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Accelerate Product Development with Connected Workflows

DeSL’s Footwear Product Development Software gives teams a single source of truth across design, sourcing, and production. By digitizing workflows, automating manual steps, and improving visibility, brands can move from concept to market faster.

Digital Planning Boards help visualize product ranges, budgets, and timelines early in the season, giving managers a clear overview of progress. Automated workflows ensure that every stage, from prototype to commercialization, moves efficiently, keeping styles on track and reducing lead times.

This connected approach means decisions happen faster, errors decrease, and teams stay aligned with business goals.

Seamless Design Collaboration

Design teams need flexibility to experiment while staying connected to accurate development data. DeSL’s Adobe Illustrator Plugin integrates creative work directly into PLM, allowing designers to manage BOMs, sketches, and images within their familiar workspace.

Real-time updates flow instantly between design and development, ensuring accuracy across every record. This streamlined collaboration reduces repetitive tasks and allows more time for innovation and design refinement.

Why Supplier Collaboration Matters

Supplier relationships are no longer transactional, they’re strategic. Brands need vendors that deliver quality quickly and meet sustainability goals. Suppliers want speed, transparency, and reliable communication.

DeSL’s PLM vendor portal bridges this gap by transforming how brands and suppliers work together:

• Centralized vendor communication – Suppliers access only the styles, POs, and workflows relevant to them.
• Faster approvals – Real-time updates replace endless email threads.
• Improved quality – Compliance, testing, and sustainability data live in the same system.
• Stronger partnerships – Transparent collaboration reduces rework, costs, and missed deadlines.

Key Features of DeSL’s Vendor Portal

1. Secure, Role-Based Access

Vendors see only what they need, tech packs, testing results, or T&A calendars, building trust while protecting sensitive data.

2. Streamlined Communication

All messages, files, and approvals happen inside the PLM system. Teams no longer waste time searching inboxes for the latest version.

3. Digital Product Passport and Compliance Tracking

Vendors can enter sustainability and compliance data directly in the portal. This helps brands meet global regulations and prepare for Digital Product Passport (DPP) requirements.

4. End-to-End Visibility

Record every step, from getting materials to finished products, and make it easy to track. Both the brand and supplier can see this, which helps improve accountability and manage suppliers better.

Data Enrichment for Global Fashion Markets

Today’s fashion brands compete on a global stage. Products must be tailored for different regions, languages, and platforms, and that requires rich, accurate, and complete product information. DeSL’s product information management tools make it easy to enrich and expand your product data.

Powerful features include:

• Automated data entry that reduces repetitive work and speeds up workflows.
• Data validation tools to ensure product details are always accurate and up to date.
• Multilingual support to manage product data across international markets.

Data enrichment improves product accuracy and how items appear on e-commerce sites. It also boosts search visibility. This level of control is essential for fashion brands expanding into new markets or managing global assortments.

Workflow Automation: Streamline Every Step

Manual data management slows fashion brands down. DeSL’s workflow automation capabilities transform how product information flows through your business. Instead of spending hours on manual updates, teams can focus on creativity, innovation, and strategy.

Key automation benefits include:

• Fine-tuned data distribution to third-party sales, retail, and e-commerce channels.
• Automatically scheduled updates or trigger-based changes to product listings.
• Consistent, accurate product data across every platform and region.

Automated workflows reduce human error and improve efficiency. They ensure the product data reaches the right channel at the right time, whether it’s a marketplace, retail partner, or your own site.

Why Cloud-Based Infrastructure Matters

Cloud-based PLM is reshaping how fashion brands design, source, and deliver collections. It connects creative, technical, and supply chain teams in real-time, eliminating the disconnects that slow down seasonal development. Unlike legacy systems, it provides the flexibility and transparency needed to manage complex global operations.

