Martin Broda: Okay, let's start. It's 10:00 AM. Good morning, and welcome to everyone participating in our webinar. This is the third in the Lemon Mind webinar series. Fast and Simple PIM. Today, we will be talking about product information management. In the dynamically changing market landscape, managing product information has become not just an asset but a necessity. In the digital age, where customers are increasingly demanding and bombarded with a multitude of offers, it's crucial for an entrepreneur to be able to effectively and efficiently manage product information. We invite you to join us, along with Agata Szczepańska. My name is Martin Broda. Agata is our expert in the field of digitalization. And I have the honor of talking with our business partners.

M. B.: Useful information at the beginning of our webinar. The duration is about an hour. Of course, this will depend on the Q&A session. We'll see how long it takes. Each of our participants will receive a free booklet where they can read about the information that will be shared in today's webinar. And, of course, an important piece of information: the webinar is being recorded, so we can later share this webinar with others.

M. B.: Why is PIM so crucial for B2B? Often in my meetings, for example, at conferences or trade shows, I deal with companies—with representatives from marketing or product departments—who mention that their product data is scattered in various places, for example, in an ERP system, or they still have this product data in Excel spreadsheets, or perhaps the marketing department keeps it on their drives. Here, everyone points out that there's a lack of communication, and a central product database is essential for them. This is where PIM comes in.

M. B.: PIM primarily ensures faster new product introductions to the market and quality control of product information. It is also available across many channels. This means that if we change information about a given product in the PIM, or, for example, a new feature is added, we are able to archive this information and automatically implement it across many channels, whether it's an e-commerce channel, a PDF catalog, or marketplaces. This ensures the consistency of information across these multiple channels and, incidentally, also enriches and makes teamwork more efficient. People communicate not only through corporate messengers but also because this information and communication is contained within the PIM. If, for example, product data is changed by the marketing department, we know who and when changed this information, which also leads to more efficient collaboration. This also builds our competitive advantage.

M. B.: Regarding the typical challenges with PIM implementations, it often happens in such discussions that one of the first things I hear—and it is very common—is the fear that it's a long and costly process, especially in the analysis phase. Well, we have managed to come up with a solution that we call Fast and Simple to reduce these processes and significantly decrease costs.

M. B.: We also have concerns about an uncontrolled scope creep of the project. Why do these arise? Because, of course, departments collaborate with each other, for example, the product department or the marketing department, but they face different challenges. And we are actually able to approach this in a phased manner. So, we can implement PIM and DAM, for example, in a basic process, and only then add subsequent solutions to it.

M. B.: Another challenge is the dependence on technology and the provider, for example. Here, Agata will talk more about solutions like PaaS and SaaS, which are limited in a way, and we have this dependence on that technology. As companies grow, for example, with an increase in the number of SKUs, the costs of such a subscription also grow. This then becomes a problem, and it's also difficult, so to speak, to add additional services to it because the process is, in a sense, closed within that system.

M. B.: Of course, every company has its own processes, which are quite unique. The basic things may not change, but the work process itself in such organizations is different, and the communication between these departments is also different. We strive to adapt our solution to the company's needs and not necessarily impose ready-made solutions when it comes to product information management.

Agata Szczepańska: Certainly. To start with, I'll add two more words about who this Fast PIM in six weeks is really for and who needs it most, based on our experience. Very often during e-commerce implementations, we also talk about this data centralization and how we can exchange this data. Our clients also often need this data for the needs of various marketplaces they work with, and often BaseLinker, for example, has to get this data from somewhere. And it is for this type of client who needs centralization and needs this transformation quickly that we have managed to prepare a system that is, first of all, a proven configuration, not a customization. It's a pre-configurable system that can be implemented in most enterprises and will meet their basic needs. We have already tested this solution in many, many cases, and it is what we call battle-tested. As for the platform we have chosen as the foundation of our implementation, it is the Pimcore platform, which is an Enterprise platform, and what does that mean? It means more or less that it is able to scale with the enterprise, and it's also possible to switch to different versions when it comes to system versions, so that it can grow appropriately with the organization and also increase the functionality of the system. I'll talk about that a little later.

A. Sz.: What's more, we give you full ownership of the data and the system, which is already unique in these times. What does this mean for you? After such an implementation, all intellectual property and ownership of the system are in your hands. There is no license fee, no required monthly fee, and you can also choose the partner with whom you want to continue working on maintaining or developing this system, or you can develop this competency within your team.

