2026

• A new “Gas-powered” option has been added under the “Other” product type. Suppliers no longer need to classify gas-powered products as electronics 
• We are now sending automatic corrections needed emails to supplier when product is rejected with corrections request
• Suppliers now have additional filtering options available on [Classified products] tab
• We also made some changes to Billing info pages (Now UPC Dashboard) - copy changes, we introduced pending upc counts, in addition to active/inactive, changes to the CSV file 

2024

Product Intelligence Platform Improvements - 12.13.24

Release version: v16.0.0

Feature Improvements

• We have added a flow to the PIP that allows Users to upload a new SDS (or add one if they previously used Manual Entry) without clearing their comma separated ingredients list

  • Users will be asked at time of upload whether or not the data currently submitted is different from the data present on the new SDS

  • If YES, we will parse the new SDS and send the user back through the chemical composition flow but we will not clear their comma separated ingredients list data

  • If NO, we will keep them on the Component Details summary page and replace any previously parsed data with newly parsed data and any manually entered inputs will not be updated or cleared.

• We are now showing all physical and chemical attribute data on the Component Details summary page. Users can edit the values of parsed data or manually entered values from there instead of going back into the flow

• We have created an endpoint that will provide information about a Supplier Organization if given the supplier name

Bug Fixes

• We have fixed the broken links to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use from the PIP login page

 

Product Intelligence Platform Improvements - 10.10.24

Release version: v15.0.0

General Improvements:

• We have made updates to our Legal Terms as shown in the customer signup flow

• We have utilized previous enhancements to better serve customers who need to register products sold seasonally

 

Product Intelligence Platform Improvements - 9.4.24

Release version: v14.0.0

Feature Improvement:

• We have updated Reeses Law functionality to include additional battery types to ensure regulatory compliance for all eligible items

• We have added a verification step to the Dropship Review Request action to prevent users from accidentally initiating a dropship review

• Users can now edit a products UPC self service

Bug Fixes

• Newly added UPCs will now show up in the Pending Requests queue without having to manually refresh the page

• We have addressed several minor front end issues throughout the platform as part of the routine maintenance of our Platform

 

Product Intelligence Platform Improvements -7.9.24

Release version: v13.0.0

Feature Improvement:

• Customer Sign Up Flow

  • We have added flexibility into the Customer Sign Up flow that allows us to capture a wider range of use cases across our existing customer base.

Bug Fixes:

• We have addressed several file upload issues, both on the frontend and backend, to ensure a smooth registration process for our users.

 

Product Intelligence Platform Improvements - 6.12.24

Release version: v12.0.0

Feature Improvement:

• Corrections Needed v2 Update

  • Suppliers are now able to self-serve to move products back to corrections needed in order to make edits to a product before resubmitting for classification

  • Suppliers can move products from a state of classified or classifying back to pending via a button on the product details page. This will move the product back to the pending page, where the user can then make edits before resubmitting for classification.

Bug Fixes:

• We addressed a few bugs pertaining to bad SDS uploads causing the flow to get stuck as well as some fixes for bugs related to ingredient entry.

Product Intelligence Platform Improvements - 5.21.24

Release version: v11.0.0

Feature Improvement:

• Corrections Needed Update

  • Suppliers will now be able to see their corrections needed comments in the PIP UI which will make the corrections needed process smoother and no longer dependent on email communication

  • The Pending Requests tab now shows a counter for the number of products that are in corrections needed as an additional indicator to Suppliers that they have products that need to be addressed

• Dropship Review Requests

  • Suppliers can now initiate dropship review requests on any Classified product from their View Details page without involving the Retailer

Bug Fixes:

• We fixed a handful of minor frontend bugs that will provide the user with better UI feedback and a more streamless registration flow

• We addressed a couple key bugs within our rails admin application layer that will allow our internal Support team to better serve our customers

Product Intelligence Platform Improvements - 5.2.24

Release version: v10.0.0

We are happy to deliver another update to the SmarterX Product Intelligence Platform (PIP) that provides improved visibility into your product data

Feature Improvements:

• Improved visibility into duplicate products

  • We have updated our Supplier product GridView to identify duplicate products and provide visibility into which product the duplicate was created from

  • Users can now also filter by duplicate products to see a narrower view of their product data set

  • We have added a downloadable CSV to the UPC management section of the pip under Account > Billing Info that provides the user with data round all the duplicate product associates within their product catalog

• Improved visibility into product catalog data

  • We have added new product data to the Classified Products tab to provide users additional insights into their catalog data.

  • Users can now see the last date the product was updated, as well as the last date the product was classified

• Improved product data quality

  • We have added validation for Retailer SKU numbers based on how SKU values are traditionally formatted. This will provide our downstream services that look up data based on these SKU numbers with cleaner and better quality data.

