MetaDesign Solutions
MetaDesign SolutionsStreamlining document creation with an indesign plugin integrated with Salesforce for efficient project and contract profile generation
Overview
MetaDesign Solutions partnered with The Hunley Group, a leading Salesforce consulting firm, to build an InDesign plugin integrated with Salesforce API. The goal was to streamline the creation of project profiles and contracts for real estate companies. By merging data from Salesforce with predefined InDesign templates, the plugin automates PDF generation, significantly reducing manual work. The solution has empowered The Hunley Group to offer enhanced document management capabilities to its real estate clients, driving productivity and operational efficiency.
about the client
The Hunley Group specializes in Salesforce consulting, helping companies across diverse industries, including construction and real estate, optimize their business processes using Salesforce. Their services range from Salesforce implementation, data migration, and managed services to strategic consulting and custom application development. The company’s expertise lies in integrating Salesforce with third-party platforms and creating industry-specific solutions, particularly for the real estate sector.
In this case, The Hunley Group aimed to improve document management for their real estate clients by leveraging Salesforce’s data capabilities in tandem with InDesign’s design tools. Specifically, their real estate customers required an efficient way to generate contract profiles and project summaries using data stored in Salesforce. This involved pulling content from multiple Salesforce tables and custom fields, merging it into pre-defined templates in InDesign, and uploading the final documents back into Salesforce for easy access and future reference.
Industry Domain
Professional Services & Education
Service Category (Service-line)
Adobe Plug-in Development / Salesforce Custom Development
Technologies Used
InDesign SDK
Salesforce API
Angular
Challenges
Salesforce Integration:Developing seamless connectivity between Salesforce and InDesign through the Salesforce API while managing data from multiple tables and custom fields.
Automated Data Merge:Using InDesign’s XML Merge functionality to automate the merging of Salesforce data into predefined templates.
Real-Time Uploads: Ensuring generated PDFs were successfully uploaded back into Salesforce without manual intervention.
User-Friendly Interface:Creating an intuitive UI within the InDesign plugin to allow users to view data blocks and easily merge them with InDesign templates.
Solution Scope and Services
MetaDesign Solutions built a custom plugin for InDesign that directly integrated with Salesforce via the Salesforce API. The solution fetched data from multiple Salesforce tables and custom fields, presenting it within a user-friendly interface inside InDesign. Users could then select relevant data blocks and merge them into pre-designed templates using InDesign’s built-in XML Merge functionality.
The plugin streamlined document creation by automating the merging process, allowing real estate clients to generate PDF profiles of contracts and projects efficiently. Once the documents were created, they were automatically uploaded back into Salesforce for future access, providing a seamless end-to-end document management solution.
Leveraging Salesforce API for Seamless Data Integration
The integration with Salesforce API enabled the plugin to fetch real-time data from various tables and custom fields, ensuring accuracy and up-to-date information in every generated document. This direct connection allowed for a smooth flow of data between platforms, removing the need for manual data entry.
Streamlining Document Creation with InDesign’s XML Merge
Utilizing the XML Merge feature in Adobe InDesign allowed the solution to automate the complex task of merging Salesforce data into templates. This reduced the time spent on document creation and ensured consistency across all project and contract profiles.
Enhancing Workflow with Real-Time PDF Uploads to Salesforce
The plugin’s ability to upload generated PDF documents back into Salesforce in real time removed the need for manual document handling, enhancing efficiency and maintaining an organized document repository for future use.
Results
The InDesign plugin developed by MetaDesign Solutions enabled The Hunley Group to enhance their real estate clients’ document management systems. By automating the generation of project profiles and contracts directly within InDesign and integrating with Salesforce, the plugin drastically reduced manual work and improved productivity. The solution allowed users to quickly generate and upload documents back into Salesforce, simplifying document handling processes for the customer.
This innovative solution exemplifies how MetaDesign Solutions can blend Salesforce API integration with creative design tools to solve real-world business challenges, particularly for industry-specific needs.