PLM F
B E Y O N D
or
ashion
T E C H N O L O g y
Harmonizing Design, Development and the Supply Chain
W h a t i s P L M f o r F a sh i o n ?
P
roduct Lifecycle Management is a far-reaching
system that can serve a wide variety of functions
for the many different roles involved in product
development. By making the right information
available to the right people at the right time, PLM lays
the foundation for successful collaboration—which is
key to maintaining a well-oiled product development
process and making sound business decisions.
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W h y a P L M f o r f a sh i o n ?
T
he fashion industry is changing
at an incredible rate. Macroeconomic and geo-political factors
including a post-crisis hesitation to
buy; high unemployment and underemployment; varying exchange
rates; major elections and changes
in economic policies; fluctuating
costs of raw materials; and general
instability are all making it difficult
to read the present, much less make
a decision about the future. At the
same time, a host of disruptive
technological changes, some new,
some only now reaching maturity,
are shaping the way fashion is made
and consumed. The use of 3D for
previewing garments before sampling
and the profound effect the Internet
has had on the way consumers make
purchase decisions are two striking
examples of technology’s potential
to impact fashion at different ends of
the product lifecycle.
A u n i q u e b u s i n e ss , b u t a b u s i n e ss n o n e t h e l e ss
I
n addition to the macro factors
working to shape fashion, the
industry itself presents particular
challenges that generic tools aren’t
necessarily suited to resolve.
Fast trend turnover; a staggering
number of SKUs; complex sizing and
grading; geographically and culturally diverse supplier networks; fickle
consumer behaviors; and unpredictable or inconvenient weather events
are just some of the challenges unique
to fashion.
Even though the business of fashion
is different, general business needs
still apply: getting teams to synchronize and communicate; making information available easily and when it
needs to be; and integrating design
and product development with the
rest of the supply chain. Therefore,
tools developed for fashion must cater to the industry’s idiosyncrasies,
but still be compatible with standard business systems, such as CRM
and ERP, to enable the pursuit of a
seamless brand strategy.
“What keeps you up at night?”
F i r s t p r o c e ss , t h e n t e ch n o l o g y
P
LM is much more than a technology capable of centralizing
and synchronizing information. It
is an opportunity for a company to
reexamine how things are done and
to dig into process to understand
what is needed to balance overlapping
calendars, changing details, multiple
approvals and re-submits on a daily
basis. Establishing a process strong
enough to bring these elements
together coherently is fundamental,
which is why finding a PLM provider
that can provide process support and
industry expertise as part of a longterm partnership is essential.
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How to fashion a PLM Project
Committing to people, process
and priorities
“Who’s looking after your ideas?”
P
LM’s potential to support brand management
through technology and process change
explains why, at many successful brands
and retailers, it has evolved into a strategic
investment made by the C-Suite and the Board.
Beyond the obvious financial investment, PLM
requires a commitment to process discipline, IT
infrastructure and, most importantly, to supporting the
people who will use the system. When implemented
properly, PLM can transform process and support
growth without additional headcount or overhead.
PLM as a management strategy for the fashion
industry can facilitate everything from financials
to finished product and keep everyone who touches
a product on track, while providing traceability
and visibility. In short, it can become the center of
the wheel that keeps the product lifecycle rolling. Let’s now take a look at how PLM for the Fashion
industry can help solve current industry challenges
and give adopters tangible advantages in the
marketplace.
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Taking control with PLM
T
he rate at which the fashion
industry is changing generates incredible uncertainty. This
uncertainty drives many of the speed
to market initiatives retailers and
brands employ to get new product
on the shelves quickly, minimize
markdowns, and keep customers
coming back. To overcome uncertainty, companies need control.
With change constant and competition fierce, being able to “see”
where all products are in development is a way to gain control.
Without a complete vision, it’s
impossible for departments to make
the right style, quality, and budget
decisions to keep teams on time
and on target. A PLM developed
for fashion gives companies muchneeded visibility, flexibility, and
clarity to control the product lifecycle
and meet business objectives.
