California Apparel News

NEW YORK—Technology vendors have been talking up emerging products such as PLM (product lifecycle management) and 3-D design software over the past couple of years, but now that early adopters have had some success, people are listening more closely. The recent Apparel Technology Conference held at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York had attentive crowds listening to executives from leading vendors such as Gerber Technology, New Generation Computing (NGC), Computer Generated Solutions/BlueCherry, OptiTex, Shapely Shadow and Tukatech Inc. discussing the latest business-management, product-development, design and inventory-management software systems.

Technologies such as PLM “are not just theory anymore,” said Fred Isenberg, vice president of sales for Miami Lakes, Fla.–based NGC. “Companies are using it and are getting production out of it.”

PLM uses database technology accessible via the Internet and provides “a single version of the truth” for all parties in the pre-production pipeline: one source for materials, costing, task calendars, etc.

In his PLM workshop, Isenberg cited data showing the power of PLM with cycle-time reductions of 20 percent to 50 percent and margin improvement of 2 percent to 5 percent along with sample reductions of 3 percent to 7 percent.

Likewise, in the design arena, 3-D systems are no longer conceptual but are being used by top retailers, including Victoria’s Secret, which in a project with Cary, N.C.–based {TC}2, is developing a new line of better-fitting bras. The retailer scanned the upper torsos of 1,400 women using one of {TC}2’s body scanners and determined that women have four common shapes. The new bras will reflect those shapes.

In a similar project, Malibu, Calif.–based Shapely Shadow will roll out a new series of dress forms in January based on {TC}2’s groundbreaking Size USA survey, which determined that 87 percent of its subjects have six basic shapes.

The forms will be built around those shapes and are expected to help retailers and manufacturers create properfitting clothing, said Shapely Shadow’s Ilona Foyer.

At Tukatech’s seminar on fit, Chief Executive Officer Ram Sareen said some of the company’s clients are creating virtual samples strictly through computers, using a similar concept that Boeing used in developing its 787 Dreamliner aircraft.

“The objective is to get your sample approved the first time,” Sareen said. “Designers can’t always explain what they want. They can visualize. They can watch MTV, scan the Internet. But this industry is everywhere now. Most of the time we are sending all this information to somewhere where they don’t even speak English. We cannot communicate back and forth.”

Sareen said the new way of communicating is by providing lifelike, data-scanned body forms on the production site as well as providing virtual fitting sessions using powerful 3-D software, which provides animation as well as color-coded tension mapping to determine the stress and relief points of a garment. One of Tukatech’s clients was spending more than 60 percent of its pre-production schedule on making a sample. Using the new tools, it has reduced that to about 7 percent, or one to two weeks, Sareen said.

At OptiTex’s workshop, company representatives showed how it is bringing 3-D to the masses through a service bureau program as well as alliances with companies such as Bernina that delivered 3-D to the home sewing market. With or without a bureau’s assistance, 3-D can be used to bring flat patterns to life for mass customization and even marketing with virtual product presentations employing animation.

Business systems strategies

On the ERP (enterprise resource management) front, panelists at the keynote address on technology strategies, including Jay Scussell, senior vice president of MIS at retailer Goody’s Family Clothing, noticed there is a move into the larger integrated systems to manage business, but most of the panelist’s information-technology strategies were spread out. Scussell said his company is having success using best-of-breed systems, including NGC’s e-PLM and e-sps; production and sourcing applications; and pricing optimization tools such as Oracle’s ProfitLogic, which provides recommendations on when to promote merchandise to maximize profits.

“[These] are easy to explain and have an easy payback. We’re quite pleased,” he said.

Panelist Martin Schneider, vice president of global business technology for VF Corp., said the company has invested a lot in an in-house system based on best practices, as in some provided systems such as NGC’s warehousing system. “All of the IT [personnel] report centrally, so we are all making global decisions. It comes down to people and execution,” Schneider said.

And Philip Giusto, chief information officer of DressBarn, said the company actually uses a customized legacy system, which, though outdated, still performs and contributes to cost controls.

PLM was a popular seminar topic during the two-day event. As hot as it is, it’s “no silver bullet,” noted Glenn Funk of Enovia/Matrix One. “It will not fix bad processes hellip; so you have to figure out where is the pain and at what point you should bring it in, whether it be design or later.”

The need however is being driven by what Isenberg called a “triple convergence” of SKU proliferation, globalization and time compression.

Retailers are continuing to boost their private-label programs. At the event, Scussell disclosed that Goody’s has a plan to increase its private-label mix from 30 percent to about 50 percent to 60 percent.

The cost of design and development is going up, and PLM is one way to counter the challenges, he said.

Peter Jennings of Westlake, Calif.–based Porini said the future of successful systems will start with collaboration.

While tools such as PLM and sourcing software systems make it easier to realize return on investment, apparel executives are finding it tougher to counter costs from compliance issues such as Sarbanes-Oxley and new security mandates being set by the payment-card industry. Scussell said retailers have had to absorb much of the security-system upgrades. Goody’s spent more than $500,000 changing its RF network in its nearly 400-unit chain, amounting to no realized return on investment. But as one other executive noted, it’s a cost that may reduce liability and other potential costs.

The conference was worth the cross-country trip for some attendees, such as Marie Krisova, principal of Los Angeles–based design-services company MKP Development LLC. “I wanted to see firsthand the newest products, trends and projects under construction as far as PDM, PLM, computerized pattern-making, unit tracking systems and 3-D simulations. Not just because it is our company’s main objective but also to be part of the future development of fashion technology,” she said. “Basically, what it showed me was that nobody should be using [Microsoft] Excel spreadsheets and Manila folders anymore. Unfortunately, some of the Web-based applications, modular systems and other complex solutions are, at least for now, only in reach of the giants in the market—like Tesco, Nike, Polo and Liz Claiborne— with minimal opportunities for start-up companies or newer designers.”