The document discusses the need for companies to upgrade their technology systems to keep up with changing customer demands and a fast-paced marketplace. It notes that existing systems are often outdated and do not provide the speed, flexibility and collaboration needed across the supply chain. A single, integrated system is recommended that provides real-time visibility across tiers of suppliers and partners to better manage orders, inventory and issues. Such a system would help companies fulfill orders on time and collaborate efficiently with supply chain partners.

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IS YOURBUSINESS MOVING FASTERTHANYOUR SYSTEMS CAN HANDLE?
RETAIL EXECUTIVES ACROSS BEST-RUN AMERICAN COMPANIES ARE NOW ASKING
THEMSELVES:
How do I stay close to my customers as their
requirements change?
What are the implications of changing customer
demand on our business?
Who are our best customers?
Where are they spending their limited budgets?
How can I bring my product to market before my
competition?
What gaps in our product mix, pricing, and supply must
we fill to address this change?
Which of our brands and products have become more
relevant?
How can I align my strategy and organization to best support my customers’ new needs?
But if those questions weren’t enough to keep you up at night, the real questions might
really be:
Where can I manage my supply chain to get maximum
performance from my vendors?
Where can I source and quickly turnaround trending
product?
How can I quickly on-board new vendors assured that
they are compliant to quickly meet the new demand?
Technology – have our systems kept up with today’s
market place?
Do my existing systems provide me with the speed and
flexibility my company needs to grow my business?
How can I afford the time and expense to change my systems?
How will change disrupt my current business and plan accordingly?
When was the last time we have upgraded our systems?
Have we taken a close look at our existing approaches?
Often companies overlook the fact that their current
technology solutions are limited and have not been
updated in years, and that they are locked into
technology or functional silo where a separate system is
required for each kind of data and every type of task. As
a company’s complexity increases, organizations now
find themselves with many point solutions that don’t

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work together, are expensive to maintain, and don’t deliver the answers they need
Time for a change: - “One size doesn’t fit everyone - choose wisely”
The question now is, do I replace my existing systems or
do I find a solution that provides the missing
requirements without totally disrupting the current
business?
The apparel industry needs a global supply chain that
can keep up with today’s demanding consumers.
Fashion trends come and go, but like a classic little black
dress, a well-run supply chain is always in style. To be
successful in today's global marketplace it may be time
to give your supply chain a makeover by providing all
partners access to a single source of reliable, near real-time data.
Within a single apparel company there are often different product lines with vastly different
shelf lives and sales profiles. Take luxury fashion versus staple products, for example. Luxury
fashion items are higher margin, lower volume, and the opportunity of revenue loss by not
having the correct size on shelves is high and thus requires a quicker, more efficient
response to shifts in demand.
By contrast, a staple, such as a white T-shirt, can have a significantly more predictable order
cycle. For those reasons, there isn't a “one size fits all” supply chain model that works for
both of these ends of the apparel spectrum.
By tailoring the supply chains for these channels, supply chain partners can reduce end-to-
end cycle times, collaborate and shift to a pull-based replenishment model.
Some things that should be taken in consideration when looking to upgrade yourcurrent
technology solution:
Collaboration with all of your partners
Top of the list is the need for increased visibility which includes maximizing existing systems
to respond to customer demand and fulfill orders on time without relying on expedited
shipping method. This will diminish the required margin percentage and lower expected
profit. Unfortunately, many U.S. companies continue to rely on manual processes such as
phone calls or email to determine supplier ability to fulfill orders. The severe absence of
automated tools to provide insight into status of orders and the inability to integrate
sourcing, production, and compliance in one application hampers their capability to see the
total picture. There is a tremendous lack of computerization which still exists (reliance on
spreadsheet solutions) which leads to the failure of these companies to integrate with their
existing ERP data to monitor the ability of their suppliers to meet their demand.
Compliance and vendor management has become a major issue for companies today
All across the apparel industry, companies are grappling with their consumer’s high
expectations and sales margin pressures. Couple this with the unprecedented numbers of
legal, regulatory, and business partner mandates it affects nearly every aspect of their
operations.

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Having the ability to commit with confidence to demand as it changes based on actual
supply chain management (SCM,VM & CSR) capabilities makes all the difference in getting
the right partner to provide the best products in a timely fashion.
Key to making this work is having a single systemthat can collaborate directly with your
partners during all phases of the on-boarding through development lifecycle, providing a
single data source that puts all parties on the same page. If this can't be addressed in a
timely manner it will lead to unfulfilled customer demand.
 Today’s global trading networks extend across two, three, four, and more tiers of
suppliers, sub-component suppliers, raw material providers, contract manufacturers,
and logistics providers. Without real-time insight across these next-tier partners,
disruptions in the extended supply chain are often identified too late to make
money-saving course corrections.
ERP Integration-Before you throw out yourexisting system
The promise of end-to-end supply chain visibility and multi-tier process orchestration is a
feat most ERP systems fail to achieve!
Can your company achieve this goal without the need of replacing an aging ERP systemwith
an expensive time consuming selection and implementation process?
Companies need to ask themselves if it is worth the effort searching for a new ERP system
which will probably require extensive customization, staff re-training and initially slow down
the business until the learning curve is overcome (typically this could take months if the
business process is radically changed by the new software). Or if you should spend the time
reviewing your current business processes, save what works and replace the parts that need
to be updated.
What are companies looking for in a supply chain solution?
 Real-time key performance indicators (KPIs) populated by data from across the entire
extended supply chain that provide information from inventory positions to late
shipments to impending inventory shortages at critical component suppliers is a
necessity
 Providing real-time insight into the performance and vulnerabilities of the extended
supply chain, eliminating manual methods
 Eliminating unnecessary reports and moving to an exception-based management and
problem resolution focused on resolving issues
 Collaborative platform leveraging the collective information of their trading partner
communities to efficiently manage end-to-end supply chain processes and to respond
intelligently to continuous changes to supply, demand, products, and partners
 The ability to view key demand, Purchase order, inventory, and supply status
information across the extended supply chain
 Provide a real-time, end-to-end picture of both demand and supply—including finished
goods and component inventory levels at various points; customer and supplier
shipments; existing, open, and in-transit orders; supplier commits; shipment and transit
delays

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 The ability to leverage information to identify shortage and excess inventory issues
automatically through exceptions and alerts
 Exception-based framework, alerting team members and suppliers to those issues
requiring immediate resolution—such as impending shortages, late shipments and
quality issues through a single system
 Set of comprehensive alerts triggered based on a set of metrics, tolerances, and
thresholds, ensuring that the most important issues are identified and resolved quickly
 BI (Business Intelligence) – provides ability to develop views across multiple company /
brand / department information