MDM for Products Request for Information Guidelines

September 6, 2011 Leave a comment

Our Product Information Management Consultants compiled questions from over 100 Best Practice MDM for Product RFI documents. This document, loaded with PIM functionality details is perfect for a business starting out on a Product Information Management software evaluation journey. This template provides questions your company can use to begin evaluating PIM (product information management solutions.) All your PIM evaluation team needs to do is flag questions that fit your requirements and omit questions that do not. The guide covers a broad range of MDM for products functionality including:

General overview of Product Information Management.
Product Life Cycle Management
Digital Asset Management
Role Based Security
Partner and Customer Collaboration via a Portal Framework
Data Aggregation and Extraction
Data Quality and Data Governance
Classification/Hierarchies
Product Attributes
Merchandising and Promotions using Time Based Effectivity
Print Catalog Management and InDesign intergration
Electronic Catalog publication to Amazon, Google, Ebay and more….
ERP integration
Product Information Management Syndication to e commerce, sales partners, systems
Integration

The PIM guide also covers Search, Work flow, Portal Framework usage, Security and Auditing. Request your FREE guide today and get started on the MDM for Product path with a strong first step.

Filed under data quality, MDM, PIM, Product Information Management Tagged with , ,

Manufacturers: Is Product Information Management Essential?

August 15, 2011 Leave a comment

Manufacturers manage a sea of data. Wide ranges of processes and activities stream through the manufacturing enterprise. New product introductions, regulatory compliance, and customer/supplier relationships among just a few.

Discrete manufacturers manage data and digital assets about parts, components and assemblies that go into the products made. Internal product data must be maintained. Syndicating product data to distributors, dealers, data pools and other channels is often slowed by older inefficient, manual processes. Sales can be bogged down.

Optimizing and Automating the transformation of product data into powerful, persuasive, product information delivers benefits for the manufacturer:

Supply Chain Partner Relations are improved. Manufacturers using a PIM solution report a 20% improvement in collaboration with partners.

Products Speed to Market: 7-13% reduction in time communicating product updates.

Fewer Invoice Errors and Disputes: Manufacturers can expect a 5-10% time reduction spent resolving errors and disputes.

Stock Outs are Reduced 3-5%.

Purchase Order Errors are Slashed 26%.

New Product Management time spent by merchandisers and data-entry is cut by 5000 to 10000 hours.

Invoice Accuracy Booms: 1000 to 2000 hours saved by elimination of invoice errors.

23% Reduction in Returns: Customers act on up-to-date, rich product information.

Promotions are Made more Accurate: Product Promotion discrepancies slashed by 23%.

Source: A.T Kearney, The Yankee Group

Filed under manufacturing, manufacturing sales, MDM, Multi Channel Sales, Product Information Management

The Master Data Dilemma

August 11, 2011 Leave a comment

Corporate data is created and manipulated in ERP Systems, spreadsheets, graphics programs, CRM applications, and other like systems. A wide range of corporate users and users outside of the four corporate walls, need to plug into this data at different times. And this data fuels corporate reporting, e-commerce and sales efforts, catalogs, and other publishing requirements. Completeness and accuracy is a hit or miss proposition. Incomplete data abounds, and inaccurate data stalls out productivity and pours sand into the corporate engine.

And customer decisions to buy products are simpler to make with fuller, complete product information.

Filed under MDM, Product Information Management

What is Master Data Management?

August 11, 2011 Leave a comment

Master Data Management or MDM is a software toolset. Data, with the MDM toolset, is consistent, and accurate. Data can define Vendors, Customers, corporate assets, and more. And best of all, data is usable. Usable to other systems, and to employees needing clean, accurate informtion to do work.

Work can be product management, customer relationship management, merchandizing, marketing, sales and executive management. External data consumers like sales partners, and operations partners can be administered to receive and update data, if an enterprise wishes. Customers, interfacing with catalogs and e-commerce applications, can make decisions with clean, and rich information at their finger tips.

When data is clean and accurate, it is like an enterprise is on automatic. Work which effects profits can be done faster and easier. Human resources are not wasted doing administration tasks like finding and cleaning data. Processes like data governance, and new product introductions, are simplified.

The problem is information or data is silo’ed. Data resides in several different systems, laptops or even outside the enterprise. Finding this data is akin to going on safari and hunting for big game. Digital assets, a component of product information, live, in many cases, all over the business; on desktops, in design software, on network servers, etc.

Data which resides all over the place, and even in multiple places, makes ordering harder, invoices inaccurate, customer service more difficult and just throws mud on the rails of an operating business. Compliance reporting that relies on inaccurate, hard to find data invites penalties. Human efforts to find, clean, and enrich data are a silly cost, considering MDM solutions are available.

Filed under MDM, Product Information Management

Product Information Management: Preparing for PIM eBook

August 6, 2011 Leave a comment

“When it comes to managing your company’s product information you must possess the qualities of a maverick while maintaining the leadership and courage of a pioneer.”

This is an important eBook that all product information management professionals should have. Marketers and merchandising professionals should also get this Preparing for PIM eBook. It is free and loaded with guidelines to a successful PIM software evaluation, deployment and usage.

Get your Free Preparing for PIM eBook right here:

Filed under manufacturing sales, PIM, print publishing, Product Information Management Tagged with

Supplier Management Using Supplier Portal

July 20, 2011 Leave a comment

Prospects tell me that suppliers will not use a portal to upload, edit, manage their product catalogs. Often, after the supplier portal is deployed, results are surprising. Suppliers, when offered a fast simple way to exchange product data, jump on board.

