Akeneo PIM
Architecture Proposal
The Heico Companies — Product Information Management Strategy
A comprehensive data architecture for unifying product catalogs across 70+ operating companies
Business Groups & Operating Companies
Four distinct business groups, each with unique product catalog requirements and PIM adoption considerations.
ASG — Applied Solutions Group
Highest catalog complexity · 7 segments · 20+ companies
ITG — Industrial Technologies Group
Diverse product types · 4 segments · 15+ companies
CSG — Construction Solutions Group
Primarily services · Limited product catalogs
PIM Scope Note: CSG is primarily a services group. Only TITAN Formwork and Steelform have significant product catalogs warranting PIM management. Phase 3 deployment recommended.
MPG — Metal Processing Group
High-volume SKUs · Spec-heavy catalogs · 6+ companies
Data Flow Architecture
D365 F&O serves as the master of record. Akeneo enriches and distributes product information to all downstream channels.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 F&O
Master of Record: SKU, pricing, inventory, cost, product hierarchy
Akeneo PIM (Enterprise Edition)
Enrichment Hub: descriptions, technical specs, images, compliance docs, translations, marketing copy
BigCommerce
Ecommerce
Salesforce CRM
Sales Enablement
Distributor Feeds
EDI / Partner Portals
Print / Spec Sheets
PDF Generation
DAM / Marketing
Asset Distribution
Pricing & Inventory Bypass
Real-time pricing and inventory data flows directly from D365 F&O to BigCommerce via dedicated API integration, bypassing Akeneo entirely. PIM handles "cold" product data (specs, descriptions, images); ERP owns "hot" transactional data (price, stock, cost).
Data Ownership Principle
Clear separation of concerns: D365 F&O is the system of record for all commercial and transactional product data. Akeneo is the system of record for all enrichment, marketing, and channel-specific content. No attribute is authored in both systems.
Akeneo Category Tree
Hierarchical category structure mapping Heico's organizational structure to Akeneo's category model. Click to expand any node.
Family Architecture
Product families define attribute sets shared across operating companies within similar product domains.
Why Product Domains — Not Company Groupings?
With 70+ operating companies, organizing families per company would create massive duplication. Kinedyne and Ancra both sell cargo straps — they share the same attributes (working load limit, length, material, compliance rating). Creating separate families for each company means maintaining identical attribute sets in parallel, with every schema change applied twice.
- • 70+ companies = 100+ near-duplicate families
- • Attribute changes ripple across many families
- • No cross-company data quality benchmarking
- • New acquisitions each need a custom family
- • Reporting fragmented by company silos
- • ~15 families cover all 70+ companies
- • One schema change updates all products in the domain
- • Compare data quality across Kinedyne vs. Ancra vs. Wistra
- • New acquisitions slot into an existing family
- • Unified reporting across the portfolio
The key insight: Categories separate products by company and business group (who owns it). Families define the data model by product type (what attributes it needs). A Kinedyne strap and an Ancra strap need the same attributes — they just live in different categories. This gives you governance without duplication, and makes every acquisition a category addition, not a schema redesign.
| Family | Used By | Key Attributes |
|---|---|---|
| Cargo Securement | KinedyneAncraB/A ProductsWistraLoadLok | Working load limitLengthMaterialComplianceVehicle type |
| Heavy Equipment | PettiboneBarkoARDCOKershaw | Lift capacityEngine specsOperating weightAttachments |
| Industrial Shredders | Shred-TechCM Shredders | ThroughputChamber sizeMotor HPMaterial type |
| Resistive Components | OhmiteArcol | ResistanceWattageToleranceMounting typeOperating temp |
| Thermal Management | WakefieldCoolcentricVetteC/A Design | Thermal resistanceMaterialFin countDimensions |
| Drain/Sewer Equipment | Spartan ToolElectric EelRionedKaRo | Cable lengthMotor typePipe diameter rangePSI |
| Molded Components | DaviesVersatile Mold | MaterialDurometerThread sizeColor |
| Steel Wire | Davis WireSIVACONational StrandDW-Nat'l Std | GaugeTensile strengthCoatingSpool size |
| Fasteners | Infasco | GradeThread pitchHead styleFinishDiameter |
| Formwork / Shoring | TITANSteelform | Load capacityHeight rangeSystem type |
Channels & Locales
Output channels for product data syndication and supported locales for multi-language catalog management.
Output Channels
BigCommerce
Native Akeneo connector. Product listings, descriptions, images, structured specs for ecommerce storefronts.
Salesforce CRM
Product catalog sync for sales teams. Technical specs and collateral accessible within opportunity workflows.
Distributor Feeds
Automated EDI, CSV, and XML exports tailored to distributor portal requirements and partner data standards.
Print / Spec Sheets
PDF generation for technical data sheets, product catalogs, and compliance documentation.
DAM / Marketing
Digital asset distribution for marketing campaigns, brand portals, and sales enablement platforms.
Supported Locales
Reference Entities
Centrally managed reference data shared across all product families and business groups, ensuring consistency and reducing duplication.
Operating Companies
Master list of all Heico subsidiaries with metadata: group, region, primary product domain, D365 entity code.
