Selling products is the most important goal for every manufacturer. Nowadays, sales can only be promoted efficiently if information reaches the recipient quickly and effectively. Efficient, flexible handling of product data is indispensable.

Product data management has to face a lot of challenges

The flow of information is increasing, the amount of information is growing and the expectations of the information itself and its quality are getting higher. Thus, the data should be better structured and processed more efficiently.

The following challenges apply to a modern manufacturer –

• Large amounts of information and data are to be processed
• Each company should operate multiple sales channels (partners, wholesalers, retailers, marketplaces, online stores, POS, etc.) at the same time
• Product data should be more comprehensive and informative
• A higher quality of product data is required
• Intensification of cross- and up-selling activities due to increased competition
• Product ranges are changing faster and faster - new products are launched more quickly, there are lots of seasonal products, etc.

Working on the product information and its sharing involves many participants and takes a lot of time. A PDM software has been created to manage these tasks.

How to manage product data with a PDM software

A PDM system or a PIM system is an automated management system that allows users to process product data, store marketing texts and technical data in different languages, and manage translations.

All product information can also be enriched with additional data, images and videos. A PDM ensures that the prepared product data is distributed via online channels (e. g. online stores, websites, marketplaces, etc) as well as offline channels (print catalogs, POS, brochures, etc).

A PDM controls all data handling processes in order to simplify data maintenance by storing and processing all product data centrally for all channels in one place. Centralized management ensures the consistency of all product information prepared for different distribution channels. Nevertheless, the quality of the data will increase and the costs for their preparation will be reduced.

Reasons for introducing a PDM software

So, why is a PDM system so important to manufacturers?

• With its help you can make available all product data completely and in a perfectly structured way. Articleinformation editing becomes easier and faster.
• A person who uses a PDM, publishes or updates product data quickly and efficiently via all necessary channels.
• The system enables and organizes manual or automatic data validation and quality control, changes can be undertaken faster.
• A PDM software can be quickly integrated with its own or other third-party systems to ensure automatic data exchange so that each system is used only for the purpose it was intended for (for example, ERP should be used for warehouse management and order processing, not for product information).
• The processing of data takes place in a user-friendly and uncomplicated way, e.g. via a web-based interface, from all involved parties, which has a positive effect on the data quality.
• Modern PDM systems are capable of handling different languages and supporting different locales - it is possible to create product descriptions in various languages and represent geographical and country-specific features in the product descriptions, such as different units of measure.
• It automates all processes related to the preparation, enrichment and distribution of product data. It organizes the cooperation of all those who are involved in these processes - efficient and uncomplicated, according to the assigned rights of use.

Conclusion

According to statistics, companies which use a product data management system are more successful than those which don’t use this system. Thanks to using a PDM system, the time required to process the product data can be considerably reduced and the quality of the result significantly improved. Troubleshooting can be particularly efficient. Basically, companies spend 50% less time searching for the necessary product data using PDM than companies without this software. Such companies are also more successful on the market. They achieve more easily their goals in terms of time, scope and quality: with the help of a PDM system, the recording, updating and sharing of product data is simply faster!