Workflows to Manage Print and Maintenance Processes in PIM

User Report by MC-Bauchemie - Why Choose a PIM System

The continuous evolution of their products has led MC-Bauchemie to manage more and more product data. This can be attributed to the development of brand new products, the integration of additional languages and detailed specifications for important data. Furthermore, this information is no longer exclusively used for internal purposes, but is also requested by external parties with increasing frequency. As a result, the company has expressed the need for better data quality. Until now, data has been maintained on "multiple islands", i.e. various different systems containing the same data, resulting in a high overhead when it comes to data changes, due to the need to seek out the same data in multiple places. This can lead to mistakes, especially when the data is not changed on all "islands", leading to incosistent data across sysstems.

 

In addition to improving general data maintenance, the creation of data sheets was also a decisive reason for choosing a cross-media PIM system. Before the introduction of the system, various data sheets had been created manually. However, this process is only possible with a great deal of effort, as each time the relevant data has to be collected, the document created by hand and painstakingly approved. The inconsistent data can also unfortunately mean that the information used is not always up to date.

Why did MC-Bauchemie Choose ANTEROS by INCONY Specifically?

Before MC-Bauchemie chose their PIM system, they first conducted extensive market research on PIM and, at the same time, participated in multiple software demonstrations from different companies. In the end, ANTEROS by INCONY was chosen, with both the software itself and the INCONY team proving convincing.

 

According to MC-Bauchemie, ANTEROS offers the best PIM functionality for their highly complex product data. In addition to the PIM aspect, the 100% automatic print generation, which eliminates the need to use typesetting systems such as InDesign, won the company over. At the beginning of the project, MC-Bauchemie took the opportunity to test ANTEROS in a proof-of-concept project. They were pleasantly surprised by how quickly the system was ready-to-go.

 

Even during the sales phase, INCONY AG was able to impress with highly competent consulting services. With in-depth experience in the application of ANTEROS, the requirements of MC-Bauchemie were quickly understood. In addition, INCONY AG benefited from extensive experience in the field of complex technical data from the engineering and construction industries. During the first joint steps, the INCONY staff had already shone with short response times and reliable support.

Efficient and Structured Data Maintenance with ANTEROS.pim

Structured Data Maintenance

MC-Bauchemie can now maintain product data easily and clearly in the ANTEROS editor in multiple tabs. To ensure uniform spelling of texts and values, they can create selection lists themselves, thus avoiding incorrect entries and ultimately incorrect data. To maintain the nested characteristics of their data, the employees of MC-Bauchemie use so-called structured parameters, which combine several parameters. A classic example of this is the unification of the parameters length, width and height in the structured parameter dimensions. These structured parameters can in turn be nested again for very complex parameters. MC-Bauchemie requires this data nesting primarily for their data sheets.

Efficient Data Maintenance

For both number and text parameters, MC-Bauchemie uses the calculated parameters function from the ANTEROS PIM system to save time through the automated generation of texts and values. To do this, the corresponding rule need only be defined once and can then be automatically calculated in the products.

Country Specification

MC-Bauchemie operates internationally, meaning that they maintain various country-specific product ranges in ANTEROS at the same time and make use of their own publications for the individual national companies. Here, it is possible to choose from entire categories right down to the specific product as to whether it is relevant or irrelevant for a particular country and should therefore appear accordingly, e.g. in catalogs.

How ANTEROS is integrated into the infrastructure of MC-Bauchemie

Further Information on PIM Software

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Fully Automated Data Sheets with ANTEROS.print

MC-Bauchemie has created a separate “DOP” tab and a new “Standard” data object for generating declarations of performance. All data in the tab is maintained in a structured and efficient manner. A standard object contains all the parameters that must be set in order to comply with the standard. Subsequently, a product that meets the standard requirements can simply be linked to the corresponding standard and the parameters maintained there are automatically transferred to the product. This saves MC-Bauchemie the time and effort of having to repetitively specify the standard parameters for each product.

 

On the basis of the previously described country specifications, the corresponding publication for a country can be selected in the print form. Further settings for the language and layout can also be made here before generation can be started at the click of a button. Subsequently, the data sheet is initially generated as a draft document and without a version number in accordance with the design specifications. After approval by a reviewer, the draft label is removed and the version number is added. When compared to the past manual creation of data sheets, MC-Bauchemie enjoy significant time savings as a result of the automation.

Data sheets are generated fully automatically with the ANTEROS Printengine
Fully automatic creation of data sheets without the need for a typesetting system

Workflows Control Data Maintenance and Print Generation

MC-Bauchemie mainly uses the workflows feature to control the service declaration creation. For this purpose, they themselves can define the workflows in the graphical editor in BPMN, whereby each task created is assigned a role. This role determines who is allowed to process which tasks. Individual users or groups of users can be addressed. For example, MC-Bauchemie has created a separate process for each language, and in the case of foreign languages, people from the corresponding national companies are included for the translation process. Since the workflow editor is fully integrated in ANTEROS, checklists can also be stored at the tasks. During a process transition, these check whether the task has been marked as completed in the PIM system. Only if this is the case can the process move on to the next step. Thanks to the full integration in ANTEROS, it is also possible to display the tasks from a workflow for which one is responsible in the dashboard. Thus, every responsible person gets a permanent overview of the tasks they need to complete.

 

Once a workflow, for example for a data sheet, has been completed and the document has been released, it is automatically transferred via ANTEROS to the MC-Bauchemie website, making it possible for the company to offer the latest data sheets.

Assign an agent to each task when creating a workflow

MC-Bauchemie's Verdict: "We are Thrilled"

In summary, the introduction of the ANTEROS PIM system at MC-Bauchemie has been a great success. The software excels with its ability to maintain the complex product information and declaration of performance specifications in a very structured manner. In combination with the use of calculated parameters and default values, the company experiences a significant increase in efficiency regarding data entry and incorrect entries are avoided. The positive experience of data maintenance is complemented by the automated and workflow-controlled process used to create and generate the data sheets. All these points were implemented to MC-Bauchemie's complete satisfaction thanks to the competent advice and reliable support provided by INCONY's staff.

 

Based on this positive experience, MC-Bauchemie has decided to further expand their use of ANTEROS within the company. In the future, the system will be further expanded, starting with 15 additional countries, with their own additional product ranges and translations. In addition, there are plans to integrate the label editor for automated creation and an information portal that combines a media portal and a web catalog.

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Are you interested in a PIM system and want to maintain your product data much more efficiently? Are you interested in finding out what is possible with the technology-leading PIM system ANTEROS and how far you can optimize your processes with it? Then request a free personalized software demo now!

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