XSARUS helps Flamingo Pet Products connect inriver PIM to GS1 datapool

Matthias Wilstra

Senior Implementation Consultant

15 June 2022

As a wholesaler of pet supplies, Flamingo Pet Products has everything you need to strengthen the unique bond between pet and owner. Its range of over 8,500 products provides a huge amount of product data. XSARUS has been working with Flamingo Pet Products for years as an implementation and optimization partner of their inriver PIM system.

Connecting inriver PIM & GS1 datapool

Flamingo Pet Products had a long-standing desire to link its inriver PIM system to the GS1 datapool. Within the GS1 Global Data Synchronization Network (GS1 GDSN), however, there were no data capabilities for pet supplies yet. Together with GS1 Belgilux and some competing colleagues, Flamingo Pet Products started a working group within which a data model (focused on animals) was established. The GS1 Data Source in do-it-yourself was then expanded to include the garden & animal category.

At the request of Flamingo Pet Products, a way was sought to automatically connect the data from inriver PIM to the GS1 GDSN datapool. To do this, XSARUS, together with Flamingo Pet Products, set up a mapping between inriver PIM and feed management tool Channable. From inriver PIM, data is sent to Channable for the purpose of proper data mapping, after which the data is retrieved by means of an inriver extension. Then the conversion to the GDSN Catalogue Item Notification (CIN) format takes place so that it can be uploaded to the 'GS1 My Product Manager'. After this process, a GDSN Catalogue Item Publication (CIP) message is sent for publishing the data. In response to sending the data and the publication message, a Catalogue Item Confirmation (CIC) message is sent back from GS1. This states whether the data was properly received and processed. This feedback is imported into inriver PIM, making feedback that concerns the quality of product data part of the data enrichment process.

Thanks to the link via Channable from our inriver PIM system to the GS1 GDSN data model, we are able to provide data in My Product Manager quickly and accurately at all times, without costing us a full-time employee. This allows us to focus all our attention on filling our own inriver PIM system and ensuring that our customers have up-to-date data. The good cooperation with XSARUS to realize this was crucial. Every week this project is still being followed up and adjusted to optimize everything even further.

Cindy Van De Water, Master data Coördinator at Flamingo Pet Products

Improved data quality

At the first go-live, Flamingo Pet Products achieved a data quality score of 100% on the GS1 GDSN. A big kudos to the work of Flamingo Pet Products. Because the inriver PIM system is well filled, the GS1 data pool can be provided with good quality product data. Buyers of Flamingo's products always have access to the correct data which complies with the latest standards and regulations. It is a great advantage for Flamingo to work through the GS1 data pool. This way data can be sent to customers faster and there is control over -and insight into- who uses the data.