The changes in Online-Marketing
Always up-to-date and complete thanks to clever data management in a DAM and PIM tool. This makes archiving product data very easy and keeps it clearly arranged.
Anyone working with a DAM or PIM system not only makes use of the possibilities to structure data. Above all, it is important how a system archives or manages this data. After all, product images, ingredients, packaging sizes or even special formats for sales must always be up-to-date. It might also occur that certain information must only be accessible to certain user groups for a limited time. Our PIM tool dynamicPIM® and dynamicDAM® take lifecycle management into account in the context of group and role control. Archiving data in these systems is easy and can be performed directly on the respective product. What you need to succeed in this case is a clean and complete maintenance of master data.
The master data: The heart of a PIM and DAM system
Master data means all actual product describing data fields of our PIM tool. These fields are filled in our PIM tool. This includes also all logistical data such as dimensions, packaging types, delivery conditions, specifications and, for example, prices. Furthermore, product descriptions or structured data of any kind such as marketing texts, search terms, titles, claims, statements, ingredients, allergens, etc.
The system sets up the master data in such a way that any field types are possible. This includes text, formatted text, integers, dropdowns, radios and checkboxes etc. You can create these master data fields as you wish. Thanks to the API interface, filling and maintenance is automated. Another option is manual maintenance, where you have to enter and update the data yourself.
dynamicPIM® and dynamicDAM® also map hierarchies from expert systems, e.g. pallets, trays, individual products, etc.
Manual maintenance vs. API interface in the PIM tool
Manual maintenance and assigning to a workflow is also part of our DAM and PIM software. In addition, the API can fill certain data fields automatically, e.g. from a global SAP system. Mixed forms are also conceivable here. Which forms are considered relevant and target-oriented depends very much on the individual requirements of the customer.
The Lifecycle Function: Archiving Data with Expiration Date
As soon as you maintained the master data, how each should be managed. One way to archive data in our DAM or PIM tool is the lifecycle feature. It allows you to define a start and end date as a kind of “life cycle” of your products. In addition, you can map different scenarios, after which a publication takes place for certain user groups days or weeks before “Start-Of-Shipment”.
Supply Chain requirements in Lifecycle-Management
Let’s illustrate this with the following example: Products do not go live until time X. However, 60 days before that, the data is available for internal purposes and specific target groups. This approach is very important because product lifecycles usually require a lead time for marketing, sales, and logistics activities. Service partners, commissioned agencies, etc. need data in advance, even though the products are not yet available in stores.
dynamicPIM® and dynamicDAM® can consider this directly. Group and role control enable a simple lifecycle management for specific user groups.
Archiving data automatically: The archive feature
Of course, in dynamicPIM® and dynamicDAM® we have also thought of a classic archive feature. This allows products to be automatically archived according to publication date or any other defined period. The archive feature forms a filing system that represents the last stage of lifecycle management. Product data receives an expiration date directly in the backend. On this date, the system automatically moves the products to the archive.
Archiving data based on user groups
The idea behind this is that only internal or predefined user groups can access the archive. This means that products with all data are taken out of live access, but remain accessible to archive users at all times. This enables the system to meet all requirements for product workflows, even at the end of a product’s life.
It is particularly important that product information in the PIM tool is not deleted. Especially in sales scenarios for products “on-stock”, it makes a lot of sense to still be able to access this product data. If necessary, they can also be pushed back live. In this way, archiving data means that this date is not permanently lost. Quite simply and with just one click.
Our systems serve all target groups. This means that many users have access to the system, depending on their user rights. But not all users need access to all data or functions. You can find out how to meet this challenge in our article on “Data access for external users”.