This time last year, we looked at the Fashion Revolution movement and its clarion call for transparency across fashion supply chains. Since then, the movement has gained even more momentum; 2017 numbers reflect greater participation on social media with more consumers asking #whomademyclothes, and more workers posting photos of themselves replying, #imadeyourclothes. 

Crucially, more brands are responding to the demand for transparency. 2017’s Fashion Revolution Week had over 1,000 mainstream clothing brands respond to #whomademyclothes, up from around 400 the previous year. It’s a safe bet that this form of engagement will keep growing in the coming years. So the real question becomes, what’s next?

Eight out of 10 consumers expect to receive regular updates about the status of their orders, according to a new survey from YouGov and the Infor GT Nexus Commerce Network. In this episode of Supply Chain Radio, Matt Gunn and Greg Kefer dive into the data and discuss why supply chain visibility is more important than ever.

Even successful suppliers, who have some of the world’s leading brands as clients, face challenges in having enough working capital to cover the cost of their operations. Unico Global Inc. is a major outdoor apparel producer that had to navigate the tricky business of accepting its buyers’ extended payment terms while also maintaining enough working capital to operate effectively.

It used to be there were just two seasons in the fashion calendar. Then it was four. And now, well, some brands seem to introduce a new collection each week.

Why? Because consumers are highly connected, draw inspiration from a world of influencers and media, and are hungry for new products, more variety, greater customization, and the ability to make purchases whenever and wherever they want. It’s placed the fashion industry under constant pressure to produce fresh, original, and distinctive products – quickly, and at often at the lowest possible price.

But the supply chain isn’t short, and planning, sourcing, and production take time. Yet many brands still rely on decades-old software to get the job done. These legacy systems were built for on premises installation, are often highly customized, and lack the connectivity or scalability brands need to quickly adapt to the latest trends and get their suppliers and factories up to speed along the way.

What are three things brands should look for in their core planning software?

Derek du Preez with Diginomica sits down with Infor Retail SVP Corey Tollefson to discuss why some of the world’s largest retailers are opting for Infor.

Infor branched into retail as one of its core industry focuses just a short few years ago. In that time, it has signed the likes of Whole Foods, Arcadia Group, Nordstrom, DSW and Nike to its next-generation, cloud-based solutions. There are other big names on the way.

Why are retailers flocking to a vendor that has been in the game for a relatively short amount of time? We got the chance to sit down with Infor Retail SVP Corey Tollefson, who told us that within 90 days of launching the retail division, without having written a single line of code, the company had signed 6 new customers worth $150 million in bookings.

Your customers rely on you for the ingredients they need to produce some of the world's best-known food and beverage brands. Because the success of your customers depends on innovation and your ability to deliver the exact product they ordered, your business needs to be a leader in agility and continuous improvement.

Want to learn more about what drives formula agility for food ingredients and how you can maintain operational efficiency while optimizing your formulas?

This latest release of M3 creates a great option for Infor customers on older ERPs to move to the most powerful
solution for Process Manufacturers. With the flexibility of deploying on-premise, or in the cloud, Infor M3 can meet
the needs of nearly any size process-manufacturing customer. Infor Consulting Services is available to help make
your migration fast and economical, while also assisting you in minimizing or even eliminating any customizations
you may have had in your older solutions. If your current ERP appears to be past its shelf life, now is the time to investigate all that M3 can provide for you.

By Greg Kefer, VP marketing, Infor

OK, I realize the headline is a bit loaded, but I got inspired after coming across a market study by Geodis that found only 6% of companies claim to have “full visibility” across their supply chains. This mirrors other studies that point to a consensus that while visibility is universally desired, few companies have it completely figured out.

Part of the challenge is defining what supply chain visibility actually is. According to Gartner, it has more than 100 software vendors on its radar that claim to have some kind of supply chain visibility offering, which means visibility into a distribution center, or plan, or plant, or region, or transport mode, or some performance KPIs would count.

Some companies have figured out visibility, and are driving tens of millions of dollars in value. But a lot of companies are on a long journey to achieve a vision. The complexities of any global supply chain are daunting, but the cost of doing nothing is too great to ignore. You cannot compete if you operate in the dark.