California Apparel News

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) continues to be a hot topic among apparel-industry executives as they look for ways to cut costs and improve productivity. Using electronic task managers and extensive databases, PLM is going far to manage the countless steps during pre-production and beyond.

Miami Lakes, Fla.–based New Generation Computing is among the leading suppliers of PLM, with customers including Evy of California and A/X Armani Exchange. NGC’s Vice President of Sales Fred Isenberg has worked on both sides of the fence as a technology executive and in manufacturing, working in sales and retail-store operations for Miami-based Natalie Inc., among others. Isenberg is active in the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), the National Retail Federation (NRF) and the American Apparel Producers Network (AAPN). He and NGC President Alan Brooks will be at next month’s SPESA show to present a seminar on PLM as well as meet with existing and prospective customers.

Isenberg recently spoke with California Apparel News’ Technology Editor Robert McAllister about the evolution of PLM.

PLM has been around for a few years now but is fairly new to the apparel industry.Can you explain what stage the industry is in right now and why we need it?

PLM is still a pretty young subject. In 2002, it was about creating awareness. At that point, PDM [product data management] was not highly adopted, and there were those that adopted it through [Microsoft] Excel.

[PDM is] basically a tech pack and spec sheets, and it’s important for information, but that’s not how product development works. With so much time compression going on, there’s less time to do all of the design collaboration and processes—colors, bodies, etc. That process has shrunk in half. Some companies are doing about 30 to 50 percent more styles to realize the same volume [of revenue]. Having a workflow tool to enable you to have visibility is essential, and that is where PLM comes in.

I think we are beyond the initial growth stages. Everybody knows what it does now.

What type of returns are being realized with the adoption of PLM?

Some companies are reducing [production] costs [by] 30 to 50 percent and about 20 percent off of [general expenses]. But you still need to execute your brand. If your margins are being eroded by competition or a retailer is competing as brand, you need to find a way to compete. It’s an area that’s never been automated.

What can companies expect in their searches for a vendor and solution as well as implementation?

You have to look at your company and recognize opportunities. PLM will rework your processes and is likely to change the way you operate. You have to be open to that. You need to work with companies that understand the apparel business so they can help you establish “best practices” to help you manage the changes. We recognize that, being a software vendor, companies are going to need coaching. The essence of the relationship begins at the sales cycle and never stops. You need to forge the belief. It’s a team effort. The implementation team requires people from both companies.

There’s a growing list of PLM vendors. How do companies differentiate? Some vendors originated from other industries. Some are out of the box; some are not.

One thing we have at NGC is industry knowledge.You have to be an expert, to live work and breathe this industry. It’s a unique animal—it’s not like making toasters.Many companies have come in and made mistakes, based on assumptions.You need to evolve out of the industry. If you’re coming from outside, you had better understand how this industry works.You may have great technology but don’t understand how the people work. The same thing happened with ERP [enterprise resource planning]. If companies don’t rework and rework, they can’t succeed. It’s like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. You definitely want an out-of-the-box system, as ours is. You don’t want to reinvent the wheel.

Where has NGC made inroads with PLM?

Our vision of PLM is a little different from the rest of the world. Our solution can stand alone or be integrated [into an enterprise] with ERP sourcing and warehouse systems, which are part of our SQL series. What’s great about that is a company like Evy of California can have the best of both worlds. They selected us because they couldn’t find a vendor capable of delivering both “best of breed” PLM and ERP. It manages everything— specs, RFQs, RFBs, work-in-progress [tracking]. It’s proven itself. Another telling point is when our customer Casual Male won a prestigious award pertaining to their PLM.

PLM can’t stop when you adopt a product in the line. That system needs to manage that product throughout the supply chain. That’s why sourcing [systems] have been a hit. Our solution is end-to-end, and I think that’s what companies want.

What does the future hold for PLM?

With the increases in Internet bandwidth, you have more graphic capabilities. And with design moving to Asia, you’re going to see even more design-collaboration tools. You are going to see elaborate costing systems and metrics to project profits. I see a lot more analytics taking place.