Materials
Shared material reference: steel grades, polymer types, alloys, coatings. Linked to product specs across families.
Certifications
GSA Schedule, DOD compliance, ISO 9001/14001, CE marking, UL listings. Mapped to products and companies.
Industries Served
Target industry taxonomy: aerospace, construction, agriculture, mining, transportation, utilities, manufacturing.
Regulatory Standards
FMCSA, DOT, OSHA, ASME, ASTM, SAE standards. Referenced by compliance attributes across all families.
🔒 Operating Companies — Access Governance
The Operating Company reference entity is the most critical governance element in the system. It controls product isolation — which team sees which products, how exports are scoped, and how data flows to downstream channels. Access must be tightly controlled.
Company-level enrichers and marketing teams have read-only access to Operating Company records. If an enricher could edit these records, they could reassign products between subsidiaries, corrupt the isolation model, or create duplicate company entries.
Only Corporate Governance can create, modify, or delete Operating Company reference entity records. This ensures the master company list stays clean, consistent, and aligned with D365 entity codes. New records are created when Heico acquires a company.
| Action | Corporate | Group Admin | Company Enricher | Marketing |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Create/edit/delete Operating Company records | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✗ No | ✗ No |
| View Operating Company records | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Set Operating Company on new products | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ⚙ Auto-filled via rule | ✗ No |
| Change Operating Company on existing products | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | ✗ No | ✗ No |
An Akeneo rule automatically assigns the Operating Company attribute based on the user group that created the product. When the Ohmite team creates a new product, the rule sets Operating Company = Ohmite. This removes human error from the most critical governance field and ensures every product is correctly isolated from the moment it enters the system. Only group admins and corporate governance can override this value on existing products.
Permissions & Governance Model
Role-based access control using product-type categories, the Operating Company reference entity, and attribute group permissions to enable distributed enrichment without duplication.
How Company Isolation Works
Categories are organized by product type (e.g., ASG > Electronic Passives > Wirewound Resistors), not by company name. Multiple companies can contribute products to the same category. Company-level isolation is achieved through three layered mechanisms:
Every product carries an "Operating Company" reference entity attribute (e.g., Ohmite, Arcol). This is the primary filter — views, exports, and dashboards are scoped by this attribute.
Akeneo Enterprise user groups are configured with default product filters. The Ohmite team's default view automatically filters to Operating Company = Ohmite, so they only see their own products.
Controls who edits what: engineering teams edit Technical Specs, marketing edits SEO & Descriptions, and only group admins can modify compliance fields. Cross-cutting access without data overlap.
Why this works: Ohmite and Arcol both sell resistors and share the same product-type categories and family attributes. The Operating Company attribute separates their products without duplicating schema. This means Ohmite's wirewound resistors and Arcol's wirewound resistors live in the same category with the same attributes — but each team only sees and edits their own.
| User Group | Category Access | Company Filter | Attribute Groups | Locales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate Governance | All categories (own) | None (sees all) | All (own) | All |
| ASG Admin | ASG tree (own) | All ASG companies | All (edit) | en_US + group locales |
| Ohmite Team | ASG > Electronic Passives (edit) | Operating Company = Ohmite | Technical (edit), Marketing (edit) | en_US |
| Arcol Team | ASG > Electronic Passives (edit) | Operating Company = Arcol | Technical (edit), Marketing (edit) | en_US, de_DE |
| Kinedyne Team | ASG > Cargo Solutions (edit) | Operating Company = Kinedyne | Technical (edit), Marketing (edit) | en_US |
| Wistra Team | ASG > Cargo Solutions (edit) | Operating Company = Wistra | Technical (edit), Marketing (edit) | en_US, de_DE |
| Marketing (Shannon) | All categories (view) | None (sees all) | Marketing (edit), Technical (view) | en_US |
| D365 Integration | All categories (view) | None (sees all) | All (view via API) | All |
Corporate Governance
Full system access · Schema management · Integration config · All companies
ASG Admin
All ASG categories & companies
ITG Admin
All ITG categories & companies
CSG Admin
All CSG categories & companies
MPG Admin
All MPG categories & companies
Company-Level Enrichers
Filtered by Operating Company attribute · Edit products within their product-type categories · Cannot modify schema or families
Marketing Team
Read all products across all companies · Edit marketing attribute group only (descriptions, images, SEO)
Implementation Roadmap
Phased rollout prioritizing highest catalog complexity first, building institutional knowledge before scaling.
ASG — Applied Solutions Group
Highest catalog complexity and diversity. Establish data model, integration patterns, and governance processes with the most demanding use case first.
ITG + MPG Rollout
Extend proven patterns to Industrial Technologies and Metal Processing groups. Leverage established integration architecture and governance model.
CSG (Lightweight Deployment)
Services-focused group with limited product catalogs. Only TITAN Formwork and Steelform require active PIM management. Lean deployment leveraging existing infrastructure.
Ongoing Governance, AI Enrichment & Acquisitions
Continuous improvement: AI-assisted product enrichment, automated data quality monitoring, and a repeatable onboarding playbook for newly acquired companies.