It’s 2023. Do you know where your product information is?
If you’re like most companies, your product data is probably stored in Excel spreadsheets, Google Sheets, OneDrive, PDFs, USB flash drives, Word documents, in-house custom databases, and email, to name a few.
And that’s precisely the problem. When an organization doesn’t centralize product data, teams create their own product data silos. Hence the lengthy list of places where product data is stored. This makes it impossible for your employees to know if the product data they’re accessing is accurate.
That’s where a product information management (PIM) solution comes in and saves the day. By using a PIM, you can centralize all of your product data and make it accessible to all business users. A PIM typically contains product data such as product descriptions, SKUs, pricing, product features, dimensions, related products, and more.
Let’s dive into the four reasons why a PIM solution is a must-have tool for every CPG and manufacturing company.
- Single Source of Truth
A PIM allows your business to say goodbye to the countless spreadsheets, documents, and files of product information, and hello to a streamlined solution for managing all of your product data. By using a PIM, you are creating a single source of truth for all of your product data, enabling everyone in your organization to know where to go for the latest product information. A PIM also enables multiple users in your business to update data throughout the product lifecycle. This ensures data across entire product lines is always up-to-date and never siloed in the hands of only one person.
Additionally, most leading PIM solutions include built-in Digital Asset Management (DAM) functionality, enabling you to manage your product-related digital assets alongside your product data. This allows your business to easily tie product images, owner’s manuals, tech spec sheets, troubleshooting videos, etc. to your product data creating one single location for all of your product information.
- Increased Productivity
Every business is tasked with finding a way to do more with fewer resources. One easy way to significantly increase productivity in your business long-term is through the implementation of a PIM solution. According to a recent survey, employees spend 3.6 hours daily searching for information. This is an astonishing statistic when you think about the size of your organization and how many hours of lost productivity occur merely due to searching for the latest product data. The implementation of a PIM solution completely removes the need for team members to search for product data and digital assets driving instant productivity gains after the PIM is implemented.
The use of a PIM also drives additional productivity gains when the PIM is connected to digital product experiences and various other sales and marketing resources. For example, if your company website highlights product data and is integrated into your PIM solution then any updates made in your PIM will automatically occur on your website. This is a major time savings especially for marketing teams since they will no longer need to manually update content with the latest product information.
- Faster Go-to-market
Speed is often one of the biggest competitive advantages and it applies to almost everything in your business. A PIM solution can significantly shorten your speed-to-market from the onset. For example, some PIM solutions are designed to be implemented without IT or development resources enabling your business to get up and running with a PIM solution in only a few days.
Once implemented, a PIM with built-in Digital Experience Platform (DXP) functionality enables employees to create digital product experiences that are automatically tied to product data within minutes. This can take the time required to create a product catalog from more than 300 hours doing it manually to less than 15 minutes using a solution that has a built-in PIM, DAM, and DXP. With this type of solution, your business could launch product guides, promotional campaigns, sales resources, dealer incentives, etc. in mere minutes compared to the lengthy traditional process that often takes days or weeks.
- Reduced Costs
By effectively using a PIM solution in your business, you’ll realize cost reductions tied to the productivity gains achieved from using the PIM. Depending on the size of your organization, the cost reduction tied to productivity gains can be tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. Additionally, there can be even further cost reductions based on the PIM solution selected. For example, most leading PIMs have built-in DAM functionality which allows companies to purchase a PIM and not have the added cost of a third-party DAM solution. These savings can be upwards of $20,000 annually or more based on the size of your business.
If your business hasn’t invested in a PIM solution, then it’s time to seriously consider adding one. A PIM can provide numerous benefits to your business almost immediately and is truly a must-have tool for any manufacturer or CPG company.
