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Omnichannel content management: PIM, DAM and CMS for Manufacturing

Create manufacturing content that matters with PIM, DAM and CMS

In manufacturing, it can feel like the product is all that matters. But it is only the start. How trade clients and end customers discover, try, and appreciate your product is all down to the content that surrounds it. Get that right, and the sky’s the limit. You have to be able to access all the information and assets you need whenever, wherever and you need them to pack a real punch in the marketplace.

Learn how PIM, DAM and CMS from censhare meets all your content needs, powering your manufacturing business and keeping you ahead of the game.

PIM, DAM & CMS

Nine little letters, a world of potential

What is PIM?

Product Information Management (PIM) takes all the information about individual products that is needed for marketing and sales and centralizes it in a single source of truth. Everyone uses the same system, getting rid of silos, duplication and errors and improving efficiency.

    • Product data management
    • Connections to all media assets
    • Process based automation
    • Product data export - manual, partial or fully automated
    • Integrated workflows
    • Mass data editing
    • Product data quality
    • Syndicates to external systems
    • Checks for completeness
    • Product classification management

What is DAM?

Digital Asset Management (DAM) brings all your marketing and sales assets together into a single location. It organizes them and makes them accessible to the right staff at the right time, for the right reason. DAM promotes collaboration, reduces workload, improves workflow and creativity.

    • Upload, download and edit assets
    • Transfer metadata
    • Automatic duplicate checking
    • Manage, organize and archive
    • Automated versioning
    • Interactive previews for 3D files
    • Simplified user interface
    • Workflow management
    • Connector to external applications e.g. Adobe Creative Cloud and Microsoft Word

What is a CMS?

A Content Management System (CMS) allows you to easily store, create, edit, and publish content. It requires minimal technical knowledge meaning it can be used by people in a broad range of roles, making it quick and easy to update and change content, whenever it is needed.

    • Integrated content editor
    • Workflows, notifications and automatic processes
    • Process control from brief to design
    • Flexible functions for content export
    • Saved as media neutral XML
    • Content data quality
    • Configurable completeness check
    • Versioning of all content

What does PIM mean in manufacturing?

What is DAM

Product information is the lifeblood of a successful manufacturing operation. It plays a role at every stage, from product ideation where creators bring together the essential elements, to compelling marketing that makes it leap off the shelf or the catalog page.

But manufacturing product information is also enormously complex. There can be thousands and thousands of different pieces of information in a manufacturing operation covering a broad range of issues from materials, provenance, sustainability, quality, standards…the list goes on. Manufacturers need to keep a close eye on accuracy and timeliness or the consequences can be dire.

Efficient product information management in manufacturing means keeping control of your own processes but also being able to keep sales partners fully in the loop. Today’s manufacturing marketplace is subject to rapid change with prices changing, supply chains being disrupted and outside influences like climate change impacting what is produced and how. With a single, centralized source of product information, manufacturers have all the knowledge they need at their fingertips.

Case Study

Leister technology

Technology group Leister’s innovative development culture means it must be always possible for centrally managed data formats (asset types) to be supplemented by and linked with additional functions/dependencies at any time in order to meet future requirements.

The censhare PIM serves Leister as a central hub for all product information and enables the design of new and efficient processes. Future brands and touchpoints can be easily handled and edited via the same backend.

Today, the company can manage more than 1,300 products with over 400 product and media links per product in 100-plus countries.

1,300+

products

400+

product and media links per product

3

brands: Leister, Weldy, Axetris

100+

countries using the data

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A PIM can only deliver comprehensive benefits if information and associated content are continuously available in all languages and across all channels.
Oliver Odermatt

Project Manager PIM, Leister AG

What does DAM mean in manufacturing?

What is DAM

While there is a growing trend towards direct-to-consumer (DTC) channels for manufacturers, the vast majority still sell via third parties such as retailers or ecommerce sites. But this doesn’t mean manufacturers should rely on these partners to find and promote their products.

Just like B2C customers, B2B partners want communications that are clear, easy to understand and capably demonstrate product values. That means packaging that stands out, digital portals where products can be viewed and reviewed and assets that partners can use to help market items when stocked.

Manufacturing assets play a vital role in communicating with the company’s various stakeholders and being able to store, access and amend them when needed with the right guardrails and workflows is essential in a fast-moving world. Digital asset management in manufacturing means keeping your products in the limelight, supported by an effective team and promoted by willing commercial partners.

What is manufacturing content management?

