Why flexibility is needed
Designer/manufacturer’s vision, managers’ vision and customer vision usually has differences; customers/managers need to be able to see products in their different iterations, so they can correct course for the manufacturer if needed
What the product developer thinks will sell in the market may not actually sell, due to competition, trends and other factors
Deal with rapid changes in customer tastes and buying power
Cheaper materials to respond to profit loss
Don’t want to stock too much unsold product back into the warehouses (which may never sell); but instead make just enough to meet customer demand
Deal with volatile supply chains, especial in the retail, footwear and apparel (RFA) industry. The process is not centralized, resulting in multiple versions of a product, needless duplication of effort, and an overall lack of control of the process. See below:
Product design and development flexibility
Keeping a single source of truth for all products
Being able to change product design, material or price without needing to have meetings to do so
Being able to pivot products quickly with customer demand/other unforeseen circumstances
Supply chain flexibility
Single source of truth between companies on supply chain
Tracking product activity along supply chain, so that products can be priced fairly & proper credit can be attributed to the suppliers who actually did the work.
Manufacturing flexibility
Schedule production based on demand, current/past sales, and factory availability.
FlexPLM (flexible product lifecycle management) brings process automation control to the dynamic RFA industry, bringing a structured, centralized, and controlled approach to the RFA enterprise.
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