Bug Fixes:

• We fixed a bug where the PIP was showing a blank screen to users who duplicated an older product that did not have valid inputs. Suppliers will no longer get stuck in this flow and any necessary updates to older inputs will be communicated via our corrections needed process as usual.

Product Intelligence Platform Improvements - 4.11.24

Release version: v9.0.0

We are happy to announce the latest update to the SmarterX Product Intelligence Platform (PIP). This update focused on improved searching results as well as giving Supplier more control when entering their ingredients data.

Feature Improvements:

• Improved Search and Sort:

  • We have updated our search parameters so that we now sort our results by closest match, resulting in exact results populating at the top of the list with fuzzy match results farther down (as applicable).

  • We removed fuzzy matching for UPC/SKU values, but have kept it for searches against the product name and brand name

• Self Serve Proprietary Ingredients

  • Our ingredient entry flow now gives Suppliers more control over what ingredients they want to disclose by allowing them to mark any ingredient that was not parsed form the SDS as proprietary. This was previously a process that could only be done via Bulk Registration.

  • We have also added a "Retailer preview" of the disclosed ingredients list that Suppliers can review prior to submitting a product for classification, ensuring that any data shared with Retailers is accurate.

Product Intelligence Platform Improvements - 4.3.24

Release version: v8.9.2

• Bug Fixes:

  • Fixed minor bugs affecting the flow of new battery data in the classification pipeline post v8.9.0 release (Reese's law)

• Data Clean-up:

  • Conducted backfills to enhance overall data quality by removing outdated historical data across the database

Product Intelligence Platform Improvements - 3.20.24

Release version: v8.9.1

• We made some minor behind the scenes changes to how our product data flows through our classification pipeline.

• These changes do not impact the PIP registration flow in any way but were made in order better support other systems within our product suite.
   

Product Intelligence Platform Improvements - 3.19.24

Release version: v8.9.0

We're excited to announce the latest update to the SmarterX Product Intelligence Platform (PIP), designed specifically to help our users navigate and comply with the new requirements introduced by Reese's Law. This law, aimed at increasing child safety regarding the use of coin or button cell batteries, necessitates significant adjustments in how businesses manage product safety documentation. Here's what you can expect from this update

Feature Improvements:

• Reese’s Law:

  • We now support the collection of Children's Product Certificate (CPC) and General Certificate of Conformity (GCC) documentation for products containing coin or button cell batteries during the battery registration flow.

  • An exemption reason may be provided for products manufactured prior to law enactment or for products such as medical devices.

  • Uploaded documentation and exemption reason will be visible on the Product Detail page to allow Retailer partners to view compliance status, facilitating transparency and compliance across the supply chain.

 

Product Intelligence Platform Improvements - 3.8.24

Release version: v8.8.0

We're excited to introduce several enhancements and bug fixes in this latest release, aimed at improving user experience and efficiency. Here's what's new:

Bug Fixes:

• Reset Password Email Template Update:

  • We've revamped the Reset Password email template, ensuring that the password reset link is now accessible to all users, including those operating within firewall networks. The link is now text-based, enhancing accessibility and usability for all users.

• Product Registration Flow Enhancements:

  • We've implemented minor improvements to the product registration flow, streamlining the process for users and ensuring a quicker and more efficient registration experience.

Feature Improvements:

• Bulk Registration Process Enhancement:

  • Our Bulk Registration process has undergone significant improvements. Suppliers can now duplicate bulk products and address final CAS number and concentration range inputs directly within the PIP. This self-service functionality empowers suppliers to manage their products more effectively, saving time and enhancing accuracy.

  • Suppliers can now filter by products that were Bulk Imported to help differentiate them from products that were manually registered.

• Concentration Range Collection Update:

  • We've updated the method of collecting concentration ranges to better align with how our regulatory team classifies products. This improvement enhances accuracy and compliance with regulatory standards.

• Product Ingredient List Visibility:

  • Your product's ingredient list inputs are now prominently displayed on the Details page, allowing for easy review prior to submission and quick access after product classification. This enhancement ensures transparency and ease of access to crucial product information.

 

Product Intelligence Platform Improvements - 2.27.24

Release version: v8.7.1

In this release, we've focused on enhancing functionality and fixing bugs to provide a smoother, more efficient experience for both Retailers and Suppliers. Here's what's new:

• Bug Fixes:

  • We fixed an issue that prevented Retailer users from viewing their disposal bins for products with quantities greater than one (multi-pack items). Retailers can now efficiently manage and view disposal bins for all types of products, ensuring a seamless inventory management process.

