PIM - Key concept

censhare PIM stores product specifications, product descriptions, marketing text snippets and any other relevant information. With censhare PIM you can control the publishing of information in different channels, formats and languages, and exchange your product catalog with suppliers and retailers.

Target groups

• Administrators

• Solution administrators

Purpose

An introduction to censhare PIM.

Introduction

Product information management (PIM) builds a bridge between inventory management and product development to provide information for sales and marketing. Depending on the scope of integrating the various areas of the company, purchasing, supplier relationships, online stores and retail dealers all benefit greatly from the PIM system.

A PIM system typically consists of other systems, for example, an inventory management platform. Data from the existing systems are taken on by the PIM system and are then maintained there. PIM then assumes the role of central data management with the following tasks:

• Harmonizing the data structure and enabling the exchange with other internal and external data management systems.

• Creating relationships between objects that were previously saved in different systems. Those things might include:

  • a product marketing strategy

  • product development versions and model documentation

  • material parts lists including supplier data

  • accessories and spare parts

  • availability data and warehousing

• Adding, linking and localizing product data texts, which means the PIM does more than just manage technical product information. Adding and linking texts can also be based on certain rules, which in turn means it can be automated.

• Enhanced product information can also be compiled for different publishing media, sales channels and sales areas as well as exported into the appropriate format for a specific system. PIM is rules-based here too. For example, product variants can be transferred to a product configurator and then integrated into a Webshop. Products that require a lot of consultation can be excluded from online sales channels. Dealers can make documentation available.

In addition to data storage and enhancement, PIM also maintains access and user rights. Employees can thus edit product data that corresponds to their job functions, for example. Purchasers, suppliers and dealers can access electronic catalogs with information relevant to their businesses. Sales can generate statistics and reports that enable the management and warehousing of inventory.

PIM in censhare

censhare offers a preconfigured version of the PIM system that is based on assets and widgets designed especially for the job. You can then adapt censhare PIM to your existing data structure. After the initial configuration and import of product data, for example from an ERP system, you will then be able to access PIM in censhare.

The default asset structure of censhare PIM is very flexible. You can use it to create an integrated data model that compiles your existing databases, for example. Other censhare modules can be used seamlessly including cross-media publishing, task management and translation memory.

censhare PIM is based on an object-oriented data system that uses relational database technology. It contains assets that represent products, categories and features. Assignments are done with so-called asset relations, i.e., “Product category from” or “Feature from”. A complete overview of assets and relations can be found in the following section.

PIM-specific assets and asset structures

censhare PIM uses special asset structures to represent the product range with all of its relationships and information. The basic structure of PIM consists of assets of the type Product category, Product feature and Product. You need at the very least these three assets for a censhare PIM system and those will be described in detail in the corresponding sections. There are also additional asset types that round out the basic structure. A list of all assets including a description of their uses and asset structures can be found in the overview page.

In addition to the specific asset types, PIM also has the corresponding asset relationships that censhare saves either as relations or as references. For example, a product is linked with a product accessory using the asset relation "user.product-accessory.". Product features, on the other hand, are saved as asset references with the ID "censhare:product.feature" in the “Asset” product category. The filters are already configured according to their use in the asset relation types and asset references.

Creating sales strategies

censhare PIM provides asset relations for up-selling, cross-selling and similar products. These do not represent hierarchical relationships between products. You can use these relations to create the respective sales and marketing strategies, for example, for your online shop.

Creating, assigning and inheriting product features

Product categories form a hierarchical structure based on features saved in products. The higher up in the hierarchy a category lives, the more general that category’s features tend to be. Categories that are lower in the hierarchy tend to be characterized by more specific features.

For example, the uppermost hierarchy level contains the features “Length”, “Height”, “Width”, “EAN” and “Price” because these features exist in all products. In a different category, for example, “Bicycles”, features are created that only exist in this category such as “Frame size” and “Wheel size”. In another subcategory, for example, “Pedelecs”, you will see further features like “Motor output” and “Battery capacity”. For more information see the section "Inheriting features".

Features that you create in a product category are saved by censhare as asset resource key references with the ID "censhare:product.feature". This ID can occur more than once in a category and represents all features in this category. All category features from a category tree are passed on (inherited) by censhare to products assigned to the lowest category of this tree structure. The inherited category features can be created in the product itself. Here you’ll see the single feature value, for example, "EAN = 123456" and "Wheel size = 26 inch".

The product categories (1) and (2) are each assigned a feature (4) and (5). censhare saves the features in an asset resource key reference with the ID "censhare:product.feature". The product (3) inherits both features. In the product asset, censhare creates for each a feature with the referenced ID (6).

Features and feature values

Features that inherit a product from a category are created in the product asset as asset features. This happens automatically and dynamically, which means as soon as a product is assigned to a new category or it is moved to another category, censhare updates the features of that product. For more information see the articles on features, which describe how you create and configure them in the Admin Client.

All features that you create in the Admin Client can be assigned to a product category. The assignment generates an asset resource key reference in the product category. All you have to do is add a feature in the “Product features” widget. The widget is part of the default configuration in censhare PIM.

