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Smart data for smart homes: Transforming Gira's data landscape

Wie Gira mit Contentserv das Datenmanagement optimiert gira-case-study-header

About Gira

Headquartered in Radevormwald, Gira Giersiepen GmbH & Co KG is a leading full-service provider of intelligent system solutions for electrical engineering and networked digital building control. Since its founding in the summer of 1905, this family-owned company has been shaping and influencing the world of electrical installation and building control with its numerous innovations.

As a pioneering force in the future-oriented development of intelligently networked smart building systems and the digitalization of buildings, Gira has been providing significant impetus from the very beginning with a wide range of innovations, including the Gira HomeServer. Gira products and solutions stand for German engineering excellence, quality "Made in Germany", sustainable manufacturing processes, and an environmentally friendly and resource-saving operation.
The company’s products strive for excellence in form and function, with the main goal of making people's lives a little easier, more comfortable, and safer.

Today, Gira’s switches, control, communication, and security systems are used in around 40 countries, including prestigious locations such as the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, and the Banyan Tree Hotel in Shanghai. Leveraging extensive expertise in plastics technology, Gira also manufactures complex plastic system products for medical technology.

Today, Gira’s switches, control, communication, and security systems are used in around 40 countries, including prestigious locations such as the Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, the Olympic Stadium in Kiev, St. Stephen's Cathedral in Vienna, and the Banyan Tree Hotel in Shanghai. Leveraging extensive expertise in plastics technology, Gira also manufactures complex plastic system products for medical technology.

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The challenge

At the beginning of 2021, Gira approached the digital agency dotSource for intensive consulting in the area of PIM and MDM. Early discussions quickly revealed that Gira not only offers innovative products ideally suited for digitalization trends like Smart Homes but also boasts a highly mature digital business level. Consequently, the exchange was characterized by technical expertise right from the start, and together with dotSource, the process of gathering requirements in data management began.

A few weeks later, workshops with a clear objective took place: an elaborate system selection process in the MDM area. Gira already had a PIM system but wanted to gradually replace it with a more powerful integrated platform combining PIM, DAM, and MDM functionalities.This would allow a centralized and consistent management of over 13,000 products and associated media data, as well as numerous other data domains (suppliers, production facilities, etc.).

The implementation

Gira has extensive experience in IT project management. This experience meant that the manufacturer of electrical installation systems knew the importance of being able to ask specific questions and get precise answers throughout the project. Overall, the joint journey of the multidomain master data management project took over two years. After the initiation and preliminary phase, the concrete requirements analysis took place in February 2021, followed by decisive steps towards system selection in March. dotSource and Gira identified three providers and invited them to present their solutions. In the summer, the decision was made in favor of Contentserv, known primarily as a PIM and DAM provider but also offering strong MDM functions. These advantages convinced Gira, leading to the project kick-off in the fall of 2021 and the implementation phase beginning in early 2022. After intensive collaboration, the new system finally went live in March 2023, gradually replacing the existing PIM and thus increasingly becoming the central source of all data domains at Gira.

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Modern data management with the ETIM standard

Contentserv uses a flexible object model that simplifies the creation of new data records with intuitive actions, such as right-clicking, whether for products, individuals, locations, and much more. For Gira, a key challenge was to internationalize the product data by using the ETIM standard, and thus interact effectively with B2B customers across different countries via a data management tool. ETIM is an international product classification system for structuring product data. Through a standardized structure of clearly defined product classes and characteristics, ETIM enables the flow of technical information within the value chain, ensuring efficient and error-free interactions between B2B partners worldwide.

One of the central tasks of the project was to optimize Gira’s existing data for the ETIM standard and migrate it to the new system. An extension of ETIM is of particular importance here: the so-called modeling classes (MC). This data can be used specifically for 3D models, enabling architects to work directly with Gira files in the future. This will allow the company’s products to be integrated as realistically as possible into its 3D building models.

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Personalized automation features for Gira

Contentserv scored points not only for its strengths in data management but also for its flexibility and willingness to respond to individual customer requirements with customized solutions — that were developed when necessary throughout the project.

Specifically, Contentserv optimized many scripts to perfectly align with Gira’s use case. Impressive new automation features were also developed and tailored to meet the requirements submitted by Gira and dotSource. This includes capabilities to seamlessly manage Gira's country-specific pricing structures with minimal manual effort.

With the gradual replacement of the existing PIM system by Contentserv, Gira is creating a high-quality central data hub within the company that extends far beyond product data and media assets. By establishing a "single source of truth", Gira is achieving important goals in the company's long-term digital roadmap. The system progressively encompasses various domains, including, for example, various EU certificates, country-specific data for international rollouts, and streamlined integration of external supplier data with minimal effort.

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"dotSource guided us throughout the project with great expertise. In particular, the open and solution-oriented communication on an equal footing at all times has stuck with us positively. We now feel empowered to improve our data management with Contentserv to a new level."

Sebastian Marz, Managing Director Gira Giersiepen GmbH & Co. KG

Results that matter

Contentserv now functions as a "single source of truth" for Gira, extending far beyond the previous product data management:

  • Gira now manages over 13,000 products and more than 9,000 assets using Contentserv.
  • More than 40 country-specific assortments are handled with channel-specific data, generating 29 different language variants.
  • Contentserv integrated production sites and supplier address data efficiently.
  • Automated maintenance of ETIM standards and representation of design and technology objects have been successfully implemented.

Gira's open and transparent communication culture and solution-oriented project management contributed to the success of the project. Even after Contentserv’s go-live, dotSource continues to provide support and consulting services.

Why Contentserv?

With its Product Experience Cloud, Contentserv offers a modern, integrated solution that can cover a wide range of customer requirements for managing and personalizing product content, making it an ideal choice for Gira. Ultimately, Contentserv stood out with the following benefits:

  • Flexibility, openness, and willingness to grow with the Gira use case and respond to individual customer requirements.
  • Efficient data enrichment through configurable imports or other interfaces for sources like suppliers, manufacturers, and image or translation agencies.
  • Native integrations to Adobe products (such as InDesign).
  • A highly flexible data model that supports and maps even complex structures and cross-relationships.
  • Extensive configuration options within the user interface.
  • Strong digital asset management system, enhanced by AI to analyze, for example, image files and thus accelerate processes.

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"Contentserv is the right system for our company and our processes. The flexibility, scalability, and modern user interface have impressed us across the board. We are still happy with this decision today."

Sebastian Marz, Managing Director Gira Giersiepen GmbH & Co. KG

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