How do you create a product data enrichment workflow?

Collaboration in business: a vague objective or a reality?

In any case, it is a subject that fits perfectly into the digital transformation of the company. For while new technologies bring greater agility, it is collaboration that enables us to take full advantage of them by relying on solidly established ways of working together.

54% of employees in large companies want to "collaborate more often

But it is not always easy to install...

54% of employees in large companies would like to "collaborate more often" but only 27% think it is "easy to collaborate in your company". In larger organisations, it is often found that it is necessary to cultivate "working together". The objective? To bring together human will and skills around processes and tools that structure without confining. The term "contributors" in this context refers to any employee whose work is closely interwoven with that of other employees to achieve a common objective.

This gives rise to the notion of Workflow , which encompasses :

• The role and rights of each contributor
• The order in which the different contributions are presented
• The desired level of requirement to validate a contribution
• The strategic contributions that must be validated to allow the process to continue
• The stages of contribution that can be automated and those that require manual intervention

It is on the basis of the workflow that fruitful collaboration is organised. It brings teams together and aims to make joint work more fluid and faster in order to create the conditions for collective success.

The key words are speed, creativity and productivity.

How to compose a tailor-made workflow around product data?

Product data enrichment is a good example of the benefits of collaborative thinking. More generally, it contributes to Product Information Management (PIM)a tool that catalyzes the digital and omnichannel strategy of e-tailers, distributors and suppliers in all sectors.

The aim of PIM is to centralize and enrich product data (from technical and marketing descriptions to photo and video media, SEO and translations), then automatically distribute it to all sales channels (web and print).

To do this, PIM provides a unique space for all those who participate in the enrichment of a portion of this product data.

The solution PIM solution articulates collaboration around the principle of customizable workflows.

The following questions should be asked when building a workflow:

• How many people Contribute to the enrichment of product data - from the moment the product arrives in stock to the moment it goes on sale? Which contributors have validation rights? Which contributors only have the right to make suggestions (which are then subject to validation)?
• What is the timeline for product data enrichment?
• What fields are essential and required to accept the publication of my product sheet?
  

Does your workflow need to evolve? The PIM allows you to do so!

If you are starting to implement collaboration or if you are continuing your digital transformation, you will inevitably deploy a workflow.

It is best to start simple to ensure ownership of the solution by the various contributors.

Initially, it is necessary to install the solution at the heart of the product enrichment strategy and then to support the teams in getting to grips with it.

Once these steps have been completed, you can then expand your workflow to meet the growing needs of the business.

Your main challenge is to rely on a solution that offers a scalable workflow like Quable PIM. This reinforces your long-term vision and allows you to easily evolve your way of collaborating. You can add, modify, or delete steps in your product data enrichment process whenever you want.

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What does a product data enrichment workflow look like?

A product data workflow is primarily built with and for a specific company.

Here is a concrete example:

Step 1: Your product is registered in your ERP with its EAN code which automatically generates a new record in your PIM

Step 2: Paul from marketing enters a first draft of the fields :

- Basic product information

- Marketing descriptions

- Technical product descriptions

Step 3: Hélène from e-commerce checks and completes these same fields if necessary and submits them for validation

Step 4: Camille, digital manager, checks and validates or sends back these fields for modification

If the entries are incorrect, Hélène is alerted and takes charge of completing and resubmitting the product information to Camille until she receives validation

Step 5: The "basic information", "marketing description" and "technical description" fields are validated and passed to the translation team

Step 6: When all fields are translated, the product sheet is enriched with photographs

Step 7: All workflow steps are completed, the product sheet is published on all channels

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Conclusion

Collaboration is one of the major vectors of the digitalization of companies and is strongly supported by employees who wish to integrate it and experience it in their work. At the scale of a large company, it brings teams together. A synergy takes place around collaborative tools and becomes a new way of thinking about work and business. Quable's PIM follows this philosophy to offer the actors of product data enrichment THE collaborative solution. The Workflow embodies the structuring and organization of collaboration, whatever the size of your structure.

(*Survey conducted among a sample of employees working in 50 French and international companies. The study was conducted between February and March 2018 and covers eight sectors (transport, luxury, consumer products, banking and insurance/consulting, advertising, retail, telecommunications). The sample consisted of 37% large companies, 32% SMEs, 17% start-ups and 8% public organisations).