How Our Process Works In Only 3 Steps
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How Our Process Works In Only 3 Steps |
| Step 1 (You send us your catalog list): |
| Send us a list of all the items you want to appear in your catalog. A Microsoft Excel file is most commonly sent to us. Our clients find it easiest to go through the products they have in their computer system and enter a code in one of the fields to identify that item as one that should be exported to their catalog file list. Once an item is flagged, it never needs to be dealt with again until the day that item is discontinued by the manufacturer or you quit selling it. Identifying products can take a week or two the first time, but once done new products are easily identified for inclusion in future catalogs. We accept a wide variety of exported files including Excel, dBase and tab delimited ASCII files. The information we need in your file is as follows: the manufacturer's name or code; the product name; the manufacturer's order number; your ordering code; your price; and optionally, your quantity pricing, e.g. $9.99, 3 @ $9.49, 6 @ $9.19. If you do not have the ability to send us a file, we can provide you with our master database list. You can remove the items you do not want to appear in your catalog. |
Step 2 (We send you a rough draft in 24 hours): |
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 An unformatted rough draft |
When we receive your file we merge the information with the catalog product information in our database using custom software developed by us. The resulting rough draft catalog contains your products, your order numbers and your prices along with complete catalog information including product categories, descriptions, images, etc. We then turn the rough draft into Adobe Acrobat® files and send them to you within 24 hours. The rough draft is similar in appearance to the final layout with the exception that there is no cover, the ads are not placed, the product charts are in a separate file and the images have not been sized. A big advantage of our process is you are able begin proofing the product content of your catalog immediately and do most of your proofing during this phase. We provide you with a specialized report that helps you identify and correct inconsistent pricing errors for items that should have the same price. Inconsistent pricing of similar line items (different colors, etc.) is extremely common and only serves to confuse and irritate your customers. Our custom Pricing Inconsistencies Report is invaluable for correcting pricing errors. This step also identifies those products we may not have in our database that we need to add prior to running your final layout. While you are proofing your first rough draft, we will contact the manufacturers for which we need to add items you have in your file and we do not have in our database. If you see you have included or omitted items you may or may not want in your catalog, you can add or delete them from your next master file and resubmit it to us. Also during this time we will create your border design and set up your layout options, font and category color selections. |
Repeat steps 1 & 2: |
| We will repeat steps 1 & 2 until you are satisfied with your catalog content and are ready to give us your final file. The time it takes to complete steps 1 & 2 is entirely controlled by you and to some degree, the responsiveness of the manufacturers. You also need to allow time for us to enter the information the manufacturers send to us. Steps 1 & 2 typically take one to several weeks. |
Step 3 (We send your final layout in 24 working days): |
 Formatted final layout - Burs  Formatted final layout - Disposables  Formatted final layout - Hygiene Instruments  Formatted final layout - Surgical Products |
This is where the whole process comes together to create your catalog. In this step we do the final page formatting; add your cover; insert the product charts, the ads and any other custom pages; and generate the product index. The images above are examples of final formatted layouts. You will then check this final proof for any last minute corrections before the press run. Press proofing and printing typically takes three to four weeks. |
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