Allocation and Replenishment Deep Dive

In this episode of Talk Retail to Me, Parker Avery consultants take a deep dive into allocation and replenishment. Coming off the heels of Shoptalk 2023, where so many people are still reaching for the shiny tech, we are focused on ensuring the basics of retail are securely and optimally in place so those customer-facing innovations work well and deliver a great customer experience.

Allocation and replenishment is one area with its share of innovations like integration to AI-driven demand forecasting, but also brings lots of opportunities to increase internal and external efficiencies and result in better inventory management and visibility. 

Senior Director of Marketing, Tricia Gustin, hosts Parker Avery retail experts Nia McDonald, Mike Johnson, and Dave Seeley.  All are senior managers with Parker Avery and have been deep in client work focused on allocation and replenishment.

To learn more about Parker Avery's retail consulting services and our areas of expertise, please visit: https://parkeravery.com/consulting-services/ 

 

You may also like this content: 

The Expert Guide to Retail Allocation and Replenishment: https://parkeravery.com/retail-allocation-and-replenishment/ 

Retailer Selects Science-Driven Forecasting and Replenishment System: https://parkeravery.com/industry-experience/retailer-selects-science-driven-forecasting-replenishment-system/ 

Rethinking Allocation and Replenishment to Drive Better Inventory Outcomes: https://parkeravery.com/rethinking-allocation-and-replenishment-to-drive-better-inventory-outcomes/ 

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
This is Trisha Gustin, senior director of marketing for the Parker Avery group.
This week.
I am joined by Parker, Avery CEO, Robert Kaufman, along with senior manager, John We are taking a deep dive into the product development process and supporting PLM systems based on their decades of experience, helping Parker, Avery clients enhance this key functional area.

(00:23):
We will explore best practices and innovations that retailers and brands should be considering as well as common pitfalls to avoid.
I hope you enjoy this insightful conversation.
.346496613So thank you gentlemen for joining me on a Friday afternoon and ready to talk all things product development, Absolut. 7 00:00:44,177.911595435 --> 00:00:44,717.911595435 for sure. 8 00:00:45,511.346496613 --> 00:00:45,931.346496613 All right. 9 00:00:45,931.346496613 --> 00:00:55,971.346496613 We're going to start off with kind of a basic question, but just to level set the conversation, let's talk about what product development is and what roles are involved. 10 00:00:57,137.779426272 --> 00:00:59,957.779426272 So I'd really like to split it into two questions. 11 00:01:00,377.779426272 --> 00:01:06,677.779426272 First, what is it? And then the second part is, is the more complicated part of who does it. 12 00:01:06,737.779426272 --> 00:01:11,87.779426272 So first off, and in my experience, the simplest of terms is. 13 00:01:11,567.779426272 --> 00:01:25,967.779426272 It is the genesis and design of new products on its way to be purchased by a company to be sold to a, to a consumer, right? So it's really the creation of the product and determining the design of that product and working with suppliers to build that product. 14 00:01:27,102.626284849 --> 00:01:31,272.626284849 It's also, as you alluded to, it's beginning of the life cycle of a product. 15 00:01:32,202.626284849 --> 00:01:41,802.62628485 So a lot of what we do at Parker Avery is not just bring products to market, which is really what product development is about, but through its entire life cycle. 16 00:01:41,952.62628485 --> 00:01:47,292.62628485 And so this is the beginning of that, of that entire life cycle of, of a product. 17 00:01:47,712.62628485 --> 00:01:55,992.62628485 It also often includes not just what we're building, but how we're building it and from where we're building it. 18 00:01:55,992.62628485 --> 00:01:58,722.62628485 And so we'll probably touch on that as we go through this. 19 00:01:59,532.62628485 --> 00:02:06,972.62628485 and it's most pure sense John's right? It's literally the beginning of the, uh, inception of a new product. 20 00:02:07,932.62628485 --> 00:02:14,832.62628485 But as we all know, it has to be built, it has to be brought into a company's, uh, distribution centers and such. 21 00:02:14,832.62628485 --> 00:02:19,212.62628485 And so sometimes it encompasses all of that really depends on your view of that. 22 00:02:19,662.62628485 --> 00:02:23,954.8840704 So with that, if you want to talk about the roles, John, All right. 23 00:02:23,954.8840704 --> 00:02:34,770.78450091 So part two of that question was really about what, what roles are involved in this product development process? And it can, depending on the company, it can be a few or it can be a whole bunch. 24 00:02:34,992.45857909 --> 00:02:41,989.49601206 so for instance, maybe we just start with a, a shirt, a red t-shirt or something, even before the product itself. 25 00:02:43,78.78172635 --> 00:02:44,668.06744064 Determined or ideated. 26 00:02:45,16.28172635 --> 00:02:50,827.42114588 There is typically roles that perform duties to lead up to that new product. 27 00:02:51,157.42114588 --> 00:02:53,917.42114588 So where I get that is there may be a trend person. 28 00:02:53,977.42114588 --> 00:02:59,522.19102064 They're, they're basically coming in and saying, um, these are the colors we're looking at for this season. 29 00:02:59,527.19102064 --> 00:03:01,592.19102064 Cuz every season you're gonna have different colors. 30 00:03:01,592.19102064 --> 00:03:07,529.14772197 And what color is the new black, right? So, the trend will come with, with colors, pattern. 