ETIM for distributors, STABU2 for specifiers and new requirements from Europe. Sometimes it feels as though you are mainly managing product data because others expect you to.
But ultimately, all these parties are asking for knowledge that originates with you, the manufacturer. If that knowledge is properly organised, you are the one who benefits most.
ETIM, DICO, STABU2, RAW, DPP. For a construction product manufacturer, these are all different ways in which the outside world asks for your product information. Distributors want structured data, specifiers need useful specification texts, while legislation brings yet another set of requirements.
It can quickly start to feel like extra work. But these standards do not create the information. STABU2 does not know which products combine to form the right solution. ETIM does not tell anyone how your product should be installed or applied.
That knowledge resides with you.
In practice, product knowledge is often scattered across the organisation. Article data is stored in the ERP system, texts and images are managed by marketing, technical documentation is kept by colleagues and specification texts are maintained somewhere else again.
You notice this most when something changes. Suddenly, the same update has to be made in several different places.
A website, product sheet, specification text, configurator or data feed may each require information in a different format, but they all rely largely on the same underlying product and application knowledge. That is precisely why it pays to organise the source properly.
A PIM can help, but it is not the starting point. The most important question is much simpler:
Where is your product knowledge stored, and how much effort does it take to find the right answer?
A request for ETIM data, an update to a STABU2 specification service or new legislation can reveal that certain information is not as well organised internally as you thought.
That is what our new knowledge article is about. Yes, it discusses standards and legislation. But rather than focusing on yet another requirement you need to comply with, it asks what you gain from properly organised product data.
