Member Spotlight: SnugZ USA
PromoStandards is a community, and those who become members have access to important information and proven service providers. In this member spotlight, we’ll cover SnugZ USA, the award-winning supplier. Here’s an in-depth look into who SnugZ USA is and how adopting PromoStandards integration helped move their transactions forward. Snugz USA Since 1989, SnugZ has always been committed to providing an exceptional customer experience and producing high-quality products for their customers. The business in West Jordan, Utah, started in a dusty, cramped attic with 5 friends crafting eyewear retainers. Now, they have over 1,000 employees and have a wide range of promotional products, including op-selling lanyards, GMP-certified personal care items, hand-crafted Traverse leather goods, and exclusive Thermos® brand gear. Before Promostandards Before implementing PromoStandards, SnugZ USA was facing what they thought were normal everyday issues. There were crazy costs associated with order entry, and the company experienced difficulty in: Providing accuracy in order entry, Having accurate inventory numbers, Communicating product changes to partners in a timely manner, and Communicating tracking and other status information to partners in a timely manner. PromoStandards’ Impact PromoStandards gave them the necessary tools to overcome these issues and others. In March 2015, SnugZ USA was approached by a large distributor who wanted them to use the Inventory endpoint. Since implementing PromoStandards, SnugZ USA has seen an increase in orders, and they are faster at entering orders and communicating with partners. PromoStandards also inspired them to step back and look at their own processes, procedures, and ways they stored and used data. This cleanup of data has proven to be beneficial to their business. “PromoStandards has changed the entire way we think about and manage our product data,” said Rosanne Webster, CIO of SnugZ USA. “Before PromoStandards, we managed product data through spreadsheets, manually updating information for search engines, our website, and customer data. Now, we’ve built an entire module within our ERP system to house this.” Become a PromoStandards Member! At PromoStandards, we make it easy to communicate with others in your industry. Find suppliers, distributors, and decorators and send and receive information to them in real-time. With four membership levels, you can choose the one that works best for you. Join PromoStandards and start your journey!
On Your Journey – Letter From the Chair
Let’s continue with your digital transformation journey. The previous letter talked about how PromoStandards, the sole publisher of open industry standards, is a diverse community of industry organizations. What PromoStandards is and means to you depends on your needs. Now, PromoStandards Chair Eric Alessi is sharing how, unlike the past, technology is core to every company. Technology Makes All the Difference If your company is not leveraging technology, it needs to be. Technology makes you competitive and is expected by just about every customer. The difference between connecting with your prospects, landing the customer, and keeping the customer satisfied comes down to technology. The popularity of consumer-focused online ordering systems and the importance of improving supply-chain efficiencies means integration is more important now than ever. Be Well on Your Way If you use email and have a website, you’re heading in the right direction. And if you configure and price products online, you’re well on your way. Implementing technology is a journey, not a destination. You’ll always be on the path of implementing technologies that make your business and life more efficient. PromoStandards Is Your Guide No matter where you are in your digital transformation journey, PromoStandards is your guide. We’ll help you harness the power of technology and make the most of your digital journey. Join our community to have access to members-only resources. You can also join events, chat with the entire PromoStandards community through our Slack channel, have full access to our directory of service providers, and more. With different membership levels, you can choose the one that works best for you!
