Breaking Down Bottlenecks: How Centralized Systems Transform Manufacturing Data Management

Breaking Down Bottlenecks: How Centralized Systems Transform Manufacturing Data Management

Imagine piecing together a complex puzzle when all the pieces are scattered across 12 different rooms. This is the reality many manufacturing teams face when relying on defective or deficient systems for managing product data.

Fragmented data isn't just an administrative headache—it can lead to costly errors, delayed time-to-market, and inefficiencies that hinder growth. The solution? Centralized systems—a setup where all data, processes, or decision-making is managed from a single point of control. This "command center" for your data or operations ensures consistency, efficiency, and easier management because everything flows through one core system.

These integrated architectures tackle bottlenecks and transform manufacturing data management, delivering operational simplicity and agility.

Small data issues can cause big trouble

For BEGA North America, a renowned manufacturer of high-quality architectural lighting solutions, the challenges of fragmented data were far from hypothetical. Before adopting a centralized system, they managed technical and product information across 12 separate platforms, leading to alarming inconsistencies in over 70% of their product catalog.

This lack of cohesion triggered a chain reaction of problems:

• Errors in product specifications, which increased production risks.
• Delayed time-to-market for new product lines.
• An overwhelming manual workload to reconcile conflicting data.
• Miscommunication between teams like sales, marketing, and production.

Unfortunately, BEGA isn’t alone. Manufacturers across industries share similar struggles as they handle thousands—sometimes tens of thousands—of SKUs, global market variations, and cross-channel data syndication.

What fragmentation looks like on the ground

You’re a product manager at a multinational automotive company. Your job is to coordinate parts sourced globally, such as:

• Seats assembled in Mexico with textiles from India.
• Components manufactured in Germany, Japan, and China.
• Electronics and glass produced across multiple locations.

Without an integrated system, you will face a mountain of challenges: Inconsistent data leads to compliance risks, while manual entry wastes valuable time. Limited visibility prevents real-time updates on inventory and production, and communication gaps caused by silos result in miscommunication. Additionally, tracking and implementing global regulations creates compliance challenges.

Each of these seemingly small issues harm the organization’s ability to innovate, work efficiently, and compete on a global scale.

The solution is to consolidate

A centralized system is much more than a tech upgrade. It is a strategic overhaul. With all data and processes managed from one "command center," businesses can work better, reduce mistakes, and grow reliably.

For BEGA North America, using Censhare's Product Information Management (PIM) and Digital Asset Management (DAM) systems delivered these results:

• 12 disparate data sources consolidated into one unified platform.
• Data inconsistencies reduced from 70% to nearly zero.
• Over 1,500 hours saved annually across marketing and sales teams.
• Faster time-to-market for new products.

Why are a combined PIM and DAM such a powerful solution? Together, a PIM and DAM create a highly ordered solution for fragmented data. PIM organizes and centralizes product details like descriptions, specifications, and pricing, while DAM manages rich media assets such as images, videos, and documents.

Picture this: What a unified system looks like

Think of a symphony orchestra. Each musician plays a different instrument, reads from the same sheet music, and follows a single conductor. Without this unified approach, you'd hear noise—not music.

In manufacturing, your unified system is that conductor. Whether it's product specs, supply chain data, or marketing materials, consolidated systems ensure every team member accesses the same accurate, up-to-date information.

Examples include:

• Product Information Management (PIM) tools like inRiver, which pull all product data into one location for multi-channel distribution.
• Cloud-based solutions like Amazon Redshift, which scale large datasets for analytics.
• Distributed systems with central control, where core hubs ensure real-time data accuracy across locations.

How real companies solve bottlenecks by centralizing

Centralized systems tackle bottlenecks head-on, enabling growth through enhanced efficiency, consistency, and scalability.

1. Hevert improves data consistency with a single source

A single-source system maintains brand integrity while improving marketing efficiency. Hevert-Arzneimittel, a German pharmaceutical company specializing in homeopathic medicines, was dealing with inconsistent global brand messaging. It also encountered inefficient marketing production cycles across 14 countries. By implementing Censhare's content production and multilingual management platform, Hevert achieved:

• 40% increase in multi-language content management efficiency
• Ensured brand consistency across all 14 countries
• 30% reduction in production time for marketing materials

This unified approach allowed Hevert to truly localize. The result was not only improved data consistency but also enhanced operational efficiency on a global scale.

2. BSH simplifies management with a unified platform

Manually updating product specs and marketing data is inefficient and error-prone. This was true for Europe’s largest home appliance firm, BSH. It replaced outdated content management systems with a unified platform to enable:

• Management of over 11 million assets.
• Coordination across 3,000+ users globally.
• Improved localization, ensuring regional-specific marketing materials were produced faster and more consistently.

3. Leister transforms operations with PIM for maximum scalability

Fragmented systems can’t support businesses as they evolve. Integrated architectures scale horizontally (adding servers) and vertically (adding resources) to handle growing workloads effortlessly.

Leister Technologies centralized its PIM system to manage complexities across 1,300 products in 100+ countries. Not only did data enrichment improve productivity, but eCommerce content production times were dramatically reduced.

Power your business by unifying systems

Managing manufacturing data with outdated or faulty systems may have been manageable in the past, but it’s no longer viable in today’s digital-first world.

As we have seen in the examples above, manufacturers that invest in centralized systems experience growth.

Want to learn how a unified platform can unlock your organization’s potential? Contact us today to take the first step towards transforming your data management.