A. Sz.: Furthermore, we focus on the key functionalities of the PIM system as well as the DAM system, which I will talk about a little later. They meet 100% of the needs of most of our clients, and what is our goal? A ready-to-use system in six weeks. I'll boast that we've even managed to implement a complete system in four weeks, also depending on the client, and I'll talk about the process itself in a moment.

A. Sz.: As for Pimcore itself, it is, above all, flexible and open source. Our solution is based on version 2004.4. This is the latest open-source version of Pimcore, which is available without a license fee. The lack of additional license fees gives you greater flexibility, and in return, you get the PIM and DAM module. In the future, you can also expand the Pimcore system with additional functionalities and modules that it also has, such as CMS, e-commerce, MDM, and much, much more.

A. Sz.: We have unlimited integration possibilities here. We can integrate with e-commerce, which you may be creating at the moment, with BaseLinker, and with many other tools, as I mentioned. And as I said, the platform is extremely scalable. Our clients have from 5,000 SKUs to even 500,000 SKUs. We often implement the platform to a limited extent; however, it grows over time. Pimcore is a tool that we have already tested, and it greatly supports our clients' operations.

A. Sz.: What do you get in return for such an implementation? First, full management of product data. From the very beginning to enriching it with marketing data, to also managing it in response to the needs of various channels, such as e-commerce and marketplaces. What's more, we also have our own tool, which Martin will talk about, that is able to automate product data management and, with the help of AI, add marketing descriptions and generate additional missing content.

A. Sz.: What's more, we have full flexibility here regarding the category tree. We can have one tree or many, depending on our needs, and here we have no limitations when it comes to adapting this platform to your needs.

A. Sz.: What's more, we can also handle many variants, many relationships, cross-sells, and up-sells. This is what the platform is built for. What's more, we can say that you also get support for basic directives, which we use here in the European Union, as a freebie, such as ETIM or GPSR. We have pre-configurable modules that we add to such an implementation, so this platform can also help you in the transformation to get to a point where we actually meet these standards and can exchange data with our partners in the appropriate structure.

A. Sz.: What's more, we don't just have PIM here. We also have a DAM system. The DAM system is a Digital Asset Manager, which is used to manage digital assets. What do we mean here? We mean photos, videos, PDF files, user manuals, warranties, and all additional materials. What's more, the Pimcore system can also help you with managing these photos, for example, creating thumbnails, managing different versions of a photo, and much, much more. So, when it comes to the DAM system, it fully supports the management of this data and also the sharing of this data with your partners.

M. B.: Thanks, Agata. Now I'll talk a little more about our Lemon Hub AI solution. With the Fast and Simple PIM package, you get access to Lemon Hub AI, a unique solution that uses the power of generative artificial intelligence to automate the creation of product content and translations. It acts as an intermediary between the PIM system and advanced AI services.

M. B.: We have what we call three areas of competence of our Lemon Hub AI. The first is AI Marketer. A marketing assistant that works 24 hours a day. What do we get here? Generating product descriptions based on features, but not only product descriptions, because we can also have marketing, technical, and custom descriptions. It is actually able to generate this with a single click. Automatic translations of texts into many languages, and when comparing the quality of these translations, our solution often surpasses other AI tools and is close to professional human translations. Of course, it's worth checking this every time, as it's not yet 100% perfect, so to speak.

M. B.: We also have the generation of SEO meta tags based on descriptions and attributes, automatic text corrections in style and grammar, and content written in the language of benefits. We have image generation and image recognition. We can give an example here, for example, of a product on a white background, let's say a hand tool, and we can place it against the background of a house. Of course, we can do these options on many objects at once. And the ability to automatically generate product names for labels and invoices for different languages that are available here.

M. B.: There is also a second solution, the scope of these competencies, the AI Assistant. Eight years ago, when I started in new technologies, where bots were still crawling the web, I later got acquainted with a chat that we had on websites. We have the next step here. For several years, AI has been actively entering our market, so to speak, and in our solution, we have a conversational AI assistant that understands context and intent. This is more than a search engine; it's a conversational AI that changes the way we interact with customers. It has intelligent search capabilities. It goes beyond keywords, it understands context and intent. It engages customers instantly, answering queries with precision and personalization. It uses machine learning to get smarter and deliver accurate, relevant answers. It is integrated with Pimcore, using data delivered accurately and precisely. Here it supports various LLM systems, from OpenAI, Google Gemini, or Hugging Face, but also others. Examples show that it can also work on-premise, that is, for the protection of data that is inside the company. It doesn't necessarily have to be an open solution, so to speak. If someone asks about the moon, it shouldn't, so to speak, give them a long-winded response about the moon.

