CONTENT What is PIM 360º?... 2 What exactly does PIM 360º mean?... 2 Data integration... 2 Data management... 2 Multichannel business... 3 Consulting and Implementation... 3 Heiler Software... 4 Enterprise Product Information Management White Paper Chapter 1 1
What is PIM 360º? Companies need a 360-degree view of their product data Today, many companies do not have a consistent and transparent process established in their Product Information Supply Chain. This process can be established in the data acquisition stage. The internal benefits of establishing this process are often underestimated. The catalog department in marketing asks: "What is the best way to display our items in the print catalog?" The e- commerce team worries about making the best presentation possible on the web. Because products are not described the same way across all channels, successful multichannel commerce can be difficult to achieve. For example, print catalog product data is maintained for online searches but a lack of synonymous keywords can lead to poor search results. In this case, revenue is potentially wasted because a customer was unable to find the product when entering his search query. Successful multichannel commerce needs perfect product data. Due to the complexity of data integration and the increasing number of different marketing and distribution channels, providing relevant and accurate product descriptions across all channels has never been more important. This is where PIM 360 comes in. Following the motto "Integrate - Manage Sell," PIM 360 begins with the integration of product information, governs master data management and ends with multichannel commerce. What exactly does PIM 360º mean? Data integration Dealers must be able to assimilate large amounts of supplier data (through automated professional workflow and verification mechanisms) into their product range. Many suppliers provide product information in different formats, such as CSV, Excel, Data Standards or BMEcat. Although modern solutions can merge these formats in one step during importation, PIM 360 goes the extra step by ensuring deep ERP data integration. This added step makes PIM the most recommended system for successfully managing product-related master data. Data management Product data governance, a great business value, is often neglected by many companies. Having access to and working with consistent, centralized product and master data is of immense importance for both marketing and distribution channels. PIM 360 ensures complete transparency and rapid work processes in purchasing, research and development, product management, logistics and cost analyses. With each new product or company acquisition, decentralized data storage multiplies the information chaos. Poor data quality leads to inefficient internal processes and also to inaccurate analysis on the basis of which decisions - possibly the wrong ones - are made. PIM 360 ensures the right information ends up with the right employees and departments. By having the most recent and accurate information, worker productivity will increase (especially for large, international companies). For example, a company can increase worker productivity across multiple areas by knowing which resources are linked to which departments, branches or regional companies through the effective synchronization of different data silos or complex searches. Enterprise Product Information Management White Paper Chapter 1 2
Multichannel business In e-commerce, PIM 360 means that Enterprise PIM systems can seamlessly operate the world's leading e-commerce solutions via standard interfaces: ATG, IBM and Intershop rank among the global players here. However, customized punchout catalogs or direct integration with e-procurement systems of large customers can also be served in this way. Through the integration with a media asset management solution (MAM), the PIM checks which product images are placed in advertising media. Deletion of an image and video that is still being used in other places is thus avoided. Various derivatives such as pictures in high or low resolutions can also be automatically created and stored for print and online media, and linked with the PIM. PIM 360 helps increase sales. As an internal information portal on all available products, it helps all sales staff make optimal use of up- and cross-selling potential. No more leafing manually through catalogs and price lists, the sales department always has the right offer at hand at the right time. This increases customer loyalty, making retailers and manufacturers No. 1 with their customers. Consulting and Implementation The panoramic view is also needed in the introduction of PIM solutions. A successful project methodology encompasses all facets of product data management: Not just sales, but data acquisition and data management too. PIM 360º PIM represents a complete 360 view of product information, from data migration and data management to multichannel commerce. Enterprise Product Information Management White Paper Chapter 1 3
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