Collaborative material management key to profits in retail

ecVision Suite's Collaborative Material Management Best Practice helps brands, retailers and suppliers work closely together to deliver more innovative products, manage the sampling and testing process, as well as plan, forecast and reserve raw materials. All of these processes are included in this application that also features functional and reporting tools to get the job done with greater ease.

"Every product is only as good as the components used to build them and the cost of raw materials is the largest factor in an FOB price. Inflation of these costs is a financial concern to many manufacturers and retailers," said Jenny Roman, Product Manager for ecVision.

"Collaborating with raw material suppliers at the start of a product lifecycle is the most effective way to keep costs down and gain competitive advantage. But collaborative material management is a complex task given a retailer's international organizational structure and current infrastructure. By standardizing product development processes across diverse organizational teams and the international supply chain, best practices can be implemented to maximize efficiency, while reducing costs and time-to-market."

According to a Kurt Salmon survey of retailers in the US released in August 2012, 42% of the respondents feel raw material purchasing/consolidation is a cost savings strategy that can dramatically effect sourcing operations. Such strategies can significantly reduce the development cycle for new styles and speed up the replenishment cycle for existing styles.

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