From scattered data to a single source of truth: how Schréder found the right PIM

Aug 03, 2026
  • customer experience

For a company operating in more than 70 countries, product information is more than a marketing asset. It is a critical part of how sales teams support customers, how digital channels stay up to date, and how product expertise is shared across regions. As Schréder continued to grow its global footprint, managing product information became increasingly complex. The challenge was not a lack of data, but a lack of consistency and control. Together with delaware, Schréder assessed its needs, evaluated four PIM platforms, and selected Akeneo as the foundation for a more governed and scalable product information landscape. (Reading time: 6 minutes) 

Challenge

Managing product information across more than 70 countries, multiple teams, and a growing portfolio of complex technical products, while ensuring everyone works from accurate, up-to-date information.

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Solution

Conduct a structured pre-assessment, evaluate four PIM platforms, and implement Akeneo as a central platform for governing, enriching, and distributing product information across sales, marketing, digital channels, and partner ecosystems.

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Results

A stronger foundation for product data governance, a single source of truth for product information, individual product pages supported by multilingual datasheets, and fewer manual handoffs between engineering, digital channels, and customer-facing materials.

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Challenge

With 118 years of expertise, operations in more than 70 countries, and over two million lighting fixtures produced annually, Schréder relies on accurate product information to support customers and partners around the world. As the business evolved, product information became increasingly distributed across spreadsheets, shared drives, product sheets, and regional teams.

The challenge was not creating more product information. The challenge was managing it consistently throughout its lifecycle. Technical specifications, product variants, multilingual content, and customer-facing information all needed to remain accurate, accessible, and aligned across teams and channels.

Without a central approach, sales and marketing teams often worked with different versions of the same information. Product pages lacked the depth of technical detail expected by buyers and procurement teams. Managing variants, multilingual datasheets, and channel-specific outputs at scale was becoming increasingly difficult.


Are you facing similar challenges? Contact us today to discover how you can build a stronger foundation for your product information management strategy.


Solution

Before selecting a platform, Schréder wanted to understand exactly what the business needed. Together with delaware, the team conducted a structured pre-assessment to identify pain points, map existing processes, evaluate data flows, and define the capabilities required from a future PIM solution. This helped create alignment among stakeholders and established a clear basis for decision-making.

Following the assessment, Schréder evaluated four platforms. Each solution was measured against Schréder's requirements, including support for complex technical products, product variants, marketing and channel outputs, ease of use for business users, and the ability to scale globally. Akeneo emerged as the strongest fit for Schréder's operating model and product complexity.

What did we do?

1. Assess requirements and select the right platform

The project started with workshops that uncovered operational gaps, business priorities, and real-life use cases. This ensured the selection process was based on business needs rather than technology features alone and helped build stakeholder alignment from the outset.

2. Design a scalable product data foundation

Together, Schréder and delaware developed a data model capable of handling technical specifications, product variants, market-specific attributes, and multilingual content. Creating a strong taxonomy was essential to prevent fragmented information from simply moving into a new system.


3. Connect people, processes, and channels

The implementation included integrations with Schréder's PALMA PLM environment and Drupal website. Product information created in engineering can now flow more efficiently into the PIM, while enriched product information supports dedicated product pages and multilingual datasheets. User roles, permissions, SSO access, and Akeneo's Digital Showroom further helped balance local autonomy with central governance.


Most customers look at Akeneo as a retailer solution, perfect for managing t-shirts. With Schréder we've proven the contrary. A user-friendly solution managing a complex product, a win-win.
Jan Courtheyn, PIM/DAM Manager at delaware

Results

The implementation provides Schréder with a stronger foundation for governing product information across its global organization. Instead of relying on local files or outdated product sheets, sales, marketing, and digital teams now have access to a central source of product information.

One of the most visible outcomes is the transition toward individual product pages supported by multilingual datasheets. This gives customers, partners, and procurement teams access to more detailed and relevant information than collection-level pages could previously provide.

The integrations between PALMA, Akeneo, Drupal, and Priint also help reduce manual handoffs between engineering data, digital channels, and customer-facing content. As adoption continues across the organization, Schréder has established a governed product information foundation that can support future growth and evolving business requirements.

Schréder & delaware

Schréder is an international expert in lighting and smart infrastructure, helping cities and organizations build safer, more efficient, and more sustainable environments. With operations in more than 70 countries, 2,600 specialists, and more than two million luminaires produced annually, reliable product information plays an important role in how the company serves customers and partners worldwide.

delaware supported Schréder throughout the pre-assessment, platform selection, and implementation journey. By combining expertise in PIM, DAM, and digital commerce, the project team helped translate complex operational requirements into a product information landscape that is easier to govern, maintain, and scale.

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