A cloud-based fashion PLM gives brands the agility to react to changing trends, supplier delays, and shifting consumer demand. Updates to materials, color palettes, or product lines can be shared instantly across teams and vendors. This level of responsiveness helps reduce lead times and strengthens decision-making across the value chain.

The cloud also plays a vital role in advancing sustainability and compliance. By storing data in a single, accessible environment, brands gain the visibility to track certifications, monitor supplier performance, and integrate Digital Product Passport information. Centralized data supports transparency, ESG goals, and regulatory alignment.

Cloud infrastructure enhances collaboration across distributed teams. Designers, developers, and suppliers all work from one version of the truth, reducing rework and ensuring accurate communication. Whether teams are remote, hybrid, or global, cloud access ensures consistent progress on shared goals.

Key Benefits:
• Agility: Respond quickly to market shifts and design updates.
• Scalability: Add users, collections, or regions without major infrastructure changes.
• Cost efficiency: Eliminate expensive hardware and reduce maintenance overhead.
• Real-time collaboration: Global teams access live data anytime, anywhere.
• Sustainability: Centralize tracking for compliance, certifications, and environmental data.
• Security and control: Regular updates and encryption maintain enterprise-grade protection.
• AI and analytics: Cloud environments support forecasting, quality insights, and sustainability analysis.

DeSL’s cloud-based PLM delivers these capabilities natively. Built for fashion from the ground up, it connects every process, planning, design, sourcing, production, and sustainability, in a unified digital ecosystem. The result is a faster, smarter, and more transparent value chain ready for the future.

Upgrade or Replace: Making the Right Move

When reviewing your technology, consider:

• Upgrade if your platform supports scalability, AI, and cloud deployment. A clear PLM upgrade strategy can extend the life and value of your current system.
• Replace if your system lacks visibility, creates bottlenecks, or cannot meet compliance demands.

Tip: Strong PLM system preparation avoids disruption and ensures a smooth transition. Always align the decision with your 3–5 year business plan.

Planning Your Transition

A successful PLM strategy requires structured planning:

1. Define objectives such as faster time-to-market or improved supplier collaboration.
2. Select the right technology partner with proven fashion expertise.
3. Prioritise integration with ERP, CAD, e-commerce, procurement, and supply chain systems.
4. Train and empower teams to embrace cloud and AI adoption.
5. Track KPIs such as forecast accuracy, supplier responsiveness, and inventory turnover.

Including a clear PLM upgrade strategy in this process ensures your brand evolves smoothly without losing momentum.

Why It Matters

Fashion PLM and procurement platforms are strategic assets. With cloud and AI, they enable brands to:

• Launch collections faster
• Reduce waste and overproduction
• Strengthen ethical and sustainable supply chains
• Respond to real-time market changes
• Improve sourcing and margin control
• Scale operations globally

Configurable KPIs for Smarter Decisions

Every supply chain is different, so flexibility is key. DeSL’s SRM solution enables businesses to set configurable KPIs that match their unique goals. Brands can track approvals, monitor development stages, and gain insights into critical status updates. This performance visibility allows sourcing teams to make better decisions and quickly identify risks before they escalate.

Boosting Supplier Engagement

Strong relationships depend on open collaboration. DeSL’s SRM software provides vendors with self-service tools that streamline communication. Suppliers can easily upload and download documents, reducing delays and confusion. This digital connection fosters stronger partnerships and ensures that both sides stay aligned during every stage of production.

Integrating Digital Product Passport Data

Fashion brands face growing pressure to prove the sustainability of their products. DeSL’s SRM integrates Digital Product Passport (DPP) data directly into supplier workflows.

It makes it easy to capture details on raw materials and sustainability metrics. Brands can also track manufacturing origins and end-of-life guidance. The result is greater transparency for consumers and regulatory compliance for brands.

End-to-End Traceability

Consumers and regulators expect visibility from fiber to finished garment. DeSL’s SRM delivers end-to-end traceability, capturing records at every step of the supply chain. Brands can monitor materials and track production milestones. They can also verify quality standards to ensure that nothing loses its way.

