Today's Apparel companies move at the speed of thought. From design to merchandising to sales to inventory control, every second counts, and getting the right PLM software, can make the difference. PLM affects time to market, collaboration, flexibility, balancing workflow, transmitting insight, controlling costs and enhancing the customer experience.
The PLM system has become essential for many companies and when ApparelMagic customers were asked what it had done for them, here's what they said:
"ApparelMagic's PLM system has given us a significant boost in efficiency, in many different departments. We use the system throughout the company, to share data with designers, customer service agents, production and inventory control departments, even our warehouse fulfillment partners.
Recently we were able to accomplish an integration between our central office and our fulfillment center that would have been impossible without a modern, integrated software package. By linking ApparelMagic with our warehouse operation, we're enjoying more transparency in product availability and sales history. Customer service has benefitted by having the latest order status on screen in real time. So when a client calls, they get answers quicker, and that's improving customer satisfaction and repeat sales.
ApparelMagic also manages many stages of our style creation process, including costing, materials, specs, linesheets and catalogs. We track revisions and re-designs right in the database, instead of relying on separate Excel worksheets. Having the data organized, and shared by all departments really makes a big difference.
It's also easier now to pull the design and costing elements of our styles together. When you see a product represented visually, and at the same time you see all of the elements that go into it -- fabrics, trims, labor and accessories -- it helps everyone on the team understand the total picture. Now, when updates are made, everyone sees the change immediately. The team works better together -- It's a well-oiled machine!" - Christine Bell Currence, President
"ApparelMagic's software has been essential in managing the products and designs that we bring to market. The system helps our teams collaborate and control key aspects of our business, beginning with the costing and production phase, and continuing through order processing, fulfillment, maintaining customer satisfaction, and analyzing our sales patterns.
Seven Licensing runs 4 brand divisions using ApparelMagic (Dylan George, ReRock, Seven 7 denim, and Seven 7 knits), which means we have access to an incredible amount of data for decision support. We're able to leverage the right information at the right time. If we need to make changes in sourcing, we do it for the right reason. If we need to introduce variations of a popular style, or discontinue another, we have the sales analysis data to justify that decision.
Before integrated PLM systems, this information might have been available, sooner or later. But a competitive market demands that you anticipate and respond immediately. Whether it's a re-design to enhance the product's appeal, or a change in available fabric and sourcing, we use ApparelMagic's PLM to determine our options and respond effectively.
In today's market, you need great designs, but you need much more. Managing the product data from initial specs on through the very end of production and inventory control, gives us a competitive advantage in the industry."
Thank you very much ApparelMagic, as always your customer service is excellent, you are on top of things." - Peter Akaragian, President & CFO
"At Mulberribush, our operation relies heavily on ApparelMagic's PLM software. Children's wear is especially demanding because you're talking about endless decisions on body styles, fabrications, color assortments, costing and delivery dates. Our entire team benefits from the system because we have immediate access to the latest status of our line.
When cotton prices recently hit an all-time high, our ApparelMagic system allowed us to quickly compare scenarios for domestic versus overseas production. All of our key information was in one place, which made the difficult choices much easier to make. As a company that does both US and foreign production, we could see whether it was better to move raw materials to offshore factories in South America, or shift production to Asia.
Because we use the ApparelMagic system to control production from A to Z, we know accurately what the production and fulfillment cycle will look like. We can fine-tune our material purchasing and inventory levels. We can gauge the timeliness of our fulfillment. We can see if we're meeting sales goals. And, most importantly, we can attend to customer satisfaction and create new sales opportunities.
One of the biggest benefits from this control has been our ability to trim costs, by better understanding the entire product and sales environment -- labor, materials, production cycles, customer buying patterns. As a result, ApparelMagic has helped us reduce inventories by up to 40% while increasing on-time delivery and customer satisfaction."
- David Feinberg, Owner
"The ever increasing trend toward instant response to fashion trends, driven by online marketing and global collaboration, has also affected PLM. The line between custom couture and short-run specialty products continually gets blurred. Product segments that were once distinct are now being "straddled" by ApparelMagic customers like Elevee Custom Clothing. "When we first adopted ApparelMagic, we were almost completely oriented toward custom suits for our celebrity clientele," says Elevee principal Michael O'Brien. "Now we are successfully expanding our offerings to include footwear, accessories and other pre-made goods. As different as those two product segments are, ApparelMagic PLM lets us understand our entire line in an integrated way. We can make decisions, modify styles, open up new divisions, and track the performance of everything in a way that sheds a new light on our business." - Michael O'Brien, Owner
So, the innovations of recent years, like web and email integration, color-matching, electronic swatch management, and database management of product specs have all been brought to bear on a single mission: allowing the product design, development, sales and lifecycle management needs of a company to be met with the latest technology... while essentially hiding that complexity from the end user.
If success is any indication, the folks at ApparelMagic have been hiding it all in plain sight.
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