7 Best Practices for Achieving DAM Success in The Manufacturing Industry
Imagine you're the marketing director at a leading automotive manufacturer.
Renowned for your innovative electric car production, you’ve earned both trust and loyalty from satisfied customers worldwide.
But behind the success of it all, you’re dealing with a huge content management challenge.
Namely, handling a wide range of marketing materials, like:
High-resolution vehicle images
Technical specifications
Interactive 3D models
Multimedia promotional content, and
Dealer materials
These digital assets are crucial for showcasing your automotive innovations to a global customer base - but the sheer volume and diversity are constantly overwhelming your marketing team.
Enter Digital Asset Management (DAM), the solution that not only helps you manage all your digital assets in one place - but also streamlines your marketing material lifecycle from creation to distribution.
In this article, we’ll discuss 7 best practices for DAM in the manufacturing industry.
7 best practices for DAM in the manufacturing industry
From facilitating automated tagging of metadata to automated workflows, here are 7 best practices for DAM in the dynamic manufacturing industry.
Structured metadata tagging
Creating a solid metadata tagging system for your digital assets is a must.
Think of it as your asset's digital ID card, complete with key info like asset type, creation date, version history, usage rights, and those all-important keywords.
This organized approach makes the process of finding assets easy.
Take for instance a manufacturing company specializing in construction equipment.
Their marketing teams use a structured metadata tagging system for digital assets like product images and videos. These tags include essential information like product names, features, target industries, and application scenarios.
This practice empowers the sales team to access and share precisely tailored marketing materials, making it easier to meet the needs of various customers (local and global).
What you’re left with is a streamlined process that simplifies operations — and maximizes the value of your digital assets altogether.
Version control and revision history
Maintaining a dependable version control system is essential for managing your digital assets.
Why?
Because it's like having a time machine for your files – you can easily go back to previous versions when needed.
Imagine an aerospace manufacturing company.
Their marketing and sales teams use version control for those CAD designs of airplane parts in their brochures and presentations. They assign version labels like "V1," "V2," or even "Final" to these designs to keep track of edits and updates.
This way, they make sure the latest CAD designs, like "CAD_Design_V2.pdf," are always front and center in their promotional materials. In other words, ensuring that their visuals align with the most recent product details, helping the sales team explain things just right.
Here's the deal: Not having good version control can be a real challenge.
Imagine posting something on social media that doesn't follow the rules or has the wrong prices. It can cost you money and damage your reputation.
People might even head to your competition for a better experience. So, stay in control!
Access control and permissions
Another best practice for DAM in the manufacturing industry involves the implementation of role-based access controls.
These controls play a crucial role in determining who has the permission to view, edit, or delete assets. Not only does this approach safeguard sensitive data and intellectual property, but it also promotes effective internal and external collaboration within teams.
Consider an automotive manufacturing company.
Here, the marketing and sales departments have established access controls for their confidential competitive analysis reports. Ensuring that only authorized team members have the privilege to access and use these reports for the development of sales strategies plus pricing models.
In return, they get a protective shield around valuable market intelligence. Ensuring it remains in the hands of those who need it most.
Lifecycle management
Another best practice involves adopting a robust asset lifecycle strategy.
Why?
Because it simplifies asset management by defining key stages: Creation, approval, use, and archival. This method ensures efficient asset handling - and at the same time tidies up outdated ones, keeping your DAM system organized.
Take a robotics manufacturer using this approach for their sales collateral. As new robot models arrive, older marketing materials gracefully move into the archive.
Sales teams can then confidently deliver the latest product scoop, enhancing accuracy and consistency.
AKA, streamlining their day-to-day operations and ensuring that their digital assets are always at their best.
Automated workflows
Our fifth best practice is to integrate automated workflows for asset approval, review, and distribution.
For example, when new design files are uploaded, the system can automatically alert the right people and initiate necessary approvals before production use.
Take an electronics manufacturing company.
Here, automated workflows play a pivotal role in speeding up the approval and distribution of digital assets. Say product images of a new laptop, promotional videos showcasing the latest smartphone features - you name it.
Marketing teams upload these assets, and automated workflows seamlessly notify sales teams and channel partners for review and distribution. This ensures a well-coordinated product launch, streamlining operations and optimizing asset management.
A DAM solution like Digizuite offers an automated workflow for content approval, guaranteeing that only authorized, compliant content is used. This includes verifying the correct terminology plus adherence to relevant terms and conditions.
Asset analytics and usage tracking
Another tip is to use content analytics tools within your DAM system to reveal crucial asset insights.
This data reveals your most valuable assets, those in need of updates, and ones ripe for archiving, making the most of your resources.
In a pharmaceutical manufacturing company, they can diligently monitor marketing assets, including crucial product presentation slides.
Analytics spotlight the top-performing slides that sales teams rely on the most. Empowered by this knowledge, the marketing team can easily refine their content to enhance sales support.
This data-driven approach serves as your compass to maximize resources hands-on and efficiently.
Backup and disaster recovery
Lastly, regularly ensure the safety of your digital assets with routine backups and a solid disaster recovery plan.
Why?
Because in industries like manufacturing where security is key, the loss of crucial design files or process documentation can be devastating.
Which makes a resilient backup strategy vital for uninterrupted operations.
Consider a specialized chemical manufacturing firm where marketing and sales teams heavily depend on technical data sheets and safety documentation for product promotion. Regular backups and disaster recovery plans guarantee the protection of these crucial assets.
Even in the face of data loss or system hiccups, the sales team can confidently access essential documents, securing the business can go on as usual.
Case study: Volvo Trucks North America x Digizuite DAM
Consider the real-world example of Volvo Trucks North America, which faced challenges aligning internal teams and streamlining communication with its dealer network (in order to boost market share).
Their IT team had a tough time because getting images ready for e-commerce took too long, and this was hurting the sales of spare parts after the initial purchase.
In response, the company implemented the Digizuite DAM solution in December 2019, integrated with its content management system (CMS). This move significantly improved their time-to-market and overall efficiency.
With Digizuite DAM, they streamlined content distribution, enabling faster product launches and saving time through automated image resizing and watermarking - shortening the sales cycle for aftermarket parts.
Additionally, media portals provided instant access to up-to-date marketing assets for dealers, empowering the salesforce to promote products effectively. And as a bonus, stay ahead of competitors.
Lastly, DAM ensured regulatory compliance by maintaining the latest versions of critical safety documents required by the EPA, making sure Volvo Trucks keep running and follow environmental rules.
Conclusion
All in all, DAM in the manufacturing industry offers seven key best practices to streamline operations and maximize asset value:
Structured metadata tagging: Implement a metadata tagging system to organize digital assets efficiently.
Version control and revision history: Maintain version control to track changes and ensure the use of the latest assets.
Access control and permissions: Implement role-based access controls to safeguard sensitive data.
Lifecycle management: Adopt an asset lifecycle strategy for efficient management and organization.
Automated workflows: Use automated workflows for asset approval, review, and distribution.
Asset analytics and usage tracking: Leverage analytics tools to optimize resource allocation.
Backup and disaster recovery: Ensure data safety with routine backups and a disaster recovery plan.
In practice, companies like Volvo Trucks North America have reaped significant benefits from DAM solutions: Improving their time-to-market, streamlining content distribution, enhancing regulatory compliance, and empowering sales teams to stay competitive in the market.
Want to learn more about how your company can benefit from Digizuite DAM?
Book a demo with us here and get in touch.
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