31 00:03:08,189.14772197 --> 00:03:13,289.14772197 Any types of new products, maybe there's a new style of how the shirt is to be worn or cut. 32 00:03:13,703.05934211 --> 00:03:19,823.05934211 and from that trend team, you may have other roles that branch off, such as colorist. 33 00:03:19,883.05934211 --> 00:03:29,453.05934211 So they have to worry about getting the new colors and getting color swatches and making sure it's the colors that they want, and they go through all sorts of testing just for the color. 34 00:03:30,758.05934211 --> 00:03:36,338.05934211 You may also have fabric teams, which means, okay, we have this shirt, but it may be in a new fabric. 35 00:03:36,518.05934211 --> 00:03:42,103.90662293 So we have to build that fabric and basically test the fabric by itself, as well as trim teams. 36 00:03:42,108.90662293 --> 00:03:49,93.90662293 So the shirt, maybe it has a button or a pocket that has a, a different trim on it, and you've gotta basically source those items out. 37 00:03:49,93.90662293 --> 00:03:53,593.90662293 So they're all designing these separate components before the item is even. 38 00:03:55,333.90662293 --> 00:03:57,343.90662293 Um, and then finally you may have artist. 39 00:03:57,463.90662293 --> 00:04:03,223.90662293 So if there's art on this t-shirt, they may be drawing art to put on it before we even know what the T-shirt's gonna look like. 40 00:04:03,697.19430755 --> 00:04:07,567.19430755 So once all that is done, that's done well before items are ideated. 41 00:04:08,79.85855897 --> 00:04:10,639.85855897 then you start getting into the core piece of the style. 42 00:04:11,679.85855897 --> 00:04:16,509.85855897 So you may have merchants and planters who are to determine how many items there are, um, what they are. 43 00:04:16,509.85855897 --> 00:04:18,279.85855897 I need five shirts this season. 44 00:04:18,279.85855897 --> 00:04:19,899.85855897 I need four pants this season. 45 00:04:20,499.85855897 --> 00:04:23,739.85855897 I need so many be long sleeve, so many be short sleeve. 46 00:04:24,159.85855897 --> 00:04:27,759.85855897 Um, but they're determining how many slots of items there are. 47 00:04:28,376.51090507 --> 00:04:32,726.51090507 The designers, another role are designing the actual product. 48 00:04:32,726.51090507 --> 00:04:34,556.51090507 So they're saying, I have this many shirts. 49 00:04:35,36.51090507 --> 00:04:39,356.51090507 I want, like I said, long sleeve shirt and I want it cut mid sleeve. 50 00:04:40,61.51090507 --> 00:04:46,421.51090507 Or three quarter sleeve or full sleeve, whatever it is they're designing what the product's gonna look like from an I idea standpoint. 51 00:04:46,541.51090507 --> 00:04:49,851.51090507 They're not, They're not doing technical specifications. 52 00:04:49,856.51090507 --> 00:04:51,401.51090507 It's more of the high level. 53 00:04:51,551.51090507 --> 00:04:53,201.51090507 This is what I envision it looking like. 54 00:04:53,601.96241063 --> 00:04:56,31.96241063 Other roles also include tech designers. 55 00:04:56,301.96241063 --> 00:04:58,761.96241063 So tech designers sound just like what it says. 56 00:04:58,761.96241063 --> 00:04:59,451.96241063 Technical. 57 00:05:00,81.96241063 --> 00:05:02,301.96241063 They're gonna be putting the measurements to the garment. 58 00:05:02,571.96241063 --> 00:05:06,831.96241063 So the cuff length is this long, the sleeve is this long, the neckline is this long. 59 00:05:07,656.96241063 --> 00:05:14,316.96241063 Um, so they're the ones who really measure the, the products and get it to the, its end state of what it should look like. 60 00:05:14,731.64365734 --> 00:05:16,261.64365734 Then you get into some others. 61 00:05:16,266.64365734 --> 00:05:23,591.64365734 So once the, the styles have been, um, sort of built, you have product managers who sort of s. 62 00:05:24,226.64365734 --> 00:05:26,206.64365734 Guide the product through its life cycle. 63 00:05:26,206.64365734 --> 00:05:37,984.71227858 So once we have determined we have these styles, the product manager is gonna guide it through the life cycle of getting all the tech specs done, all the pictures done, all the the approvals done. 64 00:05:38,220.34429127 --> 00:05:49,890.934043 and then you also have sourcing managers who, who actually, once we have the idea and maybe have a base spec of the style, we send it to vendors and the sourcing managers help, cost and negotiate the cost of those. 65 00:05:51,75.934043 --> 00:05:58,618.88694738 As well as, as, uh, requesting samples, approving samples, that sort of thing, and that all these roles could be, slightly different by a company. 66 00:05:58,623.88694738 --> 00:06:00,118.88694738 It depends on how many of them they have. 67 00:06:00,298.88694738 --> 00:06:06,358.88694738 One person may cover different roles or several roles, um, and it, it really depends on the size of the company. 68 00:06:06,363.88694738 --> 00:06:06,538.88694738 Okay. 69 00:06:06,989.86190435 --> 00:06:17,142.72091217 What maybe wasn't clear to some folks is that the designer that's conceptualizing the product, as you called it, I call creative design. 70 00:06:17,202.72091217 --> 00:06:20,532.72091217 They are just that they are very creative type. 71 00:06:21,492.72091217 --> 00:06:23,952.72091217 Um, I myself not very creative. 72 00:06:24,152.72091217 --> 00:06:25,992.72091217 I'm more analytical. 73 00:06:26,352.72091217 --> 00:06:30,312.72091217 And so, you know, what you were talking about between creative design and technical. 74 00:06:31,812.72091217 --> 00:06:37,452.72091217 You'll almost never see somebody do both of those because they just come from a different world. 