Built with the unique requirements of fashion in mind, Gerber Fashion Lifecycle Management provides the collaborative framework for the fashion industry’s increasingly geographically dispersed operations and vendors. With it, users can identify and eliminate tasks that fail to add value, immediately see what part of the process needs attention, and streamline product lifecycles to reduce costs and increase speed to market.

“Consumer expectations drive design changes faster in fashion than in any other industry today,” said Holly Beum, director, software product management, Gerber Technology. “Gerber Fashion Lifecycle Management was developed specifically to meet the pressures that brands and retailers of apparel, footwear, accessories such as jewelry and handbags, home furnishings such as linens, floor coverings and furniture face everyday.”

The Gerber FLM Difference

Fashion Lifecycle Management integrates three essential layers: Design, Product Data Management and Information Collaboration. Each layer is comprised of plug-n-play software that provides modular functionality. Customers can start with any component and add capabilities as needs grow. Those already using WebPDM can carry forward their existing data and processes into FLM. This evolutionary architecture protects and extends software and training investments.

The Design layer contains the software used for conceptual development (such as Corel Draw® or Adobe Illustrator® and Gerber’s Vision Fashion Studio), pattern development (AccuMark PDS), grading (AccuMark GMS), marking (AccuNest™), and three-dimensional prototyping (V-Stitcher). 

The Product Data Management layer captures and catalogs the design layer information for use by all other departments. WebPDM for FLM is the latest evolution of Gerber’s WebPDM, the leading and most proven web-based Product Data Management (PDM) system available for fashion. Materials, specifications, costing and sourcing requirements, image management, workflow and more are controlled and shared across the enterprise using WebPDM for FLM. It maintains all component libraries containing technical specifications, color management, multi-dimensional Bill of Material and costing. It also manages line assortment and storyboarding images, data and full reporting.

The Information Collaboration layer, enabled by FLM, effectively controls and manages information throughout the global supply chain. It consists of robust workflow, sample tracking, partner licensing and integration tools that disseminate the necessary information to retailers, brand developers, suppliers and factories that need to interact with the data. These new elements are the critical pieces that extend WebPDM to the level of Fashion Lifecycle Management™:

§        FLM Workflow coordinates scheduling and enables communication for all lifecycle processes. It offers seamless integration to WebPDM functions and existing data.