Clothier taps retail specialist Freeborders for PLM solutions to improve production processes and collaborate more efficiently
San Francisco, CA — July 15, 2004 — Outdoor clothing company Woolrich is set to use product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions from Freeborders to improve communications internally and with suppliers, and to speed its outerwear and sportswear to market.
Founded in 1830 and based in the eponymous Woolrich, Penn., Woolrich is the nation's oldest continuously operating apparel marketer and manufacturer, offering a variety of sportswear, outerwear and hunting wear, as well as home and outdoor living products. The company was one of the first to use zippers in men's trousers, and it invented the railroad vest and red and black buffalo shirt.
The clothier has signed up to use Freeborders' FB Product Manager, FB Fabric & Trim and FB Designer solutions for PLM. Freeborders said that FB Product Manager enables real-time coordination between retailers, brands and their entire supply chains, helping to shorten the product lifecycle.
In addition, with raw materials accounting for the majority of product development lead-time and 30-50 percent of the cost of a finished product, FB Fabric & Trim, a Web-based application, can help lower costs by aggregating raw materials across product lines and increasing quality by ensuring every product has the right physical standard, color, print, weave, composition, fiber content and costing, according to Freeborders.
"Using Freeborders integrated solutions to collaborate internally and with suppliers via the Web in real time will help us accelerate all of our development processes," said Charles Aides, Woolrich senior vice president of manufacturing and sourcing.
Other brands and retailers currently using Freeborders software and services include Dillard's, DuPont, Gap, J. Crew, L.L. Bean and Lands' End. Freeborders is headquartered in San Francisco.
San Francisco, CA — July 15, 2004 — Outdoor clothing company Woolrich is set to use product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions from Freeborders to improve communications internally and with suppliers, and to speed its outerwear and sportswear to market.
Founded in 1830 and based in the eponymous Woolrich, Penn., Woolrich is the nation's oldest continuously operating apparel marketer and manufacturer, offering a variety of sportswear, outerwear and hunting wear, as well as home and outdoor living products. The company was one of the first to use zippers in men's trousers, and it invented the railroad vest and red and black buffalo shirt.
The clothier has signed up to use Freeborders' FB Product Manager, FB Fabric & Trim and FB Designer solutions for PLM. Freeborders said that FB Product Manager enables real-time coordination between retailers, brands and their entire supply chains, helping to shorten the product lifecycle.
In addition, with raw materials accounting for the majority of product development lead-time and 30-50 percent of the cost of a finished product, FB Fabric & Trim, a Web-based application, can help lower costs by aggregating raw materials across product lines and increasing quality by ensuring every product has the right physical standard, color, print, weave, composition, fiber content and costing, according to Freeborders.
"Using Freeborders integrated solutions to collaborate internally and with suppliers via the Web in real time will help us accelerate all of our development processes," said Charles Aides, Woolrich senior vice president of manufacturing and sourcing.
Other brands and retailers currently using Freeborders software and services include Dillard's, DuPont, Gap, J. Crew, L.L. Bean and Lands' End. Freeborders is headquartered in San Francisco.
