Here Are 3 Reasons Your Company Really Needs PIM and DAM Systems

Imagine that your company’s product data is a big pile of LEGO bricks scattered across the floor. Some of the bricks may be in the living room, others in the bathroom, and then there may even be some of the bricks lying at a friend’s house.

That is pretty much how it is when your company needs product data across the organisation and does not have PIM and DAM systems implemented. Instead, you handle everything in an ERP system (or perhaps even – gasp – in a spreadsheet) that is not set up to handle your data that way.

You can see that it can be quite difficult and time-consuming if you have to look for each individual brick when you need it. And you may not quite remember which pile or which room it was in.

And this is where PIM and DAM systems come in and help you with all of that!

To stay with the LEGO brick metaphor, you could say that the PIM system organises all your bricks so you always know where they are when you need them. And the DAM system is a photo album where you can see pictures of all the figures you can build with the bricks, so you know what you need and when. That way you save a lot of time and avoid manual errors. Because all your data is organised across the organisation.

So what exactly can PIM and DAM systems help with?

1. Centralised and structured data management – so you can always find your data
2. Better data quality and accuracy – so your data is always precise and usable
3. Increased flexibility and scalability – so your company can grow more easily!

Over the course of this article we dive into each individual point, so you can better see which benefits the systems can create for your specific company.

But first, let’s take a quick definition of what the two systems actually are. So we have that in place:

What is a PIM system?

Put briefly, a PIM system (Product Information Management) is one place where you can organise all your products. So every time you get some new products or some new information about your products, you simply enter it into the PIM system, and then it is distributed to all the relevant channels.

Pretty smart, right?

What is a DAM system?

A DAM system (Digital Asset Management) is in many ways the same as a PIM system, just for your digital assets such as videos, images and documents.

So every time you need a particular image or a particular video, you simply log in to your DAM system and find it in no time. Instead of searching through local folders or old emails. Many companies try to use their ERP system for exactly what PIM and DAM can do. But that comes with a number of challenges, because ERP is not designed for it.

So let’s take a closer look at what those challenges can be:

The 3 biggest challenges of using your ERP as PIM and DAM

1. Lack of flexibility

Since ERP systems are not at all built to organise data in the same way as PIM and DAM, there are many limitations that make the workflows in your company inflexible.

Perhaps only your sales department has access to some data that your marketing department could use. That means the two departments have to spend time and resources coordinating, searching and communicating about things that could be solved with a quick search in a PIM or DAM system.

2. Reduced performance

If you use your ERP to handle large volumes of product data (which it is not built to handle), it can slow the system down and cause more downtime. And that way you make it harder for the ERP system to be, well, an ERP system, because it has to spend a lot of resources being something it is not.

So it is a bit like asking a fish to climb trees. They rarely do that very well. Because they are quite a bit better at swimming.

3. Hard to maintain consistency across the organisation

Since ERP systems are often used across departments, it can be difficult to ensure that everyone has the same data. Data may be entered one way in the warehouse and another way in the sales department. That makes it difficult to keep an overview of all the company’s data. And then a lot of duplicate work can easily arise. And that is one of the things you avoid by having a PIM and a DAM system.

Now we have looked at the disadvantages of not having the two systems. And let’s now take a closer look at the benefits:

This is why your company should have PIM and DAM systems

1. Centralised and structured data management

With a PIM and DAM system you get a centralised platform for keeping track of all your product data and digital assets. That is, a system built precisely to be organised, easy to navigate and accessible to all employees and departments in your company. That makes it easy to organise and update product information as well as find and manage images and videos in a structured way.

So you save time and avoid manual errors and duplicate work.

2. Better data quality and accuracy

If your company uses separate systems to handle product data (that is, PIM and DAM) instead of putting everything into the ERP, it gives you the opportunity to put more focus on making your product data better.

In the sense that you can get an overview more quickly of which data is missing. And what you could do to sharpen it all up even further. Because you have it all gathered in the same place. And that of course also helps ensure that the information in your company is always correct and up to date.

3. Increased flexibility and scalability

As you already know, PIM and DAM systems are designed specifically to handle product data and digital assets. They are therefore normally more flexible and scalable than the more general ERP systems.

This means that your company can adapt to changing needs and handle growth more easily. So if there is suddenly a change in the market or your company starts growing dramatically, your product data is already ready for those changes.

Because the two systems are better suited to meeting specific requirements around product data and digital assets.

Conclusion

If your company needs to handle product data across the organisation, then your company needs a PIM and a DAM system.

Your ERP system is not built to handle that volume of data. And that makes it impossible to create a searchable and usable data bank that works easily and simply for all your departments. Systems work best when they are used for what they are designed for. There are of course some nuances that we cannot fit into this article.

So if you have questions or are curious about how PIM and DAM systems can specifically help your company, do not hesitate to give us a call or visit our Guide to system selection in a fashion company.

Or read more about PIM solutions – for example Plytix