Schmidt Groupe

Challenges

Previously, Schmidt Groupe primarily relied on Excel spreadsheets to collect and manage product information. This approach led to errors, redundancies, and inefficiencies.

Further complicating matters, eight separate repositories were managed by five different teams, operating without unified governance or a common interface.

The existing DAM and PIM systems were outdated and lacked crucial connections to sales channels and creative tools. This disconnect, combined with the inability to efficiently manage translation and localization efforts across 22 countries, resulted in excessive time-to-market for product campaigns, ultimately reducing responsiveness across all digital channels.

Faced with a fragmented digital ecosystem, disconnected tools, and ineffective product data processes, Schmidt Groupe decided to undertake a strategic digital transformation. This involved not just replacing obsolete systems, but rethinking the entire product and media data lifecycle, from creation to omnichannel distribution.

The company wanted a best-of-breed tech stack, which included high-performance, specialized, and integrated tools, to ensure long-term scalability, catalog growth, and rapid sales channel evolution.

Project phases

To meet these challenges, Schmidt Groupe opted for a structured, agile and pragmatic approach, based on two SaaS solutions that are leaders in their categories: Akeneo PIM for product data management and Bynder DAM for content management.

All stages were completed without custom development, leveraging native tool capabilities to minimize cost and maximize scalability. The adoption of Akeneo (PIM) and Bynder (DAM) was a cross-functional success, extending beyond marketing to become core tools used company-wide. Bynder serves as the system of record for all digital assets and integrates directly with Akeneo PIM, ensuring that product imagery is always up-to- date with product information.

Bynder DAM as the system of record

In just a few months, over 150,000 assets were centralized in Bynder, covering a wide range of formats, such as images, videos, documents, and even 3D models.

Initially rolled out for marketing teams, the platform is now used company-wide, across the communication, sales, procurement, store layout, operations, HR, and customer service departments. This cross-department adoption highlights the added value of DAM across the entire organization.

With just three administrators, governance remains lean and efficient, thanks to finely tuned permissions and key users in each department taking responsibility.

Results

In short, Akeneo and Bynder enabled Schmidt Groupe to implement robust yet agile data governance that fostered quick, lasting adoption, ensuring accurate and up-to-date product listings across all digital channels.

The implementation of a system of record for all product content and information has ensured data reliability, consistency, and accessibility. This has led to a 50% reduction in time-to-market for new product launches, cutting the previous six-month timeline down to just three months.

The intuitive interfaces and ease of use of Akeneo and Bynder have driven strong adoption across teams. This has significantly improved cross- functional collaboration between business, IT, and marketing teams through integrated and automated workflows.

The integration of AI-powered translation management with human approval workflows has accelerated the localization of key product information.

Additionally, teams now have full autonomy in launching new brands, such as Spoon & Room, without needing external support.

AI-powered localization at scale

Operating across 22 countries, Schmidt Groupe previously faced a time-consuming and error-prone manual process for translating its product sheets. This process is now quick and efficient, thanks to a new, integrated approach.

With centralized data in Akeneo, translation management is now structured and optimized. Content is initially translated using AI-assisted tools, then passed to local teams for review and validation of tone and accuracy. Once validated, these localized product sheets are automatically published across all channels, ensuring global consistency and freeing up valuable time for local teams.

What’s next for Schmidt Groupe?

Over the coming months, Schmidt Groupe has several key initiatives planned to improve the management of its product content and information. These include the further integration of AI to enrich product information and improve translation processes, and connecting its ERP system with PIM to link all stages of its product lifecycle.

Additionally, the company aims to simplify complex product modeling, particularly for intricate kitchen items, and implement Akeneo validation workflows to ensure consistent and high- quality campaign execution across all channels.