Press Releases Archive - Just Style

Coats Group PLC Has Won a Total of Five Awards at the Just Style Excellence Awards 2023

Elli Karampela — Wed, 15 Nov 2023 09:45:30 +0000

Coats Group PLC, along with its innovative software division Coats Digital, is pleased to announce that it has won five awards at the 2023 Just Style Excellence Awards.

The post Coats Group PLC Has Won a Total of Five Awards at the Just Style Excellence Awards 2023 appeared first on Just Style.

Building a Tech-Forward Vision: How a Global Retailer Stayed Ahead of Challenges with a Digital ERP

Elli Karampela — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 09:51:46 +0000

As we approach the final quarter of 2023, fashion companies are grappling with significant challenges. Prominent industry players are witnessing a surge in operational costs, which is eroding their profit margins in the face of inflationary trends. In this demanding environment, apparel retailers and brands are feeling immense pressure. In addition to rising costs related to manufacturing, shipping, fuel, and labour, they also face challenges stemming from sluggish growth, declining consumer confidence, and a shift toward more budget-conscious shopping habits. To navigate these inflationary pressures and changing consumer buying patterns, apparel brands and retailers must adopt a comprehensive strategy that addresses pricing, merchandising, and supply chain dynamics. Precise adjustments may be necessary to protect profit margins without alienating customers already grappling with recent price increases. Given the ongoing impact of global inflation on the economy, a digital ERP core can play a pivotal role in helping companies maintain their competitiveness and profitability by addressing any supply chain obstacles that may arise. Here is an example of how one of our customers has effectively addressed these challenges using a Digital ERP system like SAP S/4HANA Fashion to streamline operations, elevate customer experiences, and sustain business growth.

Streamlined operations by eliminating legacy systems

This global fashion brand faced a critical challenge with its legacy ERP system, which had undergone extensive customisation and lacked the scalability required for its growth plans. As this ageing system approached the end of its maintenance and support lifecycle, it posed a significant threat to the brand's operations, especially in the face of market challenges that could impact costs and supply chain efficiency. In response to this pressing challenge, the brand embarked on a transformative ERP journey in collaboration with Rizing and SAP:

This transformation involved a meticulous, phased migration of business-critical functions from the legacy ERP to the modern digital ERP, SAP S/4HANA Fashion.
The approach was carefully managed to minimise technical debt and prioritise the enhancement of direct-to-consumer and finance operations.

This strategic move not only streamlined operations but also delivered additional benefits, including accelerated franchise adoption, smoother personnel onboarding, efficient support systems, and compliant tax and legal structures spanning 29 countries. Ultimately, these improvements paved the way for cost-reduction opportunities through more informed and efficient decision-making.

Accelerated omnichannel capabilities to meet customer demand

Our customer faced significant deficiencies in their omnichannel capabilities. Their objective was to gain a deeper understanding of consumer purchasing behaviours across different channels and enhance the overall shopping experience. This ambitious initiative involved programs such as creating an endless aisle experience in physical stores and streamlining the returns process. The digital ERP played a pivotal role in achieving this goal by providing our customers with a comprehensive 360-degree view of consumer behaviours. Every order, regardless of the channel, was meticulously consolidated, revealing invaluable shopping patterns across diverse markets. This insight helped personalize promotions and allocate the in-store workforce more effectively toward pricing activities that yield the highest ROI. In addition, the implementation explored loyalty programs and in-store activities with omnichannel pricing strategies. This accelerated decision-making processes to respond swiftly to competitive price changes.

Optimising inventory costs through data-driven insights

Expediting decision-making when it comes to inventory management is crucial for apparel retailers in the current inflationary landscape. It's an opportune moment to eliminate bottlenecks and streamline operations by establishing KPIs to track shifting consumer behaviours and measure the effectiveness of their market actions. Access to these reports can help establish guardrails around key share-of-wallet KPIs, including consumer basket size, and units per transaction. If these guardrails are breached, apparel retailers can adjust their pricing and purchasing strategies accordingly. For our customers, this meant replacing the decentralized ERP with a digital ERP core, which provided a centralized, aggregated view of inventory. This played a pivotal role in keeping inventory costs low and optimizing supply chain management.