Start Your Journey – Letter From the Chair
Every organization is on a digital journey. The previous letter covered how new technologies are redefining industries, and the promotional products industry is no exception. This month, PromoStandards Chair Eric Alessi is sharing how to start your digital transformation journey. Make sure you’re in control of where your organization is going and are not just along for the ride. PromoStandards is here to help, no matter your needs. Your Guide PromoStandards means different things to different people. Some people think that PromoStandards is a software provider. Others see us as service providers. Many know us as an open standards body that defines integration standards, the blueprints for creating communication protocols that organizations can use to tightly integrate with trading partners. Others know us as a community of thought leaders and implementors that are raising the level of business automation for everyone in the industry; this is especially true for attendees of our 2023 Tech Summit. Through our membership, we’re all of this and so much more, making us unique and uniquely qualified to be your guide through your unique digital journey. Our PromoStandards Members PromoStandards doesn’t directly publish software, but through service provider members, we are the #1 source for locating industry-specific business management software and the #1 source for PromoStandards endpoint hosting providers. Through our members, we’re systems integrators that are experts in industry data. Through our dedicated volunteers, which range from startups to industry titans, we are the sole publisher of open industry standards that addresses the entire procure-to-pay (P2P) lifecycle. And, perhaps most importantly, we’re a diverse community of industry organizations on the journey to integrate, leverage data, and transform our business and the industry. Our Education Webinar David Shultz, Chair of the Service Provider Committee, led the July 18, 2023 education webinar. He shared how, through service provider members, PromoStandards has everything a company needs to implement: These are all here to help you through your journey. Click here for service provider members that can assist, and watch the webinar here! Become a Member Today! PromoStandards is your guide to help you harness the power of technology and make the most of your digital journey. Join our community to have access to members-only resources, like events, the directory, and our Slack channel. With different membership levels, you can choose the one that works best for you!
Member Spotlight – Kotis Design
We are excited to dedicate our member spotlight to the designer and distributor Kotis Design, a promotional products company headquartered in Seattle, Washington. Kotis Design CEO and Founder Jeff Becker launched the company in 2003 after he graduated from the University of Washington. However, Kotis Design’s origins date back to 2001 when Becker started a student-run, custom-design T-shirt business. Today, the company’s operations have grown larger than life. About Kotis Design Kotis Design is a full-spectrum, custom swag-management platform. Much like PromoStandards, Kotis Design aims to advance the industry’s traditional practices by owning the end-to-end workflow of product and design ideation and implementing services, including (but not limited to): The Swag Platform & Portals The swag platform and portals allow consumers to manage and ship their swag quickly and offer various solutions to enable organizations to distribute their swag. Providing Premier Swag Organizations will find that there are many ways they can create their swag. Kotis Design offers phenomenal options for fully-custom designs to swag guides for specific products or kits you’d like to curate. The design and fulfillment-management platform utilizes a creative agency approach and its in-house workshop to control its clients’ branded swag from start to finish. The platform is committed to elevating an organization’s brand through merch and swag. That includes partnering with trusted retail brands for anything an organization may need, such as: Brands that help run and scale Kotis Design’s swag programs include the following: PromoStandards’ Impact “Innovation is a key part of our company, thinking outside the box and anticipating how tomorrow’s needs will differ from today,” says Kotis Design CTO Daniel Becker. “People these days expect everyone’s systems to work seamlessly with each other, and PromoStandards makes that possible. It allows our employees to spend less time on data management and more time working on creative ideas for clients, providing better and faster services.” How Did Kotis Design Discover PromoStandards? We started using PromoStandards in 2016 after hearing about it from supplier partners and industry newsletters. We were immediately eager to jump at the chance to streamline our operations. At that time, we already had custom integrations with multiple apparel suppliers and wanted to add more. But integrating separately with each of the many suppliers was impractical on a large scale. Universal integration for suppliers was a game changer for us. How Has PromoStandards Helped Kotis Design? Tedious data entry tasks are such a problem. No one likes doing them. They’re too slow and susceptible to human error. Yet, computers love these tasks and work 24/7 – a match made in heaven! Getting order status, tracking, and invoice data back from suppliers automatically saves us a ton of data entry. The info gets into our system faster, and we have more data points. For example, the invoices via PromoStandards include line-item details that we don’t even bother entering for non-PromoStandards invoices. That lack of data has cascading impacts down the line. What Improvements Have You Seen in the Company’s Workflow? While we still have (a lot) more to do to take advantage of PomoStandards’ resources, the non-profit has already helped us, providing a viable path to improving our workflow. Even when we haven’t implemented specific standards, we’ve inevitably altered how our teams work to anticipate the coming changes. It’s like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Become A PromoStandards Member! We simplify communication between suppliers, decorators, distributors, and service providers. Streamlining product development and management in the custom products industries is necessary to keep up with growing demands and a complicated supply chain. That’s why our standards are free for anyone who needs to use them. However, we also offer extra resources that can create even more positive change for your business. View our Membership Application today to learn more about our three membership levels.If you have questions about PromoStandards or want to get involved with our organization, please contact us at https://promostandards.org/membership-application.
