From vision to reality: How PIM fuels a truly circular product journey

The evolving role of product information

We brought the brightest minds across inriver together to articulate how product information drives circularity at every stage of a product’s journey: from the very initial design and sourcing, to manufacturing practices, product distribution, to the hands of customers—and most importantly—beyond the point of sale. Product data drives brands’ ability to re-use, re-purpose, and re-cycle a product’s components back into the production process.  

In our most comprehensive resource to date, The circular product journey: powering a sustainable, data-driven future with the inriver PIM, you will find practical guidance on how product data can be tracked and collected at each stage of the product journey. This resource includes real brand examples of leaders using product data to inform decision-making and meet the growing demands of customers, regulators, employees, and more. 

Alongside the launch of this ebook, I am sharing a 3-part blog series covering: 1) why product data governance has expanded beyond an internal alignment exercise, 2) inspirational stories of brands who have made substantial progress towards their circularity goals, and 3) a look at the impact brands can have by contributing to a circular economy. 

A “mission-critical requirement” for circularity

There’s an important message I will repeat in this series as it cannot be overstated. Regardless of the level of regulation your business faces today, a flexible data model to govern your product data is a mission-critical requirement to operate as the world changes. In fact, many brands today are subject to more regulation than they may be accounting for right now. It’s not difficult to find products with missing data in their product descriptions resulting in a direct violation of California’s Proposition 65, which requires businesses to provide warnings about significant exposure to chemicals known to cause cancer, birth defects, or other reproductive harm.  

It is impossible to predict all of the specific product data attributes businesses will need to collect in the short or long term to comply with new laws and regulations. I can say with complete confidence, however, that businesses need an extensible product data platform that can accommodate and adapt to new product attributes in a scalable and automated fashion. Organizations must have a PIM system that provides elasticity to evolve alongside an unpredictable future. This is not an investment to be made in the future – it’s one to be made today. 

Whether you and your organization are at step one or step one hundred in your journey toward a circular and sustainable business, I invite you to join the conversation. Engage with leaders within your company to understand what initiatives are on the roadmap. Network with industry peers to learn how other businesses are tackling these challenges. Reach out to inriver to understand how our new breed of PIM can be the technology that accelerates your circular transformation.