Imagine this: you’re a full-time marketing manager at a truck and trailer parts distribution company. You’re busy with your daily tasks, budgets, and strategies to connect your products to your customers. But once every couple of years, you and your colleagues' entire year is dedicated to sifting through spreadsheets and old printed catalogs to make a new catalog for thousands of products. And that’s, more or less, all you do for the whole year. At Universal Components, Marketing Manager Daniel Dixon found himself in that exact situation.
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To make these 16,000 product catalogs, they’d take data from spreadsheets and an ERP system. But, as soon as there was a change or edit that needed to be made to a label or artwork, it became easier to just update the catalog itself. This meant that as soon as those catalogs were printed, the previous data would be out of date.
Naturally, this led to a number of data errors, “When there were errors, it was noted and fixed in the next catalog, so some data was getting corrected, but it was always written down,” said Dan, explaining the correction process, it would be fixed by, “scribbling notes in the catalog or updating the ERP system.”
| Founded | Employees | Location | Type |
| 1919 | 100 -150 | Barnsley, UK | Distribution |
Universal Components, once a manufacturer of road springs, has evolved into a major player in the UK and Ireland’s truck and trailer parts market. With more than a 100-year-long history, they’ve seen their fair share of changes within their business and their market. These days they have a team of around 150 staff members and are widely known for their extensive product catalog and commitment to quality service.
The Universal Components team relied heavily on manual work, shuffling tasks between departments, which significantly slowed down their time to market. Being an automotive parts distributor, each product has specific and unique attributes that would only further complicate their workflow. “One category is very different to another,” explained Dan, “For example, if you were to present a list of brake discs or pads to a customer, they are driven by a cross-reference number, size, and vehicle application. But when you compare that to lighting, it’s by vehicle, and certain connector types, plug, and voltage, so the two categories are completely different.”
This product complexity paired with their internal workflows meant a time to market from anywhere from a week to several months. “It was really difficult to plan, especially to produce something new,” said Dan, “We didn’t have that data anywhere, [...] and I can’t just put a picture in front of a customer, and expect them to know what it is [...] so, it was constantly cycling over the same sorts of jobs over and over again,” he said.
Universal Components used to manage their product data through a combination of their ERP system, spreadsheets, and printed catalogs. Their ERP system was limited (allowing only a few attributes per product) and lacked workflows, making it difficult to inform teams when a product was ready for their input. “You can’t really drive things from ERP systems because they’re quite antiquated,” Dan explained.
Old files and spreadsheets were scattered across departments, and there was no centralized place to store and search product data. This meant that salespeople frequently had to make calls to the warehouse to check simple product details like colors and sizes. As for their printed catalogs, they would quickly become outdated, leading to errors and inconsistencies.
The driving force for the team at Universal Components was their need for a centralized place where they could store their data. They then started researching, reading blogs, and watching videos on how to best store and manage product data. That's where they saw the first mentions of PIM systems combined with ERPs and different business tools. “Many people talked about having an ERP and a PIM,” said Dan, “I’m a firm believer that one piece of software should focus on one area and specialize in it, so that made sense to me.”
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“The core of every business should be the data, and the other fundamentals like an ERP system and different channels should be driven and fed from that central system,” explained Dan. So, finding a solution that allowed for this centralization meant the team could manage all product data from one place, making it consistent across the organization.
Having never used a PIM within their business before, Dan had some difficulty convincing his team that PIM could be the answer they were looking for. When they discovered that Plytix had a free trial, it was a no-brainer for them. “It’s difficult when someone says, pay us this big bulk of money, and then we’ll tell you if it [the software] works for you or not, there are so many things that come to light when you start using the software that you would not necessarily have known to ask in a scoping meeting” Dan explained. The trial period allowed them to explore the features and see firsthand how Plytix could address their pain points.
For Dan, the experience with Plytix was positive from the start. He noted the helpful and enthusiastic support from the team, “every time I’ve rung up, everyone’s just been really, really happy and pleased to talk to you,” he said. And when it comes to bespoke issues or unique solutions required for their data, their team has always been met with a solution. “What I’ve learned is that even Plytix doesn't always have the answer right there in front of you, but there's always a way to get that data, or there's a way to change it or compute it, so there's an output exactly the way you want,” said Dan.
Post-implementation, Universal Components saw a remarkable improvement in their time to market. "After about 12 months, you saw the time to market was halved and the full complement of data available before the product had landed in the warehouse," said Dan.
These days they get a lot less technical calls from their customers as the majority of their data is online and up to date. Previously, products from overseas suppliers were difficult to get ready for market, as they required information from suppliers that wouldn’t instantly be available and that’s no longer the case with Plytix.
For Dan, these changes haven’t necessarily resulted in less time spent on data; he explained that’s because “the amount of time I'm spending on data is still around the same, but the amount of data we hold compared to what we did before, has grown massively.” He continued, “I also know I won’t spend any more time doing the same thing for the same exact parts, so that time is only going to decrease over the next few years.”
Universal Components saw a return on their investment in Plytix PIM in under 12 months. Getting products out faster along with better data management and catalog production saved time and boosted productivity.
The increase in efficiency allowed Universal Components to expand their product offering. The team can now show customers a broader range of parts, including those they source directly from suppliers, even if it’s not currently stocked. This expanded product offering has increased their market competitiveness and customer satisfaction. They’ve also learned that they themselves have become a source of truth for their customers, which has led to an unexpected increase in traffic on the site. "It's helped us grow massively," Dan remarked.
Thanks to the increase in efficiency and growth, Universal Components is ready for further expansion. They're planning to participate in several expos this year, including Auto Trade Expo, Dublin in October. They hope this will increase their market presence and attract more brand awareness. Implementing Plytix has not only made their operations smoother but has also set them up nicely for future growth and opportunities.
For Universal Components, Plytix PIM has been a game-changer, helping them overcome data management challenges and speed up getting products to market. It's also allowed them to add more products and set the stage for future growth and success. And we are excited to see where they will grow next.