International fashion company improves collaboration and increases efficiency in the garment manufacturing process product lifecycle management

International fashion company improves collaboration and increases efficiency in the garment manufacturing process product lifecycle management

S.Oliver is using version 6 of Dassault Systèmes’ product lifecycle management (PLM) software as its global platform for design and development, to ensure the constant availability of all the up-to-date information required to create and manufacture new collections.

The international fashion company selected ENOVIA version 6 to streamline product line complexities, achieve lead-time reduction, and enhance global collaboration. Dassault added that the ENOVIA Apparel Accelerator for Design & Development will provide deep, domain-specific apparel design and production capabilities to meet fashion industry needs.

Using the latest software version, approximately 300 users in Germany and more than 550 worldwide have access to all the information relating to the company’s products – from the designer in Germany and the fabric supplier in India, to the production supervisor in Indonesia and the logistics administrator in Turkey, as well as the managers of the 183 s.Oliver stores throughout the world.

Managing global textile processes

“One of the hallmarks of the textile industry is its globally distributed development, manufacturing, and logistics processes. For a global company such as s.Oliver, integrated and open collaboration both within the company and with external partners and suppliers is a key competitive factor," said Henry Taubald, managing director of operations at s.Oliver.

“Core version 6 technology and out-of-the box ENOVIA functionalities provide us with ideal support to manage the constantly growing complexity of what we do, and also enable us to respond rapidly and flexibly to new trends as well as to customer demands.”

The individual process steps that each item of clothing passes through, are mapped transparently for all stakeholders. The pilot project began with one division and all agencies in Asia and Turkey using a new colour and material database. The remaining divisions gradually followed. During this process, more than 7,000 material references were migrated or created, structured and categorised separately by season. Eventually, all legacy product data management systems were completely replaced by ENOVIA version 6.

By 2012, the company’s direct suppliers and third-party agencies will also be set to be connected to the version 6 platform.