A recent Deloitte report listed ‘Investing in advanced technologies to help mitigate risk’ as a key priority for the US manufacturing industry. Though this insight came from the US market, case studies from WoodWing have also revealed that European manufacturers have focused on digitalisation in recent years. As such, this priority should also be a key focus for the APAC region's manufacturing sector.
For manufacturers to survive and thrive, they need to stay ahead of their competition and be prepared to adopt new technology and strategies quickly. As the manufacturing industry continues its focus on digital transformation in the coming years, organisations will need to develop strategies to make the most of technology, invest in the right tools, and continually monitor their progress to ensure they remain ahead of the curve.
As part of this initiative, manufacturers need digital solutions to support content management. This includes platforms for managing product content, technical material (manuals and references), compliance (safety and standards), and marketing-enriched content for customer experience.
Content problems in the manufacturing industry
Research by Sitecore found that 80% of manufacturers would not rate their MarTech stack integration as ‘excellent’. Why precisely does this signify a problem for organisations within the industry?
- Manufacturing companies have a significant amount of content to produce across various departments.
- Content for manufacturing is not just about product content but also technical and enriched marketing content.
- The volume and the lifecycle of product creation and management need tailored workflows – including newly-released products, updates to existing items and cessation or replacement with new models.
- Manufacturers interact with global audiences and need tools to create and adapt content for various countries.
They need accurate content, especially for products requiring safety or health advice.
Inaccurate or incomplete data can lead to delays and errors, resulting in lost sales or customer confidence. Current steps are typically full of manual tedious tasks that cause a slow time to market. Compliance processes can compound this if the content is not stored and managed centrally with automated workflows. Without an effective content management strategy, manufacturers can find themselves at a disadvantage, as they do not have the technology to efficiently create, publish, reuse and update content across their websites, apps, eCommerce stores, supplier sites, etc.
As manufacturers strive to remain competitive in the global market, they must find ways to manage their digital assets while maintaining operational efficiency. Without a well-defined product content management system, these companies may struggle to keep up with customer demands and changes in the market with limited staff resources and a growing number of channels.
How product content management will help manufacturers solve these problems
Product Content Management (PCM) can streamline processes such as content creation, distribution and optimisation, allowing manufacturers to deliver content to their target audience strategically.
PCM makes it easier to manage content at scale by streamlining your content process in a single platform supporting multiple brands, complex product ranges, lifecycle, and localisation. It gives your organisation the power to update or repurpose content quickly to personalise it for various platforms and customer personas. A PCM platform significantly reduces manual labour costs and enables your business to focus on other core tasks by automating content creation, editing, publishing, and distribution processes.
Keeping digital assets up-to-date is a key priority for businesses in any sector. For manufacturing, it becomes especially important because of all the content dependencies across the product, technical and marketing content, but if executed well, it allows them to compete in the global market by offering excellent customer experiences. Additionally, manufacturers can use PCM solutions to improve operational efficiency by reducing manual data entry through integration to PIM and ERP, automating processes, providing access to real-time analytics and sending assets through the digital content supply chain. By taking these steps, manufacturers will be well-positioned to take advantage of new opportunities and remain ahead of the curve.
What benefits will manufacturers see?
By unlocking PCM, manufacturers can create an interconnected ecosystem that allows them to access, update and publish content. A few of the key benefits include:
- Reducing the number of redundant, manual tasks: PCM allows teams to better manage, distribute and share content across multiple channels and touchpoints, eliminating the need for manual data entry or copy-pasting.
- Improving collaboration across the organisation: PCM platforms enable teams to collaborate in real-time, regardless of their location or device. By using cloud-based applications, teams can review and comment on documents and assets in real time.
- Increasing the quality and consistency of content: PCM platforms provide a centralised hub for managing and organising all of an organisation’s content-related activities, from ideation to publishing. With content orchestration, manufacturers can ensure that their content remains consistent and accurate across various channels and platforms.
- Sharing content with distributors quickly: PCM unifies and centralises your digital asset libraries. These platforms provide features such as automated versioning and bulk distribution, making it easier to quickly publish a piece of content to multiple platforms with just a few clicks.
Creative Folks can deploy the PCM solution you need
Manufacturers need a coordinated PCM platform that brings data into a single source of truth and supports the digital supply chain.
Creative Folks understand the nuts and bolts of the product lifecycle and can help you implement the technology and processes to manage product data and omnichannel content delivery. We have experience implementing solutions, like Sitecore Content Hub, for our customers in the manufacturing industry and have delivered solutions aligned with their marketing and organisational strategies.
Please contact us for more information on how we can meet your product content management needs.
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