Discover PIM for construction

Architects enjoy working with manufacturers and suppliers with a PIM

Manufacturers and suppliers are faced with more and more channels on which their product information must be available. Product Information Management, or PIM for short, helps them manage, maintain and distribute this information easily and from one central location to their websites, web shops, online catalogs, mobile apps, et cetera. ZeeBoer's PIM system takes this a step further by also including an assortment of unique online construction tools. For example, extensive specification services and calculation tools, taking Software as a Service to the highest level.

ZeeBoer has developed into a market leader in specification services. The Vaassen-based company is also the mastermind behind Utopis® Platform; a Product Information Management system for manufacturers and suppliers in the construction industry. "Manufacturers and suppliers like to be prescribed in specifications. They also like to see their product information reflected in BIM models," knows Peter Veldhuizen, director of ZeeBoer. "Often they offer a specification service for this. Because we add a PIM link in the background of this tool, interesting new possibilities arise. Think, for example, of feeding your website, webshop, online catalogs and mobile apps with up-to-date product information. But also the possible addition of a calculation tool, for example to easily calculate insulation values and in which various products are highlighted. In other words, with Utopis® Platform, manufacturers and suppliers can leverage their database of product information across multiple channels."

One clear environment

Many manufacturers and suppliers already have an ERP system or accounting package that includes primary product information. "However, this information is far from always suitable for use on the website and other channels," Veldhuizen says. "Additional product photos, unique sales arguments, assembly diagrams, et cetera are needed and desired here to convince (potential) stakeholders in the construction industry. In Utopis® Platform, these documents can be easily clustered, maintained and shared. Our seven experienced software specialists are happy to support manufacturers and suppliers in achieving this. For example, by transferring product overviews in Excel to Utopis® Platform and enriching them in one clear environment with product properties, processing recommendations, quality documents, ...., after which customers can easily share the tools via their own sales channels."

Maximum overview, minimum error probability

The biggest advantage of Utopis® Platform is overview, as well as a huge reduction in time and failure costs. "When you keep your product information and processing recommendations in different documents, if any changes are made, all the individual documents have to be searched back and adjusted," Veldhuizen said. "The more fragmented the information flow, the greater the risk of errors. Clustering all files in one central location significantly reduces this risk of error. Not only the manufacturers and suppliers themselves, but also their end customers and the prescribing market benefit enormously from this."

By now, more than 120 manufacturers and suppliers in the construction industry are using Utopis® Platform. You can find them at www.zeeboer.nl. Will your name be among them soon?