NGC was pleased to participate in Just-Style's recent report, "Apparel Software Trends: The Outlook for 2013." If you're a fashion retailer or brand, you'll find this four-part series well worth your time, as it provides a summary of key fashion technology trends from a number of leading fashion technology vendors:

www.just-style.com/management-briefings/apparel-software-trends-the-outlook-for-2013_id735.aspx

From NGC's perspective, we believe that several major fashion supply chain issues will be especially important in the coming months. These are already top-of-mind concerns for our customers, and we don't see them fading away any time soon. Here is a brief summary: Read on »

PART THREE

The final blog post in our series focuses on how you can gain even more supply chain visibility and transparency with supply chain management and global sourcing systems such as NGC's software.

Vendor Compliance is an ideal system for helping retailers and brands manage and monitor their factories. To provide even greater supply chain transparency and visibility, NGC also offers its Supply Chain Management (SCM) and Global Sourcing solution, designed to help companies manage the “just-in-time” demands of fast fashion, coupled with uncertainties in material costs, transportation, logistics and trade legislation. NGC’s Supply Chain Management and Global Sourcing system helps companies take control of the risks and complexities of managing their global supply chains. Read on »

PART TWO

Our last blog post focused on the tragic events that have made factory safety and vendor compliance such an important issue. In this week's post, we take a closer look at how NGC's Vendor Compliance system can help ensure better supply chain transparency and accountability. 

NGC developed our Vendor Compliance software, part of NGC’s Extended PLM system, as a complete system to help companies take the necessary steps to ensure worker safety and comply with regulatory and social mandates. Workflow calendars, exception management and global collaboration features make it easy to schedule audits and tests, stay on top of deadlines, and maintain all required documentation in a web-based portal that is accessible throughout your global supply chain. Whether you work with dozens of vendors or thou­sands, NGC’s Vendor Compliance helps ensure that nothing falls through the cracks, and that all product and regulatory tests and audits are com­pleted on time. Read on »

PART ONE

This is the first in a three-part series about one of today's top supply chain issues: ensuring factory safety through improved supply chain transparency. In this series, NGC provides an overview as well as practical information on the steps you can take to ensure vendor compliance and supply chain visibility.

Supply Chain Transparency, Vendor Compliance and Factory Safety: What You Need to Know

Worker safety in supplier factories has never been more critical. After a fire killed 112 workers at the Tazreen Fashions Ltd. factory in Bangladesh in November 2012, fashion supply chains are under intense scrutiny to provide better supply chain transparency and worker safety.

The tragic loss of life has raised concerns about the Bangladesh garment industry, which is the world's second largest apparel exporter. It has also generated unwelcome publicity for the retailers and brands that produced garments at Tazreen, whether through direct sourcing or subcontractors. Industry giants such as Wal-Mart, Li & Fung, Delta Apparel and many others have been linked to Tazreen—in many cases, because their factories were farming out work to subcontractors (such as Tazreen) without approval. Read on »

Part 2 of a 2-part series.

As our last blog post explained, the key to taking advantage of sourcing shifts and changing trade policies is extending traditional PLM into the supply chain. It's only by doing this that companies can gain the agility they need. As an Apparel/Gartner study noted, these synchronized PLM and sourcing systems are "at the heart of a company's ability to achieve greater supply chain agility."

Systems that combine PLM with SCM and sourcing – which NGC calls Extended PLM –can enhance supply chain responsiveness in a number of ways. However the following characteristics are especially important in enabling more agile sourcing: Read on »