How Variohm Sped Up Products Launches | Customer Stories

Variohm Group specializes in manufacturing sensor solutions, and they’re great at what they do. So good, in fact, that they’ve established a presence in 20 global markets and their engineering is trusted across some of the most demanding industries (think medicine, defense, and aerospace).

We spoke to James Ellis, Head of Group Marketing at Variohm, to find out how Plytix and Start with Data—a product data management consultancy—have helped them manage product data across so many markets and industries.

How Variohm managed and shared product data before Plytix

As Variohm grew—expanding globally and manufacturing more products—the sheer volume of product data they had to manage became a serious headache. “Product data was fragmented across multiple systems,” James told us, “leading to duplicate entries with mismatched information and inconsistent attributes.”

Sales, marketing, and compliance teams were spending more time sifting through product data than actually doing their jobs. “We had created these highly manual workarounds to manage our SKUs and variants,” James explained. However, data inconsistencies across teams and sales channels kept piling up. As the problem snowballed, getting new products to market took longer than it should, and product launches became delayed.

On top of this, Variohm was also struggling to share product data with clients. Every product needed a PDF sheet filled with technical specifications. These weren’t just helpful; they were essential to make sure the right component was used for the job.

But creating these sheets was slow and expensive. “Each one took at least four hours (and cost a minimum of £70),” James told us. And most needed multiple revisions due to scattered product data. “One product sheet went through 14 revisions before it was signed off!” James explained. With hundreds of products to manage, Variohm was burning through up to £130k annually just on product sheets.

Choosing the right PIM system

Variohm knew they needed to centralize their product data—fast. “We recognized the need to digitally transform our business, but product data was the blocker,” said James. With customer experience suffering and growth stalling, they turned to Start with Data, a hands-on PIM consultancy that helps businesses find, standardize, and organize product data.

Start with Data got to work, assessing Variohm’s existing systems and workflows to pinpoint three critical needs:

1. Centralized data management: Variohm needed a single source of truth for all their product data.
2. Seamless collaboration: Having one place teams could manage and standardize product data together was essential.
3. Automated data flow: The solution needed to sync with their ERP and automatically share data with sales channels.

After a thorough evaluation, Start with Data recommended Plytix, a Product Information Management (PIM) system that checked all the boxes—scalable, flexible, and built to handle complex product data. “It’s not just about selecting a system; it’s a true partnership,” James told us.

What sold Variohm on Plytix as their PIM solution? 

• Centralized data management: Plytix gave Variohm the single source of truth they needed, allowing them to get rid of discrepancies and stop jumping between multiple systems.

• Effortless data importing and editing: With Plytix, Variohm could easily import and standardize data from different systems. This meant that all product information was consistent and accurate, drastically cutting down their manual work.

• Automated Product Data Sheets: Plytix generates product sheets for you, auto-filling templates with the latest product data from your account. No revisions. No outdated sheets.

• Intuitive product and variant management: Plytix made it simple to manage parent and variant products. Key details—like price or material—are automatically passed from parent products to their variations, saving time and keeping everything accurate across the board.

After adopting Plytix: How Variohm saved £130k and sped up product launches

Start with Data has helped Variohm find and organize their product data, while Plytix gave them a place to centralize it for easy management. The impact has been huge.

Sales, marketing, and compliance teams now have instant access to accurate, up-to-date product information (instead of digging through spreadsheets). That means they can focus on getting products to market faster.

Product Data Sheets are running on autopilot, saving Variohm £130k annually while still guaranteeing clients always get the latest, most accurate information—all without a single manual revision needed.

Now that expanding into new channels is no longer a challenge, Variohm is already eyeing future partnerships with ecommerce platforms and distributors. With Start with Data and Plytix powering them, they’re set for growth.

The best thing about Plytix?

For James, the big win of partnering with Plytix and Start with Data is that it’s allowed them to plan and prepare for future growth. 

“Product data was blocking our digital transformation,” James told us. “But Start with Data and Plytix have allowed us to make the right decisions for the long term.”  Now, with Start with Data tracking down and organizing their missing or messy product data, and Plytix centralizing it so they can manage everything in one place, Variohm isn’t only saving their team hours of work each week; they’ve sped up product launches and put growth back on the agenda.

For manufacturers looking to create, standardize, and then share product content with retailers, Start with Data and Plytix are the perfect match.

Variohm’s results with Plytix

• Sped up product launches

• Cut their team’s workload by 50 hours per week

• Saved £130k on product sheets

PIM doesn’t stop here—keep learning with these blog articles!

Beginners Guide to PIM for Retail
PIM for Omnichannel Retail
Managing Product Attributes