M. B.: The third addition to the Lemon Hub AI solution is the AI Data Harvester, which helps with the automation of migration, cleaning, and data transformation. You also get this, of course, in this Fast and Simple package.

A. Sz.: Exactly, this is a question clients ask very often because, in today's times, most solutions come as a full SaaS or PaaS, which are platforms that are fully managed by the companies that create this type of solution. Our platform is a typical open source that we can adapt to you. So, what is the actual difference? When it comes to a typical SaaS, the company that created the product has full ownership of it. As for Fast and Simple PIM, we fully transfer the rights to this creation, which is the PIM system, to you. You can fully manage it and also have a choice when it comes to the provider and who you want to work with.

A. Sz.: Regarding our Fast and Simple PIM solution, we have unlimited flexibility and the ability to adapt the source code to your needs and challenges. When it comes to a typical SaaS, we have a defined scope of functionalities that we can use, and we also cannot modify the source code or adapt the processes to your needs. We very often say that when it comes to SaaS solutions, the business must adapt to the solution it implements, and very often, when implementing a SaaS solution, we review the business processes within the organization to adapt them to the tool we are implementing. When it comes to open source solutions, which we also prefer, we have a bit more flexibility here, and we can adapt these processes and workflows to your needs.

A. Sz.: As for costs, this is often the most important point of the entire discussion with clients. When it comes to our Fast and Simple PIM solution, these costs are predictable and most often limited to hosting costs, i.e., managing the servers for a given system. When it comes to the costs of a typical SaaS, they are usually billed by the number of users, the number of SKUs, i.e., the items we have in the PIM system, and also the number of attributes or defined configurations. Very often, additional systems, which we already have included in the costs of our Fast and Simple PIM, such as the DAM platform, are extra. We already have a fully configurable and working system here that will meet the entire spectrum of an organization's needs.

A. Sz.: When it comes to integration, we are fully flexible here regarding Fast and Simple PIM, also thanks to the modules that Pimcore provides, which support our integration and the open API documentation. When it comes to integration with SaaS, they are very often paid and require the use of paid connectors.

A. Sz.: Therefore, in summary, when it comes to risk, it is also much lower when it comes to an open source solution like Fast and Simple PIM, because we don't have vendor lock-in, we are not limited to one provider. It is a Pimcore tool that many organizations know. I would even dare to say that most organizations in Europe know and use the Pimcore solution, and when it comes to a typical SaaS solution, well, here the risk is much, much greater because we are limited to one provider who is the producer of this software. We are dependent on their pricing policy, on how quickly they will react to potential errors that you may report, and also the functionalities may be limited and also dependent on the product roadmap in such a typical SaaS organization.

A. Sz.: Therefore, to summarize, when it comes to our solution, it is low-risk, low-cost, the flexibility is unlimited, and we can develop it in the future. We have a pre-configurable system that should meet most of your expectations, and any additional customizations are possible, and we are open to discussion. So, what does such an implementation process actually look like? We start with workshops, a meeting with you, and designing the data model. These are usually three three-hour workshops where we determine what challenges you have at the moment, what the current data model looks like and what we would like it to look like in the future, what functionalities the PIM system should have, and we also discuss the project plan and timelines.

A. Sz.: And as for the next step, it's the installation and configuration, which the Lemon Mind team performs independently with our qualified team, which fully prepares this system based on our discussions during the workshops. The third phase after system configuration is work on imports, exports, and training, that is, actually managing this system and defining how to use it. This is something we also help you with.

A. Sz.: The fourth phase is our support for data migration. And this is a key point in the implementation of the PIM system in the Fast and Simple version. When it comes to preparing data for migration, this is the responsibility of our client, which we support. We support this entire process and consult on what this process should look like and how to prepare this data. However, the preparation of this data itself is on the client's side.

A. Sz.: The final phase is system testing and launch, along with integrations. This is the last stage when it comes to implementation.

A. Sz.: As for costs, what does that look like? When it comes to the standard Fast and Simple PIM package, costs start from a one-time fee of PLN 35,000, and these costs depend on the specific configurations of the system. This entire cost includes workshops, configuration, and training. We also have an optional offer for hosting and consulting support if such a need arises. However, we are also open to hosting this system on your servers.

A. Sz.: We have no hidden costs or licenses here. The entire plan is open and also available to you. We are fully transparent here when it comes to additional costs. We have no license costs; however, the only thing we have to mention is a one-time cost for the ExtJS license, which is about 1500 Euros, and it is also presented. This is the only cost from Pimcore's side at the moment.

