SoftShoeStyle delivers the benefits of a PLM system without the cost and effort usually associated with critical applications. SoftShoeStyle is designed for the Footwear industry.

Features

  • Designed specifically for footwear product development
  • Intuitive: short learning curve, better user acceptance
  • Easy-to install
  • Inexpensive, subscription-based
  • No long-term commitment
  • Upgrade possibility to enterprise-focused SoftShoe

Benefits

 Low Total Cost of Ownership

  • One Version of the TruthOne database ensures accurate information.
  • Reduced Learning Curve
  • Intuitive interface gets users up and running quickly.
  • Always Up-to-Date Style Specs
  • Never again will anyone have the wrong spec resulting in delivery of an incorrect sample.
  • Line Calendar to Drive On-Time Product Development
  • Events such as Line Review or Vendor meetings can be added.  A fixed set of critical development milestones can also be viewed and tracked.
  • Increased Efficiency & Productivity
  • Automated samples requests, tech packs, emails, blog exhanges and cost estimates makes the administration end of development easier.
  • Migration Path Upward
  • Upgrade possible to enterprise-focused SoftShoe

Affordable annual subscription fee, no long-term commitment and easy to install.

SoftShoeStyle distills this knowledge of the industry, technology and business processes. Our criteria in developing SoftShoeStyle:

  • Scope: Focus on Product Development – Line Planning through Sample Request
  • Keep it Simple: although the programming is very sophisticated, what you see is very intuitive. The dashboard-concept screen leverages our familiarity with dozens of company’s internal Line Plan sheets and Spec packages
  • Ease of Installation: Many companies cannot afford to spend more than a single season implementing a disruptive technology that the users have to be cajoled into using.
  • Cost: SoftShoeStyle is available on a annual subscription basis, limiting your cost outlay and long-term exposure.

PLM

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) is a way to describe solutions that focus on reducing the costs of developing, marketing, selling and supporting a product. Distinct from CRM, SCM or ERP.  PLM is product-centric.  SoftShoeStyle focuses on Product Development. This means that all information about a product by consolidated in a single location yet accessible to all. SoftShoeStyle extends the concept of Product Information beyond descriptive items like Construction, Upper Materiel and Last to include:

  • Line Planning: a hierarchical view UP to projected FOB, volumes, launch dates and margins.
  • Plan (Product Brief): a constant link to the target and inspiration for the Style
  • Materials and Components:  add components and materials on the fly, re-use them for other Specs
  • Graphics: A Bill of Materials goes only so far, you may need to support the Spec with callouts, line drawings, sketches, photos of print samples, logo details, pattern cutting and stitching details.
  • Blog: style-level blogging lets you create a communications thread at the style-level, rather than in disjointed and combined e-mails discussions.
  • Finance: Link a quick roll-up of projected cost
  • Calendar and Events: Integrated calendar is updated when events are updated at the Style-level

The problem with spreadsheets

As a quick and easy solution, many companies use a combination of spreadsheets and e-mail to manage their line planning and Style development.  Although spreadsheets can work at a high-level for Line Planning, as soon as you start e-mail copies to people as To Do lists and status reports, you lose control. For Product Development, spreadsheets allow creativity but are not effective for status control, change management or coordinated communication. Information about Styles is scattered across e-mails, spreadsheets, computers and continents.  And in both cases, information in spreadsheets is, by definition, not in a database. The information you spent so much time inputting and updating cannot be used with a reporting tool to give you status, performance, comparison and KPI reporting.

The spreadsheet/e-mail solution is fast and cheap but

  • Critical information is not accessible to the people who need it the most.
  • Spreadsheets lacked capability to track the same styles and SKUs across different lines simultaneously
  • No methodology for making decisions and improvements
  • Cumbersome to reconcile different version, not way to prove updates are correct

SoftShoeStyle

SoftShoeStyle provides an affordable, pay-as-you-go solution that addresses all of these issues. It is specifically designed for small to mid-sized footwear companies, multi-category retailers, and design offices that need a more affordable, less complex solution than traditional PLM packages. It provides a complete, yet flexible methodology for controlling line management from initial design brief and planning to style development and sampling, margin analysis and then right through to commercialization.  SoftShoe Style™ provides a single location to consolidate all of your design brief data, style specifications, images, sketches and tracking spreadsheets into one integrated solution. It is a Internet-based application allowing you to give your lines, plans, styles, specifications and sample information visibility throughout the organization from any location. SoftShoe Style™ operates on the open source database, MySQL which is easy to install and a robust, secure environment allowing you to have confidence your information is protected.

SoftShoe Style™ has a complete process methodology

  • Initiate, manage and track style specifications, samples, costs, margin analysis as well as critical events and stage approvals throughout the process.
  • Work from the same set of data, which is always up to date.  Eliminate outdated, inconsistent and redundant Specs, sample requests, and status updates that may be on separate computers around the globe.
  • Use an intuitive interface that eases user transition.  Internal staff can quickly learn SoftShoe Style        
  • Best practices, methods and technologies such as collaborate line, plan and style management, visualization, blogging and enterprise application integration are incorporated into the application.   
  • Offers a cost-effective, fixed scope, subscription-based solution.
  • Rapid, streamlined low-cost implementation.
  • Leverages the industry knowledge and proven technical skills of Global Trading Systems.
  • Maximize ROI by highlighting and eliminating inefficiencies within product development and sampling.
  • Provides visibility to key areas in the product development process.
  • Prevent product errors before they occur – wrong color, price, style #  
  • Increased throughput and staff efficiency.
  • Improved line control.
  • Ensure the current version of the specification is always available.
  • Integrated graphics, attachments and style-level blogs consolidate all information about a product.
  • Integrates and improves sample request process.
  • Personalized and configurable data views.
  • Minimal IT investment. Leverages existing Internet connections and network. Runs on MySQL database, optional hosting service.
  • Upgrade possibility to SoftShoe, allows you to streamline the PD department and processes, then the enterprise