13-07-26

Many manufacturers still manage product information directly in their CMS. It may seem convenient, but it often leads to duplicate work, outdated information and unnecessary errors.

A website should present product information, not manage it. As soon as the same data is needed for brochures, specification services, dealer portals or advisory tools, a CMS becomes an inefficient place to maintain product content. Centralising product information creates consistency, saves time and prepares your organisation for future digitalisation.

Product information doesn’t belong in a CMS

A Content Management System is designed to manage web pages. Yet many manufacturers also use it to maintain product information. Product descriptions are edited directly in the website, documents are replaced manually and images are uploaded one by one.

That approach works only as long as your website is the sole publication channel. The moment the same information is needed for a specification service, dealer portal, product selector or printed catalogue, problems begin to appear. Which version is the latest? Which document is correct?

More and more manufacturers are therefore choosing a central product information source. From there, websites, documentation and other applications are automatically supplied with up-to-date information.

One source eliminates duplicate work

Product information is often scattered across multiple systems. Basic article data resides in the ERP system, technical specifications are maintained in spreadsheets and marketing content is created elsewhere.

A Product Information Management (PIM) system brings these data streams together. The ERP provides the core product data, while the PIM enriches it with specifications, images, documents, certificates and commercial content. Every change only needs to be made once.

This offers several practical benefits:

  • Fewer errors and inconsistencies
  • Consistent information across every channel
  • Less time spent on manual updates
  • Better collaboration between product management, marketing and sales

Your website becomes what it was meant to be

When product information is managed centrally, the role of the website changes. Instead of acting as a storage location, it becomes a presentation channel that always displays current information without requiring manual updates.

This also makes it much easier to connect future publication channels, such as product data pools, specification services, BIM applications or the Digital Product Passport (DPP). Organisations that establish a single source of product information today are laying the foundation for tomorrow’s digital processes.

Your website is a showroom. Your product information belongs in the warehouse behind it.

All product data available in one platform.

All information available in one place.

Your product data better found.

Responding to digital building standards.

Efficiently manage and share product data.

Peter Veldhuizen

Director
peter.veldhuizen@utopis.net

Antoon Siebert

Partner / consultant
antoon.siebert@utopis.net

Maarten Hopman

Consultant civil infrastructure
maarten.hopman@utopis.net

Jeroen Houdé

Front-end developer
jeroen.houde@utopis.net

Mariska van ’t Veer

Administration
mariska.vantveer@utopis.net

Arnout Nijhuis

Advisor product data
arnout.nijhuis@utopis.net

Development department

The backend of Utopis
info@utopis.net

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