TradeStone Software, a provider of private label and global sourcing solutions, today announced that the Company is working with the largest retailers in the world to form the first for Retail Standards Committee establishing standards to support the creative design process for developing private label and branded merchandise. TradeStone is working side by side with retailers to create standards for codes, information flow and business processes, as well as address concerns on embedding safety, government testing and regulatory requirements in the design process.

The inaugural event took place at TradeStone headquarters, February 25-26 and was attended by Charter Members from every retail category including department stores (Macy’s, Kohl’s), specialty apparel (American Eagle Outfitters, Pacific Sunwear), hardlines (Guitar Center, Lowe’s) and grocery (Auchan). Other Charter Members include Boots (drugstore), Urban Outfitters (specialty apparel) and JD Williams (catalog).

The PLM for Retail Standards Committee is an outgrowth of the TradeStone STARS User Group meeting in September. Retailers agreed that creating standards for process, content and data is a necessity that will save all parties involved precious time and resources and support speed to market initiatives.

The two-day event, broken down by tracks for softlines and hardlines, featured discussions on how to build standards for color, materials and fabric libraries, as well as testing and point of measure codes which will make it easier for everyone to collaborate. The hardlines representatives discussed color, packaging, testing and safety protocols. Committee representatives also touched on integration with tools such as Data Color and other color service providers, as well as out of the box conversion capabilities, conversions from legacy PDM systems and conversions from current PLM technologies.

“By establishing a process that is both generic to the retail industry but specific to each retail segment, we feel we’ve made a significant step in the right direction,” said Ann Diamante, Chief Product Officer, TradeStone Software. “We had an interactive and informative two-day session that focused on working together to establish a consistent, unifying, easy-to-adopt infrastructure of collaboration among retailers, suppliers and their supporting service providers including agents, component suppliers, color and inspection companies. This is the first of quarterly meetings to come, and we look forward to not only having more of our retail clients join, but also welcoming outside suppliers, inspection companies and other technology providers as we work to create a standard that facilitates the creative design process.”

Source: TradeStone Software, Inc.

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