Product Data Standard Adoption Moves from Discussion to Real-World Implementation

Over the past several months, ASA has been speaking with manufacturers, distributors, and product data teams across the industry to better understand how Product Data Standard adoption is progressing in real operating environments. A few interesting themes are starting to emerge.
 

One of the biggest surprises is that some manufacturers are farther along than many people realize. In several conversations, companies described active PIM initiatives, mapped templates, structured onboarding workflows, and internal alignment work already underway. In some cases, manufacturers are already exchanging product data with trading partners or preparing workflows to support broader rollout efforts.
 

At the same time, many distributors are still early in determining how standardized product data fits into existing onboarding, ERP, eCommerce, and product management workflows. Some organizations are actively moving forward, while others are still balancing competing priorities, internal system limitations, and day-to-day operational demands before making larger process changes.
 

The result is an environment where companies are often waiting on each other. Manufacturers may be ready to support broader structured exchange but are waiting for stronger distributor demand signals. Distributors may see the value of standardized information but are still deciding how quickly to prioritize supplier coordination and internal workflow changes alongside everything else already competing for time and resources.
 

In many cases, the industry is no longer waiting on technology. It is waiting on coordination.
 

What makes this particularly interesting is that the companies making the most visible progress are usually not waiting for the entire industry to move at once. They are starting smaller, coordinating earlier, testing workflows with selected trading partners, and improving processes gradually as experience grows.
 

In practice, that may mean onboarding a limited group of suppliers into a more structured workflow first or aligning new product introductions before addressing years of older records and inconsistent files. In one common scenario, a distributor may receive supplier spreadsheets for a new product launch only to find that attributes are labeled differently across files, required fields are missing, and product information does not line up cleanly between systems. Before those products can move into eCommerce platforms, ERP systems, or customer-facing workflows, someone internally has to reconcile the information manually and determine what can actually be trusted.
 

Those smaller projects are also helping companies understand where friction actually exists. In many cases, teams already have more structured information than they realized, but they lack a clear picture of how closely current files, workflows, and onboarding processes align to a standardized structure.
 

That visibility is becoming increasingly important because product information rarely exists in one clean location. Specifications, dimensions, attributes, and supporting content are often spread across ERP systems, spreadsheets, supplier files, eCommerce platforms, and processes that have evolved over many years. In some companies, different teams may even manage different portions of the same information depending on how the business operates internally.
 

Because of that, many organizations are finding that the first meaningful win is not perfection. It is gaining a clearer understanding of what already exists, where the biggest gaps are, and which workflows create the most friction between suppliers, systems, and internal teams.
 

To help support those efforts, ASA is developing pilot initiatives and practical compatibility assessment workflows intended to help manufacturers and distributors better evaluate current readiness relative to the ASA Product Data Standard. Participating organizations may receive visibility into where stronger alignment already exists, where additional work may be needed, and what specific areas may require further attention as implementation efforts continue to mature.
 

Another theme beginning to emerge is that coordination is becoming just as important as the standard itself. In many conversations, manufacturers are preparing broader rollout efforts while distributors are still evaluating how standardized product data fits into existing workflows. On the other side, distributors are often looking for stronger supplier participation before dedicating more internal resources to implementation.
 

The companies making the most visible progress are usually the ones willing to begin before every dependency is fully resolved. They are testing workflows with selected trading partners, validating smaller groups of files, improving onboarding processes, and expanding efforts gradually as internal coordination improves. That approach allows companies to learn where friction actually exists while keeping projects manageable enough to maintain momentum.
 

ASA expects those types of pilot and collaboration efforts to continue expanding as adoption matures across the industry. Companies trying to better understand where they stand, evaluate current readiness, or begin operationalizing implementation efforts are encouraged to reach out to ASA at PDS@asa.net to learn more about ongoing pilot initiatives, compatibility assessment efforts, and practical implementation support.
 

The companies moving forward are usually not the ones waiting for the industry to become perfectly aligned first. They are the ones beginning the coordination work early and improving the process as real operational experience builds.

By Nils Swenson