A big part of the business case for a Product Information Management (PIM) system is the productivity boost it provides. PIM systems turn data management from a burden on a company to one of its greatest assets. You could say it becomes a secret weapon. Empowering staff to get things done quickly and accurately, driving the business forwards. So how does it do it? Well, here I am going to list 5 ways a PIM system boosts company productivity.
1. Provides a single source of truth for data
The biggest and most obvious productivity boost provided by a PIM system is that it provides a single source of truth.
"What does that mean? Sounds like marketing jargon."
You're probably right. But basically, it gives everyone at the company one place to go for information about any product. It all gets stored in the PIM and is effortless to access.
Now, this is going to cut down the amount of time it takes to find data points. You'll never need to get in touch with other departments or a certain individual. You'll never have to check if a certain Excel file is the most up-to-date version or go rooting around for the business's latest catalogue. For example, an individual from the marketing department can be given permission to view data within the PIM and edit the "Marketing text" attribute. This makes it simple for each department to go about their work, knowing that all data is always in the PIM, up to date and accessible to everyone who needs it.
2. Keeps data and images together
Product Information Management software doesn't only act as a data storage system. You're also able to keep images, videos and any media files with products too.
For businesses that use Excel, this can be a game-changer. Having the ability to view the data for a product, with the images and media files alongside, is extremely beneficial. Companies no longer have to consider their product information and media files as separate entities. They are managed together, which saves time, resources and frustrations for staff.
You can read way more about this in why you shouldn't pay more for digital asset management.
3. Makes management of data simpler
There are so many features within a PIM system to make the management of data simpler. I'll list a few here:
- Products get divided into families and categories, so locating individual items or groups of products is quick.
- Parameters can be set for product attributes, so the wrong data can't accidentally get added.
- Built-in permission settings give you control over who can edit certain data points.
- An activity log keeps track of changes to product data. The person responsible for each change is highlighted, removing uncertainty.
- API connectors can link up with any website or eCommerce platform and distribute data automatically (more on that later!).
- Channels allow you to store product information in different ways, such as in another language, without affecting the master data set.
There's much more to mention on this. Simply put though, a PIM's design is to protect and enhance data quality, whilst being easy to navigate for all staff, no matter what their technical experience. Product information really does stop being a huge drain on resources. Instead, accurate data flow around the company. Straight to the places is needed to speed up processes for everybody.
4. Automates repetitive jobs
The scheduled export tool in OneTimePIM means data can be sent to places with no human input.
For example, if you have a third party who needs the latest product information on a certain range every month. Once an export has been set up, it can repeat forever, running automatically at a set time. Each time pulling the latest data straight from your PIM and send it to the required location.
Then there are API links. These can be set up to communicate data changes with any website, sales platform or other software.
5. Instant data sheet generation
Data sheets can be produced and downloaded from PIM software in 1 click. All the data is compiled by the system with 100% accuracy. A document is ready in PDF format to be distributed to the customers or website.
Don't worry about losing control either. With OneTimePIM, templates can be uploaded for the PDF and the data points selected for the sheet are completely customisable.
As you can imagine, the time saving with this immediate data sheet creation is huge. Coupled with the knowledge data will be 100% accurate, and it offers a significant competitive advantage.
I hope this article has demonstrated the productivity benefits experienced when using PIM. In a competitive business environment, firms need to find unique ways to outperform their competitors. Software such as OneTimePIM is helping provide many businesses with that data management advantage. If you'd like to learn more about our system please don't hesitate to book yourself in for a no-obligation free demo. Here we could find out if OneTimePIM will help your company maximise productivity.