Single view of inventory: Provided more accurate inventory planning and reduces the risk of overstocking or understocking, thereby minimising carrying costs.
Cost-Effective order fulfillment: Integration with the customer’s OMS engine enabled efficient management of consumer orders; selecting the most suitable and cost-effective location within the customer’s network to fulfil customer orders.
RFID technology in stores: Enhanced operational processes and enabled precise inventory tracking. This reduces the need for costly expedited shipping or last-minute replenishments, which can significantly increase transportation expenses.
Dynamic demand response: Ability to make dynamic pricing adjustments and align production and inventory strategies accordingly. This agility helps minimize markdowns and clearance sales, preserving profit margins.
Seasonal adjustments: Ability to accurately forecast seasonal demand fluctuations and adjust inventory levels accordingly. This prevents excess inventory at the end of a season, reducing the need for clearance sales and associated cost reductions.
Allocation management: Ability to make informed allocation strategies by identifying which products are in high demand in specific regions or store locations. This helps allocate inventory more efficiently to meet local demand, reducing the need for costly inter-store transfers or additional production runs.

Revamping ticketing procedures

For fashion businesses, revising ticketing procedures can become a labour-intensive task, especially in a tight job market. This fashion brand faced delays and inefficiencies by relying on manual data extraction from the legacy ERP system. This slowed down the availability of timely ticketing information, particularly for price updates or label replacements. By leveraging a digital ERP core, this centralisation of critical data eliminated the need for manual extraction and uploading into ticketing handheld devices. Products designated for outlets can now skip local or central distribution centres for repacking or relabeling when necessary. The challenges are significant, but so are the opportunities for innovation and growth. Digital ERP systems, like SAP S/4HANA Fashion, emerge as pivotal tools. This and more customer stories of fashion companies using SAP S/4HANA Fashion illustrate the power of technology in helping fashion brands thrive in the face of adversity, ensuring they remain agile, competitive, and customer-centric. For more on how a digital ERP solution like SAP S/4HANA can help you, set up a learning session with our solution experts.

Denimville Unlocks Synergies with the Adoption of Coats Digital’s GSDCost, Complementing FastReactPlan and VisionPLM

Elli Karampela — Mon, 23 Oct 2023 12:06:20 +0000

Coats Digital is pleased to announce that leading global jeans and sportswear manufacturer, Denimville, is expanding Coats Digital’s ecosystem of industry-leading digital tools with the adoption of GSDCost to optimise its production efficiencies, improve costs and standardise its cost-to-make processes. Denimville is on target to improve its method-time-cost efficiencies by between 4% and 7%, depending on the garment, following its rigorous GSDCost training with Coats Digital’s experts during the first phase of the solution rollout. Headquartered in Guatemala City, Denimville specialises in the manufacture of high-quality fashion jeans for premier global brands and retailers, such as Abercrombie, Hollister, Loft, Chicos and Maurices. The company employs 1300 people and produces over 35 million pieces a year. Denimville specialises in unique dry and wet processes and offers customers the highest quality jeans, based on innovative production processes, meticulous attention to detail and the finest, most durable materials. Edwin Cifuentes, engineering manager, Denimville, said: “We are living in an increasingly globalised world and to future-proof our production processes effectively, we need to consistently improve our systems on an on-going basis to ensure our company is ready to meet the demands of customers and consumers in the long term. Coats Digital’s team has helped us to successfully re-engineer our company with the implementation of FastReactPlan and VisionPLM. With the addition of GSDCost, we will not only benefit from integration synergies but a seamless data exchange will boost operational excellence. GSDCost will enable us to maximise production efficiencies, by enabling us to deploy accurate, scientific methods across our production operations so that we can optimise sewing methods, streamline line balancing, reduce costs and introduce realistic performance targets for machine operators while ensuring fair wages. The team at Denimville has worked tirelessly for the last three months to gain its GSDCost certification, and we are very excited to be putting this world-leading tool to good use in both our planning department and on the factory floor, to ensure we continue to retain our competitive edge. We are grateful to Coats Digital’s Project Manager, Georgina Vazquez, for her efforts, dedication and support in making the GSDCost implementation and training programme such a huge success.” Coats Digital’s GSDCost method analysis and pre-determined times solution is widely acknowledged as the de-facto international standard across the sewn products industry. The solution supports a more collaborative, transparent and sustainable supply chain, in which brands and manufacturers establish and optimise ‘International Standard Time Benchmarks’ using standard motion codes and predetermined times. This use of a common language and standards supports accurate cost prediction, fact-based negotiation, and a more efficient garment manufacturing process, while concurrently delivering on CSR commitments. Georgina Vazquez, project manager, Coats Digital, commented: “We are absolutely delighted to be continuing our strong partnership with Central America’s premier denim manufacturer, Denimville. By adopting GSDCost, the team will be able to establish accurate SMVs, improve operational standards and optimise production methods. Denimville’s CEO, Daniel Hernandez, was quick to recognise the value of GSDCost early on in our discussions, and he consequently wanted his team GSDCost certified as quickly as possible. Denimville remains committed to investing in and adopting innovative and robust fashion technology solutions and we look forward to working closely with them to ensure the company remains a beacon of industry best practices for years to come. Based on our initial projections, we anticipate SMV improvements of between 4% to 7%, within a year.”

