The Organization At A Glance
Leading U.S. distributor of automotive keys and remotes
Serving locksmiths, resellers, and automotive professionals
100+ brands, 50,000+ SKUs
Complex vehicle fitment-driven catalog
Tech Stack
Platforms
Akeneo PIM
BigCommerce
NetSuite ERP
SearchSpring
Integrations
NetSuite → Akeneo PIM
Akeneo PIM → BigCommerce
Akeneo PIM → SearchSpring
PIM → Microsoft Teams
1. The Problem
The organization operates one of the most complex automotive aftermarket catalogs in its segment.
With over 50,000 SKUs, dense variant structures, and detailed vehicle fitment logic, product data precision is mission-critical.
However, product information was managed primarily within ERP workflows — not a system designed for enrichment, governance, or multi-channel commerce agility.
As digital expectations increased, limitations became clear:
- Manual update cycles
- High IT dependency
- Limited enrichment governance
- Inconsistent visibility into storefront synchronization
- No centralized control over completeness and validation
AKG did not need another integration layer. They needed a scalable product data architecture built for commerce.
2. What Was Holding Them Back
The challenges were systemic:
- ERP-centric product modeling limiting enrichment scalability
- Unstructured fitment logic requiring manual validation
- Attribute inconsistencies reducing automation potential
- Manual SEO construction and storefront formatting
- Limited transparency into sync status and job monitoring
- No governed, centralized source of truth
The catalog functioned operationally — but it was not engineered for automation, governance, or long-term scale.
3. What They Needed
To modernize confidently, organization required:
- A governed single source of truth for product information
- Structured family and variant modeling within Akeneo
- Automated handling of vehicle fitment data
- Controlled, near real-time BigCommerce synchronization
- Seamless alignment with NetSuite and SearchSpring
- Business-user enablement without increased IT overhead
- A scalable architecture supporting long-term multi-channel growth
This was positioned as a commerce infrastructure initiative — not just a PIM implementation.
4. How We Solved It
StrikeTru engineered a scalable, automation-driven ecosystem centered on Akeneo PIM Enterprise, purpose-built for high-variant automotive catalogs.
Established an Enterprise PIM Foundation
- Migrated 50,000+ SKUs, variants, brands, categories, assets, and fitments
- Designed scalable families and family variants aligned to automotive product types
- Converted flat attributes into structured, validated data types
- Implemented enrichment workflows and approval governance
- Configured role-based permissions for operational clarity
Product data shifted from ERP-managed records to governed, commerce-ready assets.
Engineered Intelligent Fitment & Attribute Automation
To reduce manual effort and increase precision, we implemented custom automation frameworks:
Fitment Automation
- Automated generation of year–make–model compatibility data
- Continuous reconciliation of FITS values
- Standardized storefront presentation logic
Brand & Category Governance
- Automated validation against governed brand reference entities
- Scheduled reconciliation of brand-category mappings
- Preservation of non-brand taxonomy structures
Calculated & Concatenated Attributes
- Configurable generation of SEO-ready keyword fields
- Automated identifier concatenation for search optimization
- Structured logging for traceability and monitoring
These automations increased enrichment velocity while maintaining governance controls.
Configured Governance & Business Rules
Leveraging Akeneo’s native rule engine, we implemented:
- Automated variant pricing logic
- Standardized shipping group assignments
- Inventory and DropShip rule controls
- Purchasability and search visibility automation
- Controlled category state management
Commerce logic became predictable, governed, and scalable.
Enabled Real-Time Commerce Integration
Using StrikeTru’s BigCommerce Connector:
- Near real-time synchronization of products, variants, categories, brands, and fitments
- Support for metafields and custom transformations
- Granular sync rules based on approval and completeness thresholds
- On-demand and scheduled job control
- Automated reporting to Microsoft Teams
This eliminated custom middleware while providing operational transparency.
Aligned ERP & Search Systems
- Preserved NetSuite as the financial and inventory authority
- Reduced duplication across enterprise systems
- Delivered structured data to SearchSpring for improved filtering and discovery
5. The Impact
Before StrikeTru
- ERP-driven product management
- Manual enrichment cycles
- High IT dependency
- Limited storefront sync transparency
- Operational duplication
After StrikeTru
- Governed single source of truth in Akeneo PIM
- 50,000+ SKUs centrally enriched and validated
- Automated vehicle fitment processing
- Near real-time BigCommerce synchronization
- Business-user self-service with controlled workflows
- Microsoft Teams-based sync monitoring
- Reduced integration complexity
- Architecture built for scalable commerce growth
The organization now operates on a product data foundation engineered for governance, automation, and enterprise scalability.
Modernizing Automotive Product Data?
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