Accuracy, productivity and customer experience. These are all critical factors for any organization looking to make its mark and develop an ongoing framework for success.
However, achieving these milestones can be easier said than done when you must simultaneously manage multiple repositories of product data, IT systems and development environments.
Inconsistencies and conflicting information between digital entities result in unnecessary expenditure and inefficient operations. Businesses that face these challenges meet them with the introduction of a Product Information Management (PIM) system, which you might want to consider if your information processes have become unwieldy.
Is Your IT Running Wild?
When you are managing multiple databases, products, Excel spreadsheets and other IT instances, you need to ensure that you know exactly what is being managed, why it is there, what it is doing and who holds ownership. Keeping track of this information is not only a challenge, but a challenge that could be putting your business at risk if you don't get it right.
If your IT is running wild, you are vulnerable: vulnerable to security threats, vulnerable to downtime, vulnerable to running duplicate and conflicting systems, and vulnerable to high costs.
PIM solves these problems by storing your product information in a central repository, allowing you to improve the quality and consistency of your product data across all business and customer-facing channels.
The True Business Value of PIM
PIM systems offer tremendous business value and provide organizations with one true source for all of the product data within their enterprise.
This not only improves accuracy and efficiency, but ensures multiple repositories containing conflicting product data are eliminated, onboarding processes for suppliers are streamlined and the time taken to search for product information is greatly reduced.
By using one master repository for product information you can not only prevent mistakes across your infrastructure, but ensure that mistakes don't filter down the chain to affect your customers.
Improve Agility by Banishing Irrelevant Data
Business markets move fast. You need to be agile to keep up. Staying relevant within your industry means collaborating as efficiently as possible across departments, responding quickly to external and internal change, and getting products to market as quickly as possible.
PIM helps you to achieve agility and relevance, ensuring that your teams work seamlessly together, that your product information is centralized and that you have access to the big picture across your organization. Having complete visibility of your product information helps you to enhance product management across all channels.
Signs Your Business Needs a PIM
If your product information is scattered across a number of repositories, this is often a sure sign you need to consider a PIM system. Here are some other telltale signs:
- Teams spend a lot of time tracking down product information.
- There is a lot of conflicting information, making it difficult to guarantee accuracy.
- Mistakes are often discovered after the distribution of the product.
- Information is not stored in a consistent format.
- Your customers are receiving inaccurate orders or products.
There can be no shortcuts when managing your product information. Neglecting to pull your product data together consistently could damage your internal processes, your reputation and, ultimately, your bottom line.
Would you like to know a lot more about how a PIM system can simplify your daily tasks? Download our whitepaper: 'Six daily tasks in ERP, which become much easier using a PIM system'
