company has a wide product range, operates across multiple markets, and product data changes frequently, manual catalog layout quickly becomes a heavy and error-prone process. This is why more and more companies are turning to publishing automation to produce product catalogs, price lists, and product documentation in PDF format.
In this blog, we take a closer look at the challenges that publishing automation helps solve—and how Catalog Generator simplifies catalog management for companies operating in international markets.
Automation reduces workload and lowers costs
Traditionally, manually designed product catalogs make each language version its own time-consuming project. Content must be manually compiled from multiple data sources, re-laid out, and carefully checked to ensure product information is up to date.
This significantly increases:
- workload and catalog production costs
- the risk of errors and outdated information
- publication delays and bottlenecks in sales and marketing pipelines
The publishing automation solution
Catalog Generator is a web-based publishing automation application that enables fast and easy creation of different types of product catalogs, price lists, and product sheets in PDF format. All that’s needed is structured product data, which can be sourced directly from systems such as PIM or ERP.
Publishing automation automatically generates multilingual versions from a single product data source. The user selects the desired data and target market, and the system produces a consistent, on-brand product catalog from start to finish. Manual data collection, layout work, publishing, and content validation are eliminated entirely.
Automation frees up significant resources. According to research, up to 51% of employees spend at least two hours per day on repetitive tasks that could be automated (Formstack & Mantis Research, n = 2000). This clearly illustrates both the burden of manual work and the potential of automation to redirect capacity toward more valuable tasks.
What challenges in product catalog publishing does automation address?
1. Constantly changing product data: automated publishing keeps catalogs up to date
In manual processes, documents become outdated as soon as prices or technical specifications change. The key benefit of publishing automation is that catalogs are always based on real-time product data—not outdated files or copied spreadsheets.
Catalog Generator creates documents directly from PIM, ERP, or DAM systems, reducing human error, improving data accuracy, and eliminating the need for time-consuming manual updates.
2. Resource efficiency: a cost-effective solution
Compiling large documents consumes substantial time from marketing teams and product managers. Each update triggers another manual production cycle.
With publishing automation, product catalogs, datasheets, and price lists are generated automatically using predefined templates—without requiring layout or design expertise.
3. Consistent branding without manual layout
When catalogs are manually produced by different teams, visual consistency is difficult to maintain. Publishing automation ensures that brand identity, typography, and structure remain consistent across all languages and markets.
4. Large product portfolios make documentation complex
Managing catalogs manually becomes slow and error-prone when dealing with hundreds or thousands of products. In addition to market-specific versions, different audiences often require tailored materials—such as compact price lists for international distributors, visual catalogs for marketing, or technical documentation for planners.
Publishing automation makes it possible to generate all of these versions automatically, consistently, and on brand—without handling heavy layout files.
Next, let’s look at how publishing automation solved these challenges for ventilation system manufacturer Vallox.
Case Vallox: streamlining multilingual catalogs with publishing automation
Vallox has an extensive product portfolio, and operating across multiple markets means managing large volumes of data due to language versions and market-specific requirements. This created bottlenecks in the catalog layout process. Previously, catalogs were produced manually, which was extremely time-consuming, consumed day-to-day resources, and increased the risk of human error.
Vallox wanted to improve product catalog management and integrate catalog generation into its digital product data flow. The goal was an agile, web-based tool that would generate price lists and catalogs directly from real-time product data—without manual layout work and with a user-friendly workflow.
We implemented a configurable publishing automation solution for Vallox that connects directly to their product management system. Product data—such as names, technical specifications, and variants—is automatically pulled from the PIM system and combined with Vallox’s brand-compliant pricing catalog layout. You can explore the implementation in more detail here.
The result met Vallox’s expectations:
“Catalog Generator has surprised us positively. Its scalability and dynamism have created a lot of satisfaction, and the system’s speed has truly impressed us.”
— Anneli Ojala, Vallox
Today, Vallox can generate up-to-date pricing catalogs directly from real-time product data—without manual work. The result is a consistently on-brand, versatile, and fast-updating catalog that supports both domestic and international markets.
What does automation enable for business?
Automation is no longer just a technical improvement—it is a strategic investment that directly impacts competitiveness and productivity. By automating repetitive manual processes, organizations can free resources for higher-value work, respond faster to change, and improve decision-making quality.
Publishing automation is a clear example of this. It not only improves catalog production efficiency, but also enables capabilities that manual processes cannot achieve—such as scalable multi-market operations, faster time-to-market, and a dramatic reduction in errors. Automation therefore acts as both a productivity driver and a risk-mitigation tool.
Summary
When product data changes frequently and companies operate across multiple markets with extensive product portfolios, manual catalog layout quickly becomes inefficient and error-prone. Publishing automation offers a modern, scalable, and cost-effective way to produce up-to-date product catalogs for international needs.
