Chain Reaction PLM, the Fast-Fashion PLM
Gurgaon based AXIND is an end-to-end technology support provider to the Fashion and Lifestyle industry. Leveraging its web-based, industry-specific, easy-to-use ChainReaction product line, it helps companies bring products to market faster, communicate better, decrease errors, and earn higher profits. Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is the process of managing the lifecycle of a product through concept to delivery. Broadly a PLM system covers Collection planning and management, Product/Techpack management and Time & Action (Workflow) management. All this in a collaborative environment with your worldwide offices and Vendors. A PLM system is essential for any organization which wants to professionally manage its product planning, development and delivery processes. ‘Fast-Fashion’ refers to the advent of Fashion E-commerce and the ‘Zara’ model wherein the turnaround time between design and in-store/online availability has shortened from 36-53 weeks to 6-12 weeks.
Why Fast-Fashion?
With Fast-Fashion new merchandise introduction will be more frequent. Customers are more likely to visit your store/online storefront more often, expecting to see new products. The production runs are limited with very few repeats, thus creating a ‘scarcity’ of the product. If they (the customer) are not quick to grab it, it is going to get sold out! Customer response to Fast-Fashion has been very positive; the quicker change is in sync with today’s consumer. However, Fast-Fashion comes with its own set of challenges. The nature of PLM changes for Fast-Fashion; there is no time for elaborate data entry, managing the high-speed processes is the priority. Coordination between the players in the value-chain becomes critical as there is no time for mistakes and work around. Errors are too expensive and must be
either prevented or caught and fixed as soon as they occur. This means the 'Time & Action' or the ‘Workflow’ becomes the most critical piece of the puzzle.
ChainReaction PLM has been crafted to fit in the world of Fast-Fashion.
Special features
Users don’t have time to fill in multiple screens of information; in ChainReaction data entry is dramatically reduced by the ability to create and update data via Excel.This extends to all aspects of the system, be it the creation of products, the creation of master data, the update of the BOM (Bill-Of-Materials). All the data can be exported to Excel. Techpack creation is typically a very time-consuming activity. Special tools to set ‘rules’ to manage the creation of tech pack forms greatly speed up this process.
Visual and more visual
The visual planning, the product techpacks, the dashboards, all emphasize the visualization of the data. This saves the user time in the understanding /analysis of the data. In the planning, all aspects of the product and the colour ways are expressed visually and one is able to plan and follow the development of the collection in detail.
Collaboration
Speed in the value-chain can be increased by making sure that data is captured only once at the place of occurrence. For instance, production information should be captured by the Vendor at the factory. Chain Reaction makes it possible to collaborate with Vendors and Customers by giving them access to selected parts of the system. Collaborative design thus becomes possible, approvals can be done online, orders can be received and confirmed online etc.
Time & Action /Workflow Management
This module brings an amazing level of control over each and every activity / task that has tobe carried out for each product, while providing a rich array of tools to get an overview and manage the whole collection. Essentially the management wants to be able to quickly zero in on the problem areas in the development and delivery of the whole collection. ChainReaction enables this by quickly giving an overview of the collection, highlighting the styles where there are problems, allowing a zooming-in to the precise problem. The above process in in real-time, so it becomes possible to identify and address problems ‘as they happen’, preventing their escalation and minimizing delays. Add instant-messaging via a mobile app to the above, and you have truly potent functionality to address each and every problem of Fast-Fashion.
Why Chain Reaction PLM?The production runs are limited with very few repeats, thus creating a ‘scarcity’ of the product. If they (the customer) are not quick to grab it, it is going to get sold out
ChainReaction PLM has been crafted to fit in the world of Fast-Fashion.
Special features
Users don’t have time to fill in multiple screens of information; in ChainReaction data entry is dramatically reduced by the ability to create and update data via Excel.This extends to all aspects of the system, be it the creation of products, the creation of master data, the update of the BOM (Bill-Of-Materials). All the data can be exported to Excel. Techpack creation is typically a very time-consuming activity. Special tools to set ‘rules’ to manage the creation of tech pack forms greatly speed up this process.
Visual and more visual
The visual planning, the product techpacks, the dashboards, all emphasize the visualization of the data. This saves the user time in the understanding /analysis of the data. In the planning, all aspects of the product and the colour ways are expressed visually and one is able to plan and follow the development of the collection in detail.
Collaboration
Speed in the value-chain can be increased by making sure that data is captured only once at the place of occurrence. For instance, production information should be captured by the Vendor at the factory. Chain Reaction makes it possible to collaborate with Vendors and Customers by giving them access to selected parts of the system. Collaborative design thus becomes possible, approvals can be done online, orders can be received and confirmed online etc.
Time & Action /Workflow Management
This module brings an amazing level of control over each and every activity / task that has tobe carried out for each product, while providing a rich array of tools to get an overview and manage the whole collection. Essentially the management wants to be able to quickly zero in on the problem areas in the development and delivery of the whole collection. ChainReaction enables this by quickly giving an overview of the collection, highlighting the styles where there are problems, allowing a zooming-in to the precise problem. The above process in in real-time, so it becomes possible to identify and address problems ‘as they happen’, preventing their escalation and minimizing delays. Add instant-messaging via a mobile app to the above, and you have truly potent functionality to address each and every problem of Fast-Fashion.