Manufacturing content management is a vital part of the production process. It is both a shop window for customers and partners, but also critical for delivering information on how to use the product. Highly technical products often need a large volume of content to explain how to use and maintain the item but even the most basic foodstuffs will need to communicate nutrition and storage details in a way that can be easily understood by the customer, reproduced by the retailer and updated by the manufacturer.

Often, content needs to be created in partnership with other parties, such as retailers and resellers. Being able to access the right assets and then manage the content workflows in a way that maintains consistency and even regulatory compliance is key. On top of this, with the speed of today’s markets, content often has to be produced quickly. Making sure the relevant approvals and stages are completed in a timely manner can be the difference between market success and failure.

A content management system in manufacturing is used across the whole business, from internal process documents to product manuals, specification sheets, marketing collateral and direct-to-consumer communications. Whether you’re dealing with a handful of documents, or a warehouse-full, a CMS is the flexible solution that keeps your communications on track.

The benefits of PIM for manufacturing

PIM for More Transparency

Particularly today, when consumers, partners and authorities are scrutinizing manufacturers more than ever, transparency is key. Knowing that components are sustainably produced for example, or that there is an ethical supply chain, is almost as important as the quality of the product itself. Even end-of-life information about how to dispose of the product is a manufacturer’s responsibility.

PIM for Greater Accuracy

From workers on a production line to buyers in a supermarket, accurate product information is vital. For the manufacturer, to have a single repository of information – and a single, true version of each data point – is critical to maintaining product and brand integrity.

PIM for lower costs/higher efficiency

Data entry and search are both time consuming occupations. Time, as they say, is money. In a busy manufacturing environment where staff could be better employed performing more intricate tasks, making sure the retrieval of vital product information is simple and fast is a significant business advantage.

Case Study

URSAPHARM

Approving the constant stream of all marketing material, no matter how minor, is an intricate procedure made more complex by the need to be able to demonstrate to relevant authorities that every step of the approval process is tracked. URSAPHARM used a manual and paper-based approval process that was extremely time consuming. This meant that an approval involving ten or more people could take up to a week to complete.

1

day approval cycle, formerly one week

3-4

times higher content output than previously

1

central hub for all digital marketing content

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All stakeholders now receive the document requiring approval at the same time. We now achieve one approval cycle per day, on average- three to four times as much output as before.
Dirk Zirnstein

Brand Manager and Project Manager censhare, URSAPHARM

The benefits of DAM for manufacturing

DAM to build a stronger brand

Unlike retailers, manufacturers have an even wider range of customers, covering both the B2B and B2C sectors. They have to be able to communicate to this variety of stakeholders consistently and with up-to-date messaging. They also have to be able to communicate often, if their brand is to stay front of mind. Using a digital asset management system in manufacturing, employees are able to access a full library of product and company collateral to use in these communications, making sure each is appropriate to the message and audience. Staff can react quickly to changing market conditions and trends, showing theirs is a company that has its customers’ interests at heart.

DAM for tighter targeting

Manufacturers need to understand their customers’ needs and be able to match them with relevant product ranges or communications. By referring to the metadata in the DAM, manufacturers are able to tailor their communications to end consumers, or supply their trade partners with the right assets for their needs.

DAM for faster campaign creation

Manufacturing is not immune to trends. Some global events, for example, demand an immediate response. Whether it’s companies showing their support for Ukraine, responding to the death of Queen Elizabeth II or meeting appeals for aid such as the earthquakes in Turkey, manufacturers like anyone else need to be able to change their messaging quickly and accurately. With a centralized database and integrated workflows, everyone can get together on the task immediately, rolling out responsive and timely campaigns supported by quality materials, even across multiple geographies.

DAM for lower costs/higher efficiency

Even in the digital age, photography is expensive. Manufacturers need a comprehensive photography set to demonstrate to both retail partners and customers the extent of their range. But one of the biggest cost and time issues many companies face is duplicated assets. Either staff can’t find the relevant image for an item or campaign, or assume it has not been shot, and order another session. The result is time and expense where neither was needed. With a single asset library organized so searching is both fast and intuitive, DAM in manufacturing lets staff discover exactly what assets are available and how they can be used, before they decide if more need to be created. Even third-parties, such as creative agencies, can access the assets removing yet more time and money wastage from the process.

Case Study

Vitra furniture

In a competitive market, Vitra’s products had to be both appealing and convincing, while managing to communicate across a wide range of marketing channels. From print to price lists, social media and websites, it can run all of its campaigns from a single, centralized source. Efficient and data secure, the company has seen improvements in both efficiency and falling costs.

