Reliable and up-to-date market information from Germany and abroad is the core business of the specialist publisher EUWID Europäischer Wirtschaftsdienst GmbH. This makes it all the more important that market data, national and international company news and analyses of country-specific market developments, which are researched and prepared by the specialist editors, are also quickly available and easily accessible to readers online. With the relaunch of nine German and four English EUWID industry service websites, punkt.de developed intelligent solutions for comprehensive data import in 2011.

The initial situation: continuous expansion of the online platform

The specialist publisher covers eight sectors with its range of information: Recycling and disposal, paper and pulp, wood and wood-based materials, packaging, water and wastewater, new energies, plastics and furniture. EUWID also publishes English-language information services for certain sectors. As more and more customers of the long-established specialist publisher are accessing the online offerings, the new website had to take account of this change in readers' information behavior and consider customer-specific use. Regina Meier, Head of IT and Communication at EUWID Europäischer Wirtschaftsdienst GmbH, is certain that punkt.de was the right choice for this task: "Behind our web relaunch is a great translation service in which the punkt.de team quickly familiarized itself with the special subject matter of a specialist publisher."

The challenge: managing the data import efficiently

The original procedure of importing Excel files or data in CSV format in order to enter current market data was not only time-consuming for the editors, but also prone to errors. A new solution for importing data from external data sources was required: ideally without the editors having to spend a long time familiarizing themselves with the use of the TYPO3 backend.

The solution: Windows programs developed in-house make handling easier

Simple data management: content for news, dates and the central "Markets" section is fed from a global database. This means that visitors can easily call up the market analyses and price developments relevant to their decisions, including their graphic presentation. For data import, punkt.de has also developed special Windows programs that automatically feed the data into TYPO3. The advantage for the editors: they work on a familiar user interface, while the link in the background ensures a smooth import. in order to cope with the volume of data, punkt.de paid particular attention to the structure, categorization and indexing of the data so that the search delivers reliable hits. With an electronic version of the publications, punkt.de has also ensured that the specialist publisher can pick up subscribers to its information services even better on the web: Instead of a PDF, current issues are now issued as a reader-friendly e-paper, including convenient on-screen browsing and convenient research tools. For Regina Meier, this is just one of many reasons to recommend punkt.de to others: