Coop Sweden expands private label ranges with Trace One

April 24, 2012 - PRLog -- London/Paris, 24th April, 2012 – Retailer Coop Sweden has today announced it is going live with a Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) portal from retail technology provider, Trace One to help increase its private label product development and become more competitive within this market. The online portal also helps the retailer meet strict government requirements around product ingredients, safety and ethical sourcing. The solution not only helps speed up the product development process, but also enhances working relationships with suppliers.

Thomas Säll, CIO at Coop Sweden commented: “Expanding our own label ranges and improving brand perceptions is a key business objective for us this year. To match the competition, we want to increase our number of private label products. Not only will this increase our margins but, it also gives us the opportunity to innovate with our products and bring something new to the market. To meet this requirement and thereby increase the number of SKUs this year, we needed a solution that was more robust than the in-house tool we used previously. We chose the Trace One PLM solution is it was the best and most comprehensive tool available for private label development and we were also impressed with the people at the company, which is key for us to maintain a good working relationship.”

Currently 25 employees use the system in-house including the quality department, product developers and retail buyers, along with suppliers, which are due to rise in numbers To help with this, the tool is able to source the top and most credible suppliers to work with, as it stores all audit details and certifications gained from each supplier for the retailer to access. As many of the suppliers already use the portal with other retailers, the complex collaboration process during product development is simplified. The system also helps the retailer meet government legislation as all details and product specifications are kept on one online database. This means the retailer can easily prove compliance when questioned on anything from food ingredients, quality and safety to environmental issues and ethical sourcing of materials.

By storing all product specifications and accurately recording what stages each project is at online, all parties involved are able to log in to the system in real-time to monitor progress and make or accept any changes. Suppliers can also meet validation rules which are set by the retailer to sign off products in quicker time. This saves endless communication between parties via traditional means such as phone or email, which often wastes time and resource. The retailer can also focus on more strategic tasks, as the portal automatically tracks and follows up with suppliers on matters such as critical inspections, audits and certificate renewals.

“By using the PLM portal from Trace One, we hope to increase our overall efficiencies with private label development substantially. The portal will provide improved workflow, so that the entire product lifecycle can be managed from start to finish, giving us better control over the private label side of the business as a whole.”

Amina West, Vice President, Northern Europe at Trace One concluded: “Coop Sweden currently occupies around 21 per cent of the grocery market, so we are delighted to be working with one of the leading retailers in Scandinavia. We hope to help the company meet and exceed its goals of becoming a leader in the private label market, as we recognise the real business value this can bring. Through this partnership we aim to increase our presence in the Scandinavian market, where private label is emerging as a key driver for retailers at the moment.”

About Trace One

Trace One and Agentrics PLM merged in January 2012 to become a global leader in collaborative solutions for the private label industry. Our mission is to drive food and non-food product innovation, support brand protection, and accelerate time-to-market for retailers, manufacturers and food service companies.

We are committed to enabling collaborative processes between retailers and manufacturers thereby optimizing the sourcing, tendering, launching and development of consumer goods, while controlling product information and ensuring product and food safety. This not only supports the protection of brands, but also maximizes profitability and competitiveness throughout the product lifecycle management process.

The solutions provided by Trace One - Agentrics PLM are used by over 30 leading retailers worldwide, including 12 of the top 25, as well as 12,500 manufacturers in over 110 countries.

Trace One has a global presence in 14 countries (Australia, Belgium, Brazil, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Spain, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, UK and USA).

About Coop

Coop is the second largest grocery retail store chain in Sweden with 724 stores within the retail concepts Coop Forum, Coop Extra, Coop Konsum, Coop Nära, Coop Bygg, Mataffären.se and Daglivs. Coop is run by the Swedish consumer cooperative movement and its’ three million members, through the Cooperative Union, KF and 42 consumer societies.