Managing manufacturing
Keeping tabs on the manufacturing process via the web
By AndreaMcKenna
Getting its own line of leather goods and apparel from tanneries in Europe
to factories in Asia to its 909 stores in the U.S. is a complicated process
for Wilsons The Leather Experts Inc. With 12 zone offices in Southeast Asia
handling the factories that produce its goods, the Minneapolis-based company,
like other retailers that manufacture their own products, has a huge job in
keeping track of what the factories are making, what obstacles have arisen in
the manufacturing process and how those obstacles will affect the shipping date
for goods.
Take one example of the volume of information that goes back and forth: Communicating
orders and specs from Minneapolis to Wilsons’ Hong Kong operation, which
is the main liaison office with the Southeast Asian offices. “We had to
double and triple handle purchase orders and specifications, which meant e-mails
and phone calls going to our main office in Hong Kong,” says Bill Zajack,
project manager of Wilsons’ sourcing system. “The Hong Kong office
would in turn re-input that information and pass it on to the factories. Any
changes also had to go through that process.”
Other parts of the manufacturing process were similarly cumbersome. Wilsons
had taken a stab at streamlining seven years ago when it moved from a mainframe
environment to a client-server network. “We decided to move to client-server
systems to be nimble and to be able to scale,” says Jeff Orton, CIO and
vice president of logistics at Wilsons. “At the same time we had developed
our own system to handle overseas operations. But it became difficult to run
with a client server system.”
That difficulty forced Wilsons executives to look elsewhere. And where they
focused was on the Internet, which they believed could play a role in smoothing
out communications and operations. And so they turned to New Generation Computing
Inc. for its e-SPS sourcing software that promised to cut the time and expense
out of the normal process of organizing factory sourcing, production and delivery
in various locations around the globe.
The sourcing software tracks orders, distributes product specifications and
reports real-time updates throughout the production process. It allows all parties
involved in creating and manufacturing products to have real-time access to
one document that keeps track of the process, which can be from five to 25 steps
just in pre-production, via the Internet. The web-based program saved significant
time just in the one small piece of communicating orders and specs from headquarters
to Hong Kong. “Cutting that process out saves 28 hours per week,”
Zajack reports.
And there are benefits at the back end as well. Unlike the current process
which often does not reveal problems or mistakes until someone realizes the
end delivery date will be affected, the system highlights problems so everyone
knows what is causing the delays and who is responsible. And it standardizes
the way in which various managers respond to problems and how they alert the
next links in the chain to situations that could delay manufacturing.
A big deal
For example, a lab dip to determine a fabric’s color that does not match
the required sample holds up dying the fabric until the lab dip is corrected
and approved. In the past, communicating the results of the lab dip and the
steps to correct it would have taken mail, faxes, e-mails and telephone calls.
But now, everyone in the process can know there’s a problem right away
and take steps more quickly to correct it. “Not getting something on time
kills the retailer’s profit,” says Fred Isenberg, vice president of
sales at New Generation Computing. “Having end-to-end visibility from pre-production
through delivery allows a manufacturer to anticipate and be prepared for delays,
rather than being forced only to react to the problem.”
“This product is changing the way we look at doing things,” Orton
says. “It’s a big deal in the context of how business systems work.”
Wilsons tested the software in the fall and started rolling out to the second
of 12 zone offices in Southeast Asia this spring. “It’s cool how well
the medium works,” Orton says.
E-SPS runs on a web browser that does all the work individuals used to do manually
via phone, fax and mail. Instead of having to re-type product specifications
and progress reports into Excel files or from the mainframe system in Minneapolis
to the office in Hong Kong, all they have to do to check up on an order is log
onto the online system. “The way the screens are laid out is intuitive
and repetitive in nature and every screen looks the same,” Isenberg says.
“Once you learn one task on the system you can do any other task because
it follows the same intuitive pattern.”
But this not only makes getting information easier, it also makes setting up
new factory locations and training local managers easier. Sourcing executives
can train employees over the phone, walking employees through the web-based
system instead of having to travel overseas to the factory, Isenberg says. Cutting
out travel and communications expenses, while not yet tallied up by Wilsons,
clearly saves money and frees up management from what Wilsons calls “non
value-added work.”
Easier connection
A further benefit that Wilsons sees is that suppliers have an easier time connecting
to the Wilsons system, which in turn will allow them to reduce their costs and
make it easier to do business with them. “With this system there is virtually
no cost to our vendors,” says Steve Waller, Wilsons vice president of sourcing.
“All the vendors need is a browser and they’re up in five minutes.
Our vendors are happy because other retailers use homegrown systems and require
them to do it their way.”
Wilsons plans to make the workflow process even easier by providing access
via cell phone, PDA or wireless laptop, a move that should save the company
money on providing hardware for its traveling employees and those that work
locally in foreign markets. Quality control managers, for instance, who travel
from factory to factory to approve goods before final production and shipment
also need to manage a huge flow of information that would previously be tracked
manually on spreadsheets and faxed or e-mailed back and forth from the main
office.
“A quality control auditor might visit factories in five to 10 countries
in a matter of three weeks,” Isenberg says. “With e-SPS all they need
to access updated information for quality control requirements is a web connection.”
Waller envisions a much easier time managing these employees as well: “If
I can download information to a wireless device and have it in real-time at
a relatively low cost then I can equip everyone in the field with a device that
keeps them connected,” he says.
Speed and flexibility
Neither Wilsons nor New Generation will discuss the cost of shifting from Wilsons’
existing system to a web-based system. But Waller says the benefits come not
just from squeezing out costs such as multiple re-inputting of information into
various programs but also from the speed with which Wilsons can respond to market
changes. “Forget the cost savings and time savings—we gain a lot of
mobility, flexibility and better data accuracy from this system,” Waller
says. “If our merchants decide to make a new product or if we have a new
factory open up in a new place, we can have it all up and running within an
hour. All anyone needs is a web browser.” Waller himself notes that he
has eliminated two hours a day he once spent updating projects via e-mail and
other communications.
New Generation says its product can be affordable to companies of any size.
“We have $40-million-a-year businesses using it and we have very big companies
using it,” Isenberg says.
E-SPS has nine modules retail manufacturers can choose from that cover product
development, RFQs and bids, production calendar, production tracking, collaboration
communication alerts, packing, shipment tracking, exception reporting and an
executive information and reporting system.“
The Internet has made it possible to change the way manufacturers do business,”
says Alan Brooks, New Generation’s president. “Before this type of
product was available manufacturers had to spend millions setting up shop in
different countries and building their own infrastructure to manage it.”
In today’s retail climate, where retailers themselves are looking to develop
their own private label products, this software tool can provide new opportunities.
“Now it costs pennies to connect via the Net and it makes manufacturing
entirely possible,” he says.
andrea@verticalwebmedia.com