Unleashing the Power of Technology – Letter From the Chair
Data is the lifeblood of the digital age. New technologies, including artificial intelligence, are redefining industries. The promotional products industry is no exception. In a previous letter, PromoStandards Chair Eric Alessi shared how data is at the heart of everything we do. Businesses are waking up to the inadequacies of the old ways of doing business and looking to transform to meet the digital realities of today. With the rise in technology comes the increasing generation and availability of data. This presents both challenges and opportunities for businesses. Knowing how to leverage this data effectively is crucial for success in this competitive landscape. With emerging technologies, PromoStandards is evolving and revolutionizing how the promotional products industry operates. Capable software and tight integration are the most critical tools for doing more with less labor and error. The First Step We all have cell phones and yet most of us don’t understand all its capabilities. That doesn’t stop us from being extremely effective users of this technology. The same can be said for the promotional products industry. While not everyone completely understands PromoStandards protocols, we can absolutely leverage this technology to our advantage with the help of a service provider or a software development team. The journey doesn’t have to be daunting; just take the first step. The Journey Suppliers, distributors, decorators, and service providers work with rich, relevant data to perform accurate transitions and make strong decisions. The first step to making this a reality is understanding and utilizing PromoStandards. In upcoming letters, we’ll walk through this journey, helping you to understand PromoStandards, what our technologies do, what the future looks like, and ways to get involved. Join the PromoStandards Community Stay up-to-date with the latest news from PromoStandards. Our blog features letters from the Chair, PromoStandards member spotlights, recaps of PromoStandards events, case studies, and more. You can also follow us on social media on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube! And if you’re not already a PromoStandards member, be sure to sign up today!
Member Spotlight – DistributorCentral
PromoStandards is a community, and those who become members have access to important information and proven service providers. In this member spotlight, we’ll cover DistributorCentral, an award-winning technology service provider for the promotional products industry. Here’s an in-depth look into who DistributorCentral is and how adopting PromoStandards integration helped move their transactions forward. DistributorCentral Founded in Gardner, Kansas, in 1999, DistributorCentral has developed a suite of technology tools. Its platform has product data tools to make managing data easy, business management tools to help manage and run your business, and a responsive and mobile-friendly e-commerce website builder. These are all free to distributors and service providers. They are especially known for OneSource, the product data tool built to make PromoStandards attainable for every company in the promotional products industry, regardless of the company’s technical expertise or size. By using OneSource, suppliers, distributors, and service providers can become PromoStandards compliant. The company converts product data from 450+ suppliers (83% of PromoStandards’ suppliers) into PromoStandards-compliant data which in turn reaches 15,000 distributors. What’s more, they: PromoStandards’ Impact Before PromoStandards, the biggest challenge they faced was getting suppliers to provide the correct data. DistributorCentral attended the first PromoStandards technology summit and immediately took steps to implement this service for their customers, becoming one of PromoStandards’ first adopters. PromoStandards gave DistributorCentral the ability to get top suppliers’ product data in a consistent way. As such, DistributorCentral’s company pivoted and completely rewrote its platform around PromoStandards, providing customers with a fast, stable, and modern platform. “Innovation fueled by collaboration with industry leaders, PromoStandards has been the catalyst to propel DistributorCentral’s latest growth while massively accelerating the industry’s digital transformation,” said Chris Schlemmer, VP of Technology at DistributorCentral. “We are extremely excited to be a strong supporter of PromoStandards, and we look forward to being involved in its growth for years to come.” Become a PromoStandards Member! At PromoStandards, we make it easy to communicate with others in your industry. Find suppliers, distributors, and decorators and send and receive information to them in real-time. With four membership levels, you can choose the one that works best for you. Join PromoStandards and start your journey!
