Pebblestone Fashion Modules
Wholesale/Distribution
This is the base module, required for every installation of Pebblestone Fashion. It contains the complete setup of Item Variants and dimensions, Matrix views and entry screens, Prices per variant and SKU information per variant. These aspects are implemented in the Inventory, Sales, Purchases, Manufacturing and Logistic functionalities of Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Besides this, several special fashion functionalities are included in this base module. These mainly concern the Presales process which is so characteristic for the fashion industry, like replacing items in sales orders with other items, registering the quantities not delivered in the end with reason codes, saving historic sales orders to be able to compare them with the next presales, etc.
Manufacturing
The manufacturing module of Pebblestone Fashion substantially enriches the manufacturing functionality of standard Microsoft Dynamics NAV. Besides introducing the matrix views as mentioned earlier, it makes working with many variants of individual models within the manufacturing part much easier. For example: Creating detailed BOM’s per variant just requires the setup of one standard BOM and entering a few smart settings. A push on the button... and the system does the rest. Planning procedures (MPS/MRP) are taken from the most detailed level of style/color/size to the accumulated level of styles where necessary. BOM’s can be adjusted to specific customer requirements on an individual order level. When the required adjustments have a structural character, they can be laid down in private label templates that apply to every order of a customer.
Remote Sales
Most fashion companies have their sales agents or representatives “on the road”. Either in showrooms or at the customer’s site, they take their seasonal and direct orders. The “remote sales” module enables them to do this in an off-line situation, using exactly the same software as on the central system at the headquarters. Through an import and export setup, which is both simple and effective, the required information is sent back and forth between lap tops and central system, using XML files.
Advanced forecasting
When, after a few weeks of presales, decisions have to be made on the quantities to produce or purchase, making the correct estimates for the final results of the total presales period is very difficult. This granule supplies a comprehensive tool that supports the user in making these decisions. It compares the situation in this presales period with the last comparable one. Did we get more or less customers than a year earlier? What did they buy on average? What developments do we see in product groups within the collection? The calculated estimates can be set up using positive, average and negative scenarios. What if the development until now will continue during the rest of the presales period, what if not? In the end the decisions are up to the user, but the system supplies the results of simulating the different scenarios.
Sales Targets and Analysis
The possibilities in the financial accounting system to set targets and follow results are always abundant. But for fashion companies they do not offer enough, because you can only look back, after your orders have been shipped and invoiced. Since there is a long period between taking the orders and actually delivering them to your customers (up to even 5 to 6 months!), fashion companies need tools to set sales targets and follow the results of the presales in a very flexible way. This module enables you to set up your sales targets and follow results from any point of view, based on customer and item information, and view the results on-screen.
Vendor Rating
Fashion companies have a high level of dependency on their suppliers. Therefore it is required to be able to evaluate the achievements of each vendor in a structured way. Objective aspects like meeting the promised delivery dates, delivering the correct quantities and charging the agreed prices are easy to measure from the information the system supplies. Other aspects have a more subjective character but can be as important. In this module, the user can define as many subjective evaluation aspects as required and register the results per supplier, purchase/production order and/or receipt. Printing the results of both the objective and subjective aspects over a specific period gives a clear view of the achievements per supplier per aspect over the specific period.
Logistic Service Providers
The core business of fashion companies is to design, market and sell apparel, footwear, sporting goods or accessories. Physically getting these items to their customers is not. Other companies are specialized in that part of the process. As a result, many fashion companies make use of the service of other companies to carry out the warehouse management and physical distribution activities. Information on expected receipts, actual stocks and planned deliveries should be exchanged between the systems of the fashion company and the service provider on a regular basis. This module enables the user to set up the structure of information exchange completely by entering parameter values and without having to create any program code.
Product Data Management, PDM
The collection cycle of fashion companies starts with design. Creative people working with old fashioned pencil and paper or advanced CAD/CAM programs create the items of the new collection. Immediately after that, all technical details of the products have to be established and recorded. This is done in a PDM (Product Data Management) system. Bills of Materials, details of used fabrics and accessories, size specifications, washing and packing instructions, pictures and sketches… everything needs to be entered into the system. The end goal is to be able to supply the production site with fully detailed and complete instructions on how to produce the items. The PDM module of Pebblestone Fashion covers this process fully integrated with all the other business processes.
Box Logistics
Assortments are a well known phenomenon in the fashion industry. These are fixed combinations of different colors and sizes of an item in one box, which are sold to all customers in the same way. More and more, however, customers require their own combination of colors and sizes in a carton, and often even different ones for different categories of shops. Besides this, it is required that these flexible customer-driven assortments are defined and created as early as possible in the logistic process, enabling them to handle shipments at carton level by bar code scanning as much as possible, instead of having to handle every item individually. Pebblestone Fashion’s “Box logistics” is a module that enables the user to work by this principle from production site to shop floor.
Consignment
More and more, retail customers require their suppliers to stock their shop floors without actually invoicing the goods. This can be either in “shop-in-shop” concepts or within any normal shop. After the retailer has sold the goods, these actual quantities are communicated to the supplier. Only these may be charged to the retailer. The additional functionality, that enables the temporary stockage of goods in a separate location and easy invoicing afterwards, is supplied by the consignment module.
Product Lifecycle Management
Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) can help to follow an item during the different steps of development. This makes it possible to see which actions are required for an item and/or by a specific user. It will also provide information on bottlenecks and delivery problems that can be expected. It is possible to use e-mail notifications to warn a user or manager when certain steps should be taken.