apidays LIVE Helsinki & North 2021 - APIs, Platforms, And Ecosystems - Transforming Industries And Experiences March 15 & 16, 2021 Product data ecosystem in the digital dental industry Sujoy Kumar Saha, Data Architect at 3Shape

1. Product data ecosystem in the digital dental industry
Sujoy Kumar Saha, Data Architect, 3Shape

2. Data and its strategy
Critical Resource
Data is not new, but it is
now growing at an
unprecedented pace.
Humans have been
recording facts as
symbols, numbers and
letters for thousands of
years
Not all data is valuable,
but its general properties
mean it is an increasingly
critical resource
Data Strategy
Challenges
 Most projects require access to the same data content, but the problem
is the approach
 No data sharing, no data reuse or any economies of scale activities to
simply or reduce the data movement
 Business users access common data across separate applications
A data strategy is a plan designed to improve all the ways you
acquire, store , manage, share and use data
Data*
Creates Values
Data becomes valuable
when it is used to improve
social and economic
processes, products,
organizational methods,
and markets
Enhancing access to data is
critical to unleash its
potential
The value of data has
evolved tremendously over
the past 20years
*OECD : https://www.oecd.org/going-digital/data-in-the-digital-age.pdf
Organizations need to create data strategies that match today’s reality

3. Product data
Product data definition
A product is a physical or digital good, which has the attributes of existing, having a name, being tradable.
Approaches to defining a product as data:
 Product Schema
By imagining every possible product attributes
 Product Metadata
Product metadata is the data about a product which is not necessarily a physical aspect of the item
An effective digital product data platform helps a company to :
 Create new business opportunities
 Increase profitability for stakeholders
 Boost customer satisfaction and repeat business
Benefit
s

4. Technologies used to manage product data
Internal organizational
data
• ERP : Enterprise
Resource Planning
• MDM : Master Data
Management
• DAM : Digital Asset
Management
Internal product data
• PDM : Product Data
Management
• PLM : Product
Lifecycle
Management
• PIM : Product
Information
Management
Customer facing data
• PXM : Product
Experience
Management
• PIDS : Product
Information
Distribution Service

5. Product data journey – source to consumers
5
Product
APIs
ERP
Supply Chain
Manufacturing
Orders
Finances
Purchases
...
PLM
Ideation
Product
Specifications
...
DAM
Images
Videos
User Guides
...
PIM
Ingest
Enrich
Configure
Translate
Publish Mobile App
eCommerce
Websites
Point of Sale
Printed
Materials
Consumers

6. Product data ecosystem would enable
Faster Speed to Commercialization Better Data Quality Easy Access to Information
Increased support for localization More flexible APIs Supports Cloud Strategy
Example: Updating all digital platforms with new product
information
Example: Updating the product configurator & reseller price lists
with new products and pricing
Example: End-customers, resellers, employees need access to
product information, but varying levels of access depending upon
their use cases
Example: Create a Chinese version of the Product Configurator Example: Consumer systems require access to product
information in relation to store items and catalogue availability
Example: Supports cloud and microservices strategy for scalable
infrastructure, enabling product marketing data accessibility
across the organization or business channel

7. 5 core components of product data strategy
The
Core
Components
Identify
Store
Provision
Process
Govern

8. PIM
Integration architecture
PLM
ERP
Data flow
Backend applications
Websites
eCommerce
Frontend applications
DAM
Mobile Apps
Digital
assets ref.
Digital
assets
CDN
Product
data
Calls
Access data using APIs

9. Single API gateway service
Product
Service
Shop
Mobile Apps
Calls
Client
Service
Product API
Gateway
Single entry point
• Provides a single-entry point for
certain groups of microservices
• API gateway sits between the client
apps and the microservices
• Verify that the client is authorized
to perform the request

10. Using multiple API Gateways
Product
Service
Backend
Websites
eCommerce
Frontend applications
Mobile Apps
Calls
Client
Service
Product Experience
Gateway
Shop API Gateway
App API Gateway
Client specific APIs

11. Security – JWT access token
• It authenticates requests
and forwards them to other
services
• The API Gateway
authenticates the request
and passes an access token
(JSON Web Token)

12. PIM
Technology landscape of API architecture
PLM
ERP
Data flow
Backend applications
Websites
eCommerce
Frontend applications
DAM
Mobile Apps
Digital
assets ref.
Digital
assets
Product
data
Calls
Product API
(Azure Web
Apps)
Product Data
(Azure Search index)
Product
Connector
(Custom)
Azure CDN

13. Conclusions
• Faster availability of product data improves the business profitability
• Microservice architecture decouples the integration among different systems
• Gateway based design encapsulates the security concerns
• Exposes the client specific APIs based on the access token

14. Thank you