7

different databases replaced with 1 system

1

identical campaign across print, web and social

7

language versions of price list

100%

of marketing material centrally controlled

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With the censhare system we have the whole of communication under control. We don’t have any distrusted data stores but everything comes from one system.
Detlev Linnenbrügger

Head of Marketing Producing, Vitra

The benefits of CMS for manufacturing

CMS for easy content creation and modification

Outside the marketing department, few of those involved in understanding their product’s content are ‘content experts’. They might be engineers, stylists, nutritionists or even procurement specialists and environmental standards executives. But all of them may at some point need to amend or create content for the wider business or its partners and customers to digest. A CMS is an intuitive, centralized system that allows people to access the assets they need, within the guardrails (ie alteration permissions, image rights) they have been set, and create content with very little technical knowledge of ‘publishing’. So, rather than having to wait for the content team to make changes or create a piece, those that can simply get on and create the items they need, when they’re needed.

CMS for communication

Manufacturers rely on constant communication with their stakeholders. Whether it’s through marketing materials, manuals or news announcements, manufacturers need to use content extensively across their operations. Being able to create accurate content for end-users who can access it directly, rather than via a reseller, is so important for brand relationships. Similarly, manufacturers need to be able to respond quickly and accurately to any important news regarding their products – a recall, discontinuation, reformulation or lack of key ingredient – so partners and consumers are kept up to date.

CMS for personalization

Linking the CMS to customer data is important, both for understanding the macro trends in the market and what to supply to partners, but also for end customers. Even if manufacturers don’t sell direct, it’s important to understand customer journeys and target them with specific, relevant marketing. Marrying the CMS to other systems like CRM (customer relationship management) or the CDP (customer data platform) allows deeper insight into customer needs and more accurate marketing.

CMS for analytics

The final piece of the puzzle in bringing PIM, DAM, CMS and other systems together is analytics. By integrating these systems and more such as the CDP, above, manufacturers get much more insight into what content is resonating, whether assets are unused, if products are getting the visibility they need and, of course, how to change it. Insights into content performance allow manufacturers to optimize campaigns, build closer relationships with their resellers and drive an effective, profitable manufacturing organization.

Case Study

Endress & Hauser instrumentation

Across its existing content spectrum, instrumentation manufacturer and distributor, Endress + Hauser, found significant inconsistencies. Communications had to be restructured into modular information units, which could be linked to each other to update and create new, globally consistent content.

By classifying information into units, the company can automate content production across its global network. Since adopting censhare, the company has relaunched 38 websites in 22 languages across 37 countries.

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We regard censhare as our central platform that we will use to control and steer all our marketing contents in future!
Christian J. Geiger

Head of Corporate Marketing Communication, Endress + Hauser

What is censhare?

censhare is a multi-layered technology that allows you to build content management capabilities that are uniquely suited to your needs.

As a censhare client you will get a powerful foundation - censhare base - that includes the core features and functions of the censhare platform, i.e. the semantic database, the collaboration features, the search engine, and so on.

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Then, you can pick products that cover additional needs such as DAM, PIM, or CMS.

Finally, you can refine the functionality of your system by adding specific modules - for example localization and translation, or print production management. The modularity of the platform enables you to grow your censhare solution at the speed that your business requires.

Our proven omnichannel content platform lets you master your content in any language, locally or globally, to provide a consistent omnichannel customer experience.

Clients like PLUS Retail, Lands’ End, Migros, BHG and hundreds more rely on censhare to deliver brand-accurate, up-to-date content, and make the most of every opportunity to reach the right customer at the right time.

Why choose censhare for manufacturing?

Established track record

censhare helps leading global manufacturers grow and transform their business, delivering efficiencies and revealing future opportunities.

Mature technology

With over 20 years of development, censhare’s DAM, PIM and CMS offerings have evolved to meet the needs not just of today’s businesses, large and small, but has integrated leading technologies to ensure future compatibility.

Ease of integration

censhare can be flexibly integrated with multiple input and output channels as required. We ‘play nice’ with other systems in a technology stack, making the most of today’s composable architecture. With dedicated manufacturing experts on hand, censhare will guide you, every step of the way.

Better problem-solving

censhare’s DAM is one of only a few DAM solutions providers with a Graph Database. This semantic database technology makes it faster to find assets, finding results in associative data sets, and is particularly valuable when it comes to personalization and managing complex customer journeys.

Future-ready

censhare systems are scalable, meaning whatever the future throws at you – more platforms, more products, more customers - you won’t have to reinvent your software stack to cope.

"censhare provides a fast and extremely reliable platform which also provides excellent customer services. User interface exhibits great performance and has great features."
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