Kardem Adopts Coats Digital’s FastReactPlan to Accelerate Production Efficiencies and Support New Business Growth

Elli Karampela — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 13:00:06 +0000

Coats Digital is delighted to announce that leading Turkish ready-made garment manufacturer, Kardem, has selected Coats Digital’s FastReactPlan to digitally transform its manual planning processes and drive production efficiencies. By consolidating capacity planning data into a single source, Kardem will be in a position to capitalise on more systematic and efficient line scheduling to respond to more complex, last-minute order requests in an agile way. Headquartered in Istanbul, Kardem has been one of Turkey’s leading, ready-made garment manufacturers since 1990. The company specialises in the design and high-tech production of high-volume, time-sensitive fashion garments for Turkey as well as for a number of the world’s leading brands, including INDITEX Group, LPP, Gina Tricot and Ralph Lauren. Using a LEAN management approach, Kardem has two factories in Turkey and Serbia and produces an average of 1.8 million pieces a month. Kardem has been ranked among the largest corporations in Fortune and the Istanbul Chamber of Industry (ISO). It is also an active member of the Istanbul Textile & Apparel Exporter Associations (ITKIB) and the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce (ITO). Ahmet Zeki Erdogan, general manager and owner, Kardem, said: "For many years we have successfully benefited from Coats Digital’s GSDCost solution to optimise our cost to make processes. It felt a natural extension to incorporate Coats Digital’s industry-leading advanced planning and scheduling solution, FastReactPlan, into our expanding ecosystem of technology capabilities in order to digitise our manual capacity planning processes effectively across our operations.” “FastReactPlan will provide the real-time data visibility we need to optimise capacity planning and production efficiencies, enabling us to enhance our customer service by delivering smaller and increasingly more complex orders quickly and on time. As a result of being able to see an accurate picture of free and available line capacity on the factory floor, we will be able to take on additional new business. Coats Digital is one of the most highly regarded fashion technology companies in the world and we look forward to continuing our strong partnership to ensure we retain a competitive and innovative edge whilst successfully delivering on our ambitious sustainability and CSR targets.“ Talip Demircioglu, planning manager, Kardem, added: “As one of the main suppliers for the world's largest ready-to-wear brands, it is imperative that we continue to keep up with the changing expectations of our customers by consistently improving our sustainability agenda. The way to achieve this is by increasing our production capabilities, whilst also ensuring we can monitor our production processes instantly with real data so that we can create fast solutions every time. Because of this priority, we decided to move forward with the FastReactPlan solution to coordinate our supply chain, from order to delivery, in an efficient, flexible, measurable and rapid way. “Thanks to FastReactPlan, we can ensure efficient planning of our internal and external capacities on a single platform, whilst instantly tracking our actual production activities at the same time. FastReactPlan will enable all relevant departments to work with the logic of 'time and action', starting with cost planning processes. As a result, the solution should ultimately provide many opportunities for us to improve our product development, supply and purchasing processes.” With important information siloed manually in different places across the business, Kardem lacked the consolidated visibility it required to address production or capacity problems as quickly as it wanted to. Finding realistic workarounds was complex and time-consuming, meaning Kardem not only found it difficult to meet increasing client requirements for faster, more diversified assortments but also turned business away unnecessarily, due to a lack of business insight into available production lines. Ibrahim Halil Hacikamiloglu, solutions consulting manager, Coats Digital, commented: “We are absolutely thrilled to have partnered with Turkish powerhouse, Kardem to implement FastReactPlan. Manufacturers must remain on their toes to keep up with the latest trends and demands for more diverse, shorter lifecycle assortments, and we look forward to ensuring that FastReactPlan delivers the insights, efficiencies and agility that Kardem requires to meet growing customer and consumer expectations and stays consistently ahead of the game.” Wesley Ekman, global sales director, Coats Digital, commented: "We are seeing an increasing number of Turkish manufacturers, keen to embrace technology to propel their digital transformation journeys in a highly competitive landscape. We have significantly expanded our team across Turkey to offer unprecedented local support for Coats Digital’s comprehensive ecosystem of business-critical digital tools that are powering an agile, resilient, transparent and sustainable, global fashion supply chain, and we are excited to be partnering with Kardem as they accelerate their digital transformation journey.”

