[Product development & quality]() / [Use cases]() / [Specification change]() [How it works]() [What you get]() [Scope]() [Start a review]() [Product development & quality]()[Suppliers & changes]() # Trace a specification change to everyone it touches. One change to a specification reaches the factory, the mill, costing, the lab, the studio and the catalog, and you see who has acknowledged it. [Start with a development review]() [How it works]() Fabric decision · CAT-042 Week 6 Stay on 12 oz canvas, and tell everyone who planned for 10 oz. Why The 10 oz canvas failed its wash test Changed Revision C withdrawn. Revision D stands Cost +$2.80 a jacket against Q07 Touches Factory, mill, costing, wash lab, studio, catalog Open The retailer spec sheet The impact brief. Development reads it once, then releases the decision. ## Sound familiar? - Sourcing, costing, the studio and the catalog hear about a change at different times. - The factory quotes on a revision you stopped using weeks ago. - Nobody can say who has seen the new spec and who hasn’t. A change that reaches only some of the people who plan around it leaves two versions of the product in the building, and someone builds the wrong one. Fernway’s canvas jacket, one fabric decision 1. ## Eighteen records named the fabric. Quotes, samples, cost sheets, test bookings, shot lists and catalog copy, found by revision rather than by search. 2. ## All eighteen were told, where they work. The mill, the factory, costing, the lab, the studio and the catalog each got the change in their own channel. 3. ## Sixteen acknowledged. Each owner confirms, and silence is chased. Nothing counts as seen because it was sent. 4. ## Fifteen records updated. Quotes, cost sheets and bookings moved to the new revision. The old sample was withdrawn. 5. ## The cheaper quote was for a different jacket. Q07 cited revision C and a 10 oz canvas that failed its wash test. Quote Q06, on revision D, stands. Record **18**Affected records **18**Notified **16**Acknowledged **15**Updated Where it landed FQ Factory · Q06 Reached updated Quote Q06 stands, on revision D CM Canvas mill Reached acknowledged Acknowledged CO Costing Reached updated +$2.80 a jacket, approved WL Wash lab Reached acknowledged Retest booked ST Studio Reached updated No reshoot needed CA Catalog Reached updated ‘Machine washable’ kept RS Retailer spec sheet Reached notified Waiting on the retailer RC Revision C sample Reached affected records Withdrawn Quotes · Canvas field jacket Week 4 Quote Built to Canvas Real cost Q06 · $31.20 a unit Revision D 12 oz, wash tested $31.60 Q07 · $28.40 a unit Revision C 10 oz, never washed $35.10 Real cost adds the wash test and rework, and the returns a quote is expected to cause [How quote comparison works]() ## What changes. ShowTodayWith the engine Who’s affected Remembered by whoever made the change Found by revision across quotes, samples, tests and records Telling them An email and a meeting Each owner told in their own channel Acknowledgment Silence counts as yes Each owner confirms, and silence is chased Cost Found on the invoice Worked out per unit before anyone commits The old version Left in circulation Withdrawn, so nothing is built from it ## How it works. 7 steps, 5 stages. - AI**2** - Rules and automation**3** - Your team**2** - Approval 1. 1 Spot 1. AI ### Spot what changed Reads two revisions and flags changes in meaning, like a heavier canvas, as well as changed numbers. - FlexPLM - Centric PLM - Arena 2. 2 Trace 1. Rules and automation ### Find every record it touches Quotes, samples, tests, cost sheets, shot lists and catalog records matched by revision. 2. AI ### Draft the impact brief Affected suppliers, costs, tests and deadlines on one page, with the sources linked. 3. 3 Release 1. Your team Approval ### Release the change Development approves the decision and any cost change before anyone is told. 4. 4 Notify 1. Rules and automation ### Notify each owner where they work The mill, factory, costing, lab, studio and catalog each hear in their own channel. - Outlook - Shopify 5. 5 Confirm 1. Rules and automation ### Track acknowledgment, withdraw the old Silence is chased, and superseded samples and quotes are withdrawn. 