Elevating Quality with Testing Integration

Quality control is critical to supply chain performance. With testing integration, DeSL’s SRM connects directly with product testing processes. The system receives reports seamlessly, ensuring that safety and quality standards meet requirements from start to finish. This reduces errors, prevents delays, and protects brand reputation.

Ensuring Compliance Through Vendor Audits

Modern supply chains face strict requirements for labor, safety, and sustainability. DeSL’s SRM supports compliance with built-in vendor audit tools. Brands can perform factory inspections, verify ethical labor practices, and minimize environmental risks. These features strengthen supply chain resilience and protect both workers and the planet.

Centralized Supplier Certification Management

Managing certifications can be overwhelming, especially across multiple regions and partners. DeSL’s SRM simplifies the process by centralizing documentation. Brands can track certifications such as GRS, WRAP, OKEO-TEX, Better Cotton Initiative (BCI), GOTS, and iQNET. This ensures that only approved and compliant vendors are part of the supply chain.

Transforming Supply Chains with SRM

Supplier Relationship Management is no longer optional, it is a vital part of supply chain digital transformation. DeSL’s PLM software with SRM combines collaboration, compliance, and traceability. It equips fashion brands with the right tools for success.

For businesses looking to improve supplier relationships, reduce risk, and embrace sustainable practices, DeSL provides the roadmap. DeSL’s modular solution works well with its larger PLM ecosystem. It is one of the best tools for supply chain optimization today.

Conclusion

In fashion, supply chain performance defines brand success. DeSL’s SRM software helps businesses strengthen supplier relationships, manage compliance, and deliver transparency. It integrates data across every stage of the lifecycle. It gives brands the confidence to move forward with speed and integrity.

If you want to empower your sourcing team and build a resilient supply chain, book a demo with DeSL today.

How Companies Achieve ISO 27001 Certification

ISO 27001 compliance is not a simple checklist, it is a structured process:

• Implement an ISMS: Companies must build an Information Security Management System that meets ISO 27001 standards.
• Provide Documentation. Brands must record and make processes and security controls auditable.
• Undergo Third-Party Audits: Independent auditors confirm that the system meets requirements.
• Maintain Ongoing Compliance: Certification lasts three years and requires yearly surveillance audits.

This process proves a long-term commitment to information security.

Why ISO 27001 Certification Matters

When evaluating software vendors, certification is proof of security. ISO 27001 compliance shows that your partner:

• Protects intellectual property and confidential data.
• Reduces risks of data breaches and cyberattacks.
• Meets regulatory and industry requirements.
• Embeds security into daily operations.

For fashion brands, this translates into stronger protection of sensitive designs and supply chain data security.

Step 1: Structure Your Product and Data

Think of PLM as the backbone of your product development process. Before loading data, define how products and materials will be tracked:

• Product types: Apparel, footwear, accessories, bags, and raw materials like fabric, trims, packaging, and labels.
• Organization: Products sorted by season, year, category, or gender.
• Materials: Fabrics, trims, and packaging classified consistently.
• Suppliers: Define whether you manage multiple tiers of suppliers.
• Colors and sizes: Decide how you’ll identify color codes, names, and size ranges.

💡 Pro Tip: Collect real examples including line plans, size ranges, and POM (Points of Measure) libraries. Mapping your current approval and costing processes saves time later.

Step 2: Clean Up Your Data

The effectiveness of a PLM system depends on the quality of the data entered into it. To avoid costly inconsistencies, clean and standardize:

• Fabric library
• Colors
• Trims
• Size ranges
• Supplier details
• Finished goods style data
• POM libraries and grade rules

Good data hygiene ensures accurate reporting and smoother PLM system preparation.

