PIM system for electrotechnical market

PIM for the electrotechnical market is a dedicated solution for the operation of the Grodno Group's network of electrical wholesalers. Certusoft PIM has been extended with functionalities specific to the management of product information such as power tools, HEPAC, and electrical products. It allows directories with millions of records to be managed efficiently. Enhanced functionalities, such as automatic price management without human intervention, combined with a consistent catalog structure, reduce data maintenance costs and are an essential part of standardizing data exchange between B2B partners and sales systems.

How does the PIM system work for the Grodno Group

The PIM system allows employees to define and manage many parameters and relationships specific to the electrical industry, such as:

• Support of multiple EANs assigned to the same product.
• Product series and production batches.
• Linking multiple suppliers and manufacturers to a single product.
• Grouping of products and belonging to a group based on ETIM classification.
• All product attributes such as dimensions, weight, cross-section, voltage, power, number of conductors, operating temperature, capacity, etc.
• Referencing products having different external identifiers.
• Links and dependencies between products (complementary, equivalents, successors, parts, substitutes, sets, bulk, most purchased with, etc.).
• Product attachments, including their preview and the ability to add further versions (technical documentation, certificates, etc.).
• Definition of EDI formats for importing product information.

PIM tools for the electrical and electronics industry

ETIM

Certusoft PIM supports the unified product classification system - ETIM (European Technical Information Model) - to ensure efficient filling and updating of the Grodno product database. The ETIM standard was developed more than 15 years ago and continues to evolve. More language versions are being added, allowing systems such as Certusoft PIM to support retail (B2C) and wholesale (B2B) sales by providing consistent information regardless of the target market. The possibilities and support of the ETIM standard provided by the Certusoft PIM system for the electrotechnical industry is a definite advantage in the context of the growing e-commerce of electrotechnical products in Poland.

BMEcat

In order to import a large amount of catalog data on electrotechnical products, Certusoft team implemented mechanisms to import information provided by manufacturers in the standardized BMEcat format. The data is often delivered by manufacturers in the form of a standardized XML structure and then imported into the Certusoft PIM system. BMEcat allows the exchange of any standardized data, from basic information such as product characteristics and parameters, to prices and discounts, to logistics data.

The Certusoft PIM system supports all information used in the electrical industry, including additional information such as multimedia files and technical product documentation. The scope of data provided in the BMEcat standard may vary depending on the product manufacturer. The mechanism for importing information provided in BMEcat format into the Certusoft PIM system supports multiple scenarios and scopes of data provided by manufacturers.

The system is constantly evolving. Accepted standards are updated and new ones are added. With access from any device equipped with a web browser, adding or updating product data by the user is convenient and intuitive.

FEGIME

For the further development of the Grodno Group, the Certusoft system provides integration with the FEGIME system. FEGIME is an international network of electrotechnical distributors. The organization has several hundred partners in 18 countries, including 6 units in Poland. The integration implemented by Certusoft enables the import of data on products distributed within the organization in all markets where it operates. The system downloads data such as ETIM classification and graphic materials. Without the involvement of the system user, the data update is performed automatically at a pre-defined time through automated tasks.

Integrations and data exchange for the electrotechnical market

For cooperation between Grodno and its franchisees, system mechanisms have been developed to ensure the exchange and updating of product data between databases (EDI). This ensures data consistency between distributors and customers in B2B relationships. Uniformity of files directly translates into the ability to process orders for goods without having to use email or paper correspondence. Data exchange takes place at the Certusoft system level, and the uniformity of the product information structure eliminates errors when placing orders.

For the internal needs of our clients, Certusoft provides integration between databases and other systems such as ERP systems (including Asseco Softlab) or warehouse systems (including Synaptic WMS). The type and scope of integration are carried out according to the needs of Grodno Group and all the Group's business partners.