• New Features:

  • Classification Snapshot

    • We introduced a new feature that builds upon our previous release, aimed at improving the collection of new inputs from Suppliers for older products. This enhancement allows for the collection of additional product information through a standalone flow when a product is shared with another Retailer, eliminating the need to mark the product as needing corrections and streamlines the reclassification based on new inputs.

    • With the new update, Retailers that a product is already shared with will maintain visibility of the product during its reclassification. This ensures that Retailers have continuous access to product information, enhancing collaboration and efficiency between Retailers and Suppliers.

 

Product Intelligence Platform Improvements - 2.9.24

Release version: v8.7.1

In our latest update, we're excited to bring you a range of improvements and fixes designed to enhance your experience and the security of our platform. Here's what's new:

• Codebase Improvements:

  • Conducted extensive cleanup of outdated code, boosting the platform's efficiency and streamlining the development process for future updates.

• Bug Fixes:

  • Addressed an issue with the uploading of Safety Data Sheets (SDSs) where file names were case-sensitive. File names are now treated insensitively, reducing errors and improving usability.

• Security Enhancements:

  • Resolved a critical SOC2 compliance vulnerability by fixing a user enumeration issue related to insecure direct object references. This enhancement bolsters the security of user data and prevents unauthorized access.

Product Intelligence Platform Improvements - 2.5.24

Release version: v8.7.0

• We have improvements to the way we collect flashpoint data when it is missing from the SDS such that the copy in our platform and the way we store the resulting values in our database are more technically correct

• We have resolved a small group of bugs associated with our Bulk Registration process and the functioning of tooltips across the platform

Product Intelligence Platform Improvements - 1.22.24

Release version: v8.5.0

• We have addressed a small batch of multi-component binning tickets in support of a larger platform-wide Multi-Component Binning API release

2023

Product Intelligence Platform Release Notes

Product Intelligence Platform Improvements - 12.19.23

Release version: v8.4.1

• We have addressed a handful of improvements for the Self Serve Billing release based on internal user feedback

• Minor bug fixes were made to our internal Bulk Registration processes.

Self Serve Billing Release - 12.11.23

Release version: v8.4.0

• We have introduced the ability for NET NEW Suppliers to sign-up for SmarterX with a Credit Card

  • Depending on the number of UPCs that will need to be registered, Suppliers will either be guided through a flow to either set up a Credit Card (20 or less UPCs) or reach out to our CS team to set up a Billing Contract (> 20 UPCs)

• We have updated the sync between SalesForce and our PIP to support this new billing flow.

• This process uses Salesforce and Authorize.net to process all new credit card payments and the CSM team will slowly continue to transition legacy accounts off of Stripe.

Product Intelligence Platform Improvements - 12.07.23

Release version: v8.3.1

• We have optimized some of the backend flows that will ensure White Glove registrations through out Bulk Registration process run more smoothly

Product Intelligence Platform Improvements - 11.22.23

Release version: v8.3.0

• We have addressed a handful of small UI and API bug fixes to provide a smoother registration process for our Suppliers

Product Intelligence Platform Release Announcement - 11.2.23

This release is an enhancement of 10.5. We have added additional device types and intended use options.
New intended use options:

• Refrigerant

• Compressed Gas

• Lighter

• Fuel

• Motor Oil

• Lubricant

New device type options: 

• Updated “Monitor” > “Monitor/TV”

• LED light

• Engine/Generator

• Vehicle

Some other small changes were made such as:

• Added the option for suppliers to filter by retailer
• We have removed the parent level “Battery Info” table. This still shows on the child level
• We have added icons to the Product Details page to clearly indicate item type to users who have multi-component products
• We have replaced “Manufacturer” with “Brand Name” in the Supplier Grid View
• We have added the ability for the supplier to edit their intended use without clearing their ingredients data. 
• Updates to portal and product validation tool to address sync issues

Product Intelligence Platform Release Announcement - 10.5.23

This release adds new fields for inputs and outputs in the PIP regarding intended use, packaging material, device type, display screen, screen size and screen type, and adding an option for button cell batteries to be declared when lithium metal was chosen as the battery type. The list of allowable zip codes has also been updated

New inputs in the Product Intelligence Platform: 

• Intended Use (formulated items)

  • This will prompt more questions if OTC, Food, or Supplements is chosen. Only ONE of those can be chosen and items like vitamins should be ‘supplements’ while OTC is over the counter drugs that aid in an ailment, so cold medicine or Advil.

• Item’s packaging material (formulated item)

• Device Type (electronic item)

• Display screen (electronic item)

  • If you select ‘Yes, it has a display screen’, you will be prompted to provide more information regarding the screen size and screen type (LED, LCD, OLED).

