Digitizing product and packaging specifications into a centralized system

Specification Management is the process of building and collecting DNA-level information for products and packaging into a centralized system. When you digitize and link specifications together, you create visibility and traceability across your supply chain. This makes it easy to layer on workflows, approvals, and processes. It’s not enough to simply digitize specifications; they need to be mapped and interconnected to drive intelligence. Specification Management also enables you to achieve outcomes like from improved supplier collaboration, sustainability, consolidating SKUs, and more.Specification Management is also the title of the software category that Specification Data Management platforms are housed in.

Data is often owned by many different departments and suppliers. Without a central source of information that updates in real-time to all necessary stakeholders, teams must manually request and search for data across other departments and suppliers. When all necessary product and packaging data is not readily available, it’s difficult to manage Bills of Materials (BOMs) and slows speed-to-market.

Before Specification Management, sharing specs often occurred via static formats, from emails, to spreadsheets, and even pen and paper. This made it virtually impossible to collaborate across departments and supply chains, as well as inhibiting supply chain visibility and traceability.