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THIS MONTH'S TOPIC
Focus on Supply Chain
PUBLISHER'S NOTE
THE VISIBLE FUTURE
In today's retail pressure cooker, it's all about doing a better job of
developing and delivering the right products faster. So many supply
chain components come into play in this quest - product development,
managing the product lifecycle, sourcing and logistics and
more.
Visibility is a word we hear so often in
discussing these operational areas, specifically in that technology
solutions can offer visibility into each step of the supply chain
process. But what of visibility between and across
these processes? Can greater collaboration and better tools move us to
a point where technology actually fosters a real partnership and
relationship between retailer and supplier? Can a visibility "bridge"
be built between every link in the supply chain?
We
may not be there yet, but we're certainly on our way. Read this month's
Executive Issues to learn more about how new expectations for
collaboration, sourcing and visibility are shaping the supply chain of
the future.
Publisher
sblack@apparelmag.com
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It is no longer acceptable to take two years to bring a new product to market; the profitable life cycle of merchandise continues to shrink. Some of this compression is self-induced as retailers and their partners have driven up the rate of new product introductions, switching out merchandise every four to eight weeks in an effort to improve merchandise turn rates.
Compression is also a byproduct of the digital "I want it now" era dominated by "I want it now" consumers, who expect new sexy fashions and new sexy digital appliances every three to four weeks. Pressure to be relevant to this new breed of consumer drives the need for more speed.
To read the full article, click here.
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contributed by Paula Rosenblum, Managing Partner, Retail Systems Research, LLC
prosenblum@rsrresearch.com
 When a retail organization makes an investment in a software solution - such as product lifecycle management (PLM) - that impacts critical business units, return on investment is anticipated - and expected.
However, the probable business value of most solutions is likely not as clear-cut as the buyer would like it to be. Even when there are clear benefits, and case studies have illustrated remarkable payback, the range of reported benefits can be extremely wide and there is no generally agreed-upon model for predicting ROI. Many buyers mistakenly believe that numbers, and only numbers, determine return on investment.
To read the full article, click here.
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contributed by Gary M. Barraco, Senior Manager, Marketing and Alliance Development, ecVision
gbarraco@ecvision.com
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