Scaling Delftware worldwide: Heinen Delfts Blauw connects teams, tools, and data

Growth brought complexity. Heinen works with multiple teams, systems, and tools while selling across different countries, channels, and audiences. That’s where product data started to become the bottleneck.

Martijn van Norden is responsible for the B2B market and custom orders at Heinen Delfts Blauw. His day moves between product managers, painters, and the warehouse, gathering the right details to meet client expectations and keep orders moving. With that role comes a lot of responsibility at the end of the process: before any product is pushed to marketplaces like Orderchamp and Faire or sales tools, Martijn performs a final check to make sure the information is correct.

1. A big challenge is that he often ends up at the end of a “data funnel”. For example, the product development team is technically responsible for basic specifications like height and dimensions, but in busy periods, those fields aren’t always filled in on time. So he often has to validate and enrich the data himself when clients are pushing for fast delivery.

A big part of the job is already checking data. When information is missing and clients are pushing for fast delivery, you often have no choice but to fill in the gaps yourself.
Martijn van Norden | B2B market manager at Heinen Delfts Blauw

2. That validation work became even heavier with GS1 requirements. For a single product, the team may need up to four different titles. If the underlying attributes are missing, those mandatory titles simply can’t be generated.
3. As the brand expanded globally, the backend processes also struggled to keep up. Updates and launches relied heavily on CSV import/export: simply not scalable when launching full collections.

You can work with CSV imports and exports, but it quickly becomes inconvenient, especially when you’re launching 80 products at the same time.
Maurits Heinen | Business developer at Heinen Delfts Blauw

To solve the challenges, Heinen Delfts Blauw started implementing KatanaPIM, supported by PIM specialist Martijn Leenen. The goal: make product data consistently available across departments and tools, without relying on manual fixes or one-person knowledge.

The different teams couldn't reach the right information at the right time.
Martijn Leenen | PIM and Integration specialist

KatanaPIM is set up as a central hub where product data is collected, enriched, and validated, and then distributed to the systems that need it. This way, every team can access the right information at the right time, without chasing multiple files, tools, or departments.

A major shift is that validation becomes more structured and efficient. KatanaPIM makes it obvious which information is missing at each phase. With clear workflows and steps, responsibilities are visible, ownership is shared, and teams can collaborate smoothly in enriching product data.

The workflow is really helpful. With clear steps, I immediately see what data is missing: what needs to be done, and by whom. Each responsibility is clear for the team.
Martijn van Norden | B2B market manager at Heinen Delfts Blauw

Key changes

• Centralized product data: every team and every tool can access product data when needed: right time, right place, right application.
• Clear workflows: teams can instantly see what’s missing and who needs to complete it, so validation is faster and launches keep moving.
• Connected systems: KatanaPIM becomes the base core, connected to tools like marketplaces, Channable, and retail systems (ERP, POS, GS1).

What we do in the Netherlands, we’d like to do in the U.S. as well. That makes it essential to integrate data across every tool. Having a central system as the core, connected to all others, ensures the right information reaches the right people in the right systems.
Maurits Heinen | Business developer at Heinen Delfts Blauw

A concrete example: because product information has been structured and centralized in KatanaPIM, the team connected to the Faire marketplace quickly and went live fast.

We connected it and within a day we were live.
Martijn Leenen | PIM and Integration specialist

Another key win is the USA store setup. By connecting KatanaPIM to Lightspeed POS for their store in Holland, Michigan, product updates can be managed centrally and pushed out smoothly.

With one press on a button, you can push a product to the POS system.
Maurits Heinen | Business developer at Heinen Delfts Blauw

Heinen Delfts Blauw is building for what’s next: scaling further in the USA through wholesale and ecommerce, while keeping operations efficient across teams, channels, and countries.

At the same time, the implementation is designed to be future-proof. By centralizing product data now, the Dutch brand is preparing for Digital Product Passport regulations expected in 2027, and for whatever new rules or data requirements may come after that. 

By centralizing and structuring the data in the PIM, they’re already prepared for the Digital Product Passport in 2027. It’s important for companies to start thinking ahead. When your data is centralized, you’re ready for upcoming regulations, and also for whatever comes next.
Martijn Leenen | PIM and Integration specialist

With KatanaPIM as their central hub for product data, teams can collaborate with clear ownership, while still being able to access the right product information at the right time, exactly where they need it.

For a brand that combines heritage with modern growth, having product data structured, connected, and ready is what keeps the engine running, to keep growing and reach future goals.