PIM (Product Information Management) software manages and distributes product information to sales channels; PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) software manages product development, from recipe creation to labeling. In the food and beverage industry, both rely on the same foundation: the internal product repository.
PIM, PLM… two similar acronyms, two promises that sound alike—“manage product data”—and yet two tools that don’t address the same need. And there’s one question that almost no one asks, even though it changes everything: Should your PIM be an external system or an internal repository within your company? Let’s take a closer look.
What is PIM software?
PIM (Product Information Management) software collects, organizes, and distributes product information for marketing purposes: descriptions, visuals, logistics specifications, regulatory labeling data, and attributes required by each sales channel.
In the industry, the term “PIM” now most often refers to electronic catalog platforms and data pools: Equadis, Alkemics (SupplierXM), Akeneo, Agena3000, and the GS1 data pool. These systems play a vital role: they enable retailers and e-commerce sites to receive complete product listings, in the correct format, and within the expected timeframes. Every manufacturer that lists its products in supermarkets or online must provide data to these systems.
What is PLM software?
PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) software manages the product lifecycle from design through industrialization: specifications, recipe formulation, selection of raw materials and suppliers, calculation of nutritional values and allergens, regulatory labeling (INCO), packaging, all the way through to updates and product recalls.
While PIM disseminates finalized product information, PLM creates and updates it. In the food industry, PLM ensures that a modified recipe automatically updates the ingredient list, allergen information, and label.
The distinction everyone overlooks: Internal PIM or External PIM?
Most comparisons pit PIM and PLM against each other as two competing building blocks. This misses the real dividing line: where is your master product data stored?
- External PIMs (Equadis, Alkemics, Akeneo, Agena3000, GS1 data pools) are information systems located outside the company. Retailers and marketplaces set the requirements for these systems: manufacturers must submit the requested information in the specified formats. While they are essential for selling, they do not control your data—they simply receive it.
- The internal PIM, on the other hand, is a product data repository at the heart of the company—a data hub. This is where data is created, controlled, validated, and archived by the R&D, quality, marketing, and procurement teams. Once validated at the source, the data is automatically fed into external systems via connectors (REST APIs): electronic catalogs, data pools, e-commerce sites, and ERP systems.
This difference is fundamental. Without an internal data repository, every request from a distributor triggers manual re-entry in each portal—with the discrepancies and errors that this causes. With an internal data hub, data is entered once, validated once, and distributed everywhere, always remaining consistent.
PIM or PLM: Which One Should You Choose in the Food Industry?
| Your needs | The Right Tool |
|---|---|
| Publish product listings to retailers and e-commerce platforms | External PIM (electronic catalogs, data pools) |
| Develop, formulate, and update your products (recipes, INCO, allergens, packaging) | PLM |
| Centralize and ensure the reliability of all the company's product data | Internal Product Catalog / Data Hub |
| Automatically populate external PIMs without re-entering data | Internal Data Hub + REST API Connectors |
In reality, the question isn’t “PIM or PLM”: a food manufacturer needs both functions. The real question is: what is the foundation? If the master data resides in a single internal repository, PLM builds products from it, and external PIM systems draw from it to ensure their product records are always accurate. If that foundation doesn’t exist, each tool becomes yet another silo.
Integrating PIM and PLM: The Keendoo Approach
The Keendoo product repository combines both functions on a single platform: a PLM for developing and managing products, backed by an internal data hub that manages more than 1,000 data points per product and feeds external systems—Equadis, Alkemics, Akeneo, Agena3000, and GS1 data pools—via REST API connectors, without the need for re-entry.
With Quick Start PLM, this platform is up and running in 3 days for small and medium-sized food and beverage companies, with native integration with the VIF ERP system. For over 10 years, some 50 food and beverage manufacturers have relied on Keendoo to ensure the reliability of their product data and speed up their responses to distributors.
FAQ – PIM or PLM
PIM (Product Information Management) distributes finalized product information to sales channels; PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) builds this information throughout the product development process: formulation, regulatory compliance, nutrition, and packaging. PIM markets; PLM designs.
No. A PIM does not manage recipes, bills of materials, nutritional and allergen calculations, or development processes. Conversely, a PLM alone does not distribute product data sheets to retailers. The two systems are complementary and benefit from sharing the same data repository.
An internal PIM is a product data repository located within the company—a data hub—where data is created, validated, and archived at the source. It then feeds external PIMs (Equadis, Alkemics, Akeneo, Agena3000, GS1 data pools) via API connectors, without the need for manual re-entry.
Both functions are necessary: PLM for product development (recipes, INCO, allergens, packaging), and PIM for responding to retailers and e-commerce. The key is to base them on a single internal product repository integrated into the PLM (internal PIM), which ensures the consistency of the data it distributes across all channels, including external PIMs (Equadis, TX2, @GP, etc.).
PIM or PLM: What You Need to Know
PIM and PLM are not mutually exclusive: PLM builds product information, and PIM distributes it. The key decision lies elsewhere: having an internal product repository—a Data Hub— that governs data at the source and feeds external PIM systems, GS1 data pools, e-commerce platforms, and ERP systems without the need for re-entry. It is this foundation that transforms two tools into a reliable product data chain, from product development all the way to the store shelf.
Want to see how an internal data hub feeds your electronic catalogs without the need for re-entry?
