Fortune 500 Apparel Manufacturer Embraces TrackVia Company-Wide

Seasonal data entry that spreadsheets could not carry

Like many manufacturing organizations, this Fortune 500 apparel brand has created large volumes of product data since emerging on the retail market. Its continued growth and dedication to maintaining high standards drove the need for a better way to track and manage manufacturing processes and data, particularly in the area of product development.

In product data alone, this apparel manufacturer tracks and manages 80,000 lab dips for colors every season and many colors have to be submitted three times before they are the perfect fit for the product. Considering this well-known brand manages other information such as trim and size, employees spent a lot of time manually entering data into spreadsheets and the company’s older database, as much as 80 hours per season.

Additionally, using spreadsheets caused other problems. For example, when an employee needed access to specific information, it was not always easy to find where the associated spreadsheet was stored, and if the person with access was out of the office, it caused further delays. The old way of tracking data and managing processes also made managers’ lives more difficult because they did not have comprehensive visibility into their employees’ activities.

Win over users, then let them build

The brand’s Product Development Systems Manager recognized the lack of efficiency and problems with using spreadsheets when they began looking for a more robust workflow solution. While it was not initially clear what features would be necessary, TrackVia stood out as a clear winner due to its short learning curve and accessibility. The organization signed up for a trial of TrackVia in 2007 and adoption has expanded significantly since then.

1. Bring teams along

   Change is difficult for any business, but convincing internal teams to use entirely different software is not an easy task. Even early on, however, the clear value to employees began building enthusiasm for TrackVia’s work management application.

2. Connect existing systems and data

   Because TrackVia supports integration with commonly used business applications such as ERP and CRM systems, many of the manual data entry tasks have been eliminated across the organization. Furthermore, information could be imported from Excel to reduce the number of technology migration headaches the brand would have otherwise experienced.

3. Open access without opening up risk

   Collaboration represents one of the biggest challenges for any global manufacturing organization. While employees often have to share information to do their jobs effectively, the same data could present a security risk if not properly protected.

   “One of the biggest things for global usage is the ability to get on the Internet without [using a virtual private network], and just using it like that,” said the Product Development Systems Manager. “All of our salespeople who are contracted are on it, and when we actually trained them and cut over to the new way of doing things, everyone was ecstatic. One of their biggest problems was they had to get to Lotus Notes and they had to VPN in. They were spending so much time on paperwork, but now it’s much easier, they can get in whenever they want to.”

   While convenient for users, TrackVia does not leave important information at risk. In addition to protecting connections with SSL encryption, TrackVia can provide a clear audit trail to satisfy compliance concerns.

4. Let nontechnical teams build the applications

   TrackVia enables nontechnical teams to make highly custom applications for managing workflow and processes a breeze, and with no programming. In fact, building an application is the easiest part of the process.

   “The hard part is eliciting the right requirements because [users] often don’t know what they want,” the manufacturer’s rep said. “The first application I built, it was simple, I think it took 10 minutes.”

   TrackVia makes custom workflow software development less time consuming. That allowed the manufacturer to spend more time identifying what functionality would benefit employees most.

5. Lean on responsive support

   According to this manufacturer, TrackVia had developed an in-depth understanding of their organization’s needs, which allowed TrackVia to provide superior service. Additionally, while service issues have been rare, TrackVia has contacted the manufacturer and addressed problems before end users even arrived to work.

   “[When initially building our TrackVia solution], I talked to customer support a lot, and they were so responsive,” they said. “[The TrackVia team] would actually create stuff for me and show me how to do it. That’s the way I learned… It was really helpful to have all of them right there.”

From one department to the whole corporation

• Close to 20Applications built since implementing TrackVia
• 900+Users, across product development and the other brands in the portfolio

• Manual entry eliminated across the organization

  Many of the manual data entry tasks have been eliminated through integration with ERP and CRM systems.

• Applications that solve core problems

  The brand has built close to 20 applications since implementing TrackVia, and all of these programs solved core business and product lifecycle management challenges.

• Other departments and brands adopted it

  Human resources leverages TrackVia to manage new hire, termination and contractor data, and the ease with which HR can create and distribute Web forms means that the department’s own processes have been significantly simplified. Other well-known brands in the corporation’s portfolio now also leverage the solution.

• Contracted salespeople working without a VPN

  Everyone was ecstatic when the contracted salespeople were trained and cut over to the new way of doing things.

• Upgrades without disruption

  Whereas traditional solutions can undergo cumbersome update cycles, TrackVia benefits from efficient upgrades that do not result in business disruption.

Lessons for teams rolling out a work platform

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