Gerber's New Eye on L.A.
New management and a new West Coast headquarters have given Tolland, Conn.–based Gerber Technology Inc. a new perspective in Los Angeles. The company, which provides design and product development software as well as cutting-room equipment, has been restructuring its management team as it prepares to move its regional headquarters from Commerce, Calif., to more modern facilities in Cerritos, Calif.
Rodney Harrelson, the company’s new deputy regional director in Los Angeles, has revamped the sales team to address the changing apparel market in California, where apparel businesses have become more focused on design and product development.
Harrelson recently rehired veteran technology executive Malcolm Gullish, who spent the past 18 months as a vice president for rival company Tukatech Inc. Gullish had spent six years with Gerber before venturing to Tukatech. “Malcolm knows the subtleties of the industry and, as a result, is a true asset to his customers as they implement more and more automation to improve their business operations,” Harrelson said.
Gerber initiated most of the personnel changes when former Los Angeles chief Alan Seymour relocated to the company’s Toronto offices this fall after spending less than a year in Los Angeles. Seymour had worked in Toronto previously and wanted to be closer to his family, whom he had left in Canada.
Gullish is now the company’s senior account executive and will handle sales in the West and Southwest. He will report to Harrelson. The addition of Gullish— along with Don Daguisto, Brian Kastner and Judy DeLeon— puts Gerber in full force to cover the western United States, western Canada and the U.S.-Mexico border. Gullish also gives the company industry exposure, as he is a frequent guest lecturer at the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles.
He returns to a company that is adapting to a diminishing manufacturing base and a growing product development base.
“We’re adjusting to the needs of our clients,” Harrelson said. “We’re addressing more design and pattern development needs and what designers want.”
Yet, Los Angeles, sections of Northern California and the U.S.- Mexico border still have an adequate apparel manufacturing base that accounts for more than 50 percent of Gerber’s customers, Harrelson said.
Gerber’s key products to address this scenario are its suite of patternmaking, marker making and grading software and its WebPDM (product data management) software, which accounts for about 70 percent of the company’s product sales. The Internet-based application enables product managers and trading partners to share and integrate data and specs from a variety of hardware platforms, databases and software applications across organizational and functional areas.
“You’re now seeing even the smaller companies on the West Coast get into PDM because their [suppliers and agents] are now working out of places like Mexico, Canada and Brazil,” Harrelson said. “The need to communicate is generating a whole lot of interest.”
Gerber’s most recent release is its Vision Fashion Studio textile design software. The latest version allows for more control over image editing and tracing functions, as well as more options for manipulating colors. The release features 550 new weaves and the ability to preview fabric in real time, enabling the creation of realistic fabric simulations during the design process. Gerber has also included expanded graphics tools and capabilities to enhance presentations and display collections.
Harrelson said keeping the product fresh and concentrating on customer service and leadership has kept Gerber in the loop. “We’re expanding while a lot of our competitors are downsizing,” he said.
The division of South Windsor, Conn.–based Gerber Scientific Inc. posted $38.4 million in sales for its second quarter, a 1.5 percent increase over the same period last year. Profits climbed to $500,000 for the period.