M. B.: Okay, so now let's summarize the information we've gathered from the very beginning. When it comes to our Fast and Simple solution, first of all, we have speed and efficiency, which means a ready-to-use product in six weeks. We have a proven process, we eliminate time-consuming analysis in favor of a ready-made, rich configuration based on our experience. We have a solid Enterprise foundation, we use the power of Pimcore, avoiding the limitations typical of simple SaaS systems. We focus on key functions that bring the most value from day one.

M. B.: What do we get at the start? PIM. Full management of product data, variants, relationships, cross-sell, up-sell, flexible categories, and support for industry standards such as ETIM and the GPSR directive. DAM. A central repository for all digital assets, photos, videos, technical documentation, certificates, and instructions, and many others. And multi-language support, which is what I mentioned earlier, Lemon Hub AI, a readiness to serve international markets.

M. B.: One of the most important things is full ownership and independence. The system is installed on the organization's servers or on dedicated Lemon Mind servers, where we have full control over the data. No vendor lock-in, thanks to open source technology, we are not dependent on one provider and their pricing policy and development plans. And predictable costs, which are one-time costs. A known upfront investment for implementation and low, predictable maintenance costs.

M. B.: And most importantly, we also have scalability and readiness for the future. This means we have a solid foundation for development, PIM and DAM, but the Pimcore platform allows for expansion with additional modules, MDM, CPQ, configurators, e-commerce, and many others. Unlimited integrations, the open architecture allows for integration with any system, be it ERP, e-commerce, CRM, when the organization is ready for it. And innovations at hand, the possibility of integrating with Lemon Hub AI to automate the creation of product descriptions, translations, and SEO.

M. B.: As I mentioned, each participant will receive a Fast and Simple booklet from us with a checklist, "Are you ready for PIM?", where everyone will be able to ask themselves and, of course, answer where and what stage they are at. We will send the materials by email after the webinar. And I also invite you to a free consultation because we realize that every organization is unique, and it's necessary, so to speak, to discuss it during even a short initial meeting. You can scan the QR code here, and I invite you to sign up for this consultation with me. I will be happy to talk, expand on the topic, listen to where the organization is, and possibly recommend whether the Fast and Simple product is really for you or if we need to go a little further and expand this solution.

M. B.: Now we can move on to the Q&A session, and I invite you to ask questions. We will, of course, try to answer them.

A. Sz.: We have a lot of questions here. Maybe let's move on to the first one. The first question I see is, can you create advanced user roles with access to selected categories and attributes? The answer is that we can absolutely create many roles, we can assign them many different access levels, and it is fully manageable, and what's interesting, when it comes to the Fast and Simple PIM solution, we have no limitations here when it comes to the number of PIM system users or the number of roles. We are fully flexible here, which makes it a great solution for companies where many people work on product data and also many people need access to a given system. In most SaaS solutions, you pay for a package of people who can get access to such a system. We don't have these limitations here.

M. B.: Maybe the next question for Martin. Besides the implementation and hosting costs, are there any hidden fees for Pimcore?

M. B.: No, there are no additional hidden fees. As Agata mentioned earlier, we are working on version 24.4 here, and we have that one-time fee that is only for, so to speak, installing this Pimcore for you, so there are no additional costs here, apart from what we talked about earlier.

A. Sz.: Thank you very much.

A. Sz.: Let's move on to the next question.

A. Sz.: Can I massively generate descriptions for many products at once using AI?

M. B.: Yes, I may add a little to this. You can absolutely generate descriptions for many products. The same applies to generating images with AI; we can also do this for many images at once. This is very useful, as I often talked with marketing managers, especially at trade shows, where these processes are prolonged for them. This definitely speeds things up and allows the marketing department to do more creative work. I'll even go a little further into this topic. Marketing departments are often busy generating PDF catalogs, and here, with the help of Pimcore, we are able to immediately, from the PIM database, so to speak, transfer this information to such a PDF catalog, which is, for example, generated by AI. I also had questions about generating these descriptions in another language. As we mentioned, with the help of Lemon Hub AI, we are able to generate a description in any language, and if it is changed here in the PIM, it also changes automatically in such a PDF catalog, whether it is a printed one or one that will be available on the website. New versions are automatically, so to speak, swapped if they are approved, so the time and effort are definitely reduced, and it allows the marketing department to move on to more creative activities.

A. Sz.: Thank you very much. The next question is, for what companies does this package work best, and for which might it be insufficient?

