The fashion industry and its trends are complex, and it can be challenging to create the right momentum. Most fashion brands face unique economic pressures where retailers and consumers expect lower pricing while sourcing and manufacturing costs tend to increase.
Product lifecycle is an essential element in the fashion industry. It refers to the period when the product is developed, launched, and removed from the market. PLM solutions like https://www.comactivity.com.au/solutions/infor/plm-fashion/ can help fashion brands to plan, design effectively, create collections, and source effectively.
Here is some vital information on how PLM solutions can help in brand building.
Streamline Design Process
The fashion industry has to balance two distinct elements – creativity and financial sustainability. People who create designs are known to work in visual terms. In simple words, they think in the form of sketches, and their ideas are not confined to spreadsheets. On the other hand, people involved in manufacturing and logistics prefer structured data.
PLM software provides a common ground to both elements of the fashion industry. It helps preserve and disseminate ideas of the creative people while making everyone aware of the realistic operational and financial constraints and keeping everything on time.
Design and Manufacturing Integration
Fashion brands use a wide range of software in designing and production. The PLM software plays a crucial role in the entire process by sharing valuable data across these systems and people. It also optimised the entire production process in real-time that helps fashion brands to launch their products early and gain an edge over their competition.
Support Compliance and Sustainability
Sustainability, ethical sourcing, and corporate social responsibility are crucial for building a solid brand. For leading brands, these elements are at the core of their business values.
Fashion brands need to manage these issues retrospectively and prospectively at the same time. If the subcontractor employed by the fashion brand is accused of any inhumane practices, it can negatively affect the brand.
The PLM software can streamline the sourcing process and make it readily available for the brands to review. The software also streamlines the process of gathering information and assembling relevant reports. All this enforces the fashion brands meet compliance applicable for the fashion industry.
Improve Competitiveness
Creativity is fuel for success in the fashion world. However, that is not easy to achieve. Fashion brands need to consider different audience segments, including people from far-flung areas while satisfying shorter product life cycles.
The PLM platform helps everyone in the value chain collaborate intuitively, think creatively, and act decisively to satisfy customers rapidly and profitably. The software can be integrated with other solutions that drive the fashion business.
When the creative department finalises design details, the data is made available to the production department. The PLM system makes users aware of any unexpected manufacturing that might arise.
The PLM solution ensures all stakeholders operate on the same assumptions and there is company-wide awareness of any constraints that might affect the product cycle. Today, fashion brands directly sell to consumers, and the PLM software’s integration with CRM adds more value.
For example, the CRM has predictive analysis to help understand customer preferences based on visitors’ requests and views.
Supports Global Operations
Today fashion companies cannot confine their brands to national and regional brands. Leading brands create clothing for a global audience. The PLM software provides fashion brands with virtual environments in the form of centralised product catalogue management. It helps fashion brands to integrate the process starting from concept to customer seamlessly.
These are some ways in which PLM solutions help in building your fashion brand.
