From June 2007

By D. Gail Fleenor

When your fabric suppliers and factories are on the other side of the globe, your designers are in New York and your corporate office is in Tennessee, keeping track of just where you are in the lifecycle of a product can be difficult. Lack of communication can lead to delays and missed opportunities that cascade through the entire process.

That’s particularly true in the apparel industry, which has undergone tremendous change over the last two decades. Many large companies moved their factories to Latin America for cheaper labor. Later, some decided they no longer wanted to continue to invest in company-owned factories, equipment and raw materials, so production was outsourced to factories in other countries, such as China. Costs declined, but keeping track of the status of each far-flung product’s lifecycle became increasingly complex – and crucial.

When Goody’s Family Clothing faced this situation, it chose to implement e-SPS, a product lifecycle management application from New Generation Computing.

A wholly-owned subsidiary of American Software, New Generation Computing is a global provider of end-to-end software solutions for the fashion, apparel and footwear industries. These solutions include product lifecycle management (PLM), global sourcing and enterprise resource planning (ERP). Headquartered in Miami, NGC has offices in New York and Los Angeles, as well as China, India, Mexico and El Salvador, and has more than 350 customers worldwide.

The primary purpose of NGC’s products is “keeping people on the same page,” says director of retail sales Mark Burstein. “There are about 130 steps in apparel manufacturing,” and multiple pieces of communication make it difficult for each player in the process to be sure he has the latest revisions. “The key today is to cut time and get things right the first time,” he says.

One seemingly small delay, change or mistake in the manufacturing process can result in lost revenue. For example, a retailer has contracted for 10,000 shirts with pearlized buttons, but upon seeing a sample, the designer decides to switch to fabric-covered buttons. Or a retailer wants to feature a particular ensemble in its advertisements. If even one component fails to arrive in time, “the retailer can lose sales on all pieces of the outfit because it is merchandised as a coordinated ensemble,” Burstein says.

NGC’s software solution uses a digital asset manager to organize images including, but not limited to, sketches, fabric swatches, print designs and trim. Better communications among all parties utilizing descriptive pictures could eliminate potential disasters, Burstein says.

Improved margins
Retailers that manufacture their own clothing lines can use NGC’s web-based solution to track each step of the process. “They know exactly where clothing is in the cycle, such as what material has been cut, in order to make the best decisions,” Burstein says, and this can reduce the product lifecycle by 20 to 50 percent. Margin is also improved, since the system allows for competitive quotes from a variety of vendors.

Tracking the complete product lifecycle begins at the highest level and breaks down to the smallest detail, Burstein says. Such “end-to-end visibility” allows supply chain partners to exchange and update information using a web browser.

Requests for quotes and bids are handled through a database that includes all pertinent factory information, from capacity to specialties. For example, the system can compare the cost of a garment produced in China versus production in Mexico, taking into account factors such as import duty and transportation. Purchase orders are sent out automatically.

NGC can check quality control before items leave the producing country, Burstein says, and can turn this step around in one day. Next, NGC’s solution tracks packages of completed apparel items in shipment, which gives advance notice to distribution centers to aid in scheduling workloads. The system’s workflow and event-management functions use alerts and triggers to keep everyone in the process informed of status.