A. Sz.: As for this question, we can approach it in two ways. When it comes to the company for which it will work best, I would define them as companies that are at the beginning of their digital transformation. For example, they don't have a PIM system at the moment. The files are in different places at the moment, and we need to centralize this data to get what is called a single source of truth. When it comes to the implementation of such systems, we very often implement them precisely for the purpose of expanding sales in a given organization, for example, for e-commerce or for selling in a larger number of marketplaces. For whom might it be insufficient, as for the second part of the question? It may be insufficient for companies that have a lot of attributes describing the given products, that have complicated workflows, that want to implement something additional when it comes to the Pimcore system. For example, they would additionally like to use the CMS system, then this Fast and Simple PIM can absolutely be used, and we also strongly encourage it to be the first step in digital transformation. However, we then also encourage the use of additional modules and expanding this system a bit. Therefore, Fast and Simple PIM will work well for basically any organization at the beginning of its digital transformation. It is a great first step on the road to transformation and better product data management. However, if the requirements are indeed complicated, the processes are demanding, then the entire package would certainly require some expansion, and then in a conversation with Martin, you can discuss what this package could look like and in what aspects the Fast and Simple PIM package should be expanded to meet your expectations 100%.

A. Sz.: The next question, what does technical support look like after the implementation is complete?

A. Sz.: When it comes to technical support, it looks twofold, and usually at the very beginning of the cooperation, we determine what this support should look like after the cooperation is finished or after the implementation is complete. One of the options is that we can, of course, guarantee technical support after implementation. We have different cooperation packages depending on the complexity and also the needs for support. These are various packages, starting from even PLN 1,000 per month. When it comes to other options, we can also train the internal team on the client's side here, so that they can also 100% cover the needs for technical support, and we can also agree on so-called ad hoc support. If necessary, we can also return to cooperation over time and also continue the conversation. Most often, however, our clients choose support on our side, that is, the company that implemented it, in a specific number of hours per month.

A. Sz.: I will move on to the next question.

A. Sz.: Does the system have built-in ETIM dictionaries, or do we have to configure them ourselves? And the answer here is that the system absolutely has built-in ETIM dictionaries. We can use them, they are already built into the system and very easy to implement.

A. Sz.: Let's wait for additional questions.

M. B.: In the meantime, I'll say a few words, I'll refer back to those meetings of mine, because this is very important. Conversations with people who de facto work in these departments and face these challenges were very enlightening, and that's why these few points were shown, but there is a little more here. Some, some companies have ERP solutions that are working out for them. And for example, a conversation with one of the companies, I talked with a marketing manager, who mentioned such solutions as translation. This is also our Lemon Hub AI solution, which is also an external solution, so if a company is, for example, thinking about a PIM, but has some challenges regarding translations and would like, for example, to put an AI assistant on their e-commerce website, then we are able to support their solution with our Lemon Hub AI solution, because, well, when it comes to chatbots that work on the basis of scenarios, it is a completely different solution if such an assistant helps a potential customer on the e-commerce website with their queries to get to a specific product. I just wanted to point out that this is not a solution closed within the PIM, but certain elements of our Lemon Hub AI work, for example, in e-commerce.

A. Sz.: Do we have any more questions?

A. Sz.: I see one more question. If you have any more questions, please ask. If no more questions appear, I think we will be able to end this event a little earlier. And the question is as follows: What does the process of a potential migration from your system to another look like in a few years? The migration process itself to another system is predefined by the system you would like to migrate to. However, when it comes to our system, exporting data is exceptionally easy, and depending on your needs, we will be able to successively prepare this data for migration to a new system.

A. Sz.: Is there anything from your side, Martin, that you would like to add to this topic?

M. B.: No, not for this topic, but I think there is one more question. I don't know if you see it too, the last one here.

A. Sz.: How long does user training last, and what does it include?

A. Sz.: Such user training is usually defined in reference to the needs on the organization's side. It usually lasts a full day. It is usually online training and usually covers the full process of managing product information in the PIM system. We also discuss the basics of the system, how it works, how it can be developed in the future, and how to add new attributes, how to manage this process, what the roles in the system are, and we also prepare user guides, that is, information for system users on how to use it in the future, so that the onboarding of new employees in the future also goes smoothly and easily.

M. B.: From what I can see, we don't have any more questions. So, if none appear in a moment, we will slowly conclude. So, from my side, thank you very much for your participation. I invite you to contact us. Of course, you will receive this booklet from us. You can schedule a meeting with me here. I will be happy to talk about the challenges that are currently in the organization and try to answer any additional questions. That's all from my side. Agata?

A. Sz.: I also thank you very much for the meeting. As Martin mentioned, we encourage you to contact us, and if you have any questions, you can absolutely ask us individually, and also schedule a general consultation with Martin. Thank you very much for participating in the event.

M. B.: Thank you.