Azan - From fragmentation to unity: Azan's journey to a single source of truth with PIM

About the customer

Established in 1998 in Poland, Azan stands as the exclusive distributor of a wide array of products for pets, including food, treats, dietary supplements, and accessories. With a commitment to enhancing the lives of pets and their owners, Azan has become a cornerstone in the pet industry, offering high-quality products and innovative solutions. Despite its success, Azan faced significant challenges related to data management across multiple systems, which impeded its ability to serve its customers effectively in the rapidly evolving eCommerce landscape.
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A single source of truth that makes checking product data more accessible and pleasant.
_{Piotr Donicz, CTO at Azan}

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Challenges

One significant challenge was managing non-product entities, specifically a dynamic list of foundations to which customers could allocate 1% of their purchase value. This initiative not only demonstrated Azan's commitment to social responsibility but also introduced complexities in managing a constantly changing list of foundations. The need to manage these entities without SKUs demanded a flexible system that could adapt to the fluid nature of charitable organizations, with some ceasing operations and new ones emerging.

Initially, Azan grappled with using three different templates to manage data that often repeated across categories, creating unnecessary complexity. This approach was streamlined during the implementation process to a more unified template strategy, improving efficiency and reducing redundancy. Furthermore, the project's multilingual aspect introduced additional layers of complexity, necessitating a system that could seamlessly handle content in various languages.

The separation of the PIM system from the ERP and WMS systems posed another challenge. While product information, including SKU, stock levels, and pricing, was managed in the ERP (Navireo-Subiekt), the rest of the product information was housed in the PIM. This required a robust integration strategy, with plans to connect the PIM system with Baselinker, facilitating a seamless flow of product information from ERP to Ergonode.

On the eCommerce front, Azan encountered issues with application performance, initiating their project with a slow start that preempted full production. The integration of multiple systems at once introduced significant risk. This necessitated a highly adaptable and resilient system capable of accommodating custom solutions and ensuring stability across Azan's eCommerce operations.
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Objectives

1. ‍Centralize data management: Establish a single source of truth for all product information to streamline operations‍
2. Automate data updates: Simplify the management of product information updates, reducing manual data entry and the risk of errors‍
3. Improve operational efficiency: Enhance the workflow for adding and managing entities such as foundations, making the process more dynamic and responsive to changes

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Implementation and results

In collaboration with SpyroSoft and their own development team, Azan implemented a PIM solution to streamline product data management, focusing on unifying data from diverse sources into a single system. This integration facilitated a seamless connection between Azan's ERP system and Ergonode, enhancing the efficiency of managing SKUs and real-time stock levels.

A significant outcome was the improved management of a dynamic list of foundations for customer donations, simplifying updates and maintaining accuracy. The process overhaul reduced operational complexity and enhanced Azan's agility in product information management across multiple languages.

This transformation led to a more efficient operational workflow, minimized manual errors, and provided Azan's leadership with a consolidated view of product data, significantly aiding in strategic decision-making and market responsiveness. The PIM system's implementation marked a pivotal step in Azan's digital evolution, bolstering their position in the competitive pet industry landscape.