Case Study: Tarkett

We thought it was best to go to specialists rather than generalists, partnering with Akeneo for the product portion and OpenText for the media component. What’s more, synergies between the two solutions were identified very early on in the project.

We wanted to roll it out gradually rather than go for a “big bang”, which would be impossible in our case, considering the number of countries involved and the volume of data to be brought up to standards. We deal with people of different skill levels in this respect, so it seemed appropriate to initially deliver a first, “light” version to the most experienced users. We then relied on the ripple effect to help convince undecided staff members to come on board with the solution, so they too could benefit from the experience and practices acquired by their peers and, above all, the important data standardization work already completed.

Several operational challenges arose during the process, making the support of a reliable integrator essential. Because contributors were scattered geographically and product attributes were varied, several design workshops were required to define the enrichment workflow, publication strategy, and the ways in which Akeneo PIM would interconnect with many data sources and distribution channels, and standardizing existing product information.

About 15% of the product catalogue is updated every year. Existing products must be maintained, improved and enriched, and the range of products must continue to expand, increasing by 40% a year, to hit our target of 200,000 products. The catalogue had already begun to come alive, even before the project was “live.”

An effective solution for everyone

Akeneo and our integration partner gave us confidence, assuring us they could deliver a product information management (PIM) solution in a complex environment. We also felt a strong sense of partnership, as well as a real desire to take up the challenge.

It is currently rolled out in three of our four business units. The biggest challenge was getting staff members on board. Tarkett, however, managed to convince them that adopting a common, standardized data model is the right approach. The business units can leverage the standardization of common attributes already carried out by marketing management, while remaining free to make products available locally, establish ranges, and build their own catalogues. Akeneo’s simplicity and ergonomics also made it easy to learn how to use the solution.

Improvement in data quality

The completeness criteria makes it possible to drive the expected level of data enrichment for each channel. The databases for colors, sizes, and materials have been centralized, standardized and translated, assuring that data entered in one measurement unit will be correctly expressed in proper measurement units for each country. The association between products and media has been streamlined by combining the strengths of OpenText (DAM) and Akeneo PIM via the implementation of a dedicated web-API-based connector.

Personalization of the multichannel product experience

While staff gain new capabilities with the rollout of the solution, customers are the main beneficiaries, as they now have access to clear, precise, detailed information. This allows customers to see whether the technical features of the product meet their specifications.

The solution has also made it easier to introduce new services, such as customizable products, which can be offered by varying certain features. The solution has also helped improve relationships with retailers, by allowing them to access specific information more effectively through an easy-to-use, multifaceted search engine.

“The next stage is to go even further with the value proposition offered to the customer so they can personalize their products. We can now imagine them being able to choose their own designs, colors and formats à la carte while continuing to meet standards and regulations.”