El Corte Inglés optimises product management with Trace One portal

Trace One, a provider of e-collaborative solutions, has entered into an agreement with Spanish retailer El Corte Inglés to set up a common portal for the central management of own-label consumer products.

Trace One is currently implementing the first stage of the application, known as Quality Portal, following which two other stages are planned – the Packaging Portal and the Product Lifecycle portal.

The Packaging Portal will seek to accelerate the comprehensive management of packaging design, while the Product Lifecycle portal is aimed at optimising the entire workflow process, including the handling of complaints.

The platform enables El Corte to improve the management of its entire private label product creation process, including aspects such as product selection; panel management; tracking requests for quotes; auditing and the preparation of data sheets; and collecting information on product recalls.

Trace One southern Europe senior vice president Christophe Heurtevent said that the company is pleased to be helping El Corte Inglés increase the transparency of information on its own brand products.

"This will in turn help it become more effective in the development process, as well as responding more quickly to the growing demands of its consumers for these products," Heurtevent added.

The application is expected to reduce the time to market for private label products by one to two months.

It is also expected to improve collaboration with suppliers, while ensuring that the partners have access to the exact information needed, across the supply chain, in real time.

Trace One offers e-collaborative solutions for retailers and the industrial sector of the PGC (Consumer Products). The company has offices in the US, Germany, Hong Kong, the UK, Spain and France.