Step 3: Identify Your Implementation Team

A strong PLM rollout strategy requires the right team. Build a group that includes:

• Executive Sponsor: Provides leadership support and removes roadblocks.
• Project Manager: Keeps the timeline on track.
• Business Leads: Represent functional departments that will use PLM.
• Subject Matter Experts (SMEs): Share detailed process knowledge.
• IT Resources: Manage technical requirements and integration.

This balance of leadership, process knowledge, and technical support is critical for successful PLM project planning.

Step 4: Map Out Integration Needs

Fashion brands already rely on multiple systems like ERP, CAD, and eCommerce platforms. Successful PLM integration ensures these tools connect seamlessly. Plan for:

• Which systems need to connect with PLM.
• How often data should sync.
• Which tool will serve as the “system of record.”
• What data fields must integrate.

Planning integrations early reduces risks and ensures smoother workflows.

Why Digital Color Approvals Matter

Traditional color approval methods often result in multiple sampling rounds, delayed timelines, and costly rework. Manual tracking makes it hard to maintain visibility across suppliers and internal teams.

DeSL’s Digital Color Approvals and CLM software for fashion solve these issues by creating a fully digital ecosystem. With one platform, brands can:

• Automate color approvals with predefined tolerances.
• Streamline color approvals across suppliers and internal teams.
• Create and share color libraries for a single source of truth.
• Reduce waste, time, and costs while supporting sustainability goals.

This modern approach builds confidence that every approved color will match expectations throughout the supply chain.

The Role of Color Lifecycle Management Software

A strong fashion color management system should connect every part of the workflow. DeSL’s CLM solution supports this by integrating with PLM, suppliers, and testing tools. It enables:

• Digital color libraries that store and share accurate standards.
• Lifecycle tracking from initial selection to final production.
• Supplier collaboration with real-time visibility and shared data.
• Configurable KPIs that monitor performance and highlight bottlenecks.

By capturing every stage in one system, brands achieve transparency, consistency, and traceability.

How Automation Improves Color Accuracy

Color approvals are often slowed down by manual decision-making. DeSL’s software removes this barrier by using automation to match digital standards.

• Spectrophotometer integration at the factory ensures precise measurement.
• Predefined tolerances allow the system to automatically accept or reject submissions.
• Fewer sample iterations mean reduced waste, faster approvals, and lower costs.

Automation not only speeds up workflows but also enforces accuracy across global supply chains.

The Problem With Fragmented Workflows

Many fashion brands still work in silos. Designers create concepts in 3D tools.

Developers manage specifications in spreadsheets or outdated PLM systems. Color approvals happen via email. Suppliers update BOMs and costing in separate systems.

This creates lost time, duplicated effort, costly mistakes, and delayed deliveries. An “end-to-end” solution that covers only part of the journey doesn’t fix the issue, it just moves the bottleneck somewhere else.

What an End-to-End Solution Should Deliver

A true end-to-end PLM solution should connect every stage of the product lifecycle with a single source of truth:

• Creative Ideation to Digital Design – Designers build concepts in 2D/3D tools and feed data instantly into PLM.
• Color and Material Management – Automated digital color approvals and lifecycle management prevent bottlenecks in sourcing and dyeing.
• Product Development and Costing – BOMs, cost sheets, and specifications update in real time, reducing errors and supporting smarter decisions.
• Supplier Collaboration – Vendors and mills work inside the same system, eliminating inefficiencies from spreadsheets and back-and-forth emails.
• Production and Supply Chain Visibility – With critical path tracking in fashion, brands see progress from concept to delivery, shorten lead times, and improve agility.

Why It Matters

When every function, from design to sourcing to delivery, is digitally connected, brands gain:

• Speed to Market – Faster approvals and fewer sample rounds.
• Cost Savings – Less rework, reduced physical samples, and improved efficiency.
• Sustainability – Less waste, fewer shipments, and better data-driven sourcing.
• Scalability – Ability to grow without multiplying manual processes.

This is more than ticking boxes. It’s about building a digital workflow that transforms how fashion operates.