PDM Custom Field Grouping: Moving Beyond ACES and PIES

Beyond ACES & PIES: Automotive aftermarket businesses require custom data fields for pricing, inventory, sourcing, and eCommerce needs.
The Power of Custom Fields: PDM supports various field types (Number, Text, Dropdown, Checkbox, HTML Editor, Link) to store crucial non-standard data.
Scaling Data Management: Managing 50+ Custom Fields can become overwhelming, leading to inefficiencies and clutter.
Introducing Custom Field Grouping: A new feature that categorizes and structures Custom Fields for improved usability.
Custom Field Manager: An intuitive drag-and-drop tool that simplifies organizing and managing Custom Fields.

Data is the backbone of every successful automotive aftermarket business. Whether you’re managing ACES and PIES compliance, tracking inventory levels, or customizing product information for retailers, your PIM system needs to do more than just store data—it must make that data usable.

At PDM, we understand that aftermarket brands need more than just industry-standard data fields. Businesses require custom attributes for pricing, sourcing, logistics, and customer-specific details. That’s where PDM’s Custom Fields come into play.

For enterprise brands managing 50+ Custom Fields, keeping everything organized can be a challenge. That’s why we developed Custom Field Grouping, a game-changing feature that helps automotive businesses streamline their data management, improve efficiency, and scale effortlessly.

The Power of Custom Fields in Automotive Data Management

ACES and PIES provide a solid foundation for product information, but they don’t cover everything aftermarket brands need to manage. Businesses often deal with unique data requirements that don’t fit neatly into standard formats.

PDM’s Custom Fields solve this problem by allowing brands to store and organize non-standard, business-critical data directly within the platform. With Custom Fields, automotive aftermarket businesses can track:

Pricing details: Shipping costs, tiered pricing structures, or customer-specific price sheets.
Inventory insights: Stock levels, restock timelines, or supply chain dependencies.
Product attributes: Fitment data, multi-box packaging, or additional category descriptions for eCommerce.
Retail-specific data: Alternative descriptions, enriched media URLs, or retailer-specific modifications.

Here’s how different Custom Field types help businesses manage their data:

Number: Shipping cost for Price Sheets
Text: Category information for a webshop
Dropdown: Multi-box package details
Checkbox: Alternative descriptions
HTML Editor: Inventory levels tracking
Link: Direct URL for a product page

For aftermarket brands selling through multiple channels, these fields ensure smooth product data flow and seamless integrations, giving businesses a competitive edge.

The Challenge: Managing 50+ Custom Fields at Scale

While Custom Fields provide essential flexibility, managing large amounts of them can quickly become overwhelming. For businesses using 50 or more Custom Fields, a lack of organization can lead to:

Cluttered interfaces that make it difficult to find the right data when you need it.
Inefficient workflows that slow down catalog updates and product launches.
Confusion for team members, especially when dealing with hundreds of product variations.

Automotive aftermarket businesses are already juggling fitment data, supplier updates, and multi-channel demands. Without a structured system, teams waste valuable time searching for and updating data, leading to delays, errors, and missed opportunities.

That’s why we built Custom Field Grouping—to help automotive businesses scale their data management with efficiency, clarity, and precision.

Custom Field Grouping: A Game Changer for Enterprise Users

Imagine having 50+ Custom Fields but being able to instantly find, edit, and manage them without scrolling through endless lists. Custom Field Grouping makes this possible.

How Custom Field Grouping Works

Users can categorize Custom Fields into logical groups, making it easier to navigate and manage them.
Instead of a long, unstructured list, fields related to pricing, inventory, sourcing, or eCommerce can be grouped together for better usability.
Teams can quickly locate and update the right fields without wasting time sorting through irrelevant data.

For example, instead of searching through dozens of separate fields, an aftermarket brand could create:

Pricing Data Group: Price Sheets, Shipping Costs, Retailer-Specific Pricing
Inventory Management Group: Stock Levels, Restock Timelines, Warehouse Locations
Fitment & Compatibility Group: Alternative Descriptions, Multi-Box Packaging, Additional Fitment Notes

The result? Faster updates, cleaner interfaces, and more efficient team collaboration.

The Custom Field Manager: Making Organization Effortless

Managing Custom Fields at scale shouldn’t be a headache—and with PDM’s Custom Field Manager, it isn’t.

The Custom Field Manager provides an intuitive, drag-and-drop interface that makes setting up and organizing Custom Field Grouping effortless.

Key Benefits of the Custom Field Manager

✅ Easy Grouping: Drag-and-drop fields into relevant categories in seconds.
✅ Search & Filter: Quickly locate the right field without scrolling through long lists.
✅ Scalability: Whether you have 50 or 500 Custom Fields, the system stays organized.
✅ Customization: Set up data categories that match your business workflow.

By simplifying how automotive aftermarket businesses organize and access data, the Custom Field Manager ensures that teams can spend less time managing data and more time growing their business.

Why Custom Field Grouping Is Crucial for Automotive Aftermarket Brands

Aftermarket brands operate in an environment where speed, accuracy, and customization define success. With product catalogs spanning thousands of SKUs, managing inventory, pricing, and fitment data effectively can be the difference between winning and losing customers.

Here’s why Custom Field Grouping is an essential feature for automotive businesses:

Increased Efficiency: Find the right data in seconds, instead of sifting through cluttered lists.
Improved Organization: Logical structuring keeps data clear, manageable, and scalable.
Enhanced Usability: Teams can quickly adopt and navigate the PIM without confusion.
Greater Customization: Businesses can create groups that match their exact workflows.
Scalability for Growth: Whether managing 100 SKUs or 100,000 SKUs, PDM ensures smooth expansion.

For brands selling across multiple channels, marketplaces, and regions, Custom Field Grouping eliminates inefficiencies and improves speed-to-market.

How to Get Started with Custom Field Grouping in PDM

Access the Custom Field Manager in PDM.
Review existing Custom Fields and identify key data categories.
Use the drag-and-drop interface to organize fields into logical groups.
Apply and save changes, ensuring data is structured for maximum efficiency.
Train your team on how to navigate and leverage Custom Field Grouping for improved workflows.

PDM makes it easy to implement Custom Field Grouping so businesses can start seeing immediate improvements in their data management.

Take Control of Your Data with PDM

In the automotive aftermarket, data isn’t just important—it’s everything. Brands that can efficiently manage, update, and distribute accurate product information will always have the upper hand.

PDM’s Custom Field Grouping is the key to unlocking seamless data organization, eliminating clutter, and scaling your business with confidence.

If your team is struggling to manage dozens or hundreds of Custom Fields, it’s time to simplify, streamline, and optimize your data workflow with PDM.

🚀 Ready to take control of your data? Contact PDM today to see how Custom Field Grouping can revolutionize your automotive data management!