Partly Catalog is a universal standard, which means part information can be shared across all Partly users. This article covers how this works and the rules set in place to determine who can access and make changes to the Partly Catalog.
Products and Catalog Parts
Firstly, it is important to note the distinction between “Products” and “Catalog parts”.
A “Product” is an item unique to your inventory and includes data such as price, quantity, image, description, and title. It’s important to note that product information is unique to your account and never shared.
On the other hand, a “Catalog Part” is a catalog entry in the Partly Catalog (GAPC) and includes data such as fitment information, dimension, cross-references, and attributes. Catalog part information is generally managed by the brand owner or manufacturer. In cases where Partly does not have a direct relationship with the brand owner or manufacturer, Partly’s internal team manages the data.
How data sharing works for Partly Catalog
Catalog part information is shared across Partly’s user base including manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. Partly’s catalog is “live”, constantly updated, and allows for suggestions from the community of users. To ensure accuracy, a sophisticated data management system is used to track edits and improve data accuracy.
Suggestions to the catalog are governed by Partly’s consensus algorithm.
This is an automated system that takes each suggested change and runs a number of checks and balances to determine whether the suggested change should be accepted. Influencing factors include:
- The data source of the suggestion. Each source is assigned a certain data tier on a per-brand basis. This includes “Community”, “Authorised Distributor”, “Partly Research Team” and “Manufacturer”.
- The number of “opinions” on the part. Generally, a higher data source tier is assigned a higher “confidence” level and therefore multiple lesser confidence level opinions would be needed to override. The practical example of this is, a manufacturer may make a mistake in the fitment applications for a particular part, the suggested change from one authorised distributor alone would likely not be accepted by the Partly consensus algorithm, but 2 or 3 suggestions from authorised distributors combined would likely be accepted to override the original input from the manufacturer.
Data Access Controls
Another important aspect to be aware of is data access controls.
Manufacturers have the ability to exclude Authorised Distributor and Community data tier from viewing and making changes to their data. Similarly, Authorised Distributor data tier users can exclude the Community data tier suggested changes,
The data flow always flows downward with Manufacturers always having the most control over their brand’s data. Data tiers are assigned on a per-brand basis, so it is possible for a user to have an Authorised Distributor data tier for some brands and a Community tier for other brands.
Partly often receive’s concerns that a user’s hard work in editing their catalog may be overridden. While is it technically possible for another user’s change to update the catalog part linked to your inventory (for a brand where you are at a Community Tier), it is extremely rare that an incorrect update to the system is accepted by the Partly consensus algorithm. In general, the benefit of other users making suggestions to improve accuracy is a huge advantage to the community.