Controlling Your Product's "Catalog" Specifications

[Mike S.]

I'm curious how some of you control internal specifications on your products. By "internal specifications" I mean specifications that you set for your products that are used when the customer does not specify something different. And let's say you publish these specifications in a catalog, and maybe on a web page.

For example, let's say you manufacture widgets made from specialized materials and you have a catalog containing standard widgets and the specifications for them. You might say material "A" has a density of 3.45 +/- 0.2 g/cc and an insulation resistance of > 3 x 10^5 ohm-cm, while material "B" has a density of 3.85 +/- 0.2 g/cc and an insulation resistance of > 4 x 10^5 ohm-cm, etc.

You print catalogs containing these specifications and send them to your customers. Your test lab uses these specifications to approve/reject the widgets before shipment. Customers often just specify the widgets they want to buy as "material A at a size of blah x blah x blah".

How do you handle change control, approvals of the specifications and the catalogs, notifying customers and your internal people of changes, etc.

 

[Wes Bucey]

In my experience, manufacturers of "off-the-shelf" items usually put a disclaimer in the website and catalog to the effect:
"Product specifications contained in this catalog are subject to change without notice. Please call or write for current specifications on any item. We will not substitute products of different specifications from your order without prior agreement."

 

[Mike S.]

I agree Wes, that is a common disclaimer, and a wise one.

But companies that have been around for awhile may have published several catalogs and customers and internal folks as well might have any of the 3 (or more) copies, or all of them. Practically speaking, you gotta make sure the internal test and mfg. folks are using the right spec's., and that the Sales force has the latest spec's. to give to the customer (who may be working off an obsolete spec.). Further, you may even have to make changes to a catalog spec. in-between catalog publications, so you need a way to handle such changes as well.

I've run into this problem before and implemented some rather detailed procedures for handling it, but I just thought I'd see if there was something I was missing. Cove folks are among the brightest bulbs on the tree and often have innovative ways of doing things. Sometimes, though, the answer is inside the box.

 

[Wes Bucey]

I agree Wes, that is a common disclaimer, and a wise one.

But companies that have been around for awhile may have published several catalogs and customers and internal folks as well might have any of the 3 (or more) copies, or all of them. Practically speaking, you gotta make sure the internal test and mfg. folks are using the right spec's., and that the Sales force has the latest spec's. to give to the customer (who may be working off an obsolete spec.). Further, you may even have to make changes to a catalog spec. in-between catalog publications, so you need a way to handle such changes as well.

I've run into this problem before and implemented some rather detailed procedures for handling it, but I just thought I'd see if there was something I was missing. Cove folks are among the brightest bulbs on the tree and often have innovative ways of doing things. Sometimes, though, the answer is inside the box.

Given what you say, there should be absolutely no problem with internal "Configuration Management"

The problem only arises if a customer purchases a product based on expectation from one catalog and receives product with different specifications which cause a "hiccup" in his receiving inspection.

A relatively simple program of "mistake proofing" should eliminate this glitch by adding a step in order taking to identify the catalog customer uses for ordering. (Then advising customer of product or model change since the catalog was issued.) L. L. Bean, a big time catalog house, seems to handle the situation well enough to minimize customer dissatisfaction. Certainly, such catalog houses belong to associations which publish "tips and tricks" and best practices you can explore for use in your own operation.