A PIM system in five weeks ... too good to be true?

Recently, my attention was drawn to a LinkedIn post in which a PIM provider reported that it had implemented a fully functional PIM system in no less than five weeks. Wow! I've been working at crossbase for eight years now and how that's supposed to work ... I'll be honest: I have my doubts.

Well, maybe the author was referring to a PIM system for a small business with one or two hundred products. However, he didn't mention that. It sounded as if this was possible for any company - including one with thousands of products and numerous variants. After all, these are the companies for which the use of a PIM system is most worthwhile. No, for whom it is increasingly absolutely necessary.

My experience from many years in marketing at a wholesale company alone is actually enough for me to doubt such a statement. Because I know what it looks like when no PIM system is in use: product data here, other data there. Collecting the texts, documents and images alone would take a company weeks.

But I wanted to give the whole thing a chance and tried to take an unbiased look at how it was done. The post outlined five steps that are said to have led to this sensational success:

Step 1:

Define goals, gather requirements and introduce the team to the system.

Unfortunately, no timescales were given for the individual steps. Defining the goals alone would probably take a few days, because you usually have very general goals that you think about first: storing data in one place, illustrating relationships, simply outputting data. The overriding goal is to simplify and speed up processes, thereby reducing costs and increasing sales. It sounds so simple!

But as is usually the case, if you take a closer look, you end up going from "stick to stick". After all, a PIM system serves the big picture and very different areas of the company are involved: product management, marketing, managing directors - everyone has their own goals.

Personally, I would assume that it takes several weeks to really get this step under control.

Step 2:

Analyze and adapt data structures, define classes, product groups and features.

Here I really have no idea at all, so I asked my colleague who has been doing this with our customers for decades. I didn't say why I wanted to know - I wanted him to answer with an open mind. His answer: the time required by the implementing company alone is several weeks, often even several months.

Step 3:

Get product data into the system

This brings us to the point I mentioned in the introduction ... the product data. In the post, it sounded as if the data would be taken and quickly entered into the system. But where is all this data located? For anyone who hasn't used a PIM system before, it's here: on local computers, in catalogs and brochures, on websites. Maybe you have the images on a local database. Probably not all of them, because it can happen very quickly that an image has been saved locally on a computer - and can no longer be found. Yes, I'm speaking from painful experience here.

And what about the texts? These often have to be copied from Word, InDesign or other documents and transferred to the PIM system. My personal estimate: this alone takes weeks for several hundred or even thousands of products.

Step 4:

Data refinement

What exactly do you do there? The post didn't go into this any further, but enriching the data and linking it with each other is a considerable effort.

What other information is there about the product? Ultimately, it should be possible to output everything related to the product: Images, sketches, data sheets ...

And how does it relate to other products? For example, if it is a spare part, which products does it go with? Is it part of a bundle?

If a configurator is also to be used, it gets really tricky.

Step 5:

Export

Here we are talking about the provision of data in the online shop, on marketplaces, in the sales channels - via export lists. Seriously? What about a direct connection? After all, we want to optimize processes here!

At the end, the question is: "Are you faster?"

Who? Us as the provider or the company that wants to introduce a PIM? I'm afraid that both sides will have to answer "no" - and that's a good thing! This is a tool that will have an impact on future processes and the future success of a company! In the end, it must fulfill its purpose optimally and also meet future requirements. Decisions made during the selection and introduction of a PIM system have an impact on so many things later on ... proceeding rashly or ill-considered here can have enormous negative effects afterwards. Therefore: as quickly as possible, yes - but always under the premise that it is implemented cleanly and future-proof.

And the moral of the story ...

Someone could have written: "Your detached house in just five weeks" - would you have believed it? Hardly. Because everyone knows that doesn't work.

Unfortunately, it's not so easy to estimate with a software solution. As a rule, you have no experience with it and no real idea of how much effort is involved. Perhaps it is actually feasible? Maybe the other provider is simply too expensive. Maybe it really isn't all that much of a big deal ...

And isn't it understandable that you want to get to your destination as quickly and cheaply as possible?

I think the comparison with a house is very apt here: a simple log cabin can be put together quickly with a little help and skill. A whole house with all the trimmings ... not so much. As with the PIM system, you have to live with what you have for a long time - and limit yourself if necessary. Something you certainly didn't have in mind when you were originally planning.

But back to the post: according to the author, a success story is in the works. I am excited!