Coats Digital’s GSDCost Scoops Four Awards at This Year’s International SaaS Awards  

Elli Karampela — Tue, 19 Sep 2023 09:15:08 +0000

Coats Digital is delighted to announce that its unique, industry-changing time-cost benchmarking solution, GSDCost, has been declared a winner in four award categories at this year’s prestigious 2023 International SaaS Awards. Coats Digital’s GSDCost solution was awarded the top accolades on the basis of its innovative features, seamless integration, ability to significantly revolutionise the fashion industry, and for delivering real ROI, whilst supporting a more collaborative, transparent and sustainable global fashion supply chain. Now celebrating its eighth year, The SaaS Awards continues to recognise and honour outstanding SaaS innovations from all corners of the world. Entries from hundreds of companies spanning North America, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Australasia were received. Maneet Bansal, lead judge at The SaaS Awards 2023, said: “We take immense pride in our commitment to excellence and the rigorous process we employ to evaluate the entries for The SaaS Awards 2023. Our panel of esteemed, independent judges brings decades of experience from some of the most successful companies in the technology industry, including Microsoft, Meta, and Amazon. These experts dedicated countless hours to meticulously assess hundreds of submissions across 54 different categories, ensuring that only the most innovative, impactful, and groundbreaking SaaS solutions rise to the top. We congratulate all deserving winners today.” Kunal Kapur, managing director, Coats Digital, said: “Simply exhilarating. Everyone at Coats Digital is absolutely beyond delighted to have secured not just one – but four award wins at this year’s globally acclaimed SaaS Awards. We are truly honoured to receive these awards. This is a testament to GSDCost’s contribution to making the fashion supply chain more transparent, sustainable, and collaborative for the benefit of brands, manufacturers and consumers. This recognition is an affirmation of how our dedicated global teams have made all efforts to consistently develop fresh, innovative solutions that truly solve our customers’ pain points and industry challenges. We are thrilled that The SaaS Awards has acknowledged our work on a global scale, and these victories will undoubtedly motivate us to continue advancing the capabilities of what is conceivable in the SaaS world and create new benchmarks for our industry, customers, and all garment workers across the world.” Coats Digital won four Award Categories based on the following judges’ assessments: Best SaaS for Improved Productivity (Non-USA) “Congratulations on an impressive submission! Your comprehensive market research, deep industry understanding, and innovative approach with GSDCost SaaS make this entry stand out. The use of motion codes and predetermined times to streamline production processes, coupled with positive testimonials and strong supporting evidence, demonstrate the true impact of your solution. Well done from everyone at The SaaS Awards.” Lead Judge Meenakshi Jindal Best Data-Driven SaaS Product “Congratulations to Coats Digital for winning the Data-Driven SaaS Category at The SaaS Awards 2023. With their innovative solution, GSDCost, Coats Digital has revolutionized the fashion supply chain by addressing the challenges of inaccurate historical data in manufacturing. Their SaaS approach employs scientific analysis and real-time data insights to establish accurate time benchmarks, leading to enhanced efficiency, reduced defects, and improved product quality. Coats Digital's commitment to transparency and sustainability in the fashion industry makes them a true trailblazer, reshaping the future of data-driven solutions in fashion. Well done, Coats Digital, from everyone at The SaaS Awards.” Lead Judge Maneet Bansal Best SaaS Product for ERP/MRP “Focusing on the global textile manufacturing industry, Coats Digital offers a really impressive set of features to the manufacturing arm of the fashion industry. GSDCost’s SaaS solution demonstrates a clear aptitude for delivering precise cost estimates, robust project tracking, and risk assessment tools. Its seamless integration marks it as a pivotal asset in elevating project management efficiency for businesses. Congratulations from everyone at The SaaS Awards.” Lead Judge Christopher Southall Best SaaS Product for Product Analytics “Congratulations on winning The SaaS Awards’ Product Analytics category, GSDCost. Your innovative approach to digitizing costing and capacity forecasts in the fashion industry is truly remarkable. Your commitment to sustainability and fair wage standards is meritable. Your work will undoubtedly drive positive change and set new industry benchmarks. Well done and best wishes for continued success from everyone at The SaaS Awards.” Lead Judge Yagnik Suchak James Williams, head of operations at The SaaS Awards, commented: “Coats Digital is a deserving winner in four highly competitive categories. Each year, we’re impressed by the innovative solutions and achievements of our entrants. Submissions continue to improve, reflecting positive progress. With every awards program of this business software ‘Oscars,’ we see even more captivating innovations that adapt to the evolving challenges of today. “The SaaS Awards for this year have concluded, but The Cloud Awards is still accepting entries through September and October. We also look forward to the next Cloud Security Awards in 2024.” Adrian Elliot, Divisional CEO, Apparel, Coats Group, added “We are immensely proud of our software arm, Coats Digital. Our industry needs technology to meet future sustainability and CSR compliance requirements and GSDCost is certainly a catalyst for industry change. As the world’s leading thread manufacturer, these award wins show that we are also on track to be the world’s premier fashion tech provider as well. GSDCost is the only solution that enables brands and manufacturers to establish and optimise International Standard Time Benchmarks by harnessing the power of the cloud to create a more collaborative, transparent and sustainable supply chain. We are dedicated to innovation at all levels of our business and GSDCost is a testament to this. We believe the introduction of Seamworks Cloud (a thread calculation tool) and our new Fair Wage tool, in GSDCost, will additionally play an instrumental role in delivering a fairer living wage to all people working in the global apparel manufacturing sector. With GSDCost, the opportunities are huge and we know we can make a positive difference to the industry as a whole. We see very exciting times ahead." Entries from hundreds of organisations spanning North America, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Australasia were received. The complete list of winners can be found here: https://www.cloud-awards.com/2023-saas-awards-finalists/. The SaaS Awards will return in 2024 with a new business software programme to continue its recognition of software excellence.