A Recap of PromoStandards’ 2023 Tech Summit
The inaugural 2023 PromoStandards Tech Summit was the largest event in the promotional products industry. This sold-out event featured two days of education tracts focusing on industry-relevant technology and PromoStandards integrations. More than 150 participants representing 75 companies attended, thereby connecting technology and business leaders across the supply chain. Here’s an overview of the speakers and the topics they discussed! Monday, February 20, 2023 Eric Alessi, Chair of PromoStandards and President & CEO at Essent Corporation, welcomed attendees and set the stage for what to expect! Generating Value from Data: Building a Data Science Practice Then Dr. Tom Stablein, Director of the Global Master of Science in Business Analytics & Information Systems Program at the USF Muma College of Business, took the stage as the keynote speaker. His topic, Generating Value from Data: Building a Data Science Practice, defined data science and went over modeling, identifying business needs, designing a roadmap, and more. Executing Digital Transformation Michael Conway, Managing Director of Digital Transformation at Aspirant, spoke about Executing Digital Transformation. This session educated professionals on how to align customer experiences to strategic business goals. Digital Transformation on the Factory Floor Catherine Graham, Co-Founder and CEO at commonsku, was the leader of the panel discussion on Digital Transformation on the Factory Floor. Other panelists were Donough Deutsch, VP of IT Systems and Operations at alphabroder, Philip Gergen, Senior VP of Technology at Koozie Group, and Jon Norris, COO at Starline Inc. This discussion investigated the impact of digital transformation on factory floors and warehouses across the promotional products landscape. “The Tech Summit is a place to get together, learn, and rekindle old friendships and make new ones. It’s an opportunity to keep the momentum going for overall technology adoption,” said Graham. Roundtable Discussions Participants then engaged in roundtable discussions, with Rebekah Ellis, Information Technology Analyst at SanMar, as the session leader. Topics varied from promotional product-specific to technology in general. People met others with the same interests or who were trying to solve the same problems. Breakout Sessions There were four breakout sessions. My Worst Day in Tech Jon Norris then had an open-mic discussion on My Worst Day in Tech. Audience members chimed in on a lighthearted recanting of tech transformation horror stories. After all, not every day in technology is glamorous. Tuesday, February 21, 2023 Philip Gergen kicked off day two of the Tech Summit! Network Security: Cyber Incident in Progress Mike Pfeiffer, VP of Technology at American Solutions for Business, was up next. He showed attendees what it’s like to experience a cyberattack. They walked through the timeline, what protective measures are effective, and how proper response strategies are deployed. Exclusive Launch of PromoStandards Order Management Service Day two featured a detailed launch and walkthrough of PromoStandards’ latest standard! Eric Shonebarger, President at Hit Promotional Products, Inc., showed live demos of the industry-altering Order Management Service, the nonprofit’s most significant release in three years. “The Tech Summit is the best opportunity to engage a community of forward-thinking technology professionals who are driving digital transformation in the promotional products industry,” said Shonebarger. Identifying and Solving Industry Pain Points Eric Alessi, President & CEO at Essent Corporation, was the leader of the panel discussion on Identifying and Solving Industry Pain Points. Other panelists were Daniel Hodges, Senior VP of Engineering at OrderMyGear, Mike Pfeiffer, and Eric Shonebarger. This panel explored the pain points of the industry from order processing, supply chain, and technology standpoints, helping to develop the roadmap for PromoStandards and our community. Winners Announced An awards ceremony during the event recognized Hack-A-Thon winners and individual achievements within the industry. Proforma CTO Brian Carothers was named Distributor Person of the Year, ZOOMcatalog Co-founder Bryony Zasman was named Service Provider Person of the Year, and Hit Promotional Products, Inc. CIO Raj Mukherjee was named Supplier Person of the Year. Join PromoStandards Today! “Everyone should join the PromoStandards community, where industry technology is developed and advanced,” said Alessi. “The world is being digitally transformed before our eyes, and PromoStandards is the vehicle for being part of that transformation.” Are you ready to join the PromoStandards community and make a difference? To become a member, sign up today!