Assigning a feature to a product category means that products in this category possess the corresponding feature. So you don't create the feature itself in the category. You are basically telling censhare to give this feature to all products in the category. You then have to enter a value for the feature. You can do that both in a product category or in a product or product article.

• Entering a product feature in a product – Typically, you have to enter product features for a product. If for example, you have assigned the feature “Battery capacity” to the category “Pedelecs”, you then enter a value in each of the individual products in this category, for example, “3Ah”. Every product in this case has an individual value.

• Entering a product feature in a category – Alternatively, for features that have the same value for all products in a category, you can enter them at the category level and they will be inherited in the products automatically. In this case, the feature itself is determining the category. For example, under “Pedelecs” you can create three subcategories for wheels with motors on the front wheel, rear wheel and in the bottom bracket. In these categories, you can then enter the corresponding values “Front wheel”, “Rear wheel” and “Bottom bracket” for the feature “Drive type”. The feature is then inherited with the corresponding values to all products in this category, which means you don’t have to further edit the product itself.

Creating feature value assets

Product features are not just technical or logistical data for a product such as dimensions, an EAN or a price. They can also contain other information for consumers such as texts or graphics. censhare can therefore save feature values as assets and offer you the option of linking this information with a feature value.

For example, you can create the energy efficiency classifications “A+++”, "A++", "A+", etc. in censhare as feature value assets and then link them with the feature “Energy efficiency classification”. The output value is then the technical parameter, for example, “A+++”. From a marketing perspective, however, you’ll need more information for communicating with end customers or dealers in order to explain what these values mean. For a feature value asset, you can thus link texts or images just like with a normal asset. In the example of the energy efficiency classification that could be a graphic, an explanatory text or a table with example figures for energy consumption.

To assign multiple feature value assets to a feature you need an asset of the type “Value list”. This asset tells censhare that the linked feature value assets belong to the “Feature XY” resource and that generates a dynamic selection list, for example, for the widget dialog field of the feature XY. For more information on the subject see the article “Asset relationships” in the section on dynamic value lists and in the section Referencing feature items in the article “Creating a new feature”.

Feature inheritance

Features created in a product category are inherited to products and product articles in this category. If a product is in a hierarchy consisting of multiple product categories, every category passes on the features it contains to the product or product articles. The advantage of this process is that users don’t need to know which features exist in a product. As soon as a product is assigned to a category, the respective features from the category tree are added to the product. If a product is moved to a different category, the features will be updated accordingly.

Inheritance rules

In addition to the default inheritance rules for features, censhare can also apply individual inheritance rules, as described in the previous section. Inheritance rules tell censhare the asset relationships, asset type features and feature values to which information is to be passed on. censhare PIM has the “Inheritance rule” asset where you can define the necessary conditions. Unlike the default feature inheritance process, inheritance rules also take feature values into consideration. This means, for example, that the value (e.g. “145 Euro” in front of a product) is inherited in conjunction with the feature “Price”.

The inheritance rules offer you the following functionality in censhare PIM:

• Inheriting features and feature values - Use asset filters and asset relationship filters to define how features and their associated values are divided up between assets. For example, you create the feature “Wheel size = 26 inch” in the product category “26-inch bicycles. This feature is then inherited to all related products and product articles using a rule.
  

  

  In the category asset (1) a value of 26 inch is entered for the feature (4). With an inheritance rule, that will be passed on to the product asset (2) and the product article asset (3). A corresponding feature (5) + (6) with the value 26 inch will be created in these assets.

• Stop feature inheritance - With a feature inheritance stop, you specify that the feature inheritance should not be applied for certain asset relationships and asset types. For example, the feature “Wheel size” is not passed on to assets in the “Product accessories” relation.
  

  

  In the category asset (1) a value of 26 inch is entered for the feature (4). This is then inherited by the product asset (2) through the inheritance rule. A corresponding feature (5) with the value 26 inch will be created in these assets. For the product accessories asset (3) an inheritance stop is specified. No feature will be created here.

• Overwrite inherited features - Feature values can be overwritten within a so-called cascade of inheritance. The inheritance rule then passes on the new feature values to the child assets. For example, the feature “Voltage = 12V” is created in the product category and an inheritance rule for the product and product article relation is created. If the inherited value in a product is overwritten with a new value of “24V”, the rule inherits this value to the product article of this product.

  

  
  In the category asset (1), a value of “12V” is entered for the feature (4). Using an inheritance rule, this is then passed on to products (2) and product articles (3). In the product (3), the feature value is overwritten and a new value “24V” is entered. The inheritance rule passes on this new value to the product articles (3) and enters the new value in the feature (6) there.

• Features from multiple sources + multiple values - If an asset inherits multiple feature values from multiple sources for the same feature, for example, if a product is assigned to two categories, then the inheritance rule creates both values in the product asset if multiple values are allowed for that feature.
  

  

  The product (3) is assigned to two categories (1) + (2). A different value (4) + (5) is entered for each feature in these categories. This is then inherited by the product asset (3) through the inheritance rule. The feature can have multiple values, and as such censhare enters two features in the product with the inherited values (6).