• Button cell (batteries)

  • lithium metal batteries will prompt to ask ‘is this battery a button cell?’ 

These options will also be shown as new outputs once you have entered the product details. 

 

Product Intelligence Platform Release Announcement - 06.14.23

UPC License Usage, formerly 'billing status'

We have released the UPC License Usage feature suite to the PIP production environment. This includes the following:

• All UPCs will have a license usage assigned to them (“active” or “inactive”)

• Suppliers on an annualized contract will be able to see an overview of their license usage against what’s in their contract

• The same users will also be able to see the licenses usage on each individual UPC

• They will be able to export the license information of their UPCs

• They will be able to initiate a request to change the license usage on a UPC

Other updates and bug fixes:

• All new invoices generated with Stripe will no longer include a link to pay by card

• We have rebuilt our SFDC integration using the Restforce Gem - this should keep our PIP-SFDC connection much more stable moving forward

• We have resolved some SFDC duplicated syncing bugs

• We have normalized the item # field to the SKU field

 

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Product Intelligence Platform Release Announcement - 04.27.23

Electronics UI 

We have released UI updates to the Electronics product registration. This includes the following updates:

• Remove requirement for 1 electronic to 1 battery

• Reordered fields inside the component box for better user understanding

• Moved product contextual questions from the main component box to the “Composition Details” page to reduce user confusion

• Updated a child item from “item” to “component” to reduce user confusion

• Removed the EPA permits section, the “Composition Details” page, for Electronics or Batteries

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Product Intelligence Platform Release Announcement - 04.06.23

Review and Release/Deprecate 3 Day Hold

We have released the Review and Release feature set, which includes the removal of 3 Day Hold from the PIP. This includes the following updates:

• Remove 3 day hold

• Add a new toggle on the Supplier setting level to set the supplier to manual release or auto release

• Send manual release supplier products through the product review flow

• Send auto release supplier products straight from classification to the retailer

• Adding a final, additional ingredient and product information verification step before submitting a product for classification

Bug Fixes:

• We fixed an issue where spaces were not getting trimmed from emails when creating a PIP account

• We fixed an issue where MBRSyncJob was contributing to api-binning outages in staging

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Product Intelligence Platform Release Announcement- 03.09.23

 

Updates:

• We have updated “Wipes” to “Liquid absorbed in solid (markers, wipes, etc)” in the Product Builder

• We updated some copy on our new Expired Token error page

Bug Fixes:

• We fixed some outstanding SFDC sync issues

• Some retailer logos were being distorted after the rebrand - that has been resolved

• Some old smartersorting.com links that were missed in the rebrand release were replaced

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Product Intelligence Platform Release Announcement- 02.16.23

 

We have released the SmarterX-rebranding of the Product Intelligence Platform. This includes the following updates:

• New colors, logos, and our new smarterx.com domain.

• Our updated Terms of Use.

• Removal of the queue when adding new products, in order to reduce the number of steps required.

We also addressed a bug where users that were added by a SmarterX team member were not automatically receiving an email to verify their account.

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Product Intelligence Platform Release Announcement- 12.1.22

In an effort to simplify the way we bill suppliers, we have released a new flow to our existing suppliers who are adding new products to Smarter Sorting. Existing Supplier users who have not been switched to our new billing process will be able to add products and send them through the classification process prior to being billed. Once new UPCs have been added to an account, a Customer Success team member will reach out and help get Supplier set up with the new billing process.

 

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Product Intelligence Platform Release Announcement - 11.17.22

We have released a new onboarding flow for new supplier users. This flow will allow Smarter Sorting to get all new suppliers onto annual contracts, making the billing process easier to manage and easier to collect when an account has outstanding payment.What changes to expect from this release:

• New Suppliers will no longer set up billing information within the PIP account creation flow

• New Suppliers will create an account & then be connected with the Customer Success team to determine their annual contract

• New Suppliers will not be able to access the PIP until they have signed terms & solidified a billing agreement with our team.

• Once a new Supplier has access to the PIP, they will be able to add and register products without having to go through the checkout process.

 

 

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Product Intelligence Platform Improvements- 11.1.22

We released two changes last night to fix some bugs in production:

• Supplier users were not able to select any payment method while in the sign-up flow resulting in them being blocked. Users are now unblocked and can see the ACH and invoice options.

• Supplier users, with addresses outside of the US, were able to connect ACH via Plaid. Users who are not based in the United states now, correctly, see our fail state informing users Payment via ACH is not permitted based on their company location.

