Chemical suppliers keep product data consistent by holding one governed record per product and letting every other system draw from it. Kimia, a chemical intelligence platform, structures product, regulatory and formulation knowledge into a single source of truth, so the specification in the PIM, the TDS, the ERP and the website stays consistent as products change.
Divergence starts when a specification lives in more than one place
Product data in a chemical business rarely has one home. Attributes sit in a PIM, codes and pricing in an ERP, specifications in TDS and SDS PDFs, and a copy on the website. Each system is updated on its own schedule, so a product change lands in one place and takes weeks to reach the rest. Manual checking cannot hold four copies in agreement.
In practice: a supplier revises the viscosity specification of a polyurethane dispersion from 3,000 mPa·s to 2,800 mPa·s. The PIM is updated that week. The website TDS still carries the old value a month later, and a distributor quotes it to a customer.
One governed product record ends system-by-system cleanup
The fix is structural. Kimia brings fragmented product information together into a single source of truth through Product Knowledge Hub: a structured product passport for every item in the portfolio. Attributes come from the documents and systems a supplier already holds, each traceable to its source, so when the PIM, a spec sheet and an email thread disagree, the record states which value is current.
In practice: a specialty adhesives supplier consolidates spec sheets from shared drives, application notes from email threads and attributes from an ageing PIM into one product record. Commercial teams, generated documents and the website all draw on that record, not on whichever file a rep found first.
Documents are generated from the record, not maintained beside it
A TDS maintained by hand is a divergence waiting to happen. Document Studio generates, updates and publishes technical data sheets, safety data sheets and compliance documents from the same controlled product record, so when the product changes, the documents change with it. Documentation teams stop reconciling PDFs across languages and markets. The specification a customer downloads matches the specification the record holds.
In practice: a regulatory update to an EU food-contact adhesive changes one attribute on the product record. Document Studio regenerates the affected technical data sheets in every language the supplier publishes, instead of a documentation team chasing the same value across dozens of documents and markets.
The ERP and CRM stay aligned through connection
Consistency across commercial systems comes from integration. Kimia connects to the ERP and CRM a supplier already runs. Product data, customer records and sales activity stay consistent across platforms, and updates made in Kimia appear in the systems commercial teams already work in. Reps stop maintaining parallel records. The answer a customer hears matches the data the ERP invoices against.
In practice: a distributor holds pricing in the ERP and product attributes in Kimia. When a rep is asked whether a dispersion is REACH-compliant for an automotive interior application, the answer draws on the governed record, and the order is raised in the ERP against the same data.
Thin and stale records are found before customers find them
Consistency also fails silently, through missing attributes as much as conflicting ones. Kimia identifies which products in a portfolio are missing key attributes, specifications or supporting information, and lists the gaps for product teams to close. Incomplete records degrade everything built on them: sales answers, generated documents and website content. Closing a gap at the record level improves every application drawing on the data.
In practice: a supplier covering 500 or more specialty products finds its legacy waterborne coatings records lack cure schedule and substrate data. Product managers fix the highest-traffic records first, and every answer, document and page drawn from them improves the same day.
What one governed record changes
One current specification: the PIM, TDS, ERP and website state the same value for every attribute.
Documents that track the product: technical and compliance documents update when the record does.
Less reconciliation: teams stop re-entering and cross-checking data between systems.
Fewer wrong answers: reps and customers work from current data, never the oldest copy.
Chemical suppliers running on Kimia
Kimia is live with Bostik, Univar Solutions and Stahl. Univar Solutions deploys Kimia to accelerate technical sales. Aldric Tourres, Global Director of Digital at Bostik: "Kimia has become our partner of choice within Bostik for scaling technical expertise globally."
Consistent product data is an architecture decision rather than a cleanup project. Chemical suppliers that hold one governed record, with every system drawing from it, stop fixing the same specification twice.
Frequently asked questions
Do chemical suppliers need a traditional PIM before adopting Kimia?
No. Kimia creates the governed product record itself, consolidating attributes, documents and expert knowledge into a single source of truth. A supplier with an existing PIM connects it as a source. A supplier without one gets a structured product record without a separate PIM selection project.
What is a product data foundation?
A product data foundation is one governed record per product that every downstream system, document and answer draws from. In Kimia the foundation is Product Knowledge Hub: a structured product passport holding attributes, specifications, documents and captured expert knowledge, each traceable to its source.
How does Kimia keep the TDS aligned with the product record?
Kimia generates the TDS from the product record rather than storing it beside the record. Document Studio produces, updates and publishes technical data sheets, safety data sheets and compliance documents from one controlled record, so a change to the product carries through to every document built on it.
Does Kimia replace the ERP?
No. The ERP remains the system of record for orders, pricing and transactions. Kimia connects to the ERP and CRM so product data stays consistent across platforms, with updates made in Kimia reflected in the systems commercial teams already use.
