Going Beyond Specification Management: Elevating Product Development at Every Stage

Specification management software is often the first step for food and beverage companies looking to streamline their product development processes. While it offers value by centralizing technical data such as recipes, ingredients, and packaging specifications, its limitations can become quickly apparent, especially as product lines grow.

Some of the main challenges and limitations food producers and brands may notice with specification management platforms include disconnected systems and data silos, ineffective change management, compliance challenges, and end-to-end visibility throughout the product development process.

• Data silos and disconnected systems. Specification management tools typically lack integration with other critical areas of product development, such as R&D, regulatory compliance, and marketing. This forces teams to use spreadsheets and other standalone tools to fill gaps, leading to inefficiencies, potential errors, and delays in product launches. The lack of cross-functional collaboration means that departments often work in isolation, resulting in miscommunication and redundant efforts.
• Inefficient change management. Food and beverage companies frequently face ingredient shortages, regulatory updates, and evolving consumer demands. Standalone specification management systems often struggle to track and implement changes across all stages of product development. This can lead to costly recalls, compliance risks, and delays in bringing products to market​.
• Regulatory compliance. While specification management software may handle some regulatory needs, its capabilities are often insufficient to meet the diverse requirements of global markets. Managing multi-region compliance, label translations, and sustainability reporting often requires manual intervention, increasing the risk of inaccuracies.
• Poor end-to-end visibility. Teams often lack insights into timelines, resource allocation, and overall project progress. This can result in missed deadlines and a lack of accountability across departments. Additionally, as businesses scale and product portfolios expand, the limitations of standalone tools become more pronounced, making it harder to manage the complexity of larger operations.

Despite its benefits, specification management software alone is not equipped to handle the multifaceted demands of modern food and beverage product development.

A more comprehensive solution like product lifecycle management is essential for companies aiming to innovate, reduce risks, and accelerate time to market. PLM goes beyond managing specifications by providing a connected, collaborative platform that supports every phase of product development.

This is why many food and beverage brands are moving beyond specification management to adopt PLM, ensuring they stay competitive in an increasingly challenging industry.

Specification management software may provide a centralized approach to organizing technical product details such as recipes, ingredients, and packaging specifications, but its limited scope often restricts its usefulness.

Product lifecycle management platforms build upon the specification management foundation by offering a comprehensive, all-in-one solution that addresses the full spectrum of product development challenges faced by food and beverage companies.

Although both solutions are powerful, PLM provides brands and retailers with elevated specification management benefits like better collaboration, change management, overall visibility, and data integration.

• Enhanced Collaboration. Specification management tools often operate in silos, limiting cross-functional collaboration between teams like R&D, marketing, regulatory compliance, and sourcing. In contrast, PLM platforms act as a centralized hub, connecting all departments to a single source of truth. This improves communication, reduces errors, and ensures every team has real-time access to accurate, up-to-date data.
• Efficient Change Management. Managing changes to ingredients, formulations, or suppliers can be a time-consuming and error-prone process when relying solely on specification management software. PLM systems address this by automating change management. Updates to raw materials or regulations cascade throughout the system, ensuring that all related data—such as recipes, packaging labels, and compliance documents—are updated simultaneously. This reduces the risk of errors, improves compliance, and allows companies to respond quickly to market or supply chain disruptions.
• Improved Product Development Visibility. Unlike specification management tools, which focus narrowly on technical data, PLM provides end-to-end visibility across the entire product lifecycle. From concept to launch, PLM platforms enable teams to monitor timelines, allocate resources efficiently, and track project milestones. This level of visibility allows companies to identify bottlenecks, optimize workflows, and ensure on-time delivery.
• Accurate Compliance Management. While specification management software may handle some compliance requirements, it often falls short when managing complex, multi-regional regulations. PLM platforms provide advanced compliance tools, enabling companies to manage global requirements for labeling, ingredient declarations, and sustainability tracking.
• Scalable Growth and Agility. As food and beverage companies grow, the limitations of standalone specification management tools become more evident. PLM systems are designed to scale with business needs, accommodating larger product portfolios and more complex global operations. They also support sustainability initiatives and evolving consumer preferences, making them a future-proof investment for competitive brands and retailers.
• Comprehensive Supplier Management. Specification management software typically lacks tools for sourcing and supplier collaboration. PLM systems fill this gap by incorporating supplier management features, allowing procurement teams to track ingredient availability, costs, and certifications. This ensures better supplier collaboration and streamlines the procurement process, ultimately reducing costs and improving product quality.

By offering a wider scope of functions than specification management software, PLM platforms empower companies to innovate faster, improve compliance, and deliver better products to market. This holistic approach makes PLM an invaluable tool for navigating the complexities of modern product development in any industry.

Based in Illinois, Great Kitchens serves major North American grocery stores, convenience outlets, and food service channels with various private-label offerings. When the company was acquired by Brynwood Partners in 2020, it seized the opportunity to reevaluate and streamline its processes, turning to PLM as a critical part of its transformation.

Before implementing PLM, Great Kitchens relied on manual methods like spreadsheets and email to manage the commercialization process. Tracking product information, ensuring data consistency, and following up on tasks consumed significant time and effort.

Teams were burdened by a fragmented workflow, with siloed data leading to inefficiencies and communication gaps. These limitations slowed their speed to market—a critical factor for a private-label manufacturer competing in a fast-paced industry.

Adopting PLM revolutionized Great Kitchens’ approach to product development. The platform centralized data, automated workflows, and provided real-time visibility into every stage of the process. Once handled manually, task assignments were streamlined with automated notifications, allowing team members to focus on their responsibilities without endless follow-ups.

Adjustments to templates, such as removing tasks for specific customers, could now be handled instantly by users, eliminating the need for IT support.

As a result, Great Kitchens experienced:

• Efficiency Gains: By automating workflows and centralizing data, the company saved weeks of active follow-ups per project.
• Improved Accountability: With automated task assignments and tracking, responsibilities were clear, and milestones were met with precision.
• Faster Time to Market: Streamlined processes allowed the company to respond more quickly to customer demands and changing market conditions.
• User-Friendly Technology: Employees praised the system’s intuitive interface, which enabled rapid onboarding and adoption across teams

Great Kitchens’ success story highlights the transformative potential of PLM for food and beverage companies. By addressing challenges like fragmented workflows, regulatory complexity, and slow commercialization, PLM empowered the brand to operate with greater agility and efficiency.

As the food and beverage industry evolves, companies face increasing pressure to adapt quickly to changes in consumer preferences, regulatory requirements, and supply chain disruptions.

While helpful for organizing data, standalone specification management software often lacks the scalability and integration needed to keep pace with these demands. PLM platforms, however, offer a comprehensive solution designed to future-proof product development​.

PLM systems centralize all aspects of product development, from sourcing and formulation to packaging and compliance, into a single, accessible platform. This integration not only streamlines workflows but also ensures data accuracy and transparency across all teams.

With its ability to drive efficiency, reduce risks, and foster innovation, PLM represents the future of product development in markets and channels that change faster than ever.

Whether navigating ingredient substitutions, meeting sustainability goals, or managing packaging updates, Centric Software® equips food and beverage companies with the agility and insight they need to stay ahead in constantly changing markets.

With Centric PLM, brands, retailers and manufacturers gain end-to-end visibility, seamless collaboration, and tools to manage product data, compliance, and innovation effortlessly. We transform product development workflows for faster launches, fewer errors and streamlined launches—all supported by a platform that grows with your business.