Product information management

Under product information management (also PIM or English. Product Information Management ) is the provision of product information for use in various output media or distribution channels and for different locations. The prerequisite for this is the media-neutral management, maintenance and modification of the product information in a central system in order to be able to supply every channel with consistent, accurate information without spending a lot of resources .

The need for product information management arises from the current practice of data storage and recovery: information are in a business often not centrally organized before, but scattered among employees and departments - for example in the development sabteilung, in the ERP system or distribution . Data is saved in different formats or is only available as a print version. This information is used in various environments and contexts - for example in the sales catalog for a detailed product description with price information or in the logistics department for information on size and weight for calculating freight costs . PIM represents a solution for central, media-neutral data storage in order to provide purchasing, production and communication-relevant data for multiple use across multiple IT systems, languages, output media and publications. It also offers solutions for efficient data transfer, management, enrichment and output.

Synonyms and related terms

The term and the acronym PIM have only been in use since around 2003, so that there is a large number of terms that are used similarly or synonymously, but often come from certain industries and have a different focus. These include:

• PDM - Product Data Management / Product Data Management has emerged from the concept of engineering data management (EDM) and describes systems for the functional management of development-related product data and coordination of processes relating to product manufacturing. The term is mainly used in the context of cAD (CAD).
• PRM - Product Resource Management is occasionally used synonymously with PIM by software providers, as is Product Content Management (PCM) - especially in England and France.
• Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is less an information technology than a management approach to optimize product life cycles with the help of the collection and analysis of the product data that emerges over time.
• Media Asset Management (MAM) describes the management of multimedia, unstructured objects such as images, graphics or presentations as well as meta information , i.e. data about data. The term is mainly used in the media industry. The term is not specific to PIM.
• Cross Media Publishing (CMP) comes from the printing and advertising industry and describes the distribution of the same content via different, complementary media channels. In addition, it is understood to mean the cross-media multiple use of individual components such as text, images or graphics. The term is not specific to PIM.
• MDM - Central Master Data Management is usually seen as a higher-level function of Product Information Management. Master data management includes the synchronization, harmonization and maintenance of all master data in the company. Customer, vendor and employee data are also considered as the product master data.
• Direct Publishing refers to the automated creation of documentation such as B. manuals, operating instructions, spare parts catalogs or product information. The data for this procedure can also be located at distributed locations.

Relationship to enterprise content management

Enterprise content management encompasses technologies, methods and tools for capturing, managing, storing, archiving and providing electronic content to support organizational processes. From the point of view of a product information system, four areas can be identified here:

• Document management systems (DMS) are responsible for the administration of more commercial documents with subsequent archiving .
• Product data management systems (PDM systems) have the task of storing and managing the results of product development in defining, representing, presenting data and documents and making them available in later phases of the product life cycle. As part of the company information and coordination system, it contains methods and rules for product data management and interfaces to CAx software, ERP software, workflow management and document management systems.
• Content management systems (CMS) are systems that provide information and content for media marketing media in the context of marketing or self-presentation. The best known are content management systems in the context of websites. The page is separated into design and content. While the design is not changed for a long time and is subject to certain guidelines, such as the corporate identity, and is therefore viewed as static, the content is subject to constant change.
• Product information management systems (PIM systems) themselves are ultimately used to manage structured data in the commercial environment in order to feed all conceivable sales channels - from the electronic catalog to the online shop to the print catalog. To do this, they use components of output management , web content management and enterprise content management as services.

Technological basis of Product Information Management (PIM)

A PIM system consolidates all product information on one platform. Usually, the focus is on information used in sales and marketing, since the classic data (article numbers, short names, commercial features, logistics data, production information) are mostly covered in the ERP system. For the IT infrastructure of a company this means that a PIM platform is set up as the heart of a relational database system with an application server ("3-tier"). Business processes from sales and procurement can then be set up on this basis. The PIM solution controls the access and user rights for all information in the database, the order process management in connection with merchandise management systems such as SAP and above all the mechanisms for the modular extensions via an administration interface . These modules each cover a channel and can be combined as required - depending on which sales channels appear lucrative for a company. For example, it only makes sense to run a configurator if there are a large number of variants of a product - it is also of little use to set up a web shop for complicated products that require a lot of advice. The classic additions include catalog solutions, e-procurement applications, e-commerce systems and industry-specific e-business functions.

