Introduction of an electronic product catalog (PIM)in the context of digitization

F&P Blog

In many companies, one component of digitalization is the switch to a database-based product catalog, which, in addition to a web store and a connection to the ERP system, enables the quick and partial creation of product catalogs or catalog extracts for special marketing occasions.

PIM stands for Product Information Management and is a digital product marketing tool.

A PIM project was successfully implemented using the example of a traffic engineering company with StVO traffic signs and the corresponding fastening and mounting technology as well as construction site safety equipment.

What are the advantages of a PIM system?

In addition to entering the article number and technical specifications in the form of short and long text descriptions, the prices and images for the range can also be managed very easily and customized and made available. We are talking here about seasonal catalog extracts or special offers for a specific customer group with modified prices. No experts are needed to adjust prices or discount limits of a single product group individually for a period of time or to create catalog extracts for a specific customer group only. We are not only talking about the paper catalog, which can be produced in small print runs using the local laser printer, but also the automatic connection to a web catalog. And in this web catalog, as with AMAZON, intelligent cross-selling is realized. This also increases customer loyalty, as it is much easier for the customer to order the traffic sign together with the necessary fastening technology on one page. Cross-selling can also be carried out in the printed catalog, but is much more efficient in the web-based version.

If the system is connected to the ERP system via an interface, the complete price maintenance can be carried out in just one system and automatically transferred to the linked system.

Current status at many medium-sized companies

There is a printed catalog with article numbers and prices and, if applicable, a price group assignment that reflects the maximum discount amount. This version of the product catalog is also available as a PDF version with a search function. The graphics files and images/photos have been processed in a special graphics program and are also stored there. This decoupling of graphics, texts and basic product information means that reprinting with changed prices or new products with different technical specifications and graphics is always a major effort. A graphic designer with the appropriate software is always required for the realization.

Open source solutionvs. integrated license software

The first step in the implementation process requires a specification sheet and the number of products. It should be borne in mind that each product variant has its own article number in the database system – in this case, there were approx. 24,000 different traffic signs and approx. 1,000 articles in the context of posts, clamps and other articles for construction safety. This large number of article numbers is also reflected in the costs for a license version. In addition to the sheer quantity, the extent to which graphic files and texts are already available in digital form or still have to be generated is decisive. In our case, many graphics had to be recreated due to the suboptimal image quality.

Many system providers work with the open source solution from PIM Core as a database with interfaces to graphics programs and ERP systems. Other systems with integrated graphics and connection to SAP or other ERP systems in turn allow the “one-stop store”. Here, companies receive the complete solution from a single source, including graphics creation and image processing. IT companies also offer this service with their PIM projects – but in many cases it is provided by cooperation partners, so that you have several contact partners for implementation.

Investment volumeand follow-up costs

Regardless of the choice of product, an investment volume of at least €100 thousand can be assumed in the first year. When weighing up the providers and the question of working with or without license costs, one of the most important questions is the available marketing and IT personnel resources. In the chosen approach with the traffic signs, there was neither the IT resource for changes to the database structure or the printing rules and formatting in the various output formats, nor any graphical input due to a lack of personnel and software.

The decision in this project was therefore clearly made in favor of the integrated full provider with self-developed software and license fees. It is a misconception that unlicensed open source software is always cheaper. Of course, the license fees for the software are incurred annually as follow-up costs and must be offset against the personnel savings in IT and graphics.

Are you interested in such a digital switchover? Then please contact us – we have experience in this area.

Find out here which of our partners is suitable for your project.