Making an informed decision - choosing a plm system
Before choosing a supplier and embarking upon a product lifecycle management project, decision makers in fashion companies should ask a number of questions to ensure that first decision is the right one.
Does the PLM supplier have specific fashion PLM expertise and sufficient industry experience to enable them to understand the company’s processes and what it will take to overcome challenges?
Does the supplier have a corporate culture and key values similar to your own and that you feel happy you can work with? Can they provide customer testimonials?
Is the PLM solution offered by the supplier specifically tailored to meet the needs of a business in the fashion sector—are its features fashion-specific or generic? Does the PLM solution deal only with business processes or will it integrate both strategy-level tools (line planning, performance monitoring, etc.) and professional applications (textile and fashion design software, pattern-making functions)?
What added value can the company offer? How do they embed their industry expertise in the technology?
Does the company operate in regions where your supply chain is located? Can it provide support for contributors along the whole value chain?
Can the PLM solution create true supply chain synchronization and provide all participants with a shared interface by which they can all access the latest information in the value chain, wherever they are, whatever the time?
In terms of implementation, what kind of consulting, training and support can the supplier offer?
Will deployment be tailored to the customer’s needs and designed for quick return on investment? Do they commit to resolving problems quickly, offering a partnership style approach to implementation?
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