Specification Management Solution Providers

What is a specification?

“A detailed description of how something should be done, made, etc.”
Cambridge Dictionary- Business English definition

“A clear, detailed plan or description of how something will be made”
Cambridge Dictionary- Business US definition

A specification management solution should centralise, structure, control and connect different data sets/ components that are the building blocks to a finished product. Specifications control a multitude of functions and generate the master data associated with product, packaging and consumer facing content e.g. ingredient/ raw material, product, packaging materials, allergen declarations etc. The solution should provide the following

• Enable cross functional teams to directly input data
• Automated process governance controls validation
• Automatic version control ensures that all contributors are working to the current specification
• Link specifications to create relationships to build the finished product (think Lego set!)

There are a number of specification management solution providers and packages to choose from, including:

• 4Pack
• Qadex
• Specpage
• Specright
• Trace One

Specification management solutions facilitate the efficient use of data to make better business decisions, mitigate the risk of error through validation check points and provide powerful linking of specification types related to a project.

By implementing a specification solution, pain, risk, excessive time and financial costs associated with these processes are being reduced.

What exactly is a specification management solution for consumer-packaged goods (CPG)?

These specialist software solutions enable organisations to view and manage digitised data sets that can be structured in component parts and applied to projects to compose a finished product. These solutions mean that

1. Cross functional teams can handle SKU complexity and alternate sourcing with ease
2. Centralised data sets, linked assets/ files and automate business/ market rules ensures an organisation is working from a single version of the truth
3. Robust automatic version control and audit history simplifies spec management
4. Use translation management to create multilingual specs/ briefs prevents repetitive request, reduces time and cost
5. Export subsets of validated information from master specifications e.g. pack copy brief, customer submissions, eCommerce etc. to save significant time and removes the potential for copy paste errors

Gartner defines the market for packaging and product specification content management (PPSCM) as “software applications and services that govern data related to product and packaging from raw materials/ingredients through to finished goods and bills of materials. With these software applications and services, users and organisations can effectively address the challenges of capturing, analysing, utilising, and sharing specification content internally and externally.”

Why should spec management be digitised in your business?

Embedding a specification solution into your business will:

1. Reduce your time to market
2. Improve compliance and accuracy
3. Reduce the risk of launch delay due to a robust process governance
4. Give teams the correct tool for the job and enables them to add further value to the projects by being unburdened with administration.
5. Enable better decisions to be made quicker through visibility and reporting of data
6. Rationalise platforms and data sources reducing risk and multiple handling by banishing data silos

Who are the main specification management solution providers?

This table summarises the most significant solution providers that can help:

Tips on how to select your solution provider

Each solution provider has different strengths, and therefore we would recommend that you

• Schedule a discovery meeting to enable you to quickly ascertain a shortlist based on both solution capability, but also subject matter expertise and team fit.
• Create a requirements document based on the feedback from your business teams. A solution provider should be able to help with this too.
• Request a demo based upon your requirements to ensure you are seeing what you need and can easily compare between solution providers to select the best for your business.
• Liaise with your IT team to ensure their due diligence checks are incorporated

Specification maanagement solutions are designed to incorporate cross functional teams (internal and external) and so 4Pack recommend that you include representatives from each business team in the evaluation process to help select the best solution for their needs and ensure project success.

For any questions about how label and artwork management software can help your business, please do contact us and we'll be happy to help.

Click Artwork Management to discover more.

Gartner – Market Guide for Product and Packaging Content Specification Management (PPSCM) 2021 (John Blake, Andrew Stevens)