75 00:06:37,602.72091217 --> 00:06:55,392.72091217 Right? The creative folks are just that conceptualizing things using graphical tools like uh, Adobe Illustrator and other CAD tools, whereas the tech designers are using PLM solutions and others where they're specifying things very distinctly. 76 00:06:55,752.72091217 --> 00:07:03,912.72091217 They have to work together because, Make a product just from the creative and the tech folks wouldn't know what they're specifying without the creative. 77 00:07:04,302.72091217 --> 00:07:10,469.87553049 But I just find that there's a really interesting interplay there that companies have to have. 78 00:07:10,889.87553049 --> 00:07:20,219.87553049 And it's often, I find it interesting, fun and challenging to get the creative and the technical to always understand each other. 79 00:07:20,219.87553049 --> 00:07:24,809.87553049 Cuz sometimes they talk over each other or around each other just cuz they come from different places. 80 00:07:25,140.22989566 --> 00:07:27,750.22989566 And on top of that, they're typically in different systems. 81 00:07:27,900.22989566 --> 00:07:32,610.22989566 Like Creative is using a, for example, Adobe Illustrator. 82 00:07:32,615.22989566 --> 00:07:42,90.22989566 It's very creative based in how, how they use that system is totally different than a technical designer who's putting in numbers and um, measurements and typically a PLM system. 83 00:07:42,616.9582215 --> 00:07:52,426.9582215 Do those systems ever, do they talk well, Do they play well together or is it creatives on this side? Technicals on this side, and. 84 00:07:53,467.6911059 --> 00:08:01,657.6911059 Yes and no Go ahead, It depends on the system and that that will probably be a, a common answer on some of these questions. 85 00:08:02,677.6911059 --> 00:08:09,547.6911059 There are some, some system PLM systems that will will allow you to integrate to that. 86 00:08:10,27.6911059 --> 00:08:20,617.6911059 That art system such as Adobe Illustrator, where you can basically send products from that illustrator into the PLM system for others to start working on. 87 00:08:20,677.6911059 --> 00:08:29,797.6911059 There may be some that have two-way integration, so while the creative is actually doing it in Illustrator, they can select from colors and artwork and that sort of stuff. 88 00:08:29,827.6911059 --> 00:08:32,317.6911059 In Illustrator, that was already created in your. 89 00:08:34,27.6911059 --> 00:08:37,417.6911059 So if you have artwork from last season or colors from last season, you already have 'em. 90 00:08:37,507.6911059 --> 00:08:39,247.6911059 And the designer can go ahead and select them. 91 00:08:39,487.6911059 --> 00:08:41,287.6911059 You don't have to worry about creating them again. 92 00:08:42,907.6911059 --> 00:08:45,97.6911059 And then you have some that don't integrate at all. 93 00:08:45,157.6911059 --> 00:08:50,25.19765637 So it all depends on your needs and the rest of the software needs across the. 94 00:08:51,174.84329121 --> 00:08:59,324.84329121 and, and I would say I've never met a creative designer that is comfortable in a PLM solution. 95 00:09:00,74.84329121 --> 00:09:14,149.84329121 So, The PLM vendors that decide that they want to integrate with these creative solutions do it such that the creative folks can stay in that system, meaning the creative system, yet all their information can be brought in. 96 00:09:14,779.84329121 --> 00:09:19,789.84329121 Whereas most often we don't like having call it rogue systems all over the place. 97 00:09:20,479.84329121 --> 00:09:29,469.84329121 The world has just come to the place where the creative folks deserve to be kept in the creative system, and they don't wanna stifle the creativity by making them conform. 98 00:09:30,409.84329121 --> 00:09:32,479.84329121 Tell us more about that color. 99 00:09:32,479.84329121 --> 00:09:34,429.84329121 Tell us more about that pattern note. 100 00:09:34,429.84329121 --> 00:09:41,689.84329121 Just go ahead and draw it, sketch it out and, and we'll take it from there, meaning the technical folks and they'll bring it into the other system. 101 00:09:41,689.84329121 --> 00:09:48,349.84329121 But those systems sometimes talk like John said, but it's a really interesting dichotomy. 102 00:09:48,349.84329121 --> 00:09:59,269.84329121 I've really never seen systems where it's just come to become a universal understanding that the creative folks are just not gonna come into the the PLM system. 103 00:10:00,44.84329121 --> 00:10:01,324.84329121 it just doesn't work well. 104 00:10:01,424.84329121 --> 00:10:03,74.84329121 They're not data intensive. 105 00:10:03,74.84329121 --> 00:10:04,154.84329121 We'll just leave it at that. 106 00:10:04,214.84329121 --> 00:10:10,44.84329121 And PLM systems are, are that you have to really do a lot of descriptives and, and specifications. 107 00:10:10,49.84329121 --> 00:10:14,714.84329121 So, so that's an interesting uniqueness as well between the roles that I've seen. 108 00:10:15,299.84329121 --> 00:10:21,239.84329121 I think that's a kind of a good segue to the key capabilities within, within the systems and the process. 109 00:10:21,239.84329121 --> 00:10:34,401.45536806 What, what's key to do this well, to do the product development process Well, Well, I mean there, you know, there's a litany of capabilities that these solutions have. 110 00:10:34,898.13240374 --> 00:10:36,338.13240374 but what's become. 111 00:10:37,433.13240374 --> 00:10:45,752.95308078 Fairly, prevalent, particularly when covid hit, is the ability to do three dimensional imaging. 112 00:10:46,742.95308078 --> 00:10:55,562.95308078 And I wouldn't say that's the most important capability, but as we know, people weren't traveling internationally. 