US Military & Law Enforcement Apparel Manufacturer Propper International™ Boosts Production Efficiencies with Coats Digital’s GSDCost

Elli Karampela — Wed, 13 Sep 2023 11:47:37 +0000

Coats Digital is pleased to announce that Propper International Inc™, one of the largest suppliers to the US armed forces, has adopted Coats Digital’s GSDCost solution to provide accurate, detailed, scientific methods across its production operations so it can optimise efficiencies, streamline line balancing effectively on the production floor and significantly improve its capacity planning processes. GSDCost is projected to improve efficiencies at Propper by between 3% and 7%, depending on the garment, in the first year of the rollout. Propper International™ is one of the largest suppliers to the United States armed forces and manufactures over 120 million garments for the US Department of Defence. Propper also manufactures apparel for law enforcement, first responders and tactical markets. The company which is headquartered in the United States and has production facilities in Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico, boasts a global workforce of over 1,400 and produces 200,000 units per month. Propper’s commercial products are primarily distributed through more than 3,000 military, public safety, outdoor and speciality retail stores and websites across the US. Propper International™ made the decision to adopt Coats Digital’s recognised international method-time standards solution, GSDCost, so that it could introduce a powerful digital tool that would deliver more robust, consistent and accurate garment manufacturing processes to replace time-consuming and confusing manual procedures founded on inaccurate historical data. Eric Marambio, engineering manager, Propper International Inc., said: “I have already witnessed the huge efficiency and cost-saving benefits that Coats Digital’s GSDCost has brought to other apparel manufacturers and was keen to capitalise on these at Propper. The GSDCost implementation is giving Propper a lot of advantages, such as structured sewing operation methods, achievable production goals, accurate SAMs / SMVs to calculate the correct amount of machine and labour resources required and a solid platform to store and share all the vital information amongst relevant teams. GSDCost’s user interface is exceptionally intuitive, and I have no doubts that this engineering tool will help us to achieve the next level performance we need to improve all our product ranges quickly and successfully”. Propper International decided to choose GSDCost to quickly eliminate deficiencies identified in time, cost and method analyses and to ensure the efficient and sustainable management of production processes via robust data reporting. The company needed actionable insights and processes to eliminate a high dependency on Excel spreadsheets so that all relevant stakeholders could have access to real-time production updates. This would avoid any inconsistency between the calculated Standard Minute Values (SMV) (also known as Standard Allowed Minutes or SAMs) and the actual SMVs – mitigating the risk of ongoing confusion between planners and operators, incorrect line balancing and unnecessary time/material wastage. Georgina Vazquez, project manager, Coats Digital, commented: ”Propper International Inc. is a global leader in military products, and we are delighted that such a prestigious manufacturer has chosen Coats Digital’s GSDCost solution to future-proof its business by optimising its production processes using proven scientific methods. Propper’s engineering team is already projecting a 3% to 7% efficiency improvement depending on the garment style, and we look forward to working closely with them to ensure the company retains its leading market position and continues to outpace its growth targets.” Coats Digital’s GSDCost method analysis and pre-determined times solution is widely acknowledged as the de-facto international standard across the sewn products industry using the GSD methodology. The solution supports a more collaborative, transparent and sustainable supply chain, in which brands and manufacturers establish and optimise ‘International Standard Time Benchmarks’ using standard motion codes and predetermined times. This use of a common language and standards supports accurate cost prediction, fact-based negotiation, and a more efficient garment manufacturing process, while concurrently delivering on CSR commitments.