C o mm u n i c a t e t o c o ll a b o r a t e
G
etting information to the right
people in time to make business
decisions is one of the single biggest
challenges for companies in the
fashion industry due to the sheer
diversity and complexity of products.
Respecting scheduled deadlines and
clearly defining each person’s role
can be just as difficult for a luxury
brand with a lean seasonal calendar
as it is for a fast fashion retailer
with back-to-back collections. When
everyone involved in development is
given a clear view of key milestones
from the outset, however, it’s
much easier to see when decisions
must be made and by whom.
An important advantage of acrossthe-board visibility is that changes
can be made quickly. Defining
product details early on also helps to
estimate and control cost throughout
the process. For example, with
correct product data such as yardage
and fabric quality requirements,
production can be confident about
material cost and raise an alert if
products overstep budget boundaries
before orders are launched. Perhaps
a fabric needs to be replaced or a
supplier is suddenly unavailable;
whatever the issue, the department
can ask the right questions and take
action before events have a financial
impact.
G i v e m e a n i n g t o r o l e s a n d r e sp o n s i b i l i t i e s
sc
mi
“What are delays costing you?”
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P
LM for fashion offers a clear and reliable way to ensure that
product decisions are communicated and executed quickly: a
system of automatic alerts is triggered if deadlines aren’t met or
critical information is not entered. The cumulative impact of delays
is immediately obvious when automatic recalculations push other
deadlines further and further past planned delivery dates. Having
visibility helps everyone involved in the product lifecycle, from
design to development and even to the CEO, understand their role
and the impact of their actions on the success of that product and,
ultimately, brand strategy. This is the real goal of collaboration.
Visual is the universal language
A
nother major challenge of
collection development is managing the involvement of many
people and departments with
different priorities, almost always
dispersed geographically. A process
that incorporates visual methods
of communication is likely to bring
more clarity than one doesn’t—
because whether you speak the same
language or not, images are universal.
Visual communication is not new to
fashion; using it efficiently throughout
the entire development process is.
Images are typically used early on, in
the form of sketches and tear sheets,
but the use of pattern making and 3D
prototyping software can extend the
vision even deeper into development.
For example, conceptualizing garments in a 3D virtual fitting room
can help bridge the gap between
designers and pattern makers.
Equipping design and development
teams with tools to visualize and
share ideas, sketches, and fabrics
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with technically correct and clear
2D and 3D images, and housing
them all on the same platform, is a
good foundation for collaboration.
Connecting patterns and measurements in a Fashion PLM also faci-
litates better control over fit by using
block patterns, setting up grade rules
specific to measurement points,
and linking with 3D technology to
give everyone a common vision of
how garments will actually look.
The speed and ease with which
virtual product simulations can be
carried out and shared with different
departments before creating physical
samples has been shown to facilitate
style and fit decisions.
Shaping up for Sourcing
T
he benefits of communicating
visually don’t stop at design; a
Fashion PLM has real potential to
improve relations with suppliers,
especially given the complexity
of the fashion supply chain.
This complexity is expressed in the
shifts in manufacturing locations that
complicate the effort to move faster,
as the industry reacts to political
instability, natural disasters, labor
costs, logistics and changes in tariffs.
Changing
suppliers
implies
redefining relationships that could
include new language barriers. And
it takes time to teach factories what
you want, both in terms of quality
and fit. Also, fluctuations in cost
or exchange rates can force last
minute product changes and reduced
adherence to calendars—factors
we’ve seen a fashion-specific PLM
can address.
S t a y i n g o n t r a c k w i t h sh a r e d i n f o r m a t i o n
A
Fashion PLM makes it easier
to keep track of suppliers and
monitor compliance as well as key
quality and cost metrics. Technical
packs that contain clear and detailed
information are more likely to result
in a reduced number of modifications
and back and forth exchanges. With
PLM, all specifications, including
product history, should be available
in a few clicks. This makes it easy
to carry over a style or resend a
spec pack with a replenishment
order. Suppliers can also be given
limited access to the products they
are producing to play a controlled
yet interactive role in development.