2. Your team ### Close the gaps Your team follows up what the system can’t, like a retailer’s spec sheet. Every change leaves a record the next one starts from ## What you get. Real work, every week. Acknowledgments · 18 records Week 6 Record Owner Status Quote Q06 Factory Stands, on D Mill spec, revision 2 Canvas mill Acknowledged Cost sheet Costing Approved Retailer spec sheet Retailer Waiting Revision C sample Development Withdrawn Who has acknowledged, by record. Anything still waiting is chased, and shown. Records updated Synced - Cost sheet $28.40**$31.20** Week 6 - Factory order draft Revision C**Revision D** Week 6 - Wash lab booking 10 oz swatch**12 oz swatch** Week 6 - Catalog fabric 10 oz canvas**12 oz canvas** Week 6 The records that moved to the new revision, as they changed. ## How you’ll know it’s working. 1. Time to a confirmed response from each owner A change isn’t done when it’s sent. It’s done when each owner says they have it. 2. Records still on a superseded revision Every one is a place where the old product can still get built. 3. Re-quotes caused by a change Shows whether suppliers are working from the revision you meant. Baselines agreed before we build. ## Works with what you have. PLM & specs - FlexPLM - Centric PLM - Arena - Specright ERP, CRM & inbox - Outlook Commerce - Shopify - NetSuite We configure first Your PLM already runs change requests. We use its change and release flow, and add what it doesn’t do: reaching suppliers, costing, the studio and the catalog by revision. We build when A change has to reach people who don’t work in your PLM, and you need proof they’ve seen it. ## What a first build includes. Built in your accounts, around your team. Scope, fee and baseline agreed before we start. 1. 1 Design 2. 2 Build 3. 3 Run it, or hand it over [Start with a review]() [Scope this build]() ### We build - A change-impact map keyed by revision - Impact briefs with costs, tests and deadlines - Notification and acknowledgment tracking for each owner - Withdrawal of superseded revisions ### We start from - Revision history and approvals - Supplier and mill contacts - Cost sheets, test bookings and catalog records ### From your team Owner Product development lead Involves - Development - Sourcing - Costing - Quality - Studio - Catalog ## Questions teams ask. Do suppliers have to use a portal? No. They can answer from email or the portal they use today. A forced portal can add work for the supplier, so we meet them where they already answer. What if a document doesn’t name its revision? It’s held as unresolved and shown to its owner. We never guess which revision a document means. Can it release a change on its own? No. A person with authority releases every change, and nothing a model writes can overwrite a released record. Who owns it once it’s running? You do. It’s built in your accounts, documented, with training for the people who run it. Ownership usually sits with your product development lead. We can keep running it with you, or step back. How do we start? Usually with a development review: two to four weeks, a fixed fee credited to the build, and a plan that’s yours. If the job is already clear, we can scope the build directly. ## Part of your development engine. One of 12 use cases, in 5 parts. [See the whole development engine]() 1. [Briefs **1**]() 2. [Specs & samples **4**]() 3. [Suppliers & changes **3**]() 4. [Release **2**]() 5. [Quality loop **2**]() In suppliers & changes - [**Quote comparison**Compare supplier quotes against the approved spec]() - **Specification change**You’re here - [**Material substitution**Qualify a substitute when a material runs short]() Works with - [**Production handoff**Hand off a complete production package]() - [**Development readiness**Keep samples, tests and production readiness moving]() See it at work - [**In the canvas jacket’s twelve weeks**Week 6: the fabric decision reached everyone]() ## Let every change reach everyone it touches. Start with a development review. [Start with a development review]() [**Talk it through first**15 minutes]() We reply within one business day. --- Source: [https://www.thekeating.co/use-cases/spec-change-impact/]() [Contact Keating & Co](mailto:nelson@thekeating.co) · [Agent guidance](https://www.thekeating.co/llms.txt)