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HIT THE BULL’S EYE. EVERY TIME.
FROM ANYWHERE.

EASY. CLEAR. SYSTEMATIC. LOBSTER_PIM. THE SMARTER PRODUCTION INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE.
  • Cost savings due to a single company-wide media system with output to digital channels
  • Location-independent data management and maintenance
  • Alignment of media content in one central database
  • Improved quality and reduction of errors
  • Efficient expansion into new countries and markets with streamlined multilingualism
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STAY FOCUSSED ON THE BIGGER PICTURE.

Advantages

ADVANTAGES

Lobster_pim in a nutshell.

Manufacturers and commercial businesses are constantly having to maintain large amounts of product information in the most structured way possible, whilst displaying it to the customer in a customized manner. This in itself can be challenging, depending on the type of product and the number of features. To make matters worse, most companies have various product data versions on file, across various systems and in different languages. Which makes maintaining and publishing this data even more difficult.
Then, there is the need to accommodate new emerging electronic media whilst providing precise, customer-specific information.
The challenge is to make the most important customer-specific product information available at any time in the most efficient and streamlined way possible. Ideally, in a format that sets the product apart from its competitors. This optimized format and customer access should involve minimal input-, maintenance- and distribution efforts by the company.
Lobster_pim provides you with company-wide access to all product information – all within one central integration platform. Sales, marketing, support, web shops and external partner companies can also access the same up-to-date product data no matter their location. Just the way product communication should be.


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Advantages.

Implementing product database solutions helps businesses to cut costs and improve purchasing, production and sales processes.
This means:

  • Faster provision of information for new products
  • Immediate communication of product changes
  • Consistent information for each target medium and customer group with improved data quality
  • Improved profit margins through well-coordinated sales and marketing activities
  • Easier integration of suppliers, customers and business partners through coordinated electronic product catalogues
  • Reduction of costs, time and errors by producing print catalogues with information from the database
  • Efficient solution setup through preconfigured basic settings,
    easy customisation and integration with associated IT systems
  • Location-independent access to all system data using web-based software.
    For these tasks, Lobster_pim has a company-wide product information and catalogue-management software platform. It offers a centralised, structured product information system which contains powerful modules for the following tasks:
  • Central product data management
  • Import of basic data and comparison with ERP systems such as SAP, ORACLE, Navision etc.
  • Dynamic structuring of information
  • Classification management (optional)
  • Versioning
  • Comprehensive search functions
  • Document and image management

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FEATURES

FEATURES

LOBSTER_PIM IN DETAIL? LOOK NO FURTHER!

  • Integrated data management with Lobster_data
  • Easy handling of all product data via one central, media-neutral database
  • Individually definable version control, data and user history
  • Detailed rights management, right up to attribute level
  • Integration and replication of customer-specific workflows in Lobster_pim
  • Extremely robust and flexible translation tool which is able to differentiate between cultures and markets
  • Intuitive operability based on familiar patterns
  • Management and direct connection of assets and documents
  • User-friendly GUI: relevant data and display options individually adjustable
  • Individual setup of product code variant structures
  • Extensive import and export options – XML, csv, excel, mdb, ASCII and more
  • Export of data, lists and tables as Excel spreadsheets or Pdf files at the touch of a button
  • Product and catalogue manager support during the design process by illustrating virtual pages
  • Integration of free-form texts and images. Simplified magalogue planning (promotions catalogue)
  • Additional module Lobster_pim.shop for e-business, mail order and content management
  • Extensive and automated support for various publishing tools, both rule- and template-based
  • Automatic updates through integrated client management
  • Scalable license models (hire purchase models also available) for a high degree of efficiency and transparency
  • SaaS solution as well as full in-house integration

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Central product data management.

The beating heart of our product information management solution is a centralised, media-neutral product data management system. The central product data source is aligned with partial data sets in other systems (e.g. ERP), in order to guarantee consistent, company-wide information. The system also makes edited product information available for use within various target systems, for example for e-commerce, websites, CD-ROMs or the production of printed catalogues. Fig. 1 outlines the individual steps: acquisition, maintenance, planning and publication.


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Iinformation structuring.

It is essential that relationships between product data sets are structured dynamically in order to ensure accessibility and visibility. As such, Lobster_pim allows for the multidimensional structuring of data.


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Import and export.

All customer-specific imports and exports can be easily integrated within the standard user interface via a configuration file and accessed from said file.

Imports can generate new structures, create attribute values ​​or simply update existing data.

Incremental imports are possible. Lobster_pim offers the following import options:

  • Import data from CSV, TAB text, Excel files or tables from SQL databases
  • Importing texts and pictures
  • The mass import function enables users to import entire directories with pictures and texts all at once. By analysing the file name of the individual text or image, the object can be assigned directly to the product.

 

Exports

  • Excel / CSV export without configuration. An Excel spreadsheet or CSV file can be generated in the edit mode from a selection of products. The exported  attributes can be restricted using filters. This means that any user can easily create short-term data for a report, which can even contain product images.
  • Configured Excel / CSV export. More complex exports can be configured and made available in a menu which is accessible to all users (rights-dependent).
  • SQL export. Exports data from Lobster_pim to any SQL database (JDBC driver must be available). The export can either be configured based on the project, or processed as a “generic export”, a standardised output that is independent of customer-specific data structures and can be processed by downstream systems.
  • BMEcat export. Products and structures can be exported as a BMEcat file.
  • Lobster_shop export. Specifically tailored to meet the needs of our shops. Search filters and complex data structures can easily be configured. Standard product ranges and marketing campaigns can be connected with minimal configuration necessary.
  • PDF export. For each product selected, the images, set attribute values ​​(with attribute names) and texts can be exported as PDF files. The first page of the PDF file is a table of contents and the design of the PDF file can be customised. The result is an easily generated PDF product datasheet.
  • Export texts. This feature exports all texts that are subordinate to the selected node in the product tree. Can be formatted as HTML CSS.
  • Export images. This feature exports previews created by Lobster_pim when importing images.
  • The template-based export. Provides an export interface for any text-based output format (e.g. HTML, LATEX) as well as PDFs, via the integration of FOP.
  • Export group names. This feature allows all group names in the current product tree
    to be exported as Excel spreadsheets for translation.

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HIT THE BULL’S EYE. EVERY TIME.
FROM ANYWHERE.

Konica Minolta Business Solutions Europe GmbH, based in Langenhagen, Germany, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Konica Minolta Inc., Tokyo. As part of the Business Technologies segment, the company offers a range of systems, solutions and services, catered to the document lifecycle requirements of the business and production sectors. Konica Minolta has chosen Lobster_pim as a ‘data pool’ to make the product information displayed on their website available to their CMS system, with the added option of refining this product information with product images from Mediastore. The resulting data record can then be transferred to the CMS system either via an InDesign interface to create (semi) automated datasheets or via the Lobster_data tool to make product specifications available for company websites.

Following the first phase of PIM implementation which is focussed on end-customer information, Konica Minolta is also planning on expanding the use of the Lobster_pim software to include other applications, such as optimising the sales department’s quoting software by adding product information and sales texts or making non-public specifications available via the European intranet. In this respect, the ability to translate within Lobster_pim itself has proven to be a major asset, as this information can be made available in up to 25 language

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