Case Study: Sewer Equipment Discovers the Value of Product Data Beyond Freight Savings
Customer Overview
As Sewer Equipment’s aftermarket operation continued to grow, the company recognized a major gap in its product data. Thousands of stocked parts lacked verified dimensions, weights, and standardized product photos within its ERP system.
What began as a freight optimization initiative quickly evolved into something much larger. Accurate product data would impact ecommerce growth, shipping accuracy, warehouse operations, customer service, and long-term scalability.
According to Deborah Hanrahan, Distribution Manager at Sewer Equipment:
“The biggest value was creating a standardized, scalable product data process without overloading our internal operations team.”
The Challenge
For years, product dimensions remained on Sewer Equipment’s growing to-do list.
The company understood that accurate dimensions and weights could help reduce freight leakage, improve shipping accuracy, and better validate carrier invoices. As ecommerce initiatives expanded, the need for consistent product photos and complete product records became increasingly important.
Without reliable product data:
- Freight quotes and parcel rates were often estimated
- Packaging decisions lacked consistency
- Ecommerce listings were incomplete
- Customer service teams struggled to identify visually similar products
- Shipping costs could not always be validated against carrier invoices
Several critical systems depended on accurate product information, including:
- ERP/M2M
- Shipping systems
- Ecommerce platforms
- Warehouse slotting and packaging processes
The risks were significant:
- Freight overcharges and leakage
- Customer dissatisfaction from inaccurate shipping estimates
- Operational inefficiencies
- Increased labor spent manually researching products
- Difficulty scaling ecommerce initiatives
The Internal Attempt
Like many distributors, Sewer Equipment initially believed the project could be completed internally.
The team invested in mobile dimensioning technology and planned to capture dimensions during downtime and as new products entered the warehouse.
On paper, the process seemed simple:
- Measure products
- Capture weights
- Take photos
- Enter information into the ERP
In reality, daily operations always took priority.
Warehouse employees remained focused on shipping, receiving, inventory management, and order fulfillment. Product dimensioning continually moved down the priority list.
The company also discovered that consistency was difficult to maintain when multiple employees used the equipment.
As Deborah explains:
“When multiple employees measure and photograph products manually over time, variations naturally occur.”
Even with user-friendly software, occasional use led to questions, inconsistent techniques, and slower-than-expected progress.
The photography process introduced another challenge.
To support ecommerce growth, Sewer Equipment needed multiple high-quality photos of every product. This required staging products, creating a photo area, handling lighting, moving products in and out of inventory locations, and then manually matching image files to SKU numbers.
What appeared straightforward quickly became a labor-intensive process.
The Solution
After evaluating the growing workload and opportunity cost, Sewer Equipment partnered with Product Data Pros to complete the project.
Rather than treating the initiative as a simple measuring exercise, both teams approached it as a comprehensive product data project designed to support freight optimization, ecommerce readiness, and operational efficiency.
Product Data Pros deployed a dedicated team and repeatable process to collect:
- Product dimensions
- Verified weights
- Standardized product photography
- SKU-linked product records
Over approximately five weeks, the team captured data for nearly 7,000 SKUs while working around normal warehouse operations.
One collector focused on dimensions and weights while another captured multiple high-resolution product images in a professional photo setup right in the aisle with minimal distraction.
A major advantage of the mobile dimensioning platform was that every measurement, image, and attribute was automatically associated with the correct SKU.
No manual file matching.
No searching through image folders.
No renaming thousands of files.
Everything remained connected to the product identifier from the moment it was collected.
Deborah noted:
“The Product Data Pros team was professional, responsive, organized, and easy to work with throughout the process. Communication was timely, expectations were clear, and they worked around operational constraints to minimize disruption.”
Why Outsourcing Worked
The project demonstrated that dimensioning is not simply about collecting measurements.
It is about creating a reliable, standardized product data foundation.
According to Deborah:
“The ability to complete the project faster without disrupting operations was a key factor in choosing a service-based approach versus handling it entirely in-house.”
By outsourcing the project, Sewer Equipment was able to:
- Keep warehouse staff focused on daily responsibilities
- Accelerate completion timelines
- Ensure measurement consistency
- Standardize product photography
- Create a scalable product data process
Perhaps most importantly, the company avoided turning a months-long internal initiative into a distraction from core operations.
Results
The immediate impact was clear.
Sewer Equipment received a complete, organized dataset containing dimensions, weights, and product photos ready for use across multiple business systems.
The project positioned the company for:
- Improved freight and shipping accuracy
- Reduced manual product research
- Faster ecommerce product onboarding
- More consistent product identification
- Better operational scalability
The benefits extended well beyond freight optimization.
Sales representatives gained instant access to product photos tied directly to SKUs. Instead of walking into the warehouse, locating a product, taking a picture, and emailing it to customers, they could quickly retrieve product images and information from existing records.
Warehouse and packaging teams gained better visibility into product sizes and shipping requirements.
Ecommerce teams gained access to consistent, professional product imagery and accurate shipping information.
Deborah shared:
“The consistency and organization of the final data set was probably the biggest surprise. It became valuable well beyond just freight quoting.”
“We would highly recommend Product Data Pros to companies managing large SKU counts, ecommerce growth, or freight challenges, outsourcing dimensioning and product data collection can be far more efficient and scalable than trying to manage it internally.” – Deborah
Looking Ahead
Today, Sewer Equipment continues maintaining product data internally as new products arrive and inventory changes.
With the vast majority of products already documented, the ongoing effort has shifted from a large-scale project to manageable upkeep.
Reflecting on the project, Deborah said:
“We likely would have started the project sooner once we realized how many downstream systems rely on accurate product data.”
When asked whether she would recommend the service, her answer was straightforward:
“Yes. For companies managing large SKU counts, ecommerce growth, or freight challenges, outsourcing dimensioning and product data collection can be far more efficient and scalable than trying to manage it internally.”
A Partnership We’re Grateful For
Beyond the project itself, the Sewer Equipment team made a lasting impression on us.
From day one, the Sewer Equipment team was welcoming and treated the Product Data Pros crew like an extension of their own team. Whether it was helping move equipment, providing ladders and extension cords, coordinating warehouse access, or inviting the crew to lunches and company gatherings, they consistently went above and beyond.
It’s those small moments, combined with the professionalism and support shown throughout the project, that made the experience especially rewarding.
We even experienced a little Midwest excitement together when severe weather and tornado sirens rolled through town. While Sara was questioning whether a warehouse bathroom would actually protect her from a tornado, Peter was standing outside watching the clouds roll in.
Along the way, there were plenty of memorable moments—from enjoying some of the best deviled eggs around to discovering the crew’s appreciation for banana-flavored popsicles. Their sense of humor was equally memorable, including a surprise encounter with “The Boss – Super Steve” that provided more than a few laughs.
Additionaly, we gained a deep appreciation for the complexity, engineering talent, and innovation behind Sewer Equipment’s products and industry.
God has truly blessed Product Data Pros with an incredible opportunity to work with and receive trust from Debbie and the entire Sewer Equipment team, we look forward to supporting them for years to come.