Automating medical equipment order forms: Permobil’s collaboration with Pagination

Founded in 1967 in Sweden by Dr. Per Uddén, Permobil was built on the belief that helping individuals achieve the highest possible level of independence is a basic human right. With this vision, Dr. Uddén combined medical expertise and technological innovation to create solutions that improve the daily lives of people with mobility impairments.

Over the years, Permobil has grown into a global leader in advanced assistive mobility, employing around 2,000 people globally. The company is part of Patricia Industries, a division of Investor AB.

Today, Permobil continues to innovate for individuals by developing advanced assistive solutions, ranging from electric and manual wheelchairs to seating, positioning and power-assist products. 

With a growing international presence and an expanding range of products, Permobil aimed to make its order form publishing workflows more efficient and accurate. This led to a collaboration with Pagination database publisher to develop a process that is faster and better suited to the company’s growing needs.

The challenge: creating order forms for multiple products and markets

Permobil Americas identified three main needs in the management of its product order forms:

• Producing order forms at scale: with a wide range of products and attributes to include, Permobil needed a way to consolidate information into its order forms. In fact, preparing documents manually for such an extensive portfolio required considerable time and resources.
• Managing localized versions: with several markets to serve, Permobil required a system that could support the creation of localized order forms. Differences in language, currency, and product details made manual creation difficult, highlighting the need for a more efficient approach.
• Keeping forms interactive: in addition to automation, Permobil wanted to keep order forms interactive. The goal was to create functional PDFs with checkboxes, text fields and other features for digital use.

Pagination’s solution: a flexible approach to order form automation

Pagination collaborated with Permobil to implement an automated system for creating interactive order forms. This solution combines product data integration with customizable InDesign templates and interactive PDF features to create precise, adaptable, and user-friendly documents.

Automated order form creation

Pagination’s platform links Permobil’s product data directly to over ten dedicated InDesign templates, each designed to cover different product ranges and attributes. These templates incorporate tables, images, and multiple checkbox formats to represent the complete variety of options available to customers.

• Scalable data management: the system supports up to 20,000 SKUs within a single data file, allowing Permobil to manage an extensive product portfolio with efficiency and accuracy.
• Localized versions: thanks to dynamic fields in the data files, Permobil can generate order forms for any country and language. This allows them to produce documents with specifications adapted to each market while maintaining consistent design and structure.

Interactive PDFs for usability

Beyond printed or static formats, Pagination enabled Permobil to create order forms enriched with interactive features, including:

• Forms: fields for text input.
• Checkboxes: linked to item codes or product variations.
  

These elements transform the PDFs from simple viewing documents into interactive resources. Users are able to enter information, select options, and easily save or distribute the forms, making them practical tools for sales operations.

Results and benefits

Collaborating with Pagination helped Permobil streamline and standardize its order form production. The automation features support the company’s goal of preparing documents more quickly and accurately, without the need to manually create each PDF.

• Faster creation of order forms: automation enables Permobil to generate order forms in a fraction of the time. Thousands of SKUs are handled within one workflow, and versions for different markets are produced quickly while keeping design and structure consistent.

 

• Enhancing usability through interactive order forms: with Pagination, Permobil provides order forms in interactive PDF format. These documents offer a practical way for customers to select and configure products, thanks to features such as checkboxes, fillable text fields, and other interactive elements that make the forms fully functional for digital use.

 

• Supporting teams with a more streamlined workflow: the new process reduces the need for manual updates and repetitive tasks, making order form creation easier for Permobil’s staff. Team members can manage updates with less effort and rely on a system that handles the technical aspects automatically.

Key takeaways

Permobil’s collaboration with Pagination shows how automation can simplify order form production in the medical equipment industry. Large product ranges can be managed with greater ease, and documents can become interactive and accessible for different audiences.

For organizations looking to improve how they create order forms, Pagination offers a flexible solution that adapts to different data sources and design needs. From handling thousands of SKUs to producing interactive PDFs, our platform helps companies save time and enhance the user experience.

Ready to see how InDesign automation could improve your publishing workflows? Contact Pagination today or watch the demo.