Working together: since 2012 · PIM delivered in 12 months, then developed and maintained continuously · Industry: automotive aftermarket, parts manufacturing · Delivered by i4B
Optimal, a German manufacturer of drivetrain, chassis and engine components, kept its product data in several MS Access databases and disconnected systems, in multiple languages and without shared categorisation. No commercial product fitted the way an auto parts manufacturer works, so in 2012 we built a dedicated PIM with them. It went live within 12 months, gained a modular set of Master Data importers, and today holds 200,000 products, 300,000 images and 6 million vehicle linkages.
Collaboration context
Optimal has been in the automotive aftermarket since the 1990s and offers a full range of original-quality parts for passenger cars and commercial vehicles. Our cooperation started at the time of Optimal's expansion into Central and Eastern Europe, and in 2012 the company chose i4B to build a new, dedicated product information management system.
Requirements came from a series of workshops with Optimal's key people, held regularly at the company's headquarters in Langenbach, Germany. The same team has kept developing the system since go-live, alongside related work such as on-demand product catalogues for Optimal.
Client information
Optimal: drivetrain, chassis and engine components of original quality for passenger cars and commercial vehicles.
Two stages, one golden record
Stage 1 · Dedicated PIM
Product data came from many places: technical data from suppliers, images from the quality control team, related-product data from the product data team. It existed in several languages, descriptions and attributes were often incomplete or wrong, there was no product categorisation and no tools for working on the data together. Maintaining it took a lot of product managers' time.
All product data migrated from MS Access into one centralised system, designed from business analysis through architecture and UI/UX to a test suite for reliability. End users were trained within the 12-month delivery, so the team could start working in the new tool straight away. It became the main tool for Optimal's staff across many departments.
Stage 2 · Master Data importers
Once the PIM was live, the volume of incoming data grew enormously and entering it by hand started to slow everything down.
Online importers that validate data in real time against what the system already holds. The first ones covered articles and OEM numbers; thanks to the modular design, importers for competition numbers and technical parameters followed quickly. They became the main input tool for the 1CP system and were rolled out country by country with user training.
Integrations and publishing
The same product data had to feed a printed catalogue, B2B and B2C platforms and external catalogues, and stay in sync with Optimal's ERP.
Backend services that publish product information to every channel and connect to internal systems such as the ERP and to external catalogues such as TecDoc. Data is entered once and reused everywhere.
How we delivered
Technologies
Outcome
One golden record for 200,000 products, 300,000 images and 6 million vehicle linkages, maintained by i4B since 2012.
Product data is entered once and published consistently to every channel. Time to market for a new product dropped by around 10%, and customers get complete information, so they call customer service less and return fewer parts. Product managers can work in a built-in spreadsheet or in MS Excel, edit in bulk, and rely on validation and logging in the 1CP system. Facing a similar challenge? See how PIM4B, our PIM for the automotive aftermarket, keeps multiple brands, countries and channels in one governed catalogue.
Key terms
- PIM
- Product information management: one system that holds descriptions, attributes, images and relations for every product and feeds them to sales channels.
- Golden record
- The single, authoritative version of a product's data that every other system reads from. In this project it is Optimal's PIM, the single source of truth for each part.
- 1CP
- Optimal's internal name for the PIM system (One Component PIM) into which the Master Data importers load data.
- OEM number
- The part number assigned by the original equipment manufacturer. Importing OEM numbers was one of the first importer modules.
- TecDoc
- The aftermarket catalogue standard maintained by TecAlliance, one of the external catalogues the PIM publishes to.
Frequently asked questions
Why did Optimal build a dedicated PIM instead of buying one?
In 2012 none of the commercially available solutions matched the way an auto parts manufacturer works with product data. Optimal decided to migrate everything from multiple MS Access databases into a centralised Master Data Management system built with i4B to its own requirements.
How long did the first version take?
Twelve months, including business analysis, architecture, UI/UX design, development, documentation and end-user training. Requirements were gathered in regular workshops at Optimal's headquarters in Langenbach, Germany.
What do the Master Data importers do?
They load articles, OEM numbers, competition numbers and technical parameters into the PIM and validate the data in real time against what the system already contains. Users can work in MS Excel or in a built-in spreadsheet and edit data in bulk.
Which systems does the PIM feed?
A printed catalogue, B2B and B2C platforms and external catalogues such as TecDoc, with integrations to Optimal's ERP. Data is entered once and published consistently to all of them.
