Get in synch, says P&G

Manufacturers and retailers need to standardise more of the product data attributes they share if they want to speed up and automate information exchange in the industry, says Procter & Gamble.

There is now a core set of standard product attributes covering things like pack sizes and weight that retailers and manufacturers are beginning to use when they share data, says Stuart Pearson, customer e-collaboration manager P&G global business services.

However, most retailers also want suppliers to provide them with data that goes beyond these core attributes, such as product images for online shopping sites or allergen information, which means suppliers still spend hours filling in different new line forms for different retail customers all wanting slightly different things, he says.

“Every retailer has its own unique relationship-dependent attributes. Globally, this is an issue which can add a lot of complexity to our business, which is why we are actively participating in the global standards management process GS1 (GSMP) new line forms task group.

"The objective is for manufacturers and retailers to work together to rationalise and standardise the attributes needed to run their joint businesses.”

While a growing percentage of item master data is now exchanged through a global network of standards-compliant data pools (giant electronic product catalogues), errors still creep in because the process is not as automated as it could be, he says: “There is still too much manual intervention needed, which leads to errors. Orders are received for obsolete products, there are refusals at regional distribution centres, wrong quantities are ordered, there are problems executing planograms, products not fitting onto shelves and low efficiency of truck utilisation. All of these result in major rework and often in out of stocks.

“The challenge now is to step change the value creation of global data synchronisation by completely eliminating manual processes such as new item introductions by synchronising all key attributes, both core item master data and essential relationship-dependent data, machine to machine.”