Product Merchandisers and Sales Communicate More Effectively with Production on Collateral & Catalog Publications with STEPDirector.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

Seybold San Francisco 2003

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 8, 2003

Multi-channel publishing specialist Stibo Catalog presents its newest electronic publishing tool which captures layout instructions and product information, transforming it into working Quark pages for production and creative specialists.

Stibo Catalog, the leading provider of information supply chain management solutions (product information management, catalog content management and cross media publishing) presents its STEPDirector for the first time at Seybold San Francisco '03. This new page layout communications tool, selected by Seybold as one of its prestigious "Hot Picks of 2003" recipients, provides a simple to use, intuitive, and fast method of allowing Product Merchandisers/Managers or the Sales team to select product presentation modules(1) from the Publication Manager, mount them onto a page template, adjust them, add notes to them, and then pass on the results to the Production Department for subsequent final page makeup.

(1) (Product modules are a graphical presentation of a product

that typically includes text, tables and images.)

"Our goal," states Andreas Lorenzen - President of Stibo Catalog US, "is to provide a simple graphical user interface which requires no typographical or graphics experience to communicate collateral or catalog layout and product placement, which is then translated to a working Quark or InDesign page for the production and creative departments." STEPDirector goes beyond typical "whiteboarding" or "storyboarding" tools to allow Product Managers to view actual usable modules and drag-and drop them into a templated page, then add production notes and comments - ending as either a XML document or a true Quark document.

Reduced time to market with enhanced collaboration

STEPDirector can provide the tools for an organization to react quicker to building their catalogs, flyers, product datasheets, circulars or other advertising and promotional materials. By using data stored in the central product information repository, current information and price links are automatically passed with each product module dragged to templated pages. Thumbnail sketches, scans of old layouts, cut-up old catalog pages, sticky notes and block diagrams are virtually eliminated with STEPDirector. As Tim Phillips - VP of Sales, Stibo Catalog-North America says, "STEPDirector will alleviate 90% of the effort involved in these traditional methods. It provides a view of actual approved marketing information that is available in the STEP Product Information Management and Catalog Content Management solutions allowing Sales and Merchandising to communicate their intent to the Production team, and capture their efforts further upstream in the Marketing process. Today's corporations are looking for a means to quickly react to pricing or timing opportunities across multiple media channels. STEP is that answer."

Advantages of STEPDirector include:

-- STEPDirector is a standalone application which provides a

simple graphical user interface which does not require

typographical or graphics experience or additional page layout

software.

-- STEPDirector is fully integrated with the STEP database,

allowing the mounting of product modules in real time onto

actual production pages eliminating inefficient communication

processes.

-- STEPDirector has the ability to visually work with different

spreads (1, 2, 4, 8 page or more)

-- STEPDirector allows for individual elements of product

modules, brought onto the page, to be ungrouped, moved,

regrouped or deleted - allowing complete flexibility in

design.

-- STEPDirector allows Smart Templates (styling) to be applied to

each product module, page or section - this ensures branding

and styling guidelines while streamlining the production

process.

About Stibo Catalog

Stibo Catalog, Inc. enables manufacturers, distributors catalogers, marketers and retailers to dramatically increase efficiencies in producing and distributing product information in both printed and electronic formats such as printed catalogs, CD-ROM, web catalogs, portals and exchanges. With the company's STEP 4.6 platform, enterprises can receive product data from suppliers in nearly any format, provide access to enrich the data among multiple production workgroups simultaneously, then distribute data both internally and externally in multiple languages in printed and electronic formats. According to Giga Information Group, Stibo Catalog is the largest vendor of cross-media product information management solutions. Stibo Catalog customers include Siemens, RS Components, Rockwell Automation, Premier Farnell, Millipore, MSC Industrial Supply, Hagemeyer and Newport. Stibo Catalog North American headquarters is located in Atlanta, Georgia, with global offices in United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark and Asia. For more information, visit www.stibocatalog.com.

STEP and Stibo Catalog are trademarks of Stibo Catalog, Inc. Other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.