Governed by very strict legal requirements, product specifications are a major issue for food and cosmetics companies. The quality of information is not only essential to meet the expectations of the authorities and consumers, but also has a strong impact on productivity and performance. Good control of specifications thanks to the tools available on the market enables production lead times to be shortened and activity to be better managed. In sectors where time and quality are precious, product information is the key to success!
A highly demanding context for companies
The current context of digitisation and intense competition pushes companies to surpass themselves, whatever their field of activity. Sensitive and complex sectors such as the agri-food and cosmetics industries are today particularly impacted by the increased level of consumer demand: governed by strict regulations on product composition and specifications, companies in these sectors must leave nothing to chance.
The specifications bring together all the characteristics, nomenclatures or representations defining a product for all those involved in its manufacture. These specifications are intended to structure product information for a perfect respect of standards and the design of a quality product for the end customer. In a context of increasing number of service providers and in the face of strong consumer mistrust, the exact composition and characteristics of products must now be precisely known. Thus, the raw materials used, their geographical origin, but also the nutritional values of food products and allergens must be known and reliable at all times. But this is not the only issue at stake for the food and cosmetics industry. Further upstream, product specifications, perfect compliance with standards during production and the provision of information to all stakeholders must also be reliably managed.
At the present time, many processes are still poorly supervised, which means that the lack of trust in companies is struggling to be overcome and their image is suffering. The dispersal of data across many applications, the multiplication of data in different formats and the slow pace of validation protocols are all pitfalls in the production of articles of impeccable quality.
Challenges related to product specifications
The importance of specifications for food and cosmetics companies is all the more crucial as they have a profound impact on the image and efficiency of the structure.
First of all, compliance with regulations, although restrictive, allows the manufacture of particularly qualitative products. Thus, by complying with legal requirements, the company contributes to satisfying demanding consumers and reassuring them about the care taken in product design. The company’s knowledge of the exact specifications is also an asset, as these allow considerable time savings and the use of targeted processes, perfectly adapted to the expected level of quality.
For companies, specifications management is also a valuable aid in developing a real capacity for innovation. Having the right information at hand quickly is crucial for organisations that need to be responsive. Having a complete overview of products and their formulation is therefore particularly useful and leads to faster innovation.
In addition, more generally, good product specification management is a means of unifying everyone’s efforts around a project. By better channelling and processing information using central tools, it becomes easier to trace everyone’s actions and to bring out any problems or suggestions for improvement. To this end, concepts such as Product Lifecycle Management enable project monitoring and maximum team investment throughout the life of the product.
Tools at the service of specifications
Among the main tools used to manage specifications, the usefulness of PIM (Product Information Management) and PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) are particularly noteworthy.
The former allows complete structuring of product information within digital cards and catalogues. Offering efficient centralisation of data relating to all the company’s products, the PIM makes it possible to establish exhaustive specifications and easily validate prerequisites.
PLM is a more global tool, essential for handling all specifications throughout the life of the product. Design and specifications, defect-free production, creation of consistent and well-informed packaging according to marketing regions: Product Lifecycle Management is crucial to standardize efforts and ensure that specifications are met, not only during formulation, but also during all phases leading up to the sale of the product.
The benefits of PLM are numerous: it standardizes communication, allowing a better reading of product specifications by all the trades involved, indexes accurate and recent information, summarizes the status of projects, resources and potential risks. The power of market tools makes them real assistants in steering the activity. By involving stakeholders more closely and in a more relevant way, PLM tools help to identify numerous avenues for optimisation and shorten the time-to-market for sectors that often work in a hurry.
Supported by Electronic Document Management, today’s software tools create simplified and fast processes without any compromise on data security or reliability.
When used with the right tools, product specifications are likely to prove useful for the company, its employees and end customers. The careful handling of product information will ultimately have a positive impact on the company and guarantee a competitive advantage.
