Live from SPEC Summit with Specright CMO Laura Foti

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Transcript

Laura Foti: 0:31

Good morning, everyone. We are recording live from spec summit. This is Laura Foti and I'm the host of the beyond the shelf podcast. I have some very special guests with me today. I have Cory Connors and Brodie Vander Dussen what was the last name, Bander Busen. It's very elegant. It's very I didn't give you the last name. I think she's the queen.

Brodie Vander Dussen: 0:52

You know you say that and then you have to write Brody dot Bander. I have a lot of letters.

Laura Foti: 1:00

And are you, were you always last in line at school?

Brodie Vander Dussen: 1:03

this is my married name. I came from RIP, which is four letters. And Vanderbusset,

Laura Foti: 1:07

which

Brodie Vander Dussen: 1:07

is two full words.

Laura Foti: 1:09

we are live. We love that. We are live with Cory Brody at Spec Summit. Corey, tell us a little bit about the event for those that don't know.

Cory Connors: 1:17

So, SPEC Summit is an annual gathering to celebrate and educate of Specright's latest innovations and it's grown incredibly over the last three years. This is my third time being here and I am so impressed with what you and the team have done to grow this, the capabilities of Specright and to integrate it in other systems. And I think that's the lesson I've learned so far is how many different things are integrated into Specright

Speaker 4: 1:51

yeah.

Cory Connors: 1:51

Including Topps and Lorax and Tryak and all of these other softwares that can make you more efficient.

Laura Foti: 1:59

Yeah.

Cory Connors: 2:00

And sustainable.

Laura Foti: 2:01

We have almost 400 people from across packaging and product development and quality job titles, all using specification data to drive their businesses differently. And a big topic of this conference has been digitizing specs. We've talked a lot about legacy systems, people using spreadsheets, emails, share drives, lotus note systems. to manage all this really important data, and we've really heard about the downstream impacts of what happens when you're using static data. Brody, you led a panel yesterday.

Brodie Vander Dussen: 2:35

Can you

Laura Foti: 2:35

talk a little bit about, what you learned from the panel?

Brodie Vander Dussen: 2:38

Oh my gosh. We, I had a great time, first and foremost, so thanks for having me. This is my first Spec Summit. I've been having a blast. I feel like I'm taking notes like crazy. our panel yesterday was really talking about the role of somebody dedicated to specification management. resources are changing. There's so much change in the industry and data is more important today than it has ever been. We talked a little bit about garbage data in, garbage data out. And so, really understanding having one specific resource dedicated to really managing that, managing the platform, controlling the one source of truth, really. And, the benefits that comes with, I think a lot of companies are afraid of adding new resources budget wise, which I totally understand. But, Other two examples that we had from Taylor Farms and, Bob Evans. Yeah, they had examples of how they were saving their company money in so many ways, their company money, their other departments and their team and time and efforts that they could work on the jobs that we actually hired them to do. So, I was really impressed and felt like it was a really great example of, yeah. you know what? Creating a resource in there really has the power to do

Laura Foti: 3:54

one of my favorite comments from yesterday was Greg from Clemson. He talked about how he asks his students what their dream jobs are and it made me think about I love, I'm always out there talking to students at MSU and Clemson and RIT and Rutgers and others. And then I go talk to people in the industry and there's this disconnect between the job, the entry level packaging job and what these students have been trained to do it. And typically. An entry level packaging person would go in, and they're the person managing the data. They're the person emailing the suppliers. And they've just gone to this school that was hard to get into. They've trained in a profession that, is engineering focused or creative focused. And then they're asked to, chase data from suppliers? What a disconnect! what a waste of your talent that could be propelling you forward. And so I thought that was such an interesting perspective. obviously you guys run, host the Sustainable Packaging Podcast. Sustainability was really top of mind. Corey, why do you think it's becoming such a hot topic, especially related to the need for specifications?

Cory Connors: 4:57

we've been talking about EPR laws that are coming for many years. And now they're here. Oregon is reporting next month. You have to be ready. And if you don't have your data today, you're in trouble already. You're late. And I think that's the message that needs to go out into the industry is spec right. Can do that for you.. With you, I should say, as a partner, and allow you to be ready to report for EPR, for all the new states that are coming on board, all the new countries, Canada, all these other Euro, the PPWR. These things are happening now. And if you're not, if you don't have a grip on your specifications. You are late. And this is the message we've been saying for years, and it didn't really mean much before, but now it means everything.

