Replacing the "heart" of a company is a project of enormous scale. Migrating to SAP S/4HANA is not just a costly matter. It also means more work for the organization, as managers and key users are involved in the process who will be responsible many additional tasks over a long period of time.
Consider Product Information Management
There are therefore many reasons to focus on simplifying implementation, based on existing everyday life. If your company is one of the businesses migrating SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA, it makes sense to consider Product Information Management, also known as PIM. A PIM system will work well with your ERP system to boost competitiveness and streamline a whole range of workflows.
These include:
- Creating materials and product information even before using them in ERP
- Easy export of product information to all your media
- Quickly updating and changing materials, product information, product groups
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6 daily tasks in SAP which
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A professional PIM solution for SAP S/4HANA offers benefits right from the start
You may not necessarily think of a "new product information management solution" when considering a major investment like SAP S/4HANA. From a process perspective, it is advisable to think about this at the start of the upgrade project. If you choose a first-class PIM solution and create as well as control your product information management there, you will already benefit from many advantages during the development and implementation of the ERP system, such as:
- Integrated system to manage product group hierarchies, material information and simplify data creation
- Fewer changes required in the standard SAP S/4HANA
- Better performance when the ERP system focuses on your transactional data
It is about recognizing the types of product information that SAP S/4HANA is not particularly suited to manage, and managing it in a system designed solely to make product information management as effective and easy as possible.
The result is a less complex upgrade project with fewer modifications required. Implementing and maintaining data within PIM solutions often requires neither internal nor external consultants. Your users can do the work themselves and will find it much easier to create and update the data. If you store product information in different systems today, you will see the difference between the current system and a professional PIM solution like night and day.
With the PIM system you can, among other things:
- Significantly simplify product information work throughout the organization
- Enable quick and easy access for your staff to all product data in one place
- Ensure that all product and category managers are working with the same updated data to avoid mistakes (single point of truth)
- Your core IT department focuses on transactional data
Easy access to up-to-date product data
A top-of-the-line PIM solution integrated into SAP ECC or SAP S/4HANA allows your employees to access all product data – descriptions, images, specifications, etc. - as well as transactional data from the ERP system as if the product information was in your ERP system.
You can finally say goodbye to a situation where different data on the same product is suddenly available in the same company. Because the PIM solution eliminates any pitfalls in your company. All departments dealing with product information are provided with a common tool so that nobody has incorrect or outdated data.
The PIM solution works in real-time with your ERP data, so that prices and stock levels are always up to date.
SAP S/4 HANA is not burdened with irrelevant products
SAP S/4 HANA will not be charged with products until they really become transactional data.
You can use the PIM system as a sandbox for new products that are still under development. When a product is ready for sale, it is only released by the PIM system in SAP ECC or SAP S/4HANA the first time it is sold. This way, you avoid your ERP system dealing with products that may never be sold.
Product data on all channels increases your competitiveness
Whether B2B or B2C, your product data sets you apart from the competition online! If your employees need something in the coming years, there is an excellent tool for managing product information. Data and documentation requirements will grow significantly as a result of digitalization and will increasingly become a competitive factor, as customers place higher demands.
An efficient, seamlessly integrated product information management solution will help decide who wins the customer. If you are migrating to S/4HANA and want a PIM solution, it will strengthen both marketing and sales.
Marketing staff will find that exporting product data for all channels, webshops, websites, apps and online portals becomes much easier than if it is done from different locations. This means that employees can use all their working time to carry out value-adding tasks instead of searching for data.
Plus up-to-date product information is always available to sales. If a customer asks for additional material, they will receive it in their inbox before the conversation with the salesperson ends. Sales staff can quickly create brochures and data sheets in print-ready PDF format and send them by e-mail – with up-to-date data directly from the PIM system and SAP S/4HANA.
Guide:
6 daily tasks in SAP which become a lot easier
with a PIM-system
Learn how a good PIM system can optimize your product data management.
In the guide "6 daily tasks in SAP which become a lot easier with a PIM-system", we review six everyday scenarios and show the difference between working with an SAP system or PIM system.
