4 Benefits of Automating Product Spec and Sell Sheets

1. Eliminate human error

Even the most astute team members can make mistakes. We’re only human, meaning mistakes will happen at some point in your spec and sell sheet lifecycle. Unfortunately, the risk of errors increases with the number of touch points in your process.

As you know, product data creation and management require input from many different departments. When working in a collaborative environment increases the risk of errors because you don’t have control over the versions of product information floating around. If your team works from disparate systems, that risk becomes even higher. Also, with complex product data, the slightest mistake can have dire consequences, including legal penalties, fines, health concerns, and more. Automation supplies all the required, accurate data needed to remain compliant with industry legislation.

You no longer worry about human error in the management process when you automate your spec and sell sheets. Using production information management (PIM) software creates a template for spec sheets with all information stored in a centralized hub. Your teams have everything they need to work in a collaborative, efficient, and productive way with the confidence they are working from the correct files.

Your PIM also enables you to create automated workflows that ensure you always use the same process. It takes your spec and sell sheets through all necessary touch points and approvals using one version. As a result, you avoid redundancies, everyone is literally on the same page, and you maintain a high standard for the spec and sell sheets you create.

2. Speed up time-to-market

The automated product spec and sell sheets functionality are at the heart of your process, improving how you operate. Through automation, you can develop a consistent approach in providing product information via branded, enriched spec and sell sheets. These essential tools are key to maintaining consistent product information across all channels while also sharing information easily with customers, supply chains, or internal teams.

Templates are the easiest way to streamline your process for creating, editing, updating, and deploying spec and sell sheets, whether it is internally, through marketing channels or to marketplaces. Simply put, when your information is templated, automatically updated for each channel, and stored within the system, your products are always ready to hit the market without delay. Both internal and external stakeholders are aware of changes, so they can keep processes running seamlessly to maintain revenue flow.

3. Increase productivity

Automation streamlines workflows and improves collaboration across all touchpoints. As a result, users are freed up to take on other higher-value tasks. When powerful automation is in place, it takes less effort for each department to do its part. As a result, when a product is pushed to the correct template, the product data is automatically populated, the older spec and sell sheet is overwritten with a new PDF and saved to your digital asset management system (DAM).

In essence, what was once a tedious process feels completely intuitive with a PIM managing your workload. Product attributes are updated, and the latest information is ready to share.

4. Using a PIM to automate spec and sell sheets

Pimberly focuses on every aspect of your product information throughout all lifecycles and workflows. You can track changes made to a spec and sell sheet and report and/or seek approvals or inputs from other departments before going live. PIM monitors and manages changes, determining which information, formatting or images are needed for a specific spec and sell sheet.

With custom channels for each template, you can publish your product data directly into your templates and release the product for that template. Pimberly Print then populates the templates with the relevant product data and generates a PDF spec and sell sheet. The PDF then passes back into the PIM and attaches directly to the original product record, whether you want it overwritten or archived.

Spec and sell sheet automation ensures all team members remain efficient because time-consuming workflows no longer exist. Errors are reduced, everyone becomes more productive, and your marketing team can focus on more important tasks that drive revenue.