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Benefits of Product Information Management

Supply Chain process demands are constantly changing and increasing - both within companies and in relation to customers and suppliers. Globalization, technological innovations together with an increased cost pressure call for a continuous improvement for each step of the supply chain.

Benefits

With complete and correct product information, companies will eventually achieve a significant reduction in costs and an improvement of their business activities on account of the following factors:

• improvement in order processing and less inaccuracies during invoicing
• new products are launched more quickly
• more efficiency in marketing planning
• resources are newly allocated to develop new (geographic) markets
• cost savings in the sectors database and categorization
• accurate and up-to-date product data everywhere along the complete delivery chain
• improved compliance with global standards and data synchronization systems, e.g. Accent, ECCnet and Transora
• reduced costs for creating and maintaining product information without copying original systems
• increased company mobility due to unlimited ability to adapt product information to business changes
• improved productivity resulting from interaction with consumers and product information tailor-made to the requirements of consumers.
• increased operational efficiency and improved cooperation for the complete business sector

Successful corporations give careful consideration as to where and how to utilize their scarce resources. They invest in core competences or core processes to meet chances for growth. Supporting processes are transferred by them to the greatest possible extent to third parties who can provide them cheaper and better on account of their larger "Economies of Scale and Scope".

In this context, scarce resources do not only include labor and capital but also to an increasing degree information. Product Information Management (PIM) systems makes sure the product information resources are efficiently handled and at the same time improve the organization's response rate with regard to complex challenges of a changing market. Thus a PIM application makes a strategic contribution to growth and the competitive position of the enterprise.

ROI

Product information in enterprises is often inaccurate, contradictory and incomplete and thus detrimental to trouble-free electronic business transactions. For instance product attributes and other information are stored in different sources. It is only with difficulty that the true information (one version of the truth) on a product can be retrieved.

Product Information Management involves a cross-boundary and cross-company aggregation and normalization of product information into a central, constantly updated repository. Product Information Management is a strategic component and its consistent implementation is a decisive element for developing a competitive position for both manufacturer and retailer.

The following overview by AMR Research reveals that the investment costs for a Product Information Management solution will amortize already after a short time solely by internal use; moreover, additional positive cost effects can be realized by integrating external partners.