Edmund Optics Selects Percussion Software's Rhythmyx Enterprise Content Management System

 

WOBURN, MA — May 1, 2006 — Percussion Software, a leading developer of practical software solutions enabling customers to maximize the value and quality of enterprise content, today announced that Edmund Optics (EO), a leading supplier of optics and optical components, has selected Percussion's Rhythmyx Enterprise Content Management System to leverage its content across multiple business applications. Rhythmyx will manage content for EO's global catalog production operation, enable EO to synchronize up-to-date print catalog information with the EdmundOptics.com Web site and organize marketing information for the company's Intranet.

Jeff Harvey, EO's Database Development Manager, said, "We chose Percussion's Rhythmyx solution because of its flexibility to be tailored for our specific needs. We'll have people contributing content via Rhythmyx during our catalog production process, and push that content into the final print catalogs, into the database that feeds our Web site, and into the product marketing areas of our Intranet. To make all of this work Rhythmyx has to integrate easily with our back-end database infrastructure, with Adobe InDesign for catalog production, and with ColdFusion, which drives our Web presence. During our vendor search, we looked for a strong partner and Percussion has impressed us, delivering specialized attention to apply Rhythmyx to our unique business model and IT environment."

Edmund Optics has been a leading design and manufacturing source in the optical industry since 1942, providing a wide array of multi-element lenses, lens coatings, imaging systems, and optical positioning equipment. The company also has made substantial contributions to areas as varied as semiconductors, industrial metrology, medical instrumentation, telecommunications and biometrics. The bulk of EO's global sales effort is conducted by direct marketing. In fact, the company mails 2.2 million catalogs each year, and has responded to rapid growth in the international market with a variety of catalogs produced in local currencies and languages.

Marisa Edmund, EO's Director of Marketing, explained, "All of our catalog production – the writing, creative design and layout – is done in the US. Every year, from December through March, we produce 10 catalogs in different currencies and languages for global distribution. We needed a content management system to make that process more efficient, take better advantage of economies of scale and avoid a great deal of repetitive work, such as recreating the same catalog pages over and over in each production cycle. We also knew that content management workflow is a far better way to conduct document reviews than printing and circulating 3,500 catalog pages on paper. For a solution, we evaluated competing CM solutions and chose Percussion's Rhythmyx system."

EO is implementing Rhythmyx as part of a technology upgrade program that includes integrated Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and Sales Force Automation (SFA) capabilities. Reasons for selecting Rhythmyx included:

• Seamless content reuse across multiple applications and channels including EO's global catalog production operation, Web site and company Intranet, thanks to the Rhythmyx De-Coupled Delivery Architecture;
• Rhythmyx version control and workflow, which will help EO eliminate content redundancy, achieve quicker time to market for catalogs, synchronize print and Web operations, eliminate manual Web updates and avoid unnecessary translation in each year's catalog production cycle by automating triggers for language translations;
• Ability to manage multiple content types, including catalog pages, Web pages, tech notes, manufacturing notes, AutoCAD drawings, text, language translations and metadata; and
• Easy management of multiple languages and currencies in EO's global marketing efforts.

"Edmund Optics relies on their catalog operation to drive sales on a global basis, so the selection of a content management system to serve as the foundation for that effort was no small decision," said Percussion Software CEO, Barry Reynolds. "With its flexible customization capabilities, Rhythmyx will not only streamline EO's catalog content capabilities, but also integrate tightly with their IT infrastructure, and support their public Web presence, company Intranet and ERP and SFA applications. EO is a great example of how Rhythmyx can meet the content management needs of organizations seeking to integrate multiple, complex business applications."

About Edmund Optics

Edmund Optics Inc. (EO) has been a leading supplier of optics and optical components to industry since 1942, designing and manufacturing a wide array of multi-element lenses, lens coatings, imaging systems, and opto-mechanical equipment. Although we are well known as a catalog based distributor of industrial optics and related products, we offer much more — including a number of engineering and manufacturing services — to our customers. A worldwide presence in industrial optics, we have offices in the United States, Japan, China, Germany, the United Kingdom, Singapore, France and Korea, as well as sales representation in Israel and Switzerland. Edmund Optics can be found online at EdmundOptics.com.