Woolworths develops product development ‘community’ platform

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WOOLWORTHS Australia is using the TradeStone platform to build a leading product development community, linking all its retail divisions and more than 6000 suppliers.

Initial advantages come from replacing multiple legacy systems and spreadsheets with a central source that assists product quality and compliance. But it is the connected nature of the network that is expected to deliver real economies and drive innovation.

TradeStone’s Merchandise Lifecycle Management (MLM) platform encompasses product design, product lifecycle management (PLM), sourcing, supplier management, order management, finance, logistics, and B2B sales management.

Woolworths has more than 3,200 stores across Australia and New Zealand spanning food, liquor, petrol, fashion, general merchandise, and home improvement, is rolling out US-developed TradeStone as its PLM system to facilitate, manage and standardize its end-to-end new product development process.

Ultimately, the system will have more than 20,000 users creating a world-class community on a single collaborative platform. Woolworths’ PLM system supports supplier management, factory compliance, product quality, local as well as international sourcing and costing.

“We are working collaboratively across all divisions within Woolworths to get to a single product development system,” Woolworths group commercial director, Carl Hargrave said.

“We are excited about the efficiencies, ease-of-use and consistency that the TradeStone platform, with its integrated partner technology, will bring to Woolworths.”

TradeStone president Brian Marsden said, “Increasingly, retailers must manage complex global supplier communities whilst simultaneously expanding product offerings and brand banners to achieve customer growth.

“Woolworths has taken a world-class approach by enabling a single platform across all divisions and product categories and they are a leader when it comes to managing local and international sourcing.”

www.woolworths.com.au

www.tradestonesoftware.com

 

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