Intro to PromoStandards
Siloed communication lines are inefficient for any industry. They waste time, resources, and labor. They also manage to leave room for confusion and inaccurate information distribution simultaneously. PromoStandards is a nonprofit organization that develops and implements practical electronic communication standards for custom products industries. PromoStandards is growing in membership, increasing the number of standards, and expanding the standards’ adoption to more organizations to help solve industry pain points, like: As of January 2023, PromoStandards has over 200 member organizations and thousands of adopters in multiple industries worldwide, enabling the transmission of billions of dollars in transactions. Please keep reading to learn more about our organization’s operations, history, and leadership! What is PromoStandards? We are member-driven and volunteer-run. Membership is open to any organization wishing to utilize or contribute to developing open standards that benefit all industry professionals. PromoStandards does not provide business software. Instead, we publish technical specifications businesses can incorporate to improve their existing software. Our organization has three main goals: The educational events are valuable resources that assist other organizations in implementing integration protocols, providing a level playing field for everyone in the industry. How Do We Develop Standards? PromoStandards is dedicated to developing open standards by leveraging the Open-Source Initiative. Open Standards mutually benefit all parties that utilize them, mirroring PromoStandards’ drive to improve communication efficiency and resolve pain points for industry professionals. PromoStandards’ Standard-Development Process: *Eligible PromoStandards Members may serve on committees, participate in workgroups, provide feedback, and ratify a drafted standard. PromoStandards’ Origins In 2015, leading industry veteran organizations formed PromoStandards. These organizations were: The collaboration between these organizations offered a diverse group of distributors, suppliers, and service providers that shared the same vision: to make digital integration and interoperability open and standardized between industry trading partners. By 2018 PromoStandards was incorporated as a Pennsylvania corporation and registered with the IRS as a 501(c)(6) non-profit business league, allowing us to strategize more effectively to achieve our initial goals and planning for future endeavors. Leadership PromoStandards’ founders established our active Board of Directors, which is currently transitioning into a board of advisory members voted in to fill one of the 12 Director seats. The Board’s primary role is to preside over the Standards Committee’s formation of workgroups tasked with drafting standards that align with the Board of Directors and our organization’s strategic goals. As of 2023, the following industry professionals hold seats on the Board of Directors: PromoStandards Is Here to Help! We simplify communication between suppliers, decorators, distributors, and service providers to streamline product development and management in the custom products industries. Our standards are free for anyone who wishes to utilize them. However, we recommend viewing our Membership Application to learn more about our three membership levels and the benefits associated with each one. If you have questions about PromoStandards or want to get involved with our organization, please contact us at https://promostandards.org/membership-application.
PromoStandards’ Education Session During the 2023 PPAI Expo
PromoStandards had a great kickoff to the new year. During the PPAI Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada, PromoStandards had a Member’s Lounge room on Monday, January 9, from 9 am to 5 pm PST and held January’s education session, The Power of PromoStandards, from 1 pm to 2 pm PST. In this month’s session, they dove into how PromoStandards isn’t just a standard; it’s a transformational way of conducting business within our supply chain. Eric Alessi, President & CEO of Essent Corporation, is also the Chairman of PromoStandards. He said, “It’s always exciting to see the turnout and interest in PromoStandards along with the opportunity for trading partners to meet face-to-face.” Progress and Membership Jon Norris, Chief Operating Officer at Starline Inc. and Immediate Past Chair of PromoStandards, started his presentation by stating PromoStandards is the only open standard for the promotional products industry. There are: PromoStandards standardizes the transfer of vital information to move transactions forward, and companies that start using PromoStandards enter a movement that’s bringing integration, automation, and efficiency to the supply chain. Distributor Benefits Catherine Graham, Co-Founder and CEO at commonsku, is also a Current Board Member and Committee Chair for PromoStandards’ Service Provider Committee. She went over how PromoStandards creates a new, better way of working. Key benefits for distributors include: Graham said after the event, “It was wonderful to see such a range of distributors, suppliers, and service providers show up at the PromoStandards education event at the PPAI Expo. There were great questions and engagement, with the attendees keen to see how we can continue to progress and drive implementation of digital transformation across the industry.” Supplier Benefits Eric Shonebarger, President at HIT Promotional