 

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Product Intelligence Platform Improvements- 10.25.22

Bug Fixes

The following issues were resolved in our most recent release:

• For Retailers who utilize Retailer SKU:

  • Retailer SKU was no longer showing in product details. Our change unhide the Retailer SKU to ensure that it was appearing for the appropriate retailers.

  • In the Classification Products view, the Product information column has updated formatting so that UPC/Retailer SKU will not wrap to the next line

• Dropship approval emails were not being sent when trigger by an internal Smarter Sorting user. When a dropship request is approved, an email – regardless of who triggers it-- will be sent to the appropriate customer recipient.

• The incorrect modal was displaying for electronic and battery items. Users will no longer hit the error modal while creating electronic and battery items.

 

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Email Verification for Supplier Users - 10.11.2022

We will now require all new supplier users to verify their email address while signing up for Smarter Sorting. Requiring Supplier users to go through email verification protects Smarter Sorting from malicious activity, minimizes the possibility of a data breach and helps us eliminate invalid/incorrect email addresses.What to expect from this release:

• When creating a new account, Supplier users will trigger the email verification step once they set a password

• They will be sent an email with verification link– that link expires 24 hours after the email is received

• Once the user has verified their email, they will be allowed to access the Portal and begin the product registration process.
  
   

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Batch Submissions & Payments - 10.4.2022

Batch submissions & payments will allow Suppliers to submit multiple products for registration simultaneously. We believe this is help Suppliers get through the submission process without the friction of having to submit many products, individually. When looking at Pending Requests, as a supplier, you will now see an updated grid view. This new view will give the Supplier the ability to,

• Select multiple products to submit for registration — including the ability to select all pending requests that are in the status “Ready to register”

• Filter down to see what products are “Ready to register”

• See what retailer(s) will be able to view a product once it has been classified

• Submit and individual product

Suppliers who submit a batch of products for registration will be taken to a confirmation page to review items.

 

 

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Product Intelligence Platform Improvements- 9.20.22

Improvements

• Based on user feedback, we have removed the 5MB size limit on registration documentation needed for the Battery (AIS/SDS) and Electronic (user manual or specification sheet) item type flows.

  • This size limit will now only exist on SDS uploads for Formulated Items

• To help keep the platform up to date and running efficiently, we have addressed a handful behind the scenes updates and performance improvements that include:

  • An upgrade to Angular 14 and Bootstrap 5

  • Speeding up overall PIP performance by enabling gzip on our Nginx server configuration for file compression to reduced our static web files by ~75%

  • Resolving various console errors

  • Fixing additional minor functionality and styling bugs throughout the registration flow
    
     

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Product Intelligence Platform Improvements- 9.6.22

Session Expiration
Based on feedback from some of our Suppliers, we will be implementing an automatic session expiration to better protect the data we collect during our registration process. Logging users out automatically, will reduce the risk of a Supplier User forgetting to log out before leaving their desk.
Supplier users will be automatically logged out of the portal under two conditions:

1. The browser window is closed

2. The Supplier user is inactive for a period of 10 min

   1. Supplier will see a warning at 9 min to continue usage. If not we will automatically end the session 1 minute later

Improvements

• To improve the quality of our UPC data across our system, we have made our UPC validation checks more robust

• In addition to exact matches, we can now detect matches between UPCs with leading zeros

• We updated the Ruby and Rails applications to ensure increased performance and security within our platform

Bug Fixes

• We fixed an issue where the proprietary ingredients disclaimer we resolve to our Retail users was showing up for a legacy data use case that was not previously accounted for.

• The disclaimer now only shows up when a Supplier has noted that an ingredient within their products chemical composition cannot be publicly disclosed

• We fixed an issue that was previously causing the PIP to store the “SDS creation date” as the date the user uploaded the SDS into the PIP. We have also backfilled all incorrect dates so that all data quality issues are resolved

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Product Intelligence Platform Improvements- 8.22.22

Handling of UPCs registered by multiple Suppliers

This will be a limited release to Retailers only.
The nature of manufacturer and distributor relationships can occasionally lead to the same UPC being registered by multiple Suppliers and shared with the same Retailer.

• The Retailer View of the Product Intelligence Platform will be updated to ensure that classification data is consistent between instances where the same UPC has been registered by different Suppliers. 

 

Improvements

• To ensure data consistency within our system, we added API validation to the country codes collected during the Account Creation flow.

• Copy updates have been made to the "Delete an ingredient" modal and the "Add a Retailer" modal to make the resulting action clear to the user.

Bug Fixes

• We resolved two issues regarding data that was resolving improperly on the Retailer's View Details page.

  • We fixed an issue that was causing waste code and disposal path details to be hidden for certain products that contained legacy packaging data.

