The world has a new mantra and it’s called ‘digital-first’. The growing proliferation of technology, the dawn of the age of digital transformation, the changing workplace demographics and the increasing familiarity with online experiences are compelling all industries to look at optimizing digital experiences. Owing to this push, we are now witnessing traditional industries also jumping on to the digital bandwagon and adapting their business to new models. This move has also made the role of product information more prominent than ever before in the manufacturing narrative about adopting digital strategies.

Managing these large volumes of ever-changing product information, making sure that the data presents itself correctly when needed to drive the customer journey forward, and ensuring that you can extract the right information from this product data cannot be done without robust Master Data Management practices.

Managing thousands, perhaps millions, of database items and product data sheets is hardly an easy task. Managing this master data with a common hierarchy can be challenging especially in the wake of a huge supplier and distributor network, different brands, and product catalogs applicable across geographies.

Stibo’s powerful solutions have helped alleviate these concerns with their robust master data management capabilities and made MDM easier for their clients. Having been recognized as Delivery Partner of the Year by Stibo Systems we’d like to take this chance to showcase how manufacturers can accelerate their Stibo implementations.

Implementation experience

The manufacturing industry is struggling with a deluge of product data. One of the most pressing concerns they have is to ensure that their consumers and the supplier and distributor network can access rich product information when needed. This can only be driven by data consistency. It needs manufacturers to ensure that they can integrate information from multiple systems, enrich data, and establish the right data governance practices to deliver accurate and timely information.

Such implementations are often large and complex with massive product portfolios and distributed organization operations. Stibo implementation knowledge and experience play a critical role to accelerate these implementations and create a solid backbone for the company’s data infrastructure.

Exhaustive domain knowledge

Manufacturing, as mentioned, before is a complex industry. With numerous data touchpoints, ever-increasing product portfolios, evolving products, a complex supplier and distributor network, global offices, need for localization, etc. mastering the master data management exercise can be a tough challenge. Having exhaustive domain knowledge becomes essential here for Stibo implementations. In fact, it’s critically important to understand the customer domain. You have to know the products, their variants, and other key applications to be able to define the best way to collate and access that information to drive customer conversions. Along with having deep knowledge and expertise about the data needs of the manufacturing industry, it’s imperative to also have exhaustive Stibo implementation experience in those domains. This knowledge will help accelerate Stibo implementations.

Implementation frameworks

Much like everything else, taking a one-size-fits-all approach to Stibo implementation can be a recipe for disaster. Given the multiple forces at play across the industry, its domains, its network, and its product portfolio, taking a measured and planned approach when implementing Stibo becomes critical. But all this takes time. Is it really necessary to reinvent the wheel each and every time?

Not really. For instance, our industry experience coupled with the Stibo experience has helped us create robust implementation frameworks using tools, templates, and accelerators that address the unique needs of a variety of organization types. These frameworks help address some key issues that are common to such implementations. This helps us deliver faster Stibo implementations and help our clients reap the rewards that come from robust master data management -faster.

PIM expertise

Product Information Management expertise also helps to greatly accelerate Stibo implementations. It makes sense to have a content-centric implementation plan that accelerates the product information processes. This also helps in improving customer experience and improving business outcomes.

It is essential to set up the right roles processes, workflows, and governance to make a successful Stibo implementation. Comprehensive Product Information Management provides a 360-degree view of the product content and ensures that the content is aligned to the needs of the customer. This understanding will help define where MDM fits and therefore assist in making it a part of the core strategy.

Stibo implementations are hard. The essence of success is about careful planning keeping all the moving parts of the data in mind. Evaluating these parameters, having a clear understanding of the organization and its data needs will play a critical role in designing the roadmap that accelerates the implementation process