4 good tips before
integrating a product information management(PIM) system
If you want to succeed with a PIM system, there are four important elements you need to focus on before you start.
3 minute read
B2B companies have an urgent need to improve digitally and be more efficient in their data and marketing processes.
Faster time-to-market, marketing efficiency and increased customer demand combined with a good digital experience are driving the agenda in 2021. But what do you need to be aware of when you are going to integrate PIM into your company?
BACK TO BASICS: CONTROL THE STRATEGY
First of all, you need to be on top of the basics: The Strategy. What do you want to achieve as a company?
- Expand into new markets?
- Expand into new channels?
- Have more products?
- Have faster time-to-market?
- Provide better customer service?
- Cut costs?
- Create a more agile company?
Many of these goals require that you have control of your product data and that enrichment processes be as efficient and easy as possible. There are many reasons for choosing a PIM system, but it is important to keep track of the strategy and the purpose of PIM beforehand – otherwise it will be hard to reach the goal.
THE ORGANIZATION: SELECT THE RIGHT TEAM
As a company integrating a PIM System, it is important that you determine whether you have the right people in your organization to work with product data. Does your staff have the right skills and commitment, the right roles and ownership of tasks? Is the data in place?
Product data affects many functions and roles across the company, so it is important to define the ownership of data, processes, systems and projects.
The answer is often yes. You have the right employees, but it is not certain that you have the right employees in the right roles, and it is not at all a given that ownership of data, processes and systems is optimized.
It is important to have organizational support for PIM implementation, and that the ownership of data, processes and systems is clearly anchored in the company. Many companies make the mistake of thinking of PIM implementation as a classic IT project.
THE PROCESS: WHAT SHOULD BE SUPPORTED?
One of the purposes of a PIM system is to help and support work processes so that they become easier, less manual and time-consuming. Therefore, it is important to look at where the shoe pinches in the current processes, so you can design the PIM system to support those processes and thus relieve the “pain”. Some of the questions you can ask yourself are:
- Do you get high-quality data from your entire value chain?
- Is it easy to collect data?
- Are there bottlenecks or silos where the information stops?
- Are there many manual tasks?
These daily processes are often underestimated, but are very important in an implementation in order to get the full effect from a PIM system
TECH: WHICH SYSTEM?
Now that the strategy, ownership of data, processes and systems and what needs to be changed in the work processes are understood, your company’s requirements for the PIM system are also clear. Now it is time to find one that can meet these requirements. This is done by:
- Designing a data model
- Deciding on the architecture and integration
- Setting up the right flows, relationships, notifications and work processes to support the implementation
- Making sure to select a scalable system – your PIM system must be flexible and adaptable as the company grows and develops new needs.
This process is extensive, and this is where we can help your company with the pre-analysis, process and choice of technology.
Want to know more about the project?
om PIM?
Contact Sverre.