113 00:10:55,567.95308078 --> 00:11:03,659.28061966 And often the locations where these goods are made are overseas or in a different part of the world from where. 114 00:11:04,724.28061966 --> 00:11:08,174.28061966 Brands and retailers are designing these products. 115 00:11:08,594.28061966 --> 00:11:14,174.28061966 And so what the three dimensional, uh, solutions allow is what it sounds like. 116 00:11:14,174.28061966 --> 00:11:17,624.28061966 You can take a rendering of product. 117 00:11:17,684.28061966 --> 00:11:23,834.28061966 It could be the factory has made something and now they want the home office to be able to look at it. 118 00:11:24,284.28061966 --> 00:11:30,14.28061966 Two dimensions are are fine and there's a lot of resolution you can see, but with three dimensions you can see. 119 00:11:30,824.28061966 --> 00:11:36,358.80259018 Fabric, lays over, a human and how it would look in the drape as it's called. 120 00:11:36,785.66291069 --> 00:11:53,915.66291069 it also allowed, and not always, companies have become more comfortable approving what are called samples, which is the prototype of a product, doing that without having to travel internationally and doing it with these 3D tools. 121 00:11:54,335.66291069 --> 00:11:55,115.66291069 So they've. 122 00:11:56,330.66291069 --> 00:12:10,245.87796094 I won't say revolutionized, but they became an imperative and they've gotten a lot more, acceptance in the industry because of the, the need back two years ago when we couldn't travel. 123 00:12:10,395.87796094 --> 00:12:17,205.87796094 But now people are seeing and becoming more comfortable going with those approvals without having to go overseas. 124 00:12:17,475.87796094 --> 00:12:23,308.42543763 It also for those, brands that are more sustainable or sustainability conscious. 125 00:12:24,113.42543763 --> 00:12:26,893.42543763 you don't have to fly people all over the world to do that. 126 00:12:26,983.42543763 --> 00:12:31,603.42543763 It can be done virtually and without, you know, green gas emissions. 127 00:12:31,603.42543763 --> 00:12:34,453.42543763 So that was a long, single capability. 128 00:12:34,458.42543763 --> 00:12:35,873.42543763 There are a lot of 'em. 129 00:12:36,133.42543763 --> 00:12:38,713.42543763 I'll just go more quickly over a couple of others. 130 00:12:39,51.57901935 --> 00:12:44,1.00633941 John had alluded to, merchants creating placeholders, so having. 131 00:12:44,721.00633941 --> 00:12:52,581.00633941 Interplay between an assortment or a line planning solution and these capabilities in a PLM solution. 132 00:12:53,91.00633941 --> 00:13:07,251.00633941 Old days, a merchant would say, I want to have 10 long sleeve shirts at this price point, or five short sleeve cert shirts at this price point, and there was not any real interconnection between those. 133 00:13:08,1.00633941 --> 00:13:11,731.00633941 More modern systems allow changes in one to be reflected in the. 134 00:13:12,282.91459107 --> 00:13:22,597.20030536 we've talked about the connection to the creative systems, so we won't go into that a whole lot on the sourcing side where you're interacting with factories. 135 00:13:22,940.05744821 --> 00:13:50,525.77173393 The collaboration capability to be able to share with the 3D sampling as an example, there's something I need to change with the specification, so having a way, a single source of that information to be entered by either the vendor or the, the home office and, and each see each other's comments is really an important component of building product more efficiently. 136 00:13:50,811.48601964 --> 00:13:53,154.3431625 So that capability is really important. 137 00:13:54,468.62887679 --> 00:14:03,916.2479244 The, the other I would say, and this is newer, but is becoming more prevalent, is the visualization of the assort. 138 00:14:04,911.48601964 --> 00:14:13,111.48601964 In the not so long ago, things were, um, done with sketches and descriptives of a product. 139 00:14:13,111.48601964 --> 00:14:19,768.62887679 It might say, you know, white T-shirt, a hundred percent cotton, eight ounce weight. 140 00:14:20,82.91459107 --> 00:14:25,768.62887679 It's like, okay, well now you can see what that looks like because we have very modern capabilities to do that. 141 00:14:26,168.62887679 --> 00:14:30,16.2479244 But not just that you can see a given product, but you can lay out your whole assor. 142 00:14:30,606.72411488 --> 00:14:32,740.05744821 You can even think about how a store looks. 143 00:14:32,744.81935298 --> 00:14:42,882.91459107 You can take these images and lay them out either on a line sheet if you're a wholesale or selling to a retailer and say, Hey, here's some products that we're offering. 144 00:14:43,425.77173393 --> 00:14:55,940.05744821 Or as I mentioned, you can even lay out sections of a store or as you have line review meetings as often happens where merchants have to say, I do or don't want this product, these visualization tools. 145 00:14:56,325.77173393 --> 00:15:05,840.05744821 Are really becoming much more popular and they, they don't eliminate the need for some of the more min minutia data that we talked about. 146 00:15:05,844.81935298 --> 00:15:22,582.91459107 But as merchants, merchants are not the most patient of the folks that we work with, and if there's a way to more quickly get to the answer and to do it with visualization and drag and drop, which, Oh, I don't want that in this line. 147 00:15:22,587.67649583 --> 00:15:23,382.91459107 I wanna put it here. 148 00:15:23,382.91459107 --> 00:15:24,154.3431625 It's a different price. 