If, for example, a technical pack
is sent to a factory for sample production, a supplier with controlled
access to PLM can check his/her
measurements against the sender’s
and enter comments or questions
directly without having to send a
package, write an email or wait until
the next day to call. With everyone
working on a single, shared file,
suppliers know they have the latest
information and companies can
be sure what they communicate is
accurate and up to date.
P r o d u c t k n o wl e d g e i s b a r g a i n i n g p o w e r
H
aving easy access to detailed
product information such as bills
of material, images, construction and
measurements can help determine
costing throughout development, and
facilitate comparison with previous
products. Knowing the yield, style,
and construction details makes this
easier to calculate, which in turn
can facilitate supplier negotiations
for the sourcing team, especially
when projected units, colors and
delivery times are clearly specified:
if, for example, multiple products
call for the same or similar fabrics
in the same shades, consolidating
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“Are you giving your suppliers the full picture?”
could decrease material cost. This
is something a PLM for fashion
should be able to do easily.
Taking the time to streamline product communication—by integrating
materials, suppliers, sketches, pat-
terns, testing and more through
a fashion-focused PLM system—
ultimately frees up more time to
put creative and business talent into
added-value tasks.
Where does PLM end and
how does it fit with other
b u s i n e ss s y s t e ms a n d t e ch nology?
“PLM puts past collections to work for future success.”
I
t’s commonly thought that PLM starts with a sketch
and ends when a product and its components are
“approved for production,” but this is an outdated
view. Getting the most out of PLM in the fashion
industry means starting earlier with budget and
trends, following calendars through development,
and then linking product information with other
business systems. Additional data needed to analyze
sales performance or make decisions about future
products is often housed in these other systems. Very
often, getting to this information requires export
from multiple systems and further wrangling via
a spreadsheet or two, but this needn’t be the case.
Extending PLM by connecting and cross-referencing
to other systems allows essential data to be housed in
one place. A PLM for Fashion that links to an ERP system, for example, allows a merchandising department to assess
previous sales and build a collection plan for the upcoming season based on what sold through. They can
use this information with visuals pulled from the PLM
to build specific offers for different regions and better
arm their sales force to deliver the brand.
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Al i g n i n g t h e P r o d u c t
D e v e l o pm e n t T e a m
with PLM
D
efining the right technology fit for a company
only accounts for half of the PLM equation;
the other is guiding the people who use it to adopt
a new process and get the most out of it.
PLM for Fashion is really about fostering connectivity across departments, so major goals will be
to get the creative team communicating and
following the same calendar as sourcing; to
bring IT into the product world;
and, ultimately to make sure
the system is experienced
as an asset by everyone
using it. PLM needs to
inte gr a te se a m l e s s ly in order to work.
L e c t r a F a sh i o n P L M
developed for the
f a sh i o n i n d u s t r y
B
uilding a fashion collection is a unique
process. While technical details are
important to consider when shopping for a
PLM, finding a provider that knows the
fashion industry and understands its
nuances is just as critical.
For 40 years, Lectra has
been helping fashion
companies stay competitive in a changing
industry, while protecting the fragile creative
core that defines fashion.
Just as a collection
starts with silhouettes
and shapes, it’s always
Collaboration is key to
easier to start a PLM
effectively bridging collection
project with the basics.
development and the supply
“Success starts with everyone on the same page.”
Before suggesting any kind
chain, which is why Lectra
of PLM configuration, a PLM
Fashion PLM integrates design and development
partner should carry out a business process
technology onto a single platform, bringing the
analysis to determine what steps could be intepower of 3D into collection development to imgrated, automated, or even eliminated with PLM.
prove communication from design to production.
Once the core has been established, a plan for
how and when to add new features should be
integrated into the broader implementation plan,
which may branch out to include other systems.
