Wyko and Diageo share rich product data online
1 min read
As a response to growing pressure from its customers for electronic catalogue information, UK-based industrial goods supplier Wyko has successfully implemented an online catalogue system for one of its largest clients, Diageo. Dean Palmer reports
As a response to growing pressure from its customers for electronic catalogue information, UK-based industrial goods supplier Wyko has successfully implemented an online catalogue system for one of its largest clients, Diageo.
The online catalogue, supplied by product content management specialist Reqio, now gives Diageo (the drinks manufacturing group that owns the Guinness and Smirnoff brands) a very detailed (rich) web-based purchasing catalogue with a built-in Ariba punch-out facility.
Brian O’Leary, Wyko’s information systems director, explains: “The need for technical data in our catalogues is crucial… A bearing may measure and look the same, but if it’s not the right specification or from the right manufacturer, it won’t meet the customers needs. We want to ensure the customer always gets the right product for the job exactly when they need it.”
And O’Leary says the firm chose Reqio, “Because the software [Catalogue Manager] doesn’t merely list our stock, it provides customers with the intelligence to help them interpret their needs.”
According to O’Leary, the project was completed on time and within budget and involved the process of importing rich product data from 2,500 Wyko suppliers. “They [Diageo] like the quality of the [product] information we’re providing them with, and the work we’ve done here will make it easier to comply with other punch-out requests from different clients in the future.”
And Reqio has just announced its new outsourcing service, Content Hub, through a partnership with TSI Powerdata, the content management vendor with more than 30 years experience in this field.
Content Hub means firms can now outsource the creation of their rich product data without any loss of ownership or choice over the deployment of this information on the web, CD or in a punch out format to support client’s e-procurement initiatives. The service isn’t totally new to the market though – other strong UK vendors like Saqqara and CatalogA have similar hosted service offerings for clients.