149 00:15:25,54.3431625 --> 00:15:39,418.20540273 Those are all really interesting, newer capabilities that, bring efficiency and efficiency is important because the, the life cycle that it takes to bring products to market is usually excessively long over a year. 150 00:15:39,618.20540273 --> 00:15:47,189.63397416 And so if there's ways that tools can make that better and faster and more efficient, that's, that's what the market is really looking to. 151 00:15:48,375.34825987 --> 00:15:49,232.49111702 So I'll pause there and see. 152 00:15:49,232.49111702 --> 00:15:52,32.49111702 John, I'm sure there's plenty of things that you could add to that. 153 00:15:52,218.54289337 --> 00:16:00,561.40003622 Well, you, you you sort of hinted at one of my biggest things, and that is user, user ability to use the system and it's not just one product at a time. 154 00:16:00,561.40003622 --> 00:16:01,475.68575051 It's in mass. 155 00:16:01,618.54289337 --> 00:16:07,442.35241718 So, Some PLM systems allow you to do mass updates easily and some do not. 156 00:16:07,528.06670289 --> 00:16:22,785.20956003 So when somebody's receiving samples or receiving costing and they're doing approvals or rejections in mass, if they have to click one time per item or five times per item is a big difference when you're looking at large numbers of, of items. 157 00:16:23,213.7809886 --> 00:16:27,413.7809886 Um, so that's the one thing I would look at, especially when looking at a system. 158 00:16:28,270.92384575 --> 00:16:30,785.20956003 And Robert mentioned collaboration with overseas. 159 00:16:30,870.92384575 --> 00:16:33,813.7809886 The vendor portal is a must at this point in time. 160 00:16:33,870.92384575 --> 00:16:39,928.06670289 Um, if, if, if you don't have a vendor portal for plm, you're, you're way behind the times. 161 00:16:40,328.0667029 --> 00:16:45,413.7809886 There are some systems that try to get around with it by sending emails to the vendors and then they can respond to that email. 162 00:16:45,953.5582225 --> 00:16:47,843.5582225 it should be in the system at this point in time. 163 00:16:48,97.6220019 --> 00:16:50,856.9449707 and it makes it much easier for everybody to see the data at once. 164 00:16:51,113.7017724 --> 00:17:05,80.3684391 And, And one thing that I didn't mention that I know you would agree with, John, so that whole interaction between the merchants, the designers, and the factories, I alluded to it, taking a certain amount of time. 165 00:17:05,137.5112962 --> 00:17:31,751.7970105 There's a calendar, there's a go to market calendar, and the the best in class solutions allow you to establish that calendar, build dependencies between various activities, and monitor whether they're on time, trending late, are late, and even do a, a recast of dates if in fact you've missed dates and now, Lead times are such that you can't compress it. 166 00:17:31,751.7970105 --> 00:17:34,866.0827248 And so it's gonna, not everything downstream's now gonna be late. 167 00:17:35,151.7970105 --> 00:17:38,951.7970105 So calendars time and action calendars is one term. 168 00:17:38,951.7970105 --> 00:17:44,437.5112962 People use that capability for almost all modern PLM solutions. 169 00:17:44,494.6541534 --> 00:17:47,323.2255819 And supply chain execution systems is really imperative. 170 00:17:47,925.747728 --> 00:18:00,525.747728 We talked about some integration with other systems and then creative and technical pieces of it, but you also mentioned being able to kind of lay out the assortment and see it. 171 00:18:00,615.747728 --> 00:18:07,517.3847178 What ties are there to assortment planning systems? Well, I'll use the word loosely. 172 00:18:07,517.3847178 --> 00:18:14,687.3847178 There are ties, um, and it's an interesting chicken and egg dilemma. 173 00:18:14,747.3847178 --> 00:18:26,76.058989 You know, what, what comes first? Because often the assortment planning systems will say, I need, we call them placeholders, traditionally in a PLM system. 174 00:18:26,796.058989 --> 00:18:34,11.058989 So let's say again, 10 long sleeve and eight short sleeve shirts of various uh, characteristics. 175 00:18:35,91.058989 --> 00:18:44,901.058989 Design might, in the example of 10, might design 15 or 25 with the understanding that there's only gonna need to be 10. 176 00:18:45,891.058989 --> 00:18:52,417.7256557 And so are they taking signals from assortment planning, maybe, maybe not. 177 00:18:52,972.7256557 --> 00:18:58,522.7256557 Design, depending on, and this isn't a Robert is, but I believe it to be true. 178 00:18:58,762.7256557 --> 00:19:02,542.7256557 Some companies are design centric, some companies are merchant centric. 179 00:19:02,992.7256557 --> 00:19:08,932.7256557 If it's a design-centric company, the designers are gonna really dictate what gets brought into the line. 180 00:19:08,992.7256557 --> 00:19:17,182.7256557 Not the number of products, but the what and maybe the number In a merchant driven organization, they're much more in control. 181 00:19:17,737.7256557 --> 00:19:19,147.7256557 And usually not always. 182 00:19:19,147.7256557 --> 00:19:26,437.7256557 Usually design doesn't go and overdevelop in my example, 20 to make 10, 10 slots. 183 00:19:26,767.7256557 --> 00:19:28,207.7256557 Though that's not always true either. 184 00:19:28,267.7256557 --> 00:19:38,977.7256557 So the the interaction between the assortment planning and what actually gets designed and then agreed to, there's a loose connection. 185 00:19:40,447.7256557 --> 00:19:53,393.0800208 John, I don't know if you feel differently about that, but in my experience, it's not as, uh, engineered as, as some might want Oh, for sure, because they're dealing with the planning system most other times, most often. 186 00:19:53,898.0800208 --> 00:19:59,478.0800208 And it's not in the PLM system itself, so you're having to integrate those two to begin with, and they're working separately. 