It might be boring to some, but it's essential for some businesses serious about growth
For manufacturers and distributors, product data is becoming an increasingly important commercial consideration – particularly for businesses planning international expansion, preparing for a potential acquisition or supplying customers who sell overseas.
Customers, collaborators, auditors and potential buyers may increasingly require detailed information about the products being supplied and have assurances that the data you hold about them is correct and uo to date. This could also become a more significant part of due diligence, including assessments of a business’s supply chain and ability to meet future market requirements.
Historically, businesses have managed relatively straightforward product information such as part numbers, specifications, prices, suppliers and technical documentation.
This is changing. Businesses are increasingly expected to maintain and provide information covering:
Country Of Origin
Materials, Commodity Codes
Carbon Data
Certifications
Compliance
Sustainability
Traceability.
In effect, products are developing their own digital identity, and some are calling it a product passport.
The Emergence Of The Digitial Passport
Regulation is one of the main drivers.
The EU’s development of the Digital Product Passport (DPP) is part of a broader move towards making product information more accessible and traceable throughout the product lifecycle.
Alongside requirements such as CBAM and increasing sustainability and supply-chain reporting, this means businesses seeking access to international markets, or selling to business that sell overseas, may need significantly better product information than they have traditionally maintained.
For many SMEs, the challenge is that this information is spread across ERP systems, spreadsheets, supplier emails, certificates, PDFs and shared folders.
That is helping drive interest in Product Information Management (PIM) systems, which create a more structured and reliable source of product information.
Why Should Businesses Care?
There are several reasons:
International growth: If exporting or entering new markets is part of the strategy, future product-data and compliance requirements should be considered during planning.
Customer and supply-chain requirements: Even if a business does not sell directly overseas, its customers may do so. They may increasingly need detailed product information to satisfy their own customers, regulators, auditors or supply-chain partners.
Future business value: A potential buyer may assess the quality and accessibility of a company’s product data when considering its ability to support international growth, meet customer requirements and manage future compliance obligations.
A strong product range is one thing. Being able to demonstrate what products contain, where they originate, which standards they meet and what evidence supports that information could increasingly form part of commercial due diligence.
For businesses with hundreds or thousands of products, improving poor or inconsistent data takes time. However, business owners can take three practical steps now:
Create a product-data inventory. Identify the key information held for each product, where it is stored, who owns it and where gaps or inconsistencies exist. Start with the highest-volume, highest-value or most internationally relevant products.
Agree a consistent data standard. Define the core information required for every product, including specifications, origin, materials, certifications, compliance information and supporting documentation. Assign responsibility for maintaining it.
Build product-data readiness into future planning. When reviewing new markets, suppliers, systems or product ranges, consider what information and evidence will be required. If current systems cannot provide a reliable source of truth, assess whether improved processes or a PIM system may be appropriate.
These steps will not resolve every product-data challenge immediately, but they can make the business more organised, transparent and prepared for international growth, customer requirements and future due diligence. Key to this is to start thinkninbg about today's and tomorrow's data requirements and how internak processes need to support this. Ultimately it will increasingly become and expected part of what you need to sell in some markets.
Summary
So perhaps the question for business owners is simply:
If international growth, customer expectations or a future sale could form part of the opportunity, is your product data ready for it?
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