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Product Specification sheets necessary or not ?

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jamiant

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Posted 12 May 2017 - 08:55 PM

Hello all,

 

Can anyone tell me the importance of having an specification sheet for products before shipping to a customer. I have a sales manager that is trying to send out a product to someone but they are refusing to wait for the R & D dept. to finish their part. I've tried to explain to them the importance of having the spec and I urge them not to send the product. 

 

I know it's important to have specs approved before sending a product to a customer for many reasons. Can anyone share their thoughts and recommend how I should handle this issue? 

 

 

Many thanks in advance!



Charles.C

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Posted 13 May 2017 - 02:51 AM

Hello all,

 

Can anyone tell me the importance of having an specification sheet for products before shipping to a customer. I have a sales manager that is trying to send out a product to someone but they are refusing to wait for the R & D dept. to finish their part. I've tried to explain to them the importance of having the spec and I urge them not to send the product. 

 

I know it's important to have specs approved before sending a product to a customer for many reasons. Can anyone share their thoughts and recommend how I should handle this issue? 

 

 

Many thanks in advance!

 

Hi jamiant,

 

Not sure if the query is directed to Food or not.

 

Generically, I presume you are familiar with terms like "Product Agreement". And "Customer Complaints". 

 

From Google -
 

When you're buying or selling goods, a Product Agreement  makes the transaction crystal clear. A written agreement trumps a handshake when questions arise.

(for questions, read "complaints")

 

If you would like to see an extended explanation, can try -

 

https://www.rocketla...-agreement.rl#/

 

In the case of supplying food products, IMEX it is customary for a mutually signed Product Specification document to be an essential component of a contract.

 

I suggest you develop an appropriately inclusive  SOP for handling "Customer Complaints" and include R&D in the Distribution List.


Kind Regards,

 

Charles.C


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mgourley

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Posted 14 May 2017 - 10:16 PM

If you do not know what you are selling (finished product specification), why would you be selling it in the first place?

IMHO, sales should have absolutely nothing to do with the production of materials. If they want to sell something, they should have understanding of what it is they are selling, i.e., product specifications.

 

It may not be the smartest thing to do, but tell sales to get the hell out of sales, until specifications for the materials for sale are generated/approved.

 

Marshall


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Dr.Khan

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Posted 15 May 2017 - 12:39 AM

Hi Jamlant

 

You need to understand that sales may have made the commitment to provide the product at the specific time .Your customer may also have made the production plan for producing the product by using your product as one of the ingredient or have already committed to provide your product to their customer. So I will say that let the sales department handle the issue of product specification with the customer.

 

Obviously the internal new product development procedure in this case was not followed.  In a well organised operations the R & D section should have written and get approved product specification prior to the first product run or even the first pilot scale production run. this obviously not done.

 

My suggestion is  get the support of the sales team and ask the R & D department to complete the product specification asap. Test the product against the agreed specification and then send the specification and analytical results to the customer through sales asap, preferably prior to the customer using or selling your product.

 

Kind regards

Dr Humaid Khan

Managing Director

Halal international Services

Beverly hills Australia 2209

 

 



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QAGB

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Posted 15 May 2017 - 12:47 PM

I agree with MGourley, sales should not be pushing a product that isn't ready. If you've got product and it has no determined specifications, it's not ready to be sold. Sales needs to wait until the product development process is complete before sending out product. That's like a salesman trying to sell a car without knowing anything about it, except it's red and has four wheels. Sales can maybe hint to customers that they have a product being developed which may be of interest, but also let them know it's still a work in progress and they will be updated when product is ready for sale or sampling.

 

While finalized specifications may not be finished before a scale up to pilot production (often times much more data is required to finalize a brand new spec), a preliminary specification sheet could be written. It may not have all the characteristics, but the ones that are known could be provided. At the very least, I think a Certificate of Analysis could suffice in this case to measure the characteristics observed and send those along with the product. That way there are reportable results to which the customer can use for their needs, and future specifications can be built upon.

 

Product specifications are especially important to customers for matching purposes. Often times, they are moving from one supplier to another to get a better product. The specification tends to be the first line of approval. We check ranges and characteristics to see how closely future lots will match with what we're getting. If the specs are close, then we can move into getting a sample. The only time we may not ask for a product specification up front, is if we are making a product that has not been well established and is truly an R&D project rather than an extension or revision of something we already produce. However, this would only be for samples to use in the lab. We get specifications before we scale up or else ingredient will not be approved.

 

QAGB



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