Collections form the backbone of the fashion industry. That is not going to change anytime soon.
Brands are significantly defined by how they structure and present their collections and the aim to give customers exactly what they want for that season or occasion.
How you organise, launch and present your collections sets you apart from competitors. Get it right and it should keep stakeholders happy, too.
But, in an ever-evolving industry, what allows the team behind each collection to keep creating better products, using efficient workflows and lean processes every time?
Systems.
Having the right fashion systems makes all the difference in product and process management, determining whether your next collection will be deemed a runaway success or consigned to history as a costly failure. To deliver better collections, you need better systems to efficiently and effectively turn your designs into products that predictably meet targets and demands.
1. Visibility
We cannot change, control or improve what we cannot see. Having a top-down, 360-degree view of what is going on at every stage of the design, manufacture and sales processes is critical in the modern fashion business. This gives you the insight and information you need to assess key performance indicators against business goals and adjust as needed. Real-time, live data is vital. With the right data, you can double down on what is working and remove what is hampering operations, manufacturing, and sales from the success equation.
2. Time Savings
Time is money. Time spent processing and pulling data from various sources is a waste of manpower – and this translates negatively to your bottom line. More streamlined processes, better workflows and smart automation frees up your team to work smarter. This time can instead be spent on improving collections in a way that moves the business towards its goals and resonates with your core demographic. A key, game-changing tool in this is cloud based PLM. The measurable time-saving that PLM can provide in the product creation part of the business operations is not to be underestimated.
3. Decision Making
Having access to accurate and timely information is the only way you (and your board or investors) can make decisions with confidence. A suitable fashion system will ensure that data can be collected and processed more easily and analysed in real-time. This means the decisions you make are done with a clear visibility of the true state of play. There is no guesswork. No human error to factor in. Simply good quality, up-to-date data you can analyse and learn from with confidence. With that to hand, you can confront challenges and weigh up options with greater clarity, making smarter and more informed decisions to optimise your collection at every stage.
4. Focus
Scattered information leads to inefficient focus. Inefficient focus reflects itself in each collection. Managing developments of lines by using endless spreadsheets complicates data analysis and can at the very least lead to missed milestones and lost targets, which can lead to lost profits.
In contrast, a robust, specialist system gives fashion businesses the tools they need to concept, launch, and adapt each collection to thrive in both the real and digital worlds. It allows your team to visually and interactively home in on manageable objectives and improve accountability.
5. Collaboration
A global market requires information to be passed between remote teams as swiftly and seamlessly as possible. Through employing joined-up practises with an adaptive system, brands can share ideas, information and data to collaborate more efficiently. This can include how you interact with your clients, especially in a branded fashion business that does wholesale.
The many tangible benefits of using better fashion product management technology can be seen across each stage of your collection lifecycle. From inception and design right through to pre-sales, production and launch. Having the right fashion systems in place elevates what is possible and puts you in full control of your operations, budgets and results.
Ready to get started with better systems?
