In the fashion industry, the pressure to reduce the time to market from design to production is high. This blog post takes a look at how fashion companies can benefit from PDM in their ERP software solution.
Summary
PDM software is used to manage the design of a product. The process of product development requires ongoing recording and communicating details about a specific style.
ERP software is used to manage resources across departments in a business.
With PDM in ERP, you work with one source of truth.
The Difference Between PDM and ERP
PDM and ERP each have distinct purposes, but they also have a number of overlapping capabilities. By having these two IT systems work together, fashion companies can optimize their business.
The main differences between the IT systems can be described as follows:
PDM controls product information
It manages the design of a product. PDM software simplifies the otherwise complex procedure of entering, tracking, and sharing style information such as design drawings, colors, sizes, labels, and collections.
ERP controls resources
It helps the execution of how the physical product will be manufactured and sold. ERP software can help achieve product information management to some extent but not with the same level of specifications and visual displays as a PDM.
Issues With Two Separate Systems
For fashion companies, a short time to market is often crucial. If a company uses separate IT systems to manage data, issues can be:
- Data is not instantly available for relevant departments in the company
- Time is wasted while waiting for data to be copied from the PDM to the ERP
- Entering data from one system to another can result in error-prone information - especially if it is done manually
PDM and ERP with focus on fashion processes
Key Advantages of PDM in ERP
With PDM in your ERP, you centralize product data in one single software solution. You combine the product data from the design team with information from other departments, making it easier to automate related workflows and ensure product data is received by the right people, when and where it is required.
You can:
- Spend less time organizing and tracking design data
- Communicate effectively
- Minimize errors and wastage
- Significantly reduces time to market
- Improve productivity through reuse of product design data
- Gain visibility into the drivers of cost and profitability
ERP with focus on fashion processes
More Information
Find out more about the built-in PDM in TRIMIT Fashion or contact us for a free demo.