A new product line is to be launched, and the products must be entered into the ERP system. However, it quickly becomes evident that you are missing an input field for a completely new type of product data. Before products can be set up in ERP, you have to get hold of the person in charge of it, so he can make the necessary adjustments, but he is busy right now, so it drags on, and you have to wait…
But there are other options that will make you far more self-sufficient and thus save time and resources for both you and the ERP person.
One such option is to link a PIM system to the ERP system, thus turning the whole procedure on its head.
Instead of the traditional process, where you start by setting up products in the ERP system, you can let the products begin their life cycle in the PIM system. And why is that?
It is because the PIM system serves as one central location from which you can manage all types of product data. PIM and ERP are 100% integrated with each other, so that there is a hole straight through to the data residing in the ERP. The PIM system is not limited by predefined input fields; therefore you can get all the product specifications in place in a simple way. If you need a data field, you create it yourself quickly and easily – without help from the ERP person.
In reality, the ERP system is indeed designed to handle only transactional data, and by setting up all the other product information in the PIM system you ensure that the ERP is kept free of irrelevant data.
Yet another advantage of setting up products in the PIM system first is that PIM can act as a kind of sandbox for new products that might not be sold right away. It is not expedient to have products to fill in the ERP system before there are buyers for them. In the PIM-system you can work with the products and enrich them with all the product data necessary for the advance marketing, for example, without affecting the ERP system.
While an ERP-system is based on transactional data that cannot be deleted, so it stays there taking up space, it is possible to quickly change and delete data in a PIM system. A PIM system can be used to prepare products for sale, and you can give the marketing department the chance to market the new products on the basis of all relevant data, even if the products have not yet been set up in the ERP system.
When the individual products or product groups are completely sales ready, they can easily be transferred to the ERP system.
