From Print to PIM: ABUS' Digital Transformation with Informatica P360 and priint:suite

ABUS, a leading provider of security solutions, has paved the way to the digital future! By introducing Informatica P360 and priint:suite, the company has successfully implemented the central administration of product data and the optimization of publication processes. The result? Significantly increased efficiency and a huge improvement in data quality.

Automation of catalog production at ABUS: The beginning of a new era

ABUS's journey with Informatica PIM began in 2006, when the company wanted to move away from the laborious and time-consuming manual catalog production process and switch to an automated solution. Up until that point, catalogs were created without templates in QuarkXPress, often with multiple languages on one page. ABUS decided to switch from QuarkXPress, the design tool commonly used at the time, to Adobe InDesign. Traditionally, catalog production was geared towards the trade fairs, which led to tight deadlines that often could not be met. In turn, this meant that the print shop had to accept late deliveries – often directly to the trade fair.

Data as the centerpiece of catalog production at ABUS

To efficiently produce catalogs, ABUS needed one thing above all- accurate and well-structured data. It became clear as early as 2006 that data quality would play a central role, which is why ABUS was looking for a solution that could not only manage marketing data but also act as a central hub for the entire company. The decision was made to implement a web-based solution that would enable data to be centralized and used across all channels – a prerequisite for the future automation of catalog production.

But the challenge was not just managing the data. ABUS also had to ensure that the catalog texts were available in several languages – initially in German, English, French and Dutch, with further languages added over the years. These texts were only one piece of the puzzle; numerous other assets such as images, tables and technical data also had to be provided for each catalog.

The initial focus was on print production, but it quickly became clear that digital platforms such as websites and B2B shops could also benefit from the same data. ABUS relied on the automation of data transfer to ensure that the data was always up-to-date and available there as well.

When the old system was to be sold in 2015, ABUS decided to look for a sustainable alternative. Informatica PIM was chosen because the ABUS subsidiary ABUS Security Center was already successfully using Informatica.

The migration to Informatica PIM: A meticulous process

ABUS was therefore faced with the challenge of integrating Informatica PIM without losing important data. Throughout the entire migration process was planned with the utmost care. Together with Informatica, ABUS created a complete field list that served as the basis for the migration. This list enabled the construction of the data model in the new PIM and helped to transfer the data from the old system. After numerous tests and adjustments, the data exports were generated on the old platform and imported into the Informatica PIM. In the summer of 2016, the migration process was completed.

Digital distribution was also expanded at the same time as the migration. Data for various platforms, such as specialist retailers, associations or internal purposes, also had to be provided in Informatica. ABUS had not only integrated the product item paradigm into the PIM, but also created the basis for efficient data processing in the future.

Post-migration print production challenges

When ABUS switched to Informatica PIM, they lost the highly automated catalog production of the old system. This posed a major challenge in the first step, since the efficiency and automation that had previously been achieved were no longer available. ABUS sought out a solution to automate print output again and selected the priint:suite.

One of the key advantages of the priint:suite was the web interface, which provided visual support for the printing process. This enabled ABUS to achieve more precise planning and output of catalog pages.

Although the level of automation did not return to the previous 90% at the beginning, working with Informatica PIM and priint:suite was significantly more pleasant and intuitive. By implementing the priint:suite, ABUS was able to significantly reduce the number of templates and make better use of complex logic and dependencies, resulting in much more efficient production.

Outlook: Further development in digital publishing and PIM

ABUS will continue to manage digital content for B2B and B2C channels in the PIM and increasingly prepare it for specific channels and countries. In the past, product texts were geared more towards specialist retailers, but today they are tailored to the end-user market, which has led to an increase in dwell time and traffic to the websites.

In 2024, ABUS managed approximately 46,700 items and 3,200 products in Informatica PIM, and the two Informatica instances were merged into a common data model.