Lawson For Fashion Event Courts New Clients
Brand executives from a variety of Southern California apparel companies gathered recently at the St. John offices in Irvine, Calif., to learn more about the new Lawson For Fashion enterprise software, which launched earlier this year.
St. Paul, Minn.–based developer Lawson Software is positioning Lawson For Fashion as a tool to help apparel makers thrive despite current and future challenges.
“We are on the precipice of a shift in dynamics,” said Bob McKee, Lawson’s strategy director for fashion. “As an industry we deal with change so much—in products, in colors, in seasons,” he said, adding that many companies do not change their business models as the industry changes.
Today, McKee said, brands must find ways to quickly turn inventory into cash, adhere to new and evolving regulatory requirements, anticipate fashion trends, and navigate shrinking retail channels and increasing production challenges.
Lawson, which landed its first fashion customer in 1992, created Lawson For Fashion, which was built on the developer’s ERP (enterprise resource planning) solution, M3 Enterprise Management System. Lawson For Fashion boasts an industry-specific PLM (product lifecycle management) solution, web-based software that allows brands to collaborate with off-shore vendors, online storyboard tools for designers and merchandisers, line-planning software, sourcing software that allows for ranking of vendors and costing, simulation tools that allow for demand planning and supply-chain planning, and a warehouse-management system.
Because the system is web-based, apparel manufacturers can opt to give their suppliers access to the system to update information such as ship dates and tracking information, said Marie-Pascal Authie, Lawson’s fashion solution consultant.
Implementation of Lawson For Fashion can take six months to about a year, depending on the size of the company, explained Tony Smith, Lawson’s project executive for fashion. The company has created an implementation program it calls StepWise to assist in the implementation process.
“We’re trying to re-engineer the way to offer an end-to-end solution,” said Peter Quinn, Lawson’s chief customer experience officer.
McKee also discussed some of the professional services it offers to clients. Lawson Value Management is an opportunity analysis that interprets potential based on compiled data about each customer, for example. The six-week process is targeted toward improving performance and yielding more profit.
The presentation was a chance for Lawson to demonstrate Lawson For Fashion and to pitch the benefits to prospective customers. Of the companies present, only one, St. John, is an existing Lawson client.
This was the first time the company hosted this type of event, said Victoria L. Chenevey, Lawson’s senior account executive for fashion and one of two sales executives specializing in the apparel industry on the West Coast.
As the economy recovers, many apparel businesses are beginning to evaluate their technology needs.
“They’ve been in fox-hole mode,” said Account Executive Paul D. Wallend, who also focuses on West Coast business. “If they haven’t invested in technology in a while, they’re feeling the pain.”
Certain segments of the industry, such as athletic shoes, weathered the economy better than others, Chenevey said. “People may have given up their gym memberships, but they’re still strapping on their running shoes,” she said.—Erin Barajas