Common uses of PIM

Basis for electronic catalogs

Electronic catalogs are the basis for the use of procurement systems or platforms such as online marketplaces. A PIM system can load descriptive information about a product into a catalog management solution for design. Products can be grouped and managed there for product ranges tailored to target groups. Exchange standards (e.g. BMEcat ) and classification systems such as eCl @ ss make it possible to seamlessly exchange the electronic catalogs between the suppliers on the one hand and the purchasing companies and marketplace operators on the other. Procurement solutions are closely linked to this: They automate the procurement processes for purchasing goods and services. As a platform for the central administration of multi-supplier catalogs, they create transparency among the product data of several suppliers and help in the search for the best price-performance ratio.

Basis for content provision for websites / web shops

Central data management is particularly useful for a company's website: documents, content and media objects such as product images can be linked to other business objects such as a customer or a product. The handling of the order process is controlled by an e-commerce component, which is also responsible for the online presentation of the dynamic content. In order to actually save costs, it must be possible to integrate the solution seamlessly into inventory management and logistics systems.

Basis for assortment strategies in retail

The developments in the so-called long tail are motivating online retailers to significantly expand their product ranges. In stationary retail, the range of products on offer must be closely aligned with demand due to the limited retail space. So you pay particular attention to the demand of the masses, while everything that is not profitable enough often has to be left out. These restrictions are less applicable in online trading. In interaction with Product Information Management, the integration of upstream suppliers and the subsequent product data maintenance can be optimized so that even very large assortments can be processed.

Basis for the reduction of shade ranges in retail

In order to meet the diverse needs of their customers, many trading companies order items from their suppliers that are not included in the standard range - and thus in the ERP. To do this, the printed and electronic supplier catalogs are painstakingly combed through for the desired products. In addition, there is the immense effort involved in manually creating a new article in an ERP system such as SAP. With the help of product information management, all supplier ranges can be brought together in a central catalog system. Here, the use of a search engine enables a cross-supplier and cross-range search for the desired product and the selection of the best offer. For order processing, the product data, including the supplier conditions, are then fed into the ERP via an interface.

Basis for product catalogs

Finally, the information from the central data storage can also be used for print catalogs, digital catalogs and for the website. The publishing component of an e-business solution accesses the shared data management and enables the content for the catalog to be stored and managed in a media-neutral manner. It should be noted that there are more and more solutions on the market that go far beyond a classic database-to-print scenario.

Basis for product documentation

If there is sufficient product-descriptive information (2D representations, images, descriptive texts for assembly, maintenance and use, etc.), assembly and operating instructions, spare parts catalogs and maintenance instructions can be generated automatically. An editing system for the creation of descriptive texts can only describe the components of a product that are manufactured by the company itself. For supplier components, the supplier's documentation must also be included in the overall documentation. The central PIM also specifies the structure and navigation options in the overall documentation to be generated.

The market for PIM solutions

PIM is still a very young topic. The market segment has only received attention from broader customer groups since the second half of 2004, when market analysts and the press began to deal more intensively with this solution category. Medium-sized and large companies in the retail, consumer goods and manufacturing industries are predestined for the use of PIM solutions. Drivers for using a PIM solution include:

• extensive inventory of products
• frequent changes in product features
• heterogeneous IT infrastructure (e.g. due to inorganic company growth)
• successful online business
• Customer pressure to support electronic procurement processes

Strategically, PIM becomes a necessity when large customers force the support of new data exchange standards (such as the Global Data Synchronization Network ) or an international expansion strategy is sought. Here, the effective consolidation of product information and the conversion of processes based on it play a decisive role in the success of the business strategy. For example, a catalog mail order company who wants to expand into five other countries is often not able to implement this strategy without changing its production processes for catalogs.

costs

The costs for the implementation of individual PIM solutions are estimated at at least € 150,000 plus license fees and maintenance. There are also providers of standard systems. A standard system does not require individual programming.

literature

• Thomas Lucas-Nülle: Product Information Management in Germany. Market study 2005.
• visAvis: web business. Issue 1, 2005.
• Erich Koetter: Product communication as the key to success for tomorrow's markets. PIM study 2009. Chmielorz Verlag, Mötzingen 2009, ISBN 978-3-87124-346-2 .
• Gerhard Kirchner: Practical application of product information management in single source publishing - automatic generation of catalogs, price lists and internet shops. expert publishing house, Renningen 2010, ISBN 978-3-8169-2897-3 .
• Erich Koetter: Better positioned with PIM: Product Information Management for successful customer communication. PIM study 2012/14. Stuttgart 2014.

Web links

• Federal Association of Materials Management, Purchasing and Logistics V.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Direct Publishing | Technical documentation | SEAL Systems AG . In: SEAL Systems . ( sealsystems.de [accessed on April 3, 2018]).
2. ↑ The Long History of Choosing a PIM System - Checkout Zone. Retrieved October 29, 2018 .