Data Transitions Packaging to a Futureproof Digital World

“You have to break the data down to the raw level of product, the DNA level of product. And then you have to build that back up to create finished product. If you don't do that and you jump to the end, just try to manage the bomb, you are never going to get anywhere. It's just not going to help you with all the challenges we have today,” said Wright.

Referring to the pandemic, Wright suggested that a data structure that allows companies to quickly and easily see when problems in the world occur and what areas of the supply chain are affected through instant alerts would save companies not only the time it takes to chase down data but also reduce the kinds of monetary losses that ensued during 2020 and 2021. This kind of system could also provide the data structures needed to share with global partners and other pertinent parties.

Wright calls this process of progression the ‘upgrade cycle,’ which demands change when the previous way of working is no longer sustainable. Our current upgrade cycle is in industrial technology and the legacy systems that have been used to collect data—such as email, spreadsheets, PDFs, file cabinets, etc.—are not sustainable when talking about digitization. Yet all the millions of specs coming from this legacy system must be digitized so that they can be incorporated into that shareable, open API system. Companies can pick a system or partner to help with this digital transformation—only ensure the system is fluid and user-friendly. A good data structure, building data for the future, will enable 3D modeling, 3D digitization, and 3D PDF style specification.

Convincing those at the top

The concept of the upgrade cycle can help champions appeal to departments and partners, explaining the importance of taking this next step in data management. “You have to get everyone believing,” said Wright. The world can’t remain driving a horse and buggy, as Wright explained, but you have to convince the ones driving buggies that the automobile, though new and different, is the better way.

Wright said that now is the time to act, we can't not take this next step towards the future of digitization and spec management.Specright, ISTA Forum 2022Wright reports that more and more departments are willing to help and jump on board, including the executive level managers (C-suite), and the likely inducer is the Covid-19 pandemic, when it caused failure upon failure within the supply chain. But with proper spec management, company’s outcomes can be changed. Specright specializes in helping companies with this shift for best results.

Methods to convince your company to invest in the upgrade cycle:

• In the midst of a massive failure event, a champion in the company takes initiative and promotes a method to the C-suite that will avoid such a failure in the future.
• The viral community effect, where companies jump on board as they see other companies take the leap.
• Companies choose to adopt the data structure they’re getting from their partners as they see its efficiency and worth.

“But I think you have to have a champion,” said Wright. “Every one of our hundreds of customers started with a champion that believed that they had to digitize and then picked one of those three routes to take it.” To become the change agent, or champion, in one’s company, Wright suggests first learning all they can about digitization and futureproof spec data management systems, then conversing with successful champions from other companies. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to starting the conversation within a company, but learning from successful stories will set a champion up for their own success.  

Sustainability and SKU proliferation within spec management

Though sustainability may have taken a backseat during the pandemic, it is roaring back and with it will come an increase in regulations. Wright explained that companies cannot truly be sustainable unless they know what they have, which requires proper data management and this will further enable sustainability goals to be more easily achieved on time.

Innovation Not Keeping Pace With Sustainability Demands

Wright further emphasizes that sustainability is not an event, but a continuum. We cannot know how sustainability will be defined in coming years and the rules may change dramatically as methods to dispose of or recreate products shifts. The industry must have the data to keep up with the rapid changes that could and will come.

The same is applicable to the proliferation of SKUs, which should not be looked at as an event or a project. A near decade ago, Kellogg’s and other companies began addressing SKUzilla, the over-proliferation, trying to consolidate SKUs as they were negatively impacting the bottom line and supply chain partners. However, Wright reports that there are more SKUs today than there were back when SKUzilla was first addressed. When seen as less of a project and more of a continuum, companies can begin to think of how the issue of SKU increase can be managed automatically.

“The reduction of SKUs and data is critical and you can do it,” said Wright.

Key takeaway

Wright lists the benefits of improving spec management.Specright, ISTA Forum 2022The amount of duplicate data slows the speed to market. Wright reports that companies coming to Specright with 50,000 specs, in reality have ten useful specs. A current customer with 600,000 will probably have a hundred.

“Ultimately going forward, the two worlds of product and package have to be connected and they have to be connected through data and you have to be connected with your partners, that data stream. I don't think we can stop and hide from this anymore. I think we have to go through the difficulty of digitization, get to the other side and do amazing things,” said Wright.

Specright offers a number of resources for the future of supply chain and other pertinent topics, including a book and audiobook.