How classification enabled a platforming strategy at Stanley Black & Decker
Stanley Black & Decker partnered with Convergence Data Services to transform fragmented, brand-siloed product data into a structured foundation for enterprise-wide platform engineering.
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Executive Summary
From fragmented parts to reusable platforms
Years of acquisitions and independent brand operations had left SBD with fragmented product data, inconsistent naming conventions, duplicate components, and disconnected engineering processes. What looked like a data management issue had become a barrier to innovation, sourcing efficiency, and cross-brand collaboration.
By standardising product data through classification and enrichment, CDS helped SBD establish a common engineering language across brands - creating the foundation for reusable modules, standardised architectures, and shared procurement strategies across the organisation.
Brand silos. Duplicate parts. Disconnected PLMs.
SBD operates one of the world's largest portfolios of industrial and consumer tool brands - DEWALT, Craftsman, Stanley, Irwin, Lenox, Facom, Proto, Black+Decker and more.
As the organisation expanded through acquisitions, engineering teams across brands evolved independently. Even when components were technically identical, the lack of structured data made reuse difficult. Teams routinely redesigned, re-sourced, or duplicated parts that already existed elsewhere.
- Duplicate components across brands
- Inconsistent naming conventions & specifications
- Separate PLM environments and workflows
- Limited visibility into equivalent parts
- Redundant engineering and sourcing decisions
- Inconsistent procurement practices
A classification and enrichment strategy built for scale
CDS combined software, data services, governance frameworks, and operational workflows to create a scalable foundation for platform engineering - with a hybrid operating model that let SBD teams progressively take ownership of the data factory.
Attribute-driven classification
Standardised models across parts and products.
Centralised taxonomy
One governed source of part data across brands.
Enrichment workflows
Higher fill rates, consistent specifications.
Duplicate analytics
Clustering to surface hidden redundancy.
Governance & approvals
Controlled new-part creation at scale.
PLM integration
Connected to downstream systems and tools.
Hidden duplication, made visible
Standardised attributes let engineering and procurement teams finally compare parts across brands - surfacing rationalisation opportunities that had been invisible for years.
Capacitors
700 analysedScrews
1,100 analysedBearings
- analysedA cultural shift, not just a data project
Instead of developing products independently within brand silos, engineering teams could now reuse modules, standardise architectures, and align decisions across the enterprise.
- Reuse predefined modules across products
- Standardise motors, fasteners, purchased components
- Align engineering decisions across brands
- Reduce redundant design and sourcing activities
- Accelerate new product introduction cycles
developed in the time previously required to build one.
standardised motor variations across product lines.
"Modules are where the money's at."
- Project stakeholder, SBD
Measurable outcomes across the enterprise
Cost savings & rationalisation
$2M in savings opportunities identified, with ~$1M expected net of implementation costs, and $150K in immediate savings already underway through supplier consolidation, volume leverage, and standardised parts.
Accelerated product development
Reusable modules and shared architectures enabled parallel product launches while reducing duplicated engineering effort.
Improved data quality
Higher attribute fill rates and classification quality unlocked real-time duplicate detection, sourcing visibility, and more accurate cost modelling.
Enterprise adoption
The platform scaled from 198 approved parts to nearly 12,000 - with approximately 400 users actively engaging across brands.
Classification is no longer a data exercise. It's a strategic capability.
SBD demonstrated that structured, comparable, governed product data is the foundation for platform engineering, cross-brand collaboration, shared sourcing, and faster innovation. The result wasn't cleaner data - it was a structural shift in how products are designed, sourced, governed, and delivered.
Could your product data unlock the same shift?
Request a discovery session and we'll walk you through what a classification-led platforming strategy could look like for your portfolio.