Laura Foti: 5:55

we had an amazing opening keynote chair, David Schoenthal from the Kellogg School of Management. He's written a book called The Human Element, Overcoming the Resistance that Awaits New Ideas. Because really, this industry is changing. It's digitizing. It's transforming. And to your point, Corey, one of the things David talked about is fuel versus friction. when you're trying to implement a new change or a new technology in your business, it's actually not enough to add more benefits. You have to make it easier to adopt, easier to accept. And the reason I bring this up is, we've really spoken to people in the industry about what makes it hard. why wouldn't you do spec management at this point? I really don't see the downsides of digitizing your data and a single source of truth. So you can do reporting, analytics, faster product development. better artwork approvals. There's just not a lot of downsides anymore. And we realized in talking to customers, the biggest friction was they don't have people to go out and get the data. It makes total sense, right? Because as you mentioned, Brody, people, these teams are not big as it is. Typically they've reduced resources. And so at spec right, we designed the spec assist program to literally. It's a team of people that will go out and get the specs for you from your suppliers. So we've really tried to reduce the friction to digitize your specs. we had an awesome product showcase yesterday. If you haven't, we should link to our margarita manufacturing video. But in 30 minutes, it showed how they created a new idea. And it went all the way through approval. They were running a lot of life cycle assessments. They were doing artwork proofing. Brodie, how is that different from how the industry is currently doing it today?

Brodie Vander Dussen: 7:40

it's, really funny you mentioned that because I was hoping to bring up that product showcase yesterday. It blew my mind. I think, on one side, because, specification management is so important for things like EPR, like Corey mentioned, that you need to have, right? But this evolution of product development. You can streamline it with an LCA, include that sustainability factor, but then also then the integrations you get to send out the information, if we got to see in 30 minutes, like you said, like a full, Sped up for the audience, but a full product development product launch for something all within platform. But today, that's not how things go, right? I had a chance of talking to a project, packaging engineer at dinner the first night and just asking her, like, why are you here? what brought you here? What are you excited about? What are you? And she said that she spends most of her time investigating rather than innovating.

Speaker 4: 8:31

And

Brodie Vander Dussen: 8:31

I think that she's here because she recognizes that she's got deadlines. She's got things she wants to do. And really, she's there because she really likes to do it. Making packaging. Like she likes the creative side of things. She wants to innovate. She wants to make her brand better and bigger and, have more of a market share. But she can't because she's spending so much time investigating the specs. who changed that? Like where did that come from? and so has something printed in a file in a drawer. and she spends all that time doing that. And I can't help but think that's, a lot of the industry is spending so much time chasing down. These details that are necessary for innovation And I think of how much quicker we could have, I'm thinking of the shelves in Target, like, how cool could our packaging be if we, really opened up space for our engineers and let them just be engineers rather than data investigators. It's not what they're there.

Laura Foti: 9:22

That's such a great point, I think the big themes from Summit were digitizing, sustainability, and I think the last one was collaborating, as you mentioned, Brody, To see the silos break down, break down the silos, get people working off the same data, get people on the same page. Have everyone have the data they need to do their jobs, I've heard so many people say, oh I have to bother this person, I have to bother this person. I can't imagine the tension that creates in an organization. Especially when things go wrong. When you're trying to go faster.

Brodie Vander Dussen: 9:52

You

Laura Foti: 9:52

can

Brodie Vander Dussen: 9:53

be fine if their data is wrong. there's real consequences to not being sure about what you're doing.

Laura Foti: 9:59

And I think the most powerful thing about Spec Summit, because, we talk a lot about Spec Summit, I think the biggest reason I recommend people to attend is you meet people just like you.

Speaker 6: 10:09

Right.

Laura Foti: 10:09

And when I typically will talk to people, one on one, they feel like their problems are unique. Oh, it's just my company. It's just the way we've always done it. And then when you get everyone in a room, that everyone has the same problem. And there are people that are adopting a solution. And, I think what makes Spec Summit unique, there's tons of conferences out there, especially related to packaging. We love going to them. but Spec Summit, it's hosted by a customer. So we had DHL host it. Cindy Shruze did an amazing job. That's great. And it's mostly customer speakers, industry speakers, people really using the product. Developing amazing things on it, and it gives people the idea that there's a better way. why, Corey, why is that so important?

Cory Connors: 10:54

I think you're exactly right. You get a chance to commiserate. And then it's very vindicating, Oh, I'm not the only one dealing with this problem. we don't have to deal with this problem anymore. There's a solution. And I think that's the message. There are different ways of doing things now. We need to adapt to be ready for the future.