Sure, utilization is not 100%. And just 80% or even 50% pays dividends. New products speed to web and to print. Product edits are outsourced back to the supplier. Data is transformed into clean usable information. And then enriched to persuasive product information.

A simple supplier portal. Easy to use, a simple interface, and supplier support, makes this project work.

Filed under PIM, Product Information Management, Supplier Management

To Print Catalogs or not to Print Catalogs

June 6, 2011 Leave a comment

A electronics distributor announced no more print catalogs recently. I look at this a wonder if this is because printing the “Big Book” is just too dang expensive to get together. Companies in this same industrial vertical, electronic distribution, are doing just the opposite; creating more catalogs. Go figure.

I like catalogs. And my wife does too. When the latest Cabela’s enters my mail box at the house, it is scanned cover to cover. I look for deals that fit my needs. And in Cabela’s case, buy on line or in the Cabela store north of Fort Worth. And the catalogs I like are precise for Bowhunters, or hunters or the season.

Catalogs are valuable. But just like all marketing efforts, targeted information is better. A catalog highlighting all new LEDs, or all product for specific application is valuable. Focused product information sent to high potential buyers, sells products. Yellow page big books, w/ 2 mill products, expensive door stops. Maybe.

Catalog agility sets retailers apart. How hard is it to segment the product information and publish to print? How costly to set up and get to print? Please find 2 guides which may be helpful for folks interested in optimizing print catalog process.

Filed under print publishing, Product Information Management

Product Information Management Free e-Book

May 20, 2011 Leave a comment

Getting PIM project buy-in is never easy. PIM leaders must possess a maverick attitude. Often, I see men and women running project management, marketing and merchandising departments, winning this battle based on eye opening business cases. PIM ROI is real and I have earnings reports from customers proving this. Now for the mavericks out there thinking about PIM a new ebook has arrived. This ebook called “Preparing for PIM,” was published by a leading MDM for Product Information Solution provider, Enterworks. This guide is for folks that need product information management tools; The business people that gather, manage and publish their company’s product information. This PIM e-book lights the path to MDM for Product success. Get yours here:

Filed under manufacturing, MDM, Multi Channel Sales, PIM, print publishing, Product Information Management Tagged with , , ,

Product Information Management Software RFI Template

May 19, 2011 Leave a comment

Get a Free Product Information Management RFI Guide Loaded with Best Practice PIM Functionality.

Enterprises that can quickly transform product data into rich, selling product information have competitive advantage over enterprises fighting product data each day.

Transforming product data to rich, selling product information is key to delighting customers and to keeping sales healthy.  Often, gathering product data from suppliers and internal systems to publish to e commerce sites and to print is a slow, painful process.

Retailers and etailers have many suppliers. And the market may change each day. Product attributes like price, color, size, availability, fit, capability, may change daily. And getting e commerce changes done, can eat time and cost sales.

If an Enterprise sells thousands of products into a fast moving marketing like apparel, electronics, and consumer goods, and if the product management process is slow and painful, a Product Information Management solution will offer high return on investment. 

Product information management smooths business processes like product edits, new product introductions, data governance and data enrichment Best of breed product information management solutions contain workflow engines that power and improve business processes like product lifecycle management.

Integrated workflow pushes work to designated users, using alerts and notifications, to speed business processes, to increase efficiency and to increase sales.

Now you can speed up the vendor selection process. Base lining your product data requirements is done for you.

PIM-Data.com is offering a FREE RFI/RFP guide to all enterprises seeking a product information management solution. This guide is full of rich functionality detail describing best of breed product information features. This guide is built to serve as a starting point. Project teams can use this road map to save time and kick start the PIM selection process.  

Much information is given to you. General Instructions, PIM and Multichannel Publishing overview and all these chapters:

Product Information Management

Search

Digital Asset Management (DAM)

Multichannel Publishing and Syndication

Product data system integration

Web-to-Print Portal

Work flow Management

Web Content Management

E-Commerce

Portal Framework for marketers, sales teams and more…

Support questions, training questions and technology questions are covered with intelligent questions all seeking a PIM solution can use. Important vendor questions are also supplied plus a reference section. All a Project Information team needs is to apply this template to their business. Please get your FREE copy right here:

Filed under catalog, data quality, ecommerce, ecommerce software, MDM, Multi Channel Sales, PIM, product catalog, Product Information Management Tagged with , , , , ,

Product Information Management Guide

May 17, 2011 Leave a comment

Product Information Management or PIM solutions have been around for awhile. Yet still many companies spend way too much time and money getting, cleansing, and transforming data into rich product information. With a PIM solution, transforming data into rich information can be quick and easy. PIM speeds up new product introductions and product edits and makes the customer experience better leading to more sales.

If your company takes too long to introduce new products. Or if your company spends hours editing product data or making changes, then the Free PIM Guide is for you. This guide describes how a best practice pim solution can benefit your business by deliver real world functionally details. Here are some highlights:

  • How to get supplier data and transform to rich, selling product information quickly.
  • How to manage all digital assets like images, videos, spec sheets; And associate digital assets to products and product categories.
  • How to integrate a PIM solution to your ERP, your Web site and your creative solutions like Indeca or Quark.
  • Plus, how workflow can keep data clean, simplify new product information management and optimize your business processes.

This PIM guide, put together in a Request for Information format, will help you learn what benefits your company can gain. And can be used to start building business requirements for a PIM solution. The guide will get you on the path to world class product management and higher sales.

Request PIM Guide right here:

Filed under PIM, print publishing, Product Information Management

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