This explains the importance of choosing a PLM
partner that understands the fashion industry
and has the expertise to maximize the return on
your investment.
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P L M f o r Fa sh i o n C h e c k l i s t:
Natively integrates knit, weave, and print, sketch, and pattern design
files held on a fashion platform
Automatically updates fabric and image file changes across a fashion
platform
Natively integrates patterns, measurement charts and grading with
3D product development and visualization
Natively integrates storyboards, images, sketches with access to
metadata
Print, knit and woven creation with fabrics natively integrated into
the platform to fully control fabric and design properties
Combines top-down or bottom-up budgeting with line planning for
product and material development
Visual dashboards and calendar with multiple viewing options
Differentiate currency, prices and multi-level SKU by channel
Includes flexible, multi-level bill of material costing with operations costs
Simplifies data table transfer through a spreadsheet upload tool
Has a fast 3 month “out-of-the-box, ready-for-fashion” implementation
Is scalable and modular to adapt to your business process
The provider understands the industry and invests heavily in R&D
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About Lectra
With 40 years’ experience in fashion and apparel, Lectra’s mission is to provide a complete spectrum of design, development, and production solutions to confront 21st-century challenges. From first creative spark to final product, our professional services address an end-to-end process.
To learn how our offer for design, development, and production can help you benefit from collaboration, please contact one of our global offices.
CONTACT LECTRA
World Headquarters
France
Lectra
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75016 Paris - France
Tel: +33 (0)1 53 64 42 00
Lectra
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33610 Bordeaux - Cestas - France
Tel.: +33 (0)5 57 97 80 00
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Ismaning
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85737 Ismaning
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90449 Nürnberg
Tel.: +49 (0)91 19 6798 66
United Kingdom
Bradford - Headquarters
Lectra
Jade Building, Albion Mills
Albion Road
Greengates BD10 9TQ
Tel.: +44 (0)1274 623080
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4th Floor, 5 Conduit Street
London W1S 2XD
Tel.: +44 (0)207 518 2900
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China
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Lectra
Al. Jaù, 1754 — 3° andar
Jardim Paulista
01420-002 São Paulo -SP
Tel.: +55 11 3894 9144
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Floor 5 – 6th, Building
No. 91, Phase 13,
Caohejing Hi-Tech Park,
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200233 Shanghai
Tel.: +86 (0)21 5426 2929
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Av. Martin Luther, 545 — Sala 03
89012-010 Blumenau - SC
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The Gateway
25 Canton Road - Tsimshatsui
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Milan
Lectra
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20134 Milan (MI)
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Lectra
Office 5A, 5/F China Life Tower Center
No. 16 Chaowai Street
Chaoyang District Beijing 100020
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United States
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Lectra
Room 1905-1906, Dongbao Tower,
No. 767 Dong Feng Dong Road,
Guangzhou
Tel.: +86 (0)20 3832 0884
Georgia - Headquarters
Lectra
889 Franklin Road,
SE Marietta, GA 30067-7945
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25 West 39th Street, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10018
Tel.: +1 212 730 4444
OTHER REGIONS
Please visit
www.lectra.com to contact one
of our 30 offices worldwide.
California
Lectra
5836 Corporate Ave., Suite 150
Cypress, CA 90630
Tel.: +1 714 484 6600
Lectra in Fashion
With 40 years’ experience in fashion and apparel, Lectra’s mission is to provide a complete spectrum of design, development, and production solutions to confront 21st-century challenges. From first creative spark to final product, our professional services address an end-to-end process. We
support theday-to-day operations of our customers in over 100 countries for around-the-clock process optimization. From fast fashion to luxury to
ready-to-wear, Lectra’s 23,000 customers in markets as diverse as casual, sports, outdoor, denim, and lingerie represent every development and
sourcing model imaginable. Beyond suppliers and manufacturers, they are the brands you love and the stores where you
shop.
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