Laura Foti: 11:14

Yeah, we had Ryan from Bloomberg speak. That was a very interesting talk. to me, it really illustrates where this industry is going. Brody, can you talk a little bit? Were you able to listen to that session? Can you talk a little bit about what you learned from Ryan?

Brodie Vander Dussen: 11:29

I think one of the things I really loved about data might be a little bit of it. I think It's so important to look at our past in order to understand where we're going and have a shape of a vision of what could be in the future, right? And so Ryan showed a lot of data of last 20 years, last 30 years, last 100 years of data in the paper market and then also showed a lot of things that are moving, like we talked about the industry is, changing daily. Mergers and acquisitions are a really big trend this year that I think we're going to see a lot of. And he really got to show, this is where things happen, here's examples of something that we're seeing, something similar to today, and here's, what he thinks we could expect in the future. And I thought that it was Reassuring in a lot of ways. A lot of changes often brings discomfort and fear, but I felt, reassured and excited, maybe, for 2025.

Laura Foti: 12:25

Absolutely. I think what's so interesting, it illustrates the power of what you can do with data. So, Ryan talked about how, if you look at trends in the market, can you make better purchasing decisions? oh, if we think there's going to be an increase, can we negotiate one in advance for a lesser rate? Those are the types of decisions we're talking about. We're like, when you have this data. In a dynamic format, you can do so much more, I had someone come up to me and say, Laura, can Specker help me save money? I said, yes. And they go, oh, how? is it this fancy algorithm? And I'm like, sure, we could make you, we could totally make you a fancy algorithm. You actually just need to use like item finder, identify 10 similar things, click them and then go do a bit. it doesn't, I think one of the things we preach is simplify the complex. So much can be done with just getting your data digitized and connected and visible across your organization. And we talked about the Specification Management Maturity Model. Because a lot of people, we joke it starts with chaos. And then it goes to static, like a spreadsheet, and then it goes to dynamic. You're using the system we expect, right? and then you work all your way up to, to intelligent, where you're bringing it into, you're bringing sustainability into the product development life cycle. you're Doing analytics and everyone wants to get to intelligent, but they don't want to take the first step. Corey, why is it so important to just take the first step?

Cory Connors: 13:46

I think it's scary sometimes, but totally necessary. I remember when I started this podcast, I was scared. People are going to make fun of me. People are going to do this thing. But now it's become this thing in the industry that people enjoy and appreciate and learn from and learn with. I think packaging is an old school mentality, oftentimes. it's paper. It's, based on old tech and old systems. Why do we do this? That's how we've always done it. that's the mindset. And I think he, Ryan's example was perfect. His customer could save a million dollars a year by doing things differently and using his new technology and SpecWrite. It's, if you've ever gone through the process of quoting out your packaging, and the old process used to be, here's a pile of samples. and now, instead of that process that takes sometimes months, you could click a button in SpecRight and say, go to bid and get three bids back in a week or less. So the potential here is massive for cost savings, labor reduction, ease of use, accuracy. Which is, to me, so valuable.

Laura Foti: 15:12

Yeah, it's always a great time for me to reflect, because I've been in the, this is my favorite industry, I've been in it now almost seven years. I've just learned so much from everyone, people like you who've become mentors and friends. it's amazing to see that it is changing. And I felt that at this summit, we were talking about some of the statistics, there's 4. 8 million products on SpecRight that people have made. But only 800, 000 spec. Which means that people are reusing components to make new product varieties. And that's, when Matthew set out to found the company, that was his vision. It was, we're not going to be able to kill SKU proliferation at the product level because consumers want that. But you have to be able to do it at the component level or at the packaging level and find those opportunities. And we're seeing that happen in real time. What was your favorite moment from Summit?

Cory Connors: 15:59

Oh, last night was really fun. You went to, Garth

Laura Foti: 16:02

Brooks honky tonk, friends in love places. That's why our voices are a little hoarse.

Cory Connors: 16:06

Yes, very loud, but wonderful. The amount of talent in this city is incredible. And, not just packaging talent, but musical talent. but overall, it's just been, it's been the best show yet, the best Summit yet. So Kudos to you and your team.

Laura Foti: 16:21

I appreciate it. It really is everyone in the room. I looked around. No one was on their phone. No one was on their computer. Everyone was engaged in the content. And I think it's because I really we try to make this for the industry and having the industry participate in being at the forefront of the event. And it really feel feels like that came through. Brody, what was your favorite part?