Searock Apparels Adopts Coats Digital’s FastReactPlan Solution to Digitise Planning Processes and Boost Profits

Elli Karampela — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 08:50:46 +0000

Coats Digital is pleased to announce that leading, ready-made garment specialist Searock Apparels Ltd. has selected Coats Digital’s FastReactPlan to digitally transform its production processes, enabling it to create fast and accurate capacity plans to improve productivity, ensure on-time deliveries and ultimately boost profits. The solution is expected to improve productivity by 3% on implementation, greatly reduce idle production lines, firefighting and material wastage, and will ensure that Searock Apparels effectively future-proofs its business to accelerate its significant growth plans. Founded in 2018, Searock Apparels Ltd. specialises in ready-made outerwear, denim/non-denim bottoms, workwear and uniforms. The company has two operation facilities in Gazipur and Pubail, employs over 1,800 workers and produces over half a million pieces per month. Searock Apparels has over 1,100 sewing machines and boasts a monthly turnover of $3m. Its international clients include Lidl, Norma, Orn International, 5 Star and Champion Clothing. Khandokar Fazlay Rabbi, managing director, Searock Apparels Ltd., said: "FastReactPlan is the most renowned, trusted and effective planning tool in the garment industry. We needed to completely overhaul our manual planning process which relied on disparate pieces of information stored across multiple Excel spreadsheets, telephone conversation notes and emails. Without a fast and accurate single source of capacity planning information, our teams lacked the visibility they needed to provide precise production and shipment timelines, line availability and error-free Time & Action (T&A) and Bill of Materials (BOM) reports. As a result, we regularly suffered from over- and under-bookings, unnecessary overtime and excess material costs, idle line time and consistent firefighting to meet shipment deadlines. FastReactPlan will make a huge difference to our productivity and efficiency levels and will significantly improve our profit margins quickly so that we can plan more effectively and drive future growth." FastReactPlan is part of Coat Digital's Manufacturing Solution Suite and provides clients with a visual production planning and control tool that boosts processes related to delivery, efficiency and lead times. Specifically tailored for footwear and apparel manufacturing factories, FastReactPlan offers a one-platform integrated planning system that helps companies manage capacity, critical path, and materials in the same place. The versatile ‘drag and drop’ approach enables effective master planning across factories and better manufacturing management. Mitali Chakrabartty, business development manager, Coats Digital, said: “We are delighted that Searock Apparels has joined our growing global family of newly digitized fashion manufacturing partners. FastReactPlan will provide greater visibility and one version of the truth for all its capacity planning teams, so it can easily optimise efficiencies and eradicate problems quickly. Once the solution has been rolled out, we expect to deliver a 3% productivity improvement, quickly. We are honoured that FastReactPlan will play such an instrumental role in Searock’s digitization journey and we look forward to working with them on a long-term basis to ensure they achieve their business goals.”

