Product Information Management (PIM) with OpenKM: how to centralize, govern, and publish product information

Product Information Management (PIM) with OpenKM: how to centralize, govern, and publish product information

Written by Ana Canteli on 23 January 2026

If your catalog lives in Excel, emails, shared folders, and a “half-connected” ERP, you already know what happens: inconsistent product sheets, data that doesn’t match across channels, endless approvals, and a time-to-market that stretches beyond what the business can tolerate. That’s where Product Information Management (PIM) comes in: a system to collect, consolidate, enrich, and distribute product information from a single, reliable source of truth.

Leading market vendors repeat the same ideas because they’re what drive ROI: consistent data, governance, workflows, and omnichannel publishing/syndication to activate the catalog in every channel where you sell.

In this post you’ll see what companies expect from a PIM today and why OpenKM can be an especially competitive alternative when, beyond attributes, you also need document control, traceability, automation, and intelligent search to operate demanding catalogs.

What is Product Information Management, and why has it become “infrastructure”?

The practical definition—the one that matters in real projects—is this: a PIM centralizes product data, enriches it (attributes, descriptions, translations, assets, documentation), and gets it ready to distribute to eCommerce, marketplaces, distributors, PDF catalogs, and B2B portals.

That’s why you’ll see industry leaders insist on three pillars:

• Single source of truth: reduces discrepancies, errors, and rework.
• Enrichment + automation (workflows): standardizes and accelerates product onboarding/changes without chasing approvals.
• Omnichannel distribution / syndication: publishes consistent content across the “digital shelf,” meeting channel-specific requirements.

The real problem isn’t “having data”—it’s governing it

As a company grows, the catalog stops being “marketing” and becomes operations. Variants, compatibility rules, regulations, supplier changes, replacements, effective dates, versioned technical documentation… Without governance, a PIM becomes just another “nice-looking” silo that nobody respects.

This is where OpenKM has an advantage because its DNA is document management and information governance: it’s built to control versions, permissions, lifecycles, and traceability. And in complex catalogs, that isn’t an “extra”—it’s the difference between publishing confidently and publishing blind.

OpenKM as a PIM: a document-centric approach that fits demanding catalogs

Let’s be direct: OpenKM isn’t positioned as a typical “eCommerce PIM for attributes only.” But many organizations don’t just need a table—they need to govern the full picture:

• Structured data (attributes, families, statuses)
• Documentation and evidence (datasheets, manuals, certificates, images)
• Approvals and traceability (what changed, who validated it, when it was published)
• Integration with ERP/CRM/eCommerce

If this looks like your reality, OpenKM can work as a Product Information Management solution focused on product information and documentation—with automation and control.

7 OpenKM capabilities that make it very strong as PIM software

1) Flexible attribute model with metadata (without “forcing” the catalog)

A PIM lives and dies by its data model. In OpenKM you can structure product information using metadata groups and properties, and keep it maintainable as the catalog grows (in practice: families/categories, required fields, normalization).

PIM translation: less “everyone fills it in their own way,” more consistency by design.

2) Version control and proof of change

In industrial or regulated environments, “what changed and who approved it” matters as much as the final data. OpenKM lets you manage documentation as a living asset, with change control and traceability.

PIM translation: no more “final_sheet_v7_FINAL_ok.xlsx” and no more fear of publishing with outdated documentation.

3) Workflows for onboarding, changes, and publishing

Market leaders sell PIM as a system that “enriches and automates processes” to scale. In OpenKM you can design workflows for product onboarding, attribute changes, technical validation, legal review, quality approval, and coordinated publishing.

PIM translation: fewer bottlenecks and a catalog that moves forward with control.

4) Search and indexing… and the leap to RAG with OpenKM Intelligent Search

When the catalog grows, searching “by attribute” isn’t enough. You need to find the exact answer inside manuals, certificates, regulations, and versions.

Here OpenKM takes a differentiated step with OpenKM Intelligent Search, which applies RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation): instead of forcing the user to “find the right document,” it delivers natural-language answers with traceability back to the sources.

In addition, by its own description, RAG brings key benefits: answers grounded in real documents (fewer “hallucinations”), always-up-to-date information based on the latest versions, and conversational search; and it respects RBAC permissions, returning only information accessible by role.

PIM translation:

• Fewer errors from using outdated documentation
• Faster support, presales, and quality work
• Evidence-backed answers useful for compliance

5) Integration (API-first) to connect ERP, eCommerce, and channels

Leaders push the idea of “managing and publishing product experiences” through ecosystems and integrations. OpenKM fits well into PIM architectures when connected to ERP/CRM/eCommerce: you synchronize core data, enrich and govern in OpenKM, then distribute to channels according to rules.

PIM translation: less duplication, more consistency across systems.

6) “Build your own PIM app”: a tailored UI without sacrificing governance

One of the most powerful aspects of PIM is the user experience: onboarding screens, validations, enrichment assistants, per-channel checklists, etc.

OpenKM addresses this with OpenKM Dev-tools, a suite to build custom applications and front ends (including an SDK and a UI development model).

The SDK lets you build applications in Java/.NET/Node.js and access OpenKM via REST services, minimizing friction in integrations. OpenKM has even been implemented as content management using the Java SDK, demonstrating the “application on top of the repository” approach (perfectly reusable as a PIM front end).

PIM translation: a catalog-focused UI (not “folders”) with governance and traceability underneath.

7) Publishing and activation: Web Content Management for product content

A PIM doesn’t end when data is “correct”; it ends when it’s published—and kept consistent. This is where many teams struggle: the catalog is updated… and the website or B2B portal falls out of sync.

OpenKM has addressed this from the angle of web content management (WCMS): a WCMS allows non-technical users to design, create, and maintain content and cover the full editorial lifecycle (create, review, edit, publish, archive, distribute).

OpenKM stands out in elements particularly relevant for “PIM + publishing”: a workflow engine for editorial approvals, security and traceability, and descriptive features (keywords, categories, and metadata groups) to find and reuse content.

PIM translation: if your goal is to activate product sheets and content in owned channels (web/portal), OpenKM lets you govern not only the data, but its editorial lifecycle.

Which companies does it make the most sense to use OpenKM as a PIM for?

OpenKM as Product Information Management shines especially if you identify with one or more of these scenarios:

• B2B catalog with heavy technical content (manuals, drawings, certificates, regulations)
• Sectors with quality, audit, or compliance requirements where evidence matters
• Need for strong workflows and decision traceability
• ERP integration + multiple channels
• Teams that need to search for answers in documentation (not just “find files”), leveraging RAG

Conclusion

If you want to move beyond “PIM in Excel” and build governed Product Information Management (PIM) with workflows, versioning, traceability, controlled publishing, and intelligent RAG-based search, OpenKM can be your platform.