  • We fixed an issue that was causing additional data fields to display in the product identification section that should not have been there by default.

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3-Business Day Review Window - 7.25.22

The Product Intelligence Platform will be updated to provide Suppliers a method of previewing their product's final state and federal waste and transport waste and transportation classifications before sharing that product information with Retailers. 

Feature Overview: 

• By default, Suppliers will have a window of 3-business days to review product classifications before they are shared with a Retailer. 

  • Current behavior will remain, where Suppliers can view their product in the Classified Products tab immediately after classification 

  • The automatic share date will be listed in Grid View and the View Details page of the Supplier portal. 

  • During the 3-day review window, the product will display in the Retailer's [Unclassified] section with limited data visibility. Waste and transport information will remain hidden from retailers until the 3 day review window is complete or supplier clicks "share now."

• Suppliers will have the option to click the “Share now” button to manually share a classified product with Retailers before the 3-business-day window is reached.

Additional Feature Updates

• The PIP will now resolve product attributes (form, pH, boiling point and flash point)  as applicable on the [View Details] page for both Retailers and Suppliers.

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Plaid Integration & Pay invoice in PIP - 6.23.22

Feature Objective:

Users within the portal need the option to pay for their traditional invoices via ACH bank transfer. We have accomplished this via integration with a third party, Plaid. This integration between Plaid and the PIP will improve payment logistics for Suppliers. Additional updates have been made to improve the overall payment process for users.

Feature Overview:

• Plaid Integration

  • ACH auto drafts: Suppliers can now quickly set up ACH auto draft payments by signing into their bank via Plaid, rather than waiting on micro deposits. 

• Other updates to the payment process

  • Invoice payment within the PIP: Suppliers now have a way to better manage their billing information from one central location. 

    • Improvements have been made to the Billing Info section of the platform, providing an option for users to pay invoices via a direct link, rather than downloading their PDF invoice to access the same link.

    • An invoice details page allows users to view details like payment status, the option to pay via each invoice and product/UPC details 

  • New email invoice template: a custom invoice email template has been created, offering a design that makes the payment process easier to navigate. 

May 5. 2022

Bulk Registration + Ingredient Disclosure

Bulk Registration Overview:
 

Bulk Registration allows customers to classify large numbers of products without additional CAS number declarations beyond what is provided on an SDS.  With its initial release, Bulk Registration will allow hundreds of products to be imported – with the help of the Smarter Sorting team – into the Product Intelligence Platform simultaneously, rather than 1-by-1. After import, Suppliers can then access their products in the platform and submit them for classification, or have the Smarter Sorting team submit for classification.
 

When duplicating a product, those imported via bulk registration will populate in the duplication list, but will appear grayed out. Suppliers will not be able to duplicate a bulk product.

 

Within the Product Intelligence Platform, bulk-imported products are not eligible for duplication.
 

Ingredient Disclosure Changes:

 

Smarter Sorting is taking additional steps to protect confidential business information via our new policy on Ingredient Disclosure, which you can read about in more detail here.
 

Supplier vs Retailer view for bulk-registered products:

• Supplier:

• The names, weights and CAS numbers of proprietary ingredients will not be visible within the Product Intelligence Platform.

  • When proprietary ingredients are hidden, the following disclaimer will be present: “This product contains proprietary ingredients that are not listed in this section.”

• Retailer: 

• Retailers will only see CAS numbers and concentration ranges that are publicly-declared.  Related to bulk product registration, “publicly declared” refers to info that was sourced from an SDS or another public source (e.g. SmartLabel, Label Insight, Syndigo). 

Retailer view for individually registered products:

• Retailers will only see ingredients, CAS numbers and concentration ranges that are publicly-declared. This means CAS numbers and concentration ranges must be listed on the SDS.

 

Additional Feature Updates

• The Smarter Product Analysis Report™ has been removed from the platform.

March 14, 2022

Ingredient Intelligence

Feature Objective:

Ingredient Intelligence will build on the data uploaded to the Product Intelligence Platform – Safety Data Sheet (SDS) and publicly available ingredients lists –  to model concentration ranges for the product's ingredients. This provides a simple way to connect ingredients to CAS numbers while reducing the number of ingredients that require CAS Number declaration. The new feature offers brand owners a faster way to reach the most accurate classification for products.

Feature Overview:

Ingredient Intelligence works with a user’s uploaded Safety Data Sheet (SDS) and ordered ingredients list. 

• A products’ CAS numbers will be auto-populated from our chemical database

  • When an ingredient maps to multiple CAS numbers in the database, you can then select a CAS number from a list. 

  • You are not required to select a CAS number if one is not required for classification.

