By now, most of us understand the concept of the supply chain. This is the conceptual representation of product movement from raw material through manufacturing and distribution to the consumer. It's a problem that we've been working on for years and it is critical that we get it right.
Just as important, but not as evolved, is the product information supply chain where information moves from raw product data through value-adding edits and context setting, to retailers where it can be used to optimize the selling process. The current state of this information supply chain is abysmal. As one executive from a large consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturer recently said, "requests for product information scare me because many times we don't know where it exists in our organization, and if we can find it, it is most likely out-of-date".
The solution to the problem is product information management (PIM). A PIM solution would include the ability to organize a company's product information, regardless of location, into a consolidated system of records, and be able to synchronize or distribute that information to any business partners that require it.
Lately, diverse groups have been discussing PIM from the perspective of data synchronization and syndication, product lifecycle management (PLM), and enterprise publishing. Each of these product categories includes the management of product information, but each uses product information for a different operational role.
The term PIM has appeared more frequently lately in the discussion of data synchronization and syndication because of a number of market initiatives that act as catalysts for change. For example, many large retailers, including Wal-Mart, Office Depot, The Home Depot, Albertsons, and Safeway, asked their suppliers to synchronize product data via EAN/UCCnet registry and data synchronization services.
Other catalysts include the Sunrise 2005 initiative that seeks to standardize on a format for global product identification via a new 14-digit code, and the radio frequency identification (RFID) initiatives in place to bring about the rapid adoption of new radio frequency tags on all products, so that they may be more easily tracked through manufacturing and retail environments.
Because of these same initiatives, PLM vendors are also being increasingly asked by their customers to include more commercially-oriented product information in their PLM systems. A few high profile case studies (Procter & Gamble and Heinz are examples) have shown how the data in a PLM system (MatrixOne and Prodika, respectively) can serve as the source of valid, consistent and up-to-date product information for synchronization and syndication to supply chain partners. However, most PLM systems lack a PIM system's ability for secure, trusted synchronization of information to data pools like UCCnet.
Lastly, enterprise publishing's goal is to reduce costs to create and speed deployment of all the product-related information, including user manuals, sales collateral, and web sites, that make up the complete product offering. Enterprise publishing is a fascinating topic, but let's save it as a topic for future articles.
Just as important, but not as evolved, is the product information supply chain where information moves from raw product data through value-adding edits and context setting, to retailers where it can be used to optimize the selling process. The current state of this information supply chain is abysmal. As one executive from a large consumer packaged goods (CPG) manufacturer recently said, "requests for product information scare me because many times we don't know where it exists in our organization, and if we can find it, it is most likely out-of-date".
The solution to the problem is product information management (PIM). A PIM solution would include the ability to organize a company's product information, regardless of location, into a consolidated system of records, and be able to synchronize or distribute that information to any business partners that require it.
Lately, diverse groups have been discussing PIM from the perspective of data synchronization and syndication, product lifecycle management (PLM), and enterprise publishing. Each of these product categories includes the management of product information, but each uses product information for a different operational role.
The term PIM has appeared more frequently lately in the discussion of data synchronization and syndication because of a number of market initiatives that act as catalysts for change. For example, many large retailers, including Wal-Mart, Office Depot, The Home Depot, Albertsons, and Safeway, asked their suppliers to synchronize product data via EAN/UCCnet registry and data synchronization services.
Other catalysts include the Sunrise 2005 initiative that seeks to standardize on a format for global product identification via a new 14-digit code, and the radio frequency identification (RFID) initiatives in place to bring about the rapid adoption of new radio frequency tags on all products, so that they may be more easily tracked through manufacturing and retail environments.
Because of these same initiatives, PLM vendors are also being increasingly asked by their customers to include more commercially-oriented product information in their PLM systems. A few high profile case studies (Procter & Gamble and Heinz are examples) have shown how the data in a PLM system (MatrixOne and Prodika, respectively) can serve as the source of valid, consistent and up-to-date product information for synchronization and syndication to supply chain partners. However, most PLM systems lack a PIM system's ability for secure, trusted synchronization of information to data pools like UCCnet.
Lastly, enterprise publishing's goal is to reduce costs to create and speed deployment of all the product-related information, including user manuals, sales collateral, and web sites, that make up the complete product offering. Enterprise publishing is a fascinating topic, but let's save it as a topic for future articles.
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