GLOBE UNION – LENZ: PIM system implementation with a guided approach
Complete, consistent data and the right information architecture provide customers with confidence and satisfaction.
Project profile
- GoalIntroducing a PIM and DAM system as the basis for expanding and supplying digital channels in future, focusing on feeding customers' channels and marketplaces.
- Duration03/2022 – 10/2022
- SystemContentserv as a Service PRO
- IndustryDesign and manufacture of high-quality taps and bathroom accessories
- TypePIM/DAM implementation
- Onboardingcustomer contact since 10/2021
The synaigy “driving licence model” enabled the core team to work in the system straight away.
Kitchen taps, bathroom taps and bathroom accessories from the LENZ brand, which has existed since 1930, are perfect in design and function. Whether kitchen taps, bathroom taps or bathroom accessories – the products for kitchen and bathroom are of particularly high quality and impress with their functionality and product value.
Our services
About LENZ (part of the worldwide GLOBE UNION group)
Many years of experience in manufacturing bathroom equipment have made the LENZ brand one of today's trend leaders. Kitchen taps, bathroom taps and bathroom accessories from LENZ are thought through down to the last detail and available at an affordable price. All products go through strict quality control at the company headquarters in Unna. Various other suppliers also rely on this quality and have their own brands designed and manufactured by LENZ.
LENZ is part of the worldwide GLOBE UNION group, one of the international market leaders in the kitchen & bathroom segment with a focus on the European and North American markets, employing more than 6,000 people at 22 locations worldwide.
A demanding starting position
As the starting point of the supply chain, expectations of wholesale and retail customers regarding the data supplied are naturally high. And anyone who – like LENZ – is not only a supplier to leading German DIY chains but also a long-standing trusted manufacturer has to meet particularly demanding requirements for the quality not only of the products but also of the product information.
For marketing its own products sold under LENZ Design, too, the ability to enrich data with texts, images and video material is essential in order to meet the requirements of modern e-commerce.
Before the PIM system was introduced, data and texts were largely collected and recorded independently in each area; only commercial information was managed in a central ERP system. Image and video material as well as documents were also stored department by department on various drives that were not synchronised with each other. As a result, supplying customers with data requested via individual spreadsheet documents was a time-consuming manual process, and ensuring that the transmitted information was up to date and correct required a number of review steps.
The roll-out of a new design line was also hampered by data being spread across different systems and formats.
The synaigy “driving licence model” as the ideal approach
After a preliminary evaluation, GLOBE UNION – LENZ decided to introduce the Contentserv PIM system in its SaaS version. The method chosen was our so-called driving licence model, which combines workshops, prototyping and coaching to put the core team in a position to work independently on the data model, workflows and all components right from the start – bringing control over the structure and the flexibility needed for constantly changing requirements into the company itself.
Together with a core team of 5 people on the customer side, an individual data model was created within just under three months, the necessary workflows were implemented and the end-to-end connection between ERP and PIM was established, so that data maintenance in the PIM system could begin. Shortly afterwards, the first exports into the data collection documents provided by various retailers were implemented; LENZ staff update these independently and adapt them for further customers. With the automatic creation of product data sheets, an internal research portal and dashboards tailored to each area, the project is close to completion in October.
Challenging data complexity
What makes the data model at LENZ exciting is the combination of own-brand and customer articles, which partly correspond to one another but can differ considerably in important details such as internal components, functions and equipment as well as the assignment of spare parts. The divergence in product information that matters only to certain customers, and the very different attributes across the various accessories, also shows that every data model is as individual as a fingerprint.
One challenge was that the overall team was at times under considerable strain due to holidays and illness. Thanks to the strong commitment of everyone involved operationally and the support of the management team as project sponsor, this challenge was also handled well.
New system, new expertise, new channel options for the future
GLOBE UNION – LENZ now not only has a PIM system with integrated DAM that supports and helps develop day-to-day business for years to come, with a future-proof product data model and a newly introduced workflow with clear processes and responsibilities. The company also has a high level of in-house expertise in the system and its configuration, so the internal core team can face any future requirements flexibly and calmly.
At the same time, GLOBE UNION – LENZ has created the conditions not only to open up new channels but also to take the marketing of its own brands effectively into its own hands.
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