Product Information Management
Many catalogs. One product master underneath.
Contract customers, dealers, regions and print editions each get the assortment they should see, driven by rules rather than copied spreadsheets.
How it works
Change catalog rules and watch the assortment respond
Select a catalog column, change its brand scope or hazardous goods rule, and see eligibility update for every product. Click an eligible cell to include or exclude it for that catalog only.
| Product master | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CW-4410 / Torvik / hazmatCordless impact wrench, 1/2 in | ||||
| CW-4410-EU / Torvik / hazmatCordless impact wrench, 1/2 in, 230 V charger | ||||
| SG-120 / ClearlineSafety glasses, anti-fog | ||||
| TL-880 / Bondex / hazmatThread locker, medium strength, 50 ml | ||||
| HB-3816 / NorthfastHex bolt 3/8-16 x 2, Grade 5 | ||||
| GL-310 / ClearlineCut-resistant gloves, A4 |
CATALOG RULES
Food-plant MRO contract
Contract customer catalog, region US
Brands in scope
Rules decide eligibility. Within eligible products, select a cell to include or exclude a product for this catalog only. The product master is never copied.
The capability
Assortments as rules over shared data
Distributors and manufacturers rarely publish one catalog. A public web store, contract-customer catalogs, partner portals, regional editions and print catalogs each need a different assortment. Maintaining them as separate copies multiplies effort and guarantees inconsistency.
In Autonera, a catalog is a governed view over the product master. Eligibility rules define what may appear, using brand scope, regional release, regulatory restrictions such as hazardous goods and any other attribute. Within the eligible set, catalog owners include or exclude individual products, and catalog-specific values such as customer part numbers or contract descriptions are stored with the catalog rather than in the master.
When the master changes, every catalog reflects it. When a rule changes, the affected products move in or out of the assortment immediately, with the reason visible to the catalog owner.
In industrial operations
An MRO distributor serves contract customers and regional dealers
A distributor maintains a public web store, dozens of contract-customer catalogs and partner catalogs in two regions, previously as separate exports.
- Each customer catalog is defined by rules: brands under contract, region and site restrictions.
- A food-processing contract catalog excludes hazardous goods because its plants prohibit them on site.
- Customer part numbers are stored as catalog-specific values.
- When a new brand is added to a contract, the eligible products appear automatically for review.
Result: Every catalog stays current with the master, and the reason for each product's presence or absence is visible.
Problems it solves
Where this work usually breaks down
A copied spreadsheet per customer
Each contract catalog drifts from the master as soon as a product changes.
Restricted products in the wrong catalog
Hazardous goods or region-restricted items appear where they cannot be sold or shipped.
No reason behind the assortment
Nobody can explain why a product is missing from a catalog, so fixes are guesswork.
Brand and company boundaries blurred
Multi-brand groups expose the wrong brand's products to dealers and partners.
Functional capabilities
What Multi-Catalog & Assortment Management includes
- Rule-based eligibility
- Define catalog scope by brand, region, lifecycle, restrictions or any product attribute.
- Assortment inclusion and exclusion
- Curate individual products within the eligible set without changing the master.
- Multiple catalog trees
- Give each catalog its own navigation structure where needed.
- Catalog-specific values
- Store customer part numbers, contract descriptions and catalog-only content with the catalog.
- Multi-brand and multi-company scope
- Separate brands and business units while sharing one product master.
- Catalog permissions
- Control who can maintain each catalog and who can see it.
Autonomous operations
How autonomous execution changes multi-catalog & assortment management
Agents maintain assortments continuously, applying rules to new and changed products and preparing catalogs for release.
Agents carry out
- Evaluate new products against every catalog's rules
- Propose catalog-specific values from contract data
- Detect catalogs with incomplete or restricted products
- Prepare catalog deltas for distribution
People decide
- Own catalog rules and customer commitments
- Approve inclusion of sensitive products
- Decide catalog release timing
Evidence recorded
- Reason for every inclusion and exclusion
- Rule change history per catalog
- Catalog contents at each release
Related capabilities
Works alongside
Multi-Location Product Management
One product master with location-specific attributes, assortments and rules.
Feature guideProduct Hierarchies & Taxonomy
Classification trees with inherited category requirements and controlled reassignment.
Feature guideProduct Relationships & Substitutions
Typed accessory, substitute, replacement and component links with validation.
Feature guideGolden Records
A trusted master record with source cross-references, provenance and field ownership.
Capability areaProduct Information Management
See where Multi-Catalog & Assortment Management fits in the wider Product Information Management capability.
Buyer FAQs
Questions evaluators ask
Does each catalog duplicate product records?
No. Catalogs are views over the product master with their own rules, inclusions and catalog-specific values.
Can a catalog have its own category tree?
Yes. A catalog can use the master hierarchy or its own navigation structure.
How are customer part numbers handled?
They are stored as catalog-specific values, so the same product can carry a different customer reference in each catalog.
Who can edit a catalog?
Catalog permissions control who maintains rules and inclusions, and who can view the catalog in portals.
How do catalogs reach customers?
Catalogs feed syndication, partner portals, ecommerce and print outputs with the resolved assortment and values.
Your next step
See Multi-Catalog & Assortment Management on data like yours.
Bring a real file, catalog or record set. We will walk through how Autonera would handle it and where your team keeps the final say.
Book a Demo