  • If we are unable to find a CAS number match in our database, you can choose to provide one, leave the field blank or indicate the ingredient has no CAS number. 

• Concentration Ranges will be modeled for ingredients based on the order of the list of ingredients.  This is possible only when 1) ingredients lists are ordered by descending concentration, 2) an SDS is present.

 

 

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December 22, 2021

Enhanced Input Validation

We have enhanced the Product Intelligence Platform registration flow to speed up the registration and classification process.

With Enhanced Input Validation, if there are incomplete attributes which are needed, like for the product flashpoint or pH, you will now see a set of smarter choices. These smarter choices are calculated based on what you’ve already told us about the product, and what we know about the chemicals that make up the product.

• For example: if the Safety Data Sheet has a flashpoint is 100F for solution containing 80% ethanol, the flashpoint would be flagged as 'out of range'; the predicted flashpoint would be much lower and make a regulatory difference. In this case Enhanced Input Validation would suggest a new value.

• The smarter choices presented include:

  • The value taken from the Safety Data Sheet

  • The Smarter Sorting-calculated value based on what we know about the product 

  • The option to add your own value

It is not possible to skip the verification of flashpoint or pH values if they are required to properly classify a product. Enhanced Input Validation is a major enhancement to the Product Intelligence Platform reducing any back-and-forth with our classification team, getting your products on shelves faster.

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November 19, 2021

Parsing EPA registration number from the SDS

• Some products (such as fertilizers and pesticides) are required to be registered with the EPA. This EPA registration number is valuable data that both Suppliers and Retailers want to see when a product is registered.

• If we are able to parse an EPA registration number from an uploaded SDS, we will now auto-populate that number into the EPA & Permit Information section in the Product Intelligence Platform and resolve that for the Supplier and Retailer in the View Details page.  

Trimming spaces off UPCs

• Users can sometimes run into errors copying and pasting their UPC into the Product Intelligence Platform if there are extra spaces at the beginning or end of the UPC that triggers our UPC validation.

• We have updated the UI so that any spaces at the beginning, middle, or end of the UPC are trimmed before we validate to minimize the amount of UPC entry errors our suppliers run into. 

"UPC already exists" alert

• In the past we have seen users waste time registering a product with the same UPC, not realizing that UPC was already entered. 

• We now show an alert whenever a user enters a UPC that already exists in the Product Intelligence Platform and which product name that UPC is tied to. They can either continue with the entry they already started or can be taken to the entry if the product is classified.

 

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October 11, 2021

Billing History Updates

We are now able to resolve all consolidated subscriptions on the Billing History page in the Product Intelligence Platform. Suppliers with products that qualified for the Albertson Legacy Promo, will see two separate breakdowns of invoices for applicable months.
 

Packaging Updates

In our last release the updates we made to Packaging removed historical packing from classified items. 

We will be exposing supplier packaging data on the View Details page once more for the following use cases: 

• Packaging data was entered prior to removing packaging entry from the registration flow

• Packaging data was imported via 1 World Sync

• Packaging data was required for classification and was entered by Smarter Sorting's Data Operations or Support teams

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September 20, 2021

We have made some pretty big improvements to the Product Intelligence Platform for both our Retailer and Supplier users this quarter. Here are some of the exciting new features you'll see:
 

Terms of Service Agreement Tracking

This logistical update provides an easy way for all of our users to stay up to date with changes to our ToSA. If we make an update, you'll be asked to acknowledge the changes on your next login.
 

Updates to Packaging Data Entry

Like many of the other flows in the Product Intelligence Platform, we want to  handle packaging data in a smarter way. Our ultimate goal is to only ask for outer packaging when it's needed for classification purposes. Our first step toward that goal will be to remove all packaging from the registration flow!

In the meantime, for the very few products that require packaging we will reach out to Suppliers individually to provide the relevant data. But don't worry, we will do the data entry work for you! Or you can opt to have your data imported via our 1 Word Sync integration process, which is actually preferred. 

We are only keeping packaging data entry in the Dropship flow. This information will show up on the View Details page once the dropship request is approved.
 

Ingredients Flow Updates

We have made some big changes to the ingredients entry flow that will help streamline the process and help us gather battery quality data!

• Users will now be able to copy and paste the comma-separated ingredients list found on their product label straight into the Product Intelligence Platform

• Smarter Sorting takes it from there and will do the work to map your ingredients names to cas numbers. We also added some smarts that 

• We also added some smarts that so that we only ask for weight % for ingredients that have RCRA or GHS statements 

 

White Label Product Handling

If a product registered falls part of  a white label deal we have with a Retailer, we will ask the Supplier to confirm before payment so that the supplier is given special pricing for that product. 
 