187 00:19:59,478.0800208 --> 00:20:03,798.0800208 So there's not typically a, a good, strong relationship there. 188 00:20:04,101.3548589 --> 00:20:04,431.3548589 Right. 189 00:20:04,431.3548589 --> 00:20:11,121.3548589 I mean we, we've talked to clients who would love decisions made in PLM to be immediately reflected. 190 00:20:12,246.3548589 --> 00:20:16,836.3548589 In the assortment planning solution or line planning solution and vice versa. 191 00:20:17,496.3548589 --> 00:20:20,646.3548589 Um, there's really good of that if, if that happened. 192 00:20:20,651.3548589 --> 00:20:31,656.3548589 But there's also the potential of knee-jerk reaction where if the merchant decided to increase or decrease the number of placeholders and that immediately got sent to. 193 00:20:32,256.3548589 --> 00:20:37,956.3548589 Designers, they might get a little unsettled because of of that. 194 00:20:37,956.3548589 --> 00:20:41,736.3548589 So that's not why those systems don't typically talk to each other. 195 00:20:41,736.3548589 --> 00:20:48,486.3548589 It's more because the companies that are really good at assortment planning are not really good at PLM and vice versa. 196 00:20:48,876.3548589 --> 00:20:56,976.3548589 And so those solutions can be integrated across vendors, but within a vendor, they typically aren't best in class at those systems. 197 00:20:56,981.3548589 --> 00:20:58,416.3548589 So they just haven't been tightly. 198 00:20:59,479.8090226 --> 00:21:00,19.8090226 Okay. 199 00:21:00,237.0380082 --> 00:21:25,784.2545279 What companies, and we don't have to name specific names, but what companies are really, really good at that you've seen are really good at, product development and why are they good at it? My biggest experience is that if a company has distinct roles and a person in those roles know what they're responsible for, it makes appeal and implementation much easier. 200 00:21:25,814.2545279 --> 00:21:28,574.2545279 Cuz you can do handoffs in the system and say, Okay, I'm done. 201 00:21:29,234.2545279 --> 00:21:30,494.2545279 Move on to the next step. 202 00:21:31,64.2545279 --> 00:21:33,404.2545279 Um, or some sort of flag to say they're done. 203 00:21:33,434.2545279 --> 00:21:37,454.2545279 It's when those roles are iffy and sometimes they don't. 204 00:21:37,454.2545279 --> 00:21:43,124.2545279 They do this and other parts of the business, they do this, it, it, it becomes a little bit harder cause you. 205 00:21:44,24.2545279 --> 00:21:57,374.2545279 Trained to a specific role and the PLM system isn't gonna be, It makes it more convoluted if you configure it one way for this brand or one way for this product type as opposed to a process for a different product type or brand. 206 00:21:57,696.1428464 --> 00:21:58,176.1428464 Yeah. 207 00:21:58,266.1428464 --> 00:22:04,26.1428464 Along those same lines, we'll often recommend a. 208 00:22:04,696.1428464 --> 00:22:16,156.1428464 I'll call it a project manager, not in terms of implementing these solutions, but somebody to ride herd throughout the season to say, Hey guys, there's a task. 209 00:22:16,156.1428464 --> 00:22:18,946.1428464 There's a set of activities that are due next week. 210 00:22:19,726.1428464 --> 00:22:26,912.869451 I see that you're woefully behind Let's get cracking because. 211 00:22:27,676.1931161 --> 00:22:34,106.1931161 Uh, there's a lot of moving parts, merchants and designers and, and tech and creative design folks. 212 00:22:34,346.1931161 --> 00:22:42,536.1931161 They all work towards the same calendar, but they're, they're working loosely together. 213 00:22:42,686.1931161 --> 00:22:50,36.1931161 But again, if there's not somebody or somebody's to hold them accountable, things fall through the cracks. 214 00:22:50,66.1931161 --> 00:22:51,886.1931161 They absolutely do all of the. 215 00:22:53,201.1931161 --> 00:23:00,221.1931161 Even with that, things can still happen because especially in the world we live in today, raw materials are scarce. 216 00:23:00,901.1931161 --> 00:23:02,171.1931161 Resources are hard to come by. 217 00:23:02,171.1931161 --> 00:23:15,494.5264495 There's, covid shutdowns in certain parts of the world, but I can assure you that without some adherence to those calendar schedules, it will not go as well as if you have somebody who is in a role. 218 00:23:16,94.5264495 --> 00:23:41,722.8597828 At the client, their company, to make sure that those, those activities are being done in a timely fashion and when they're not having the authority themselves or to escalate to get those remedied because it's, it's just often as you kick the can down the road, whoever's later in that process, if you don't have this overall manager, They're the ones that get shortchanged. 219 00:23:41,782.8597828 --> 00:23:46,792.8597828 Hey, look, you've only got a few days to be able to cut that PO if we're gonna get it into the dc. 220 00:23:47,392.8597828 --> 00:23:59,452.8597828 And not a best practice, but John and I have probably seen this at most of our clients, they'll cut a PO before a product is fully developed and fully approved, and they'll send it to the factory and say, Get started. 221 00:23:59,452.8597828 --> 00:24:03,532.8597828 Start getting that fabric even though we haven't finalized exactly what we're building. 222 00:24:04,42.8597828 --> 00:24:05,132.8597828 Because if we don. 223 00:24:05,842.8597828 --> 00:24:09,982.8597828 We're definitely gonna not get into the DC and into the stores if they're a retailer. 224 00:24:09,982.8597828 --> 00:24:12,892.8597828 So there's that whole cascading effect. 