Date of Award

9-2021

Degree Name

MS in Packaging Value Chain

College

Orfalea College of Business

Advisor

Adam Armstrong

Advisor Department

Industrial Technology

Advisor College

Orfalea College of Business

Abstract

The packaging and product supply chain is currently undergoing a digital transformation that changes the way organizations manage data. Cloud-based software is an emerging technological innovation entirely focused on harnessing the power of packaging/product specifications to create efficiencies. These applications coordinate the data that millions of SKUs worldwide are generating into a harmonized system that will not only organize the SKUs but also create valuable information that will allow stakeholders to make decisions based upon data-driven insights.

Specifications are the DNA-level information of packaging and products. Items such as the bill of materials, technical drawings, and inventory are stored together to create a traceable trail of information for stakeholders along the supply chain to refer to in the face of recalls, sustainability reports, and root cause analysis of procurement delays. Organizations have gone from storing this data on paper to creating a digital trail with manual processes and legacy systems on the computer. However, these systems cannot contend with the sheer amount of data companies now possess, wasting time and money trying to organize it all. In addition, packaging and product specification data lacks a common language that creates consistency and reduces errors; tracing an item to its source is a laborious endeavor; and resource investment is trying to solve the problem with existing manual processes and legacy systems when funding should go towards an innovative, cloud-based solution.

Such a system would be able to process data and create a standardized template for specifications. This organization would allow for fast querying and advanced analytics that turn into visualizations that illustrate the insights. This framework would create a single point of truth for specifications that would enhance how companies along the supply chain collaborate and share information and streamline packaging and product creation workflow. Software solutions for specification data management exist in varying levels of involvement and installation that allow stakeholders to find a model that fits their needs in an ever-changing supply chain management landscape.

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