Product information management / Economical informatics

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By product information management (also PIM or English Product information management) one understands the supply about product informations for the employment in different expenditure media and/or outlets as well as for different locations. A condition for it is the medium-neutral administration, care and modification of the product informations in a central system, in order to be able to supply each channel without large resources expenditure with consistent akkuraten information.

The need for product information management results to utilization from at present usual practice of the data retention and -: Information is present in an enterprise frequently not central bundled, but scattered with coworkers and in departments - for instance in the development department, in the commodity management or in the selling. Data in different formats are stored or are available only as pressure version. These information is used in different environments and contexts - for instance in the sales catalog for a detailed product description with quotation or in the logistics department for data to size and weight for freight charges computation. PIM represents here a solution for central, medium-neutral data retention, in order purchase, production and kommmunikationsrelevante to data for the multiple use over several IT-systems, languages, expenditure media and publications away to make available. It offers besides solutions to the efficient data transfer, - administration, - enrichment and - expenditure.

Synonymous and related terms

The term and the acronym PIM are only since approximately the year 2003 common, so that a multiplicity at terms exists, which are used similarly or synonymously, but originate frequently from certain industries and possess another emphasis. In addition count among other things:

PDM - From the term engineering DATA management (EDM) developed for product data management/Product DATA management and describes systems for the appropriate administration of development-relevant product data and the coordination of expirations, which refer to the product manufacturing. The term is used particularly in the surrounding field by computer Aided Design (CAD).
PRM - Product resource management is used isolated by software providers synonymously to PIM, just like Product content management (PCM) - particularly in England and France.
Product Lifecycle management (PLM) is less a IT-technology than a management beginning, in order to optimize product life cycles with the help of the collection and analysis of the product data developing in the run the time.
Media ate management (MAM) describes the administration of multimedia, unstructured objects such as pictures, diagrams or presentations as well as Metainformationen, speak data about data. The term is particularly in the medium industry. The term is not PIM specific.
CROSS Media Publishing (CMP) originates from the pressure and advertising industry and describes also under simultaneous employment different media, which complement each other mutually. Besides one understands by it the medium-spreading multiple use about single components such as texts, pictures or diagrams. The term is not PIM specific.

Relationship to Enterprise content management

Enterprise content management encloses technologies, methods and Tools for the collection, administration, storage, archiving and supply from electronic contents to the support of organizational processes. From the view of a product information system regarded, one can constitute here four ranges:

Document management systems (DMS) are responsible for the administration from rather commercial documents with following archiving.
PDM takes over the administration of technical, structured data for ranges such as Explosionszeichungen and parts lists.
Content management systems (CMS) are rather information offers outward and use for example portals for the presentation of PIM contents.
PIM systems come finally for the administration of structured data in the commercial surrounding field to the employment, in order to feed all erdenklichen outlets - from the electronic catalog over on-line Shop up to the print catalog. They use for this partial components of the output management, the Web content management and the Enterprise content management as services.

Technological basis of the Product information management (PIM)

A PIM system konsolidert all product informations on a platform. For the IT-infrastructure of an enterprise that means that on a classical Oracle or an open SOURCE data base such as MySQL with a J2EE-Applikationsserver a PIM platform touches down as heart. On this basis then business processes made of selling and procurement can be developed. The PIM solution steers the order process management via a Web-based administration interface the access and user rights for all information in the data base, in connection with commodity managements as for instance SAP and above all the mechanisms for the modular extensions. These components take in each case a channel off and are arbitrarily combinably - depending on, which selling way for an enterprise appears lucrative. Like that it is for example only meaningful to operate a Konfigurator if there is a large number of variants of a product - likewise it brings little to furnish for complicated products with high consulting expenditure a Webshop. To the classical additions belong catalog solutions, E-Procurement-applications, E-Commerce-systems and industry-specific E-Business-functions.

Usual ranges of application of PIM

Basis for electronic catalogs

Electronic catalogs are the basis for the use of procurement systems or - platforms such as on-line market places. A PIM system can load describing information to a product for organization into a catalog management solution. There product for assortments co-ordinated with target groups can be grouped and administered. Exchange standards and classification systems such as BMEcat and OCI make it possible to exchange the electronic catalogs smoothly between the suppliers on the side and the buying enterprises and market place operators on the other side. With it interlocked Procurement solutions are close: They automate the procurement processes for the purchase of goods and services. As platform for the central administration of Multi Supplier catalogs they create transparency under the product data of several suppliers and help with the search for the most favorable price performance ratio.

Basis for the content supply for Websites/Webshops

The central data adminstration particularly offers itself for the Website of an enterprise: Documents, content and medium objects such as product pictures can being linked with other business objects like for example a customer or a product. The completion of the order process is steered by a E-Commerce-component, which is responsible also for on-line presentation of dynamic contents. In order, the solution be able must actually save costs smoothly in goods economy and logistics systems to be integrated.

Basis for product catalogs

Finally the information from the central data retention can be consulted also for print catalogs, catalogs on CD and for the Website. The Publishing component of a E-Business-solution accesses the common data retention and makes it possible medium-neutrally to put down and administer contents for the catalog. The better supported the attached desktop publishing program layout and expenditure, the more can catalog production be automated.

The market for PIM solutions

PIM is still another very recent topic. Attention in broader customer layers has the market segment only since the 2. Yearly half of 2004 get, when Marktanalysten and press began to concern itself more intensively with this solution category. For the use of PIM solutions middle and large enterprises are suited in the industries trade, consumer goods and producing trades. Drivers for the employment of a PIM solution are among other things:

Extensive existence of products
Frequent changes of product characteristics
Heterogeneous IT-infrastructure (e.g. under inorganic enterprise growth)
Successful on-line business
Pressure of customer side for the support of electronic procurement processes

PIM a necessity becomes strategic, if big customers force the support of new data exchange standards (like e.g. global DATA Synchronization) or an international expansion strategy are desired. Here a crucial role for the success of the business strategy comes to the effective consolidation of product informations and conversion of processes based on it. So for example a catalog sender, who would like to expand into five further countries, without a conversion of its production processes for catalogs is not to be converted often at all in a the position, this strategy.