Disposal Bins for Retailer Product Intelligence Platform

We have added disposal bin data on the View Details page and in GridView to show the disposal bin that a product belongs to for a given Retailer. 
 

Billing History 

We will be adding a "Billing History" section to the “Billing Info” tab in the Supplier Product Intelligence Platform! Here the supplier will have visibility into the details of their past consolidated invoices including the status (paid/outstanding) and a link to download the invoice. Clicking into the line item will reveal all the UPCs associated with that consolidated invoice, when each was registered and the registration price point for a given product.
 

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August 8, 2021

Consolidated Billing

We have made updates to the way we handle subscriptions and invoicing for registered products so that we can eliminate redundancy and better meet our customers financial needs. 

Our new billing model will create consolidated subscriptions that contain all the products registered during the month. This means you will no longer pay or get billed for products at the time of registration. Instead, your registrations will accumulate and we will charge the payment method on file or send a single invoice on the first day of the following month. The subscription will run for 365 days and will  auto-renew the following year. 

To help Suppliers track the products they've already registered we will be updating our checkout screen to include:

• The number of products registered that month 

• The subtotal for products registered that month 

• Applicable taxes 

• The total cost for products registered that month

These numbers will update as each new product is registered to provide transparency into the current status of your monthly subscription. 

Lastly, products registered in following years will be added to previous years subscriptions so that your registrations roll up nicely from year to year. For example:

• I registered 13 products between November 1st and November 30th in 2021. On December 1st 20201, I will be charged/billed via my chosen method of payment. 

• In November 2022, I registered 9 more products. When my subscription renews on December 1st, 2022 - I will be billed for 22 products.

Migrating Subscriptions

Since March 2021, we have been using a billing model that creates 1 annual subscription per UPC registered. In order to prevent suppliers from having to manage both consolidated and unconsolidated subscription types simultaneously, we will be migrating all products with an individual subscription under a consolidated subscription.

For example: 

• All products registered between April 1st - April 30th, 2021 will be consolidated under one subscription that will be billed on May 1st, 2022.

• If a product has already been paid for you will not pay again until 2022 when the consolidated subscription renews. 

• If the product has not been paid, your product will still be added to the consolidated subscription for 2022. However, your current invoice will still be active and you will be required to pay for that item for 2021. 

Planned for Future Releases - Not Included in This Release

Future billing changes to look forward to! 
We hope to provide even more transparency to our Suppliers by building out the Billing Account Info section in the Product Intelligence Platform. We plan to add the following sections: 

• "Upcoming Payments" will allow you to view your current product registrations and upcoming charges. 

• "Billing History" will allow you to view and download your past invoices. 

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May 4, 2021

 

Same Formulation

In this release you will find the ability to add same formulation products.  This is defined as products that contain a less than .5% difference in formulation by weight from each other (usually variations in color, fragrance, or size account for these variances). This feature allows you to clone an existing product of the same formulation and change only the packaging or ingredient changes from UPC to UPC.  This will also take into account the monetary portion where you will only be billed for the first 3 items of same formulation vs receiving a refund at a later date for same formulation items.

We implemented a new feature in the Product Registration flow that allows Suppliers to create a variant of an existing product with the same formulation.

This flow gives Suppliers access to our same formulation pricing and greatly reduces the time it takes suppliers to register product variants, as the majority of information is duplicated over without requiring re-entry. Here is a summary of what we pre-populate from the original UPC and what the Supplier needs to enter or verify for the new UPC:

Pre-populated Data:

• Brand name

• All item/component info

• All packaging info

Data that requires re-entry or verification:

• Product Name and UPC for the new variant

• Product descriptor (optional) to differentiate between the original product and the variant

  • ex. 8oz vs 12oz, lavender vs watermelon, blue vs pink

• Update or verify the item weight/volume

• Update or verify what's in the box

• Update or verify packaging weight/dimensions

  • ex. If you are entering a size variant make sure to update the packaging weight and dimensions to fit the smaller or larger product size

   

 

Resources for a Deeper Understanding:

• Onboarding - How do I register products with the same formulation

• Smarter Sorting Supplier Pricing Model

• How do I know if my product is same formulation

• What happens if I enter my same formulation items incorrectly

• Am I expected to disclose my proprietary ingredients when I register a product

• Why all the extra confirmation boxes when entering ingredients in the Product Intelligence Platform

• How exact do my ingredient ranges need to be when registering my product

• Onboarding - Adding products to the Product Intelligence Platform

• What's the best way to pull together ingredients for entering a formulated product

• How do I determine if an SDS or product label for ingredients is needed?