Coats Digital Attains SOC 2 Type II Compliance – Achieving Global Gold Standard in Security Validation

Elli Karampela — Thu, 31 Aug 2023 13:17:19 +0000

Coats Digital - a leading digital transformation partner for the fashion supply chain - is delighted to announce its accreditation of SOC 2 Type II compliance, in accordance with the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) standards for SOC for Service Organisations. The AICPA certificate marks a significant milestone for Coats Digital following the successful completion of its independent SOC 2 Type II audit by Thoropass. This important step attests to Coats Digital’s ongoing commitment to delivering rigorous, industry-leading client data security and ensures an optimum experience for its rapidly growing roster of fashion supply chain partners across the globe. SOC2 (Service Organization Control 2) Type II is a widely recognised audit framework for evaluating the security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy of a service organisation's systems and processes. To achieve SOC2 Type II accreditation, Coats Digital underwent a rigorous nine-month audit process that involved documenting and testing its control environment, policies and procedures. John Powell, senior director of Product Engineering, Coats Digital, said: “This certification is an essential watershed for Coats Digital, particularly in the manufacturing industry, where security and privacy are critical. It demonstrates to customers and partners that our organisation takes data security and privacy seriously and has implemented the most robust measures possible to protect sensitive information. Successfully completing this external audit serves as independent validation of how Coats Digital processes all customer data with enterprise-level security and integrity through its internal systems, which cements our position as a leading provider of secure cloud governance for the fashion supply chain industry and confirms our ongoing commitment to remaining an advanced, trusted partner of choice.” The SOC 2 audit conducted by leading compliance experts, Thoropass, consisted of a nine-month-long inspection of Coats Digital’s systems and processes and affirms that the company’s infrastructure, software, people, data, policies, procedures and operations have been formally reviewed and meet the most rigorous data privacy and protection laws globally. Coats Digital’s goal is to quickly establish a valued ecosystem of superior, connected solutions that provide the real-time data insights and transparency that the fashion supply chain increasingly needs to deliver real growth, more efficient operations and meaningful sustainable practices across all its global concerns. SOC 2 Type II certification guarantees that scrupulous security measures are in place to successfully advance Coats Digital’s eco-system of market-leading solutions to support design and development, fabric optimisation, method-time-cost optimisation, production planning and control, and shopfloor execution. These solutions continue to deliver significant ROI to Coats Digital’s customers and ensure that their business processes are robust and secure, enabling them to adapt and withstand any market dynamics that evolve in the future.

Coats Digital Named as Finalists in Four Categories at The SaaS Awards 2023  

Elli Karampela — Tue, 22 Aug 2023 12:46:39 +0000

Coats Digital is delighted to announce that its unique, industry-changing time-cost benchmarking solution, GSDCost, has secured its place as a finalist in the prestigious 2023 SaaS Awards programme, competing in four award categories for Best SaaS for Improved Productivity, Best SaaS for Business Intelligence or Analytics, Best Data-Driven SaaS Product and Best SaaS Product for Product Analytics. Now celebrating its eighth year, The SaaS Awards continues to recognise and honour outstanding SaaS innovations from all corners of the world. Entries from hundreds of companies spanning North America, Canada, Europe, the Middle East, and Australasia were received. The programme boasts an array of categories for 2023, including ‘Bespoke SaaS Solution,’ ‘Best SaaS Product for Business Intelligence or Analytics,’ ‘Most Agile or Responsive SaaS Solution of the Year,’ and many others, showcasing SaaS solutions across industry verticals. Kunal Kapur, managing director, Coats Digital, said: “It is fantastic news that we have made it to the final stage in four categories at this year’s highly acclaimed SaaS Awards programme. We are truly honoured to be named alongside so many leading global organisations at this final stage. We are immensely proud of GSDCost, which is the only solution out there that enables brands and manufacturers to establish and optimise International Standard Method and Time (SMV)* Benchmarks by harnessing the power of the cloud to create a more collaborative, transparent and sustainable supply chain. We are dedicated to innovation at all levels of our business and GSDCost is a testament to this, having recently launched two new modules: Seamworks Cloud, a thread demand calculation tool; and a Fair Wage benchmark tool. We believe the introduction of our new Fair Wage tool will play an instrumental role in delivering a fairer living wage to all people working in the global apparel manufacturing sector – an industry sector which has much to redress with regard to its sustainability and corporate social responsibility reputation in the years to come.” (*SMV = Standard Minute Value) James Williams, head of operations at The SaaS Awards, said: “Each year, we see an explosion of competition and brilliant ideas in every submission. The finalists this year promise an exciting contest in the last stage of the program. Selecting the ultimate SaaS winner solutions among these exceptional entries will definitely be a challenging task. The organizations announced today as finalists, including Coats Digital, are clear evidence of the exceptional quality and level of innovation achieved this year. Our panel of judges is thrilled to acknowledge these world-class SaaS innovators.” The winners of The SaaS Awards will be notified on 13 September 2023. As The SaaS Awards 2023 received hundreds of entries from across the globe, the program promises to return in 2024, continuing its tradition of recognizing international SaaS excellence across various industries. To explore the complete list of finalists, please visit https://www.cloud-awards.com/2023-saas-awards-finalists/. The Cloud Awards are now accepting nominations for the 2023-2024 program, recognising excellence in cloud computing. The early entry deadline for The Cloud Awards is 1 September 2023. The Cloud Security Awards  will return in 2024 seeking the latest innovations in cloud security. Contact details For the Cloud Awards James Williams – head of operations https://www.cloud-awards.com/cloud-computing-awards/ james@cloud-awards.com