225 00:24:13,72.8597828 --> 00:24:23,632.8597828 It's no different than any project, but I think the companies that really look at this as an ongoing project and have people that are managing it that way are more successful in, in adhering to that. 226 00:24:24,348.214148 --> 00:24:32,456.8688364 And to that point, the calendar you mentioned it, that is vitally important, in order to keep them on track cuz you can't catch up if you don't have that right. 227 00:24:32,676.818068 --> 00:24:45,617.1724332 Do most modern PLM systems have a solid calendaring functionality to support it? It depends on the system. 228 00:24:46,191.818068 --> 00:24:47,241.818068 You both are laughing. 229 00:24:47,251.818068 --> 00:24:47,691.818068 Yeah. 230 00:24:48,321.818068 --> 00:24:48,811.818068 Okay. 231 00:24:49,862.1724332 --> 00:24:55,262.1724332 I would probably say most of the, the higher rank ones have a, a decent calendaring ability. 232 00:24:55,442.1724332 --> 00:25:02,762.1724332 Just making sure you have due dates and the ability to see when things are not being completed on time. 233 00:25:03,75.7939761 --> 00:25:16,425.7939761 but it really depends on the client's expectations, on how far you want to go down that route of how much of the calendar do you wanna build into the system, and how much workflow do you wanna build into the system from beginning to end? Because if. 234 00:25:17,70.7939761 --> 00:25:25,710.7939761 Specify 5 million steps in the system and they're all A, B, C, B all the way through every step things get held up. 235 00:25:25,800.7939761 --> 00:25:30,840.7939761 So that's one of the important things to think about is don't overcomplicate your process in the system. 236 00:25:31,290.7939761 --> 00:25:39,230.3995931 Some processes need to happen independently and some do need to happen serially, right? So, don't overcomplicate the process. 237 00:25:39,721.8314632 --> 00:25:42,301.8314632 I a hundred percent agree with that, and that is one of the. 238 00:25:42,996.8314632 --> 00:25:45,246.8314632 The failings of certain companies. 239 00:25:45,366.8314632 --> 00:25:53,196.8314632 Um, we try and, you know, get them to start small in terms of the activities that they're tracking. 240 00:25:54,216.8314632 --> 00:25:56,556.8314632 But to your specific question, Trisha, Yeah. 241 00:25:56,561.8314632 --> 00:26:08,608.4456322 As John said, different solutions are better or worse at it, but what's also an important differentiator of, of the way the solutions work is the ability to look. 242 00:26:09,523.4456322 --> 00:26:11,773.4456322 More than just a given product. 243 00:26:12,73.4456322 --> 00:26:29,653.5153749 So in, in other words, knowing that this particular product is in this current state, and it might be behind or might be okay, is, is great, but the companies we work with are developing usually hundreds of products at the same time, across different, categories of product. 244 00:26:29,653.5153749 --> 00:26:30,673.5153749 It could be thousand. 245 00:26:31,838.5153749 --> 00:26:36,668.5153749 If they had to look individually at every product and say, Oh, it's okay, great. 246 00:26:36,968.5153749 --> 00:26:39,848.5153749 It would, it would never be a workable situation. 247 00:26:39,853.5153749 --> 00:26:52,448.5153749 So being able to bring those summaries in and highlight by exception, those things that are running a muck or, uh, potentially being late, that's a crucial capability. 248 00:26:52,448.5153749 --> 00:26:54,668.5153749 Most, but not all, most have that. 249 00:26:55,118.5153749 --> 00:26:57,218.5153749 And that is really another thing. 250 00:26:57,218.5153749 --> 00:26:58,68.5153749 We, we re. 251 00:26:59,318.5153749 --> 00:27:04,358.5153749 Start slow or small in terms of the things you're managing, and please manage. 252 00:27:04,358.5153749 --> 00:27:08,134.9679786 By exception, you'll bury yourself in minutiae. 253 00:27:08,284.9679786 --> 00:27:10,504.9679786 If 90% of the things are okay, great. 254 00:27:10,684.9679786 --> 00:27:15,4.9679786 Let the system tell you that it's okay and trust it. 255 00:27:15,394.9679786 --> 00:27:18,934.9679786 Once you set up the tasks right and you're getting the right information fed to it. 256 00:27:19,384.9679786 --> 00:27:25,279.9679786 But when it's not, take action, right? Understand where those problems are and take action. 257 00:27:25,489.9679786 --> 00:27:28,159.9679786 And the best in class solutions, bring that to the fore. 258 00:27:28,429.9679786 --> 00:27:33,439.9679786 You log in in the morning and it says, Hey, here's your, your problem should, if you will. 259 00:27:34,549.9679786 --> 00:27:37,290.3223437 So I think you would agree, right, John? agreed. 260 00:27:37,885.9928718 --> 00:27:41,635.9928718 So there's some best in class solutions and that's great. 261 00:27:41,695.9928718 --> 00:27:51,985.9928718 We also, in kind of other functional areas, walk into clients and see a whole bunch of spreadsheets, legacy systems that don't talk, don't integrate. 262 00:27:51,985.9928718 --> 00:28:00,841.347237 Are you all still seeing that in clients? More laughter client situations, Oh yeah, yeah. 263 00:28:01,911.347237 --> 00:28:06,201.347237 It, it, you, I'm, I'm never amazed anymore at how many spreadsheets the company. 264 00:28:07,226.347237 --> 00:28:17,421.347237 Um, even when you implement plm, they're like, Oh, can I ex export this to Excel and can I work in Excel Well, technically you can, but you're sort of going around the system. 265 00:28:17,421.347237 --> 00:28:23,392.5561562 There may be situations where that's okay, you may wanna export and tweak things, but, Excel will never go away. 266 00:28:23,482.5561562 --> 00:28:28,402.5561562 They'll always have a spreadsheet for something, but hopefully PLM will reduce the the need for it. 267 00:28:28,804.5540157 --> 00:28:43,324.5540157 Right, and, and to your point, it's a fine line between working in Excel and then at certain checkpoints loading that information back into plm because that's what the company makes me do. 268 00:28:44,104.5540157 --> 00:28:49,84.5540157 Versus leveraging the capabilities of these solutions for what they do really well. 269 00:28:49,594.5540157 --> 00:28:54,4.5540157 And so, I mean, there's a couple answers to your question. 