Products, Inc. and Standards Committee Chair at PromoStandards, explained why distributors and suppliers in the promotional products industry should integrate their ordering platform. Shonebarger said, “It’s great to see how widely supported PromoStandards has become across suppliers, distributors, and service providers in the industry.” Distributors and suppliers benefit from the following. Suppliers specifically should use PromoStandards because: Know What’s Going On It’s 2023; customers are going to demand you know what is going on with your supply chain. What can you do? You can attend our educational events and renew or become a member today! To stay up-to-date with the latest news from PromoStandards, follow us on social media on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.PromoStandards had a great kickoff to the new year. During the PPAI Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada, PromoStandards had a Member’s Lounge room on Monday, January 9, from 9 am to 5 pm PST and held January’s education session, The Power of PromoStandards, from 1 pm to 2 pm PST. In this month’s session, they dove into how PromoStandards isn’t just a standard; it’s a transformational way of conducting business within our supply chain. Eric Alessi, President & CEO of Essent Corporation, is also the Chairman of PromoStandards. He said, “It’s always exciting to see the turnout and interest in PromoStandards along with the opportunity for trading partners to meet face-to-face.” Progress and Membership Jon Norris, Chief Operating Officer at Starline Inc. and Immediate Past Chair of PromoStandards, started his presentation by stating PromoStandards is the only open standard for the promotional products industry. There are: PromoStandards standardizes the transfer of vital information to move transactions forward, and companies that start using PromoStandards enter a movement that’s bringing integration, automation, and efficiency to the supply chain. Distributor Benefits Catherine Graham, Co-Founder and CEO at commonsku, is also a Current Board Member and Committee Chair for PromoStandards’ Service Provider Committee. She went over how PromoStandards creates a new, better way of working. Key benefits for distributors include: Graham said after the event, “It was wonderful to see such a range of distributors, suppliers, and service providers show up at the PromoStandards education event at the PPAI Expo. There were great questions and engagement, with the attendees keen to see how we can continue to progress and drive implementation of digital transformation across the industry.” Supplier Benefits Eric Shonebarger, President at HIT Promotional Products, Inc. and Standards Committee Chair at PromoStandards, explained why distributors and suppliers in the promotional products industry should integrate their ordering platform. Shonebarger said, “It’s great to see how widely supported PromoStandards has become across suppliers, distributors, and service providers in the industry.” Distributors and suppliers benefit from the following. Suppliers specifically should use PromoStandards because: Know What’s Going On It’s 2023; customers are going to demand you know what is going on with your supply chain. What can you do? You can attend our educational events and renew or become a member today! To stay up-to-date with the latest news from PromoStandards, follow us on social media on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
Here’s to Continued Success in 2023 – Letter From the Chair
It’s only natural to start January by reflecting on the last year and looking to the new year. By all accounts, 2022 was a very good year for PromoStandards and industry integration, and everyone is taking note. PromoStandards Chair Eric Alessi reflects on how the standards, which are mature, proven, and based on critical needs, have created a network that is getting stronger and stronger. A Year in Review The industry is confident in PromoStandards, and adopters are encouraging others to integrate. As a result, both adoption and membership are up. Standards are improving with second versions of the integration endpoints to fill requested features. Additional standards are being developed for new functionality to bring even more efficiency and automation. Trading partners are building on the success they’ve had in 2022 by implementing additional endpoints and integrating with more partners. All in all, PromoStandards members are getting involved in the process, and adoption is a great leading indicator of future success. PromoStandards Integration There is value in integrating, even with one important trading partner. The information that used to take a lot of time and labor to communicate is now done automatically and accurately, providing a hassle-free experience. Industries organically organize and grow into a strong network with: The PromoStandards Community 20th-century American philosopher William Durant said, in summarizing Aristotle, that success breeds success. Aristotle also said that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. You may be wondering how these philosophers relate to PromoStandards. Through our community, PromoStandards has built a successful network. In doing so, we’re developing even more functionality. What We Do Matters Members and consumers of PromoStandards are key to creating solutions. As adoption continues to grow, so do the opportunities for positive outcomes. Here’s to continued success in 2023 and beyond! To become a member, sign up today!