ApparelTech Improves Annual Productivity by 9% and Increases OTDP by 7% with Coats Digital’s FastReactPlan

Elli Karampela — Mon, 14 Aug 2023 10:16:05 +0000

Coats Digital is delighted to announce that, following the implementation of Coats Digital’s FastReactPlan solution, leading outdoor garment manufacturer ApparelTech Co.Ltd. has realised an annual productivity improvement of 9% and increased its on-time delivery performance by a further 7% since its adoption of FastReactPlan. The solution has enabled the company to connect and consolidate its planning and scheduling information across disparate sources into one highly visual, unified system, significantly reducing the people hours required on time-consuming manual tasks so that more time can be spent on enhancing customer service and driving new business growth. Founded in 2000, Seoul-headquartered apparel manufacturer, ApparelTech Co. Ltd. is a globally leading producer of expedition insulated and Down jackets, foul-weather clothing and lifestyle garments including vests, swim shorts and trousers for large retail brands such as Columbia Sportswear, VF, Timberland, Vans, Champion, Walmart, Lands’ End, Nautica, J.Crew, Costco and others. The company is headquartered in South Korea and has factories in Vietnam and Indonesia. ApparelTech produces over 11.5 million pieces a year and boasts an annual turnover of over $158m. Prior to implementing FastReactPlan, ApparelTech found that the lack of automation and real-time visibility in the production planning process not only meant there was limited information sharing between different departments, but also that manually produced capacity plans based on unreliable historical data, were time-consuming and cumbersome to produce, scattered across multiple sources, and did not deliver the accuracy required to make optimum production decisions. Jay Jung, Factory managing director, ApparelTech Co. Ltd., said: “As our product history and planning data was actioned and stored across many different departmental locations, it was not only difficult to find and collect specific product data, it was also exceptionally time-consuming to confirm product information, draw up production schedules and quickly confirm quotes and timings to customers. We also had no clear visibility to fully understand the production status of our 54 sewing lines, which meant a lot of unnecessary time was also spent trying to identify the status and availability of each production line in turn.” Following the implementation of FastReactPlan, ApparelTech’s planning and scheduling teams have quickly benefited from access to a single, unified source of real-time information, which provides all stakeholders with a comprehensive understanding of what production lines are available and the capabilities and limitations of each line. The solution has consequently enabled ApparelTech to easily compare and contrast different capacity plans and select the most optimal plan based on factors such as cost, efficiency and delivery time. J.W. KIM, CEO, ApparelTech Co. Ltd., added: “FastReactPlan has significantly optimised production efficiencies, supported OTDP improvements and helped reduce lead times including the order confirmation process. We have the comprehensive visibility we need to proactively predict problems and adjust product lines accordingly, which means effective line schedules can now be planned based on accurate order information and delivery expectations. FastReactPlan has surpassed all our expectations by improving our productivity efficiencies by an annual average of 9% and improving our delivery performance by 7%, which has impacted our profit margins in an extremely positive way. The automation of all our planning processes has also freed up time for staff to focus on other business-enhancing activities, such as supporting continuous improvement programmes, which have also helped to accelerate our business growth plans.” Part of Coats Digital’s core Manufacturing Solution Suite, FastReactPlan is a dynamic, visual production planning and control tool that optimises delivery, efficiency and lead times. Designed and developed specifically for footwear and apparel manufacturers, it helps companies integrate capacity, critical path and materials into an integrated planning system. Irene Won, Customer Success manager, Coats Digital, said: “We are absolutely delighted that ApparelTech has experienced such strong and consistent results since its adoption of FastReactPlan. The solution has provided greater visibility and one version of the truth for core sewing planning so that all relevant departments can communicate easily to eliminate problems quickly. We look forward to continuing to work closely with ApparelTech to ensure it remains a beacon of digitisation best practices across Asia-Pacific.”