CITIZEN, a leader in watch manufacturing, faced a significant challenge with their product data management. Before adopting the Perfion Product Information Management (PIM) system, CITIZEN managed their product data across 11 different databases, depending on product type and business function. This fragmented approach led to data inaccuracies, duplicates, and a lack of true data ownership and visibility.
About CITIZEN
Founded in 1930, CITIZEN has become a global leader in advanced watch technology, known for its comprehensive manufacturing process and commitment to excellence and creativity. The brand name signifies craftsmanship and familiarity to people worldwide.
The Challenge
The primary challenge was maintaining clean, accurate master data across various spreadsheets and Access databases, managed outside of the IT department. This situation created a complex and inefficient data management environment, requiring extensive manual updates and leading to inconsistencies.
The Solution
CITIZEN’s IT department had to choose between customizing their new ERP solution based on Microsoft Dynamics NAV, which could lead to future update issues, or finding a standard PIM solution. They chose the latter and selected Perfion for its seamless integration capabilities, flexibility, and ease of use.
With Perfion, CITIZEN can now manage and update all types of product data from a single source. This includes information on 3000 watches and 50-60,000 spare parts in 10 different languages, encompassing descriptions, Material Safety Data Sheets, sketches, customs codes, images, and more.
“We chose Perfion because it was the only PIM solution that rose to the top. The best is its ability to integrate into other systems so that we can have a Single Source of Truth instead of maintaining data in multiple systems. Other advantages are its flexibility and ease of use. Using a PIM system will give us better visibility and make the whole company better”
– Trish Keller Chief Technology Officer, Citizen Watch Company of America, Inc.
Benefits Realized
The integration of Perfion into CITIZEN’s systems has brought numerous benefits:
- Unified Data Management: All product data is managed from one place, ensuring consistency and accuracy.
- Automated Data Push: Product data is automatically pushed from Perfion to CITIZEN’s website and webshop, built on the eCommerce platform Demandware, and to their Dynamics NAV ERP installation.
- Amazon Integration: Perfion delivers product data files formatted for Amazon, translating data like color codes to meet Amazon’s requirements.
- Enhanced Decision-Making: By leveraging Perfion’s functionalities and customizations, CITIZEN can determine gross profit margins prior to product launch, supported by their Product Development and Merchandising teams.
- Operational Efficiency: Employees are freed from manual data management tasks, allowing them to focus on more strategic activities.
- Business Planning Support: Customized feeds from Perfion support CITIZEN’s planning tool, Logility Voyager Solutions, and the Retail-Sales Reporting System, Tillerman, facilitating business tracking and planning across uniform product dimensions, franchises, and collections.