Brodie Vander Dussen: 16:44

I think You know, I really love what Corey said at the beginning. He said, this is an event where we celebrate and educate on what Speckrate is doing. And I feel like the sessions have been amazing. I've, like I said, taking lots of notes of just learning a lot. but I think also there is a community in the room, of people who maybe don't know each other, but share the same challenges, share the same wins, share the same, Hey, I learned how to do this in spec right. And it changed my life, and then, Oh, can you show me like, it's become this community of people helping each other. through, through a common platform of spec, right? And a common packaging nerdiness, I showed an example on stage yesterday. I was in an elevator and the elevators go really, you know, it's a tall building. So it takes a while. We're all sitting in there waiting, getting floor by floor, adding more people. And this is quiet. Everyone's just trying not to look at each other. And someone gets on, gets in the elevator and he goes. So is that recyclable? and everyone in the elevator was like, is what recyclable? what are you talking about? oh, I know that word. that's my people. I just feel like we've all kind of are here and there's a safe space to learn and to celebrate, win, celebrate, achievements in this. And, yeah, the people, I would say.

Laura Foti: 18:00

Totally agree. wrapping up, if you're listening to this podcast and you're like, what is this next summit? What are these people talking about? How can I learn more? Please reach out to me, Laura at SpecRight. If you want to learn about how to use technology to change how you're doing packaging, to make it more sustainable, to have less errors, to collaborate with your suppliers, to move faster, to move into the future and think about the next, the evolution of the packaging engineer, come. there have been people here who don't use SpecRight who've come for three years, and it really is for people who just want to learn about where is the industry going through technology. We have so many amazing technology partners here with us. we have, TRIAC. we have a one click LCA with TRIAC where all the data inspector instantly gets pushed. you can talk to TRIAC, you can talk to LOREX about EPR reporting. We integrate with TOPS. it really is about connecting all these. All these technologies that packaging people use every day and enabling you to make amazing sustainable things So if that resonates with you if that's something you want to learn more about this is your place and this is your people to your point Brody

Cory Connors: 19:06

We're still finalized, but we

Laura Foti: 19:08

typically bounce back and forth But we haven't finalized yet. But I always tell the team At the end of each summit, I want next year's to be 10 times better.

Speaker 4: 19:19

And

Laura Foti: 19:19

that is such a tall order. I fully recognize it. But that's what everyone deserves. Because you guys really spend a lot of time and you take the time. And it, it makes me happy to hear that a lot of people felt that way. It was really special. It felt like a turning point. To see so many people in the room from so many big companies all talking about how to solve these challenges of spec data management, supplier collaboration, sustainability, dynamic digitized data. it has me excited about the future and I just want to thank you Cory and Brody for being here and participating and being such an important part of our community. Thank you. Thanks for having

Cory Connors: 19:54

us. There's a sense of relief from the people that have gone through the process of getting all their data in. Listening to Kitty from Taylor Farms, she is like the most confident person in the room. yeah, we got this all figured out because we got all of our specifications in spec right. We know how to use it. It's working so well, and I remember when she implemented three years ago or however long ago was and she wasn't sure. And now it's so cool to see the end result of the process.

Laura Foti: 20:26

Oh, you're totally right, Corey. My favorite thing. We've talked about this, I think, in the past is to see the packaging professional and the product get elevated in the organization because when you have data, it becomes you can speak the language of business. Yes. More, right? And up level the conversation about packaging, which is so important. and there's so many people who, I've, to your point, you know, Kitty's a great example. You see how much she's evolved and grown, and it's so impressive. She's like a rock star. she's so impressive. I told her that. And she's, the most humble person. they want a spec award for efficiency. It was something 1, 500 products last year. They went from a hundred emails per product change to 10. Can you imagine times 1, 500, the amount of not just time, because I feel like that's such a, throwaway metric. It's important, but a lot of, maybe executives wouldn't resonate with. Think about the amount of risk mitigation of not having those, that many changes go through email because so much of it's going through the platform, fewer mistakes. Faster time to market. I'm just so proud of what everyone is doing with that digitized data and our mission really is to help people like you make amazing things and we thought we heard so many stories. Of that yesterday. I have to wrap up because I'm going to be late to my panel.

Cory Connors: 21:50

but thank you all.

Laura Foti: 21:51

Thank you all for listening. we're so thrilled to have you. And if you want to follow, how can they follow you, Cory? Oh yeah, reach out on

Cory Connors: 21:58

LinkedIn. We actually, Brody and I actually respond to messages. Yeah, we're happy to connect.

Laura Foti: 22:04

Awesome. Thanks everyone. We'll see you soon. Thank you guys.