270 00:28:54,4.5540157 --> 00:28:58,54.5540157 We have companies that don't have very sophisticated or, or PLM solutions at all. 271 00:28:58,59.5540157 --> 00:29:04,654.5540157 And yes, they use email and and Excel and they just power through. 272 00:29:04,744.5540157 --> 00:29:12,634.5540157 Um, but once we implement these solutions and we get them to understand the new way of working, it's really important for the organization. 273 00:29:13,654.5540157 --> 00:29:29,344.5540157 Minimize and really stress the importance of using PLM and minimizing the use of these outside solutions after the fact, which is one of the things John mentioned, if they want to export it for, we'll call it reporting to Excel. 274 00:29:29,824.5540157 --> 00:29:30,394.5540157 Okay. 275 00:29:30,544.5540157 --> 00:29:41,494.5540157 There's other better ways to get information than that, but not as a workaround, right? And all too often, because these solutions are highly flexible, it becomes a workaround. 276 00:29:42,709.5540157 --> 00:29:46,789.5540157 The old way of doing things ends up being how they work. 277 00:29:46,879.5540157 --> 00:29:51,39.5540157 But as I said, then at some checkpoint they put that information back into plm. 278 00:29:51,39.5540157 --> 00:29:58,699.5540157 And so the senior people in the organization think, Oh look, we spent lots of money on this and people are using it and it's all working perfectly. 279 00:29:59,149.5540157 --> 00:30:10,39.5540157 And then they hear later that whatever streamlining, that's sometimes code word for reduction in force that they thought they were gonna be able to, uh, get by putting. 280 00:30:11,159.5540157 --> 00:30:20,239.5540157 Efficiencies in place don't manifest themselves because people are doing what I said, working offline and then spending additional time to put it back into the system, and nobody wants that. 281 00:30:20,449.5540157 --> 00:30:27,409.5540157 So are there other implications? For when that happens outside of not realizing any efficiencies. 282 00:30:27,560.1021525 --> 00:30:30,320.1021525 yeah, we, we I know, I do. 283 00:30:30,410.1021525 --> 00:30:43,655.1021525 You know, one version of the truth is, is kind of a, a mantra that people talk about and the moment you pull data, you no longer have one version of the truth because somebody does some manipulation On my version, it looks like this. 284 00:30:43,655.1021525 --> 00:30:45,95.1021525 And your version looks like that. 285 00:30:45,95.1021525 --> 00:30:53,315.1021525 And even if the source was the same, it's like the telephone game, right? The moment you get past the next person it, the conversation is changed. 286 00:30:53,315.1021525 --> 00:31:05,465.1021525 And so yes, there are, I don't want to sound hyperbolic, but there are big implications, right? One of the main reasons companies invest in these solutions is just for. 287 00:31:06,435.1021525 --> 00:31:13,745.1021525 A common place where in this case product information may be costing information who I'm getting the product from. 288 00:31:13,745.1021525 --> 00:31:16,925.1021525 And, you know, it's, it's uh, history along its development. 289 00:31:17,225.1021525 --> 00:31:27,875.1021525 It's all in one place, not in John's spreadsheet or my spreadsheet or something the factory has in an email, cuz that becomes untenable to manage. 290 00:31:27,875.1021525 --> 00:31:29,45.1021525 And that's where. 291 00:31:29,765.1021525 --> 00:31:40,655.1021525 Still, a lot of our companies that we work with still find themselves because there's not the adherence, not that the solutions they have don't enable that to go away. 292 00:31:40,655.1021525 --> 00:31:41,495.1021525 They just don't. 293 00:31:42,5.1021525 --> 00:31:45,215.1021525 From a change management standpoint, they don't enforce it. 294 00:31:45,743.7149738 --> 00:31:50,291.3203625 what other outside of not taking advantage of capabilities or. 295 00:31:51,106.3203625 --> 00:31:56,236.3203625 finding workarounds because they're comfortable with the old way of doing things. 296 00:31:56,236.3203625 --> 00:32:20,51.6747277 What other common mistakes or challenges do you see rel not just so from a PLM perspective, but just across the product development process? So I, I, I'll repeat this, but it's over complicating the process, and not only does that cause too much manually entry into the system, Um, but there could be too many handoffs, which slows down the process. 297 00:32:20,231.6747277 --> 00:32:24,611.6747277 There are so many things that can go wrong and delay the process if you overcomplicate it. 298 00:32:24,989.6830894 --> 00:32:34,709.6830894 so that's an important part of design during that m session is making sure you, you find a logical way to do it and don't put every little step into the system. 299 00:32:35,399.6830894 --> 00:32:38,249.6830894 I had a hard goods customer once that wanted every step. 300 00:32:38,249.6830894 --> 00:32:41,339.6830894 I think we even put bathroom breaks in there for the designer. 301 00:32:41,789.6830894 --> 00:32:43,669.6830894 Um, and we went live. 302 00:32:44,384.6830894 --> 00:32:47,54.6830894 And literally within a month, they're like, This is too much. 303 00:32:47,174.6830894 --> 00:32:48,794.6830894 It, it's too huge. 304 00:32:49,364.6830894 --> 00:32:52,274.6830894 Even though we reduced it some during implementation, it was like, it's too much. 305 00:32:52,274.6