Future-oriented image data management

Esprit

The key to success

Trends are created overnight in the apparel industry, and the industry must adapt quickly. For this, effective image data management is crucial. For Esprit, an international fashion group with stores in over 40 countries, pro!vision - a subsidiary of diva-e - introduced and further developed a central digital asset management tool (DAM).


In addition to replacing the predecessor system, the entire system landscape for processing assets was analyzed and reorganized by diva-e experts. With DAM, Esprit now has a future-proof solution for the efficient management of large asset volumes that guarantees top performance, can be continuously expanded and adapted to new requirements.


Esprit has thousands of assets that need to be created, managed, deployed, and optimized.


The Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) DAM tool helps manage this complex task. The benefits are

  • Centralized data management

  • Streamlined product and marketing image process

  • Fewer interfaces

  • Better system integration

  • Scalable infrastructure

  • Easier connection of non-integrated system components.

3 Terabyte image data storage
80 AEM Author Users
150 Asset share page users
1,200 Images processed per day
Objective

Efficient workflows through integrated systems

To keep pace with ever-increasing demands, assets must no longer reside in separate data silos, but must be easy to find, edit, and distribute. Only then can the full potential of the existing inventory be exploited.


Another focus was on improving workflows so that the various user groups can complete their tasks more easily and quickly. Manual tasks were to be automated as far as possible so that product images could be delivered to customers more easily.


diva-e also supported Esprit in developing a phased expansion plan to vertically scale and migrate the existing AEM instance. The goal was to increase the reliability and fail-safety of the system, reduce downtime and adapt performance to the increased requirements.

Implementation

Metadata is crucial

For this project, diva-e placed particular emphasis on optimizing asset management with DAM. All assets are stored under DAM Assets, where they can be imported, uploaded, downloaded and exported. It is possible to share assets with internal or external partners. Users are notified of new available marketing assets via email.


Asset search and display

Assets can be found through a defined folder structure or by searching metadata. DAM supports the customer in the search process with intelligent search options that narrow down the search more and more. A validity period for product and marketing images can be defined in the metadata. Tags help to classify assets additionally. Main image, sub-images and related images are displayed together. This way, the user has everything at a glance.


Metadata maintenance

Parts of the metadata of product images are maintained by the photo studio and transferred to DAM, other parts come from SAP AFS. With the introduction of Product Information Management, meta information about the products is now provided in XML files and assigned to the images in Adobe Scene7. This allows the relevant information about the product images to be displayed in the Esprit website store.


Integrated processing of product images

Product images are processed completely automatically in the DAM, from collection and enrichment with master data to playout to key accounts. The necessary orders for the product images are delivered from the SAP system and must be available for processing in the DAM. For the various key accounts, another channel - a so-called FashionCloud - was set up, to which images and product information are transferred from the DAM.


An additional workflow makes it possible to write XMP data back into the binary files (assets) in a format that corresponds to the format of the photo studio. If necessary, this allows images to be re-imported from the Amazon S3 archive.

Result

Central data management and distributed image processing

Using AEM DAM, Esprit can distribute and share digital assets with internal and external partners.


Esprit users and external service providers can manage, store and access digital assets in one central point. A suitable AEM roles and permissions concept has been developed for the different roles of stakeholders in the imaging process.


This has brought Esprit a decisive step closer to its goal of making digital images available to all channels, processes, tools and applications within the Esprit landscape.


The advantages at a glance:

  • Central data storage

  • Optimized product and marketing image process

  • Fewer interfaces

  • Better system integration

  • Scalable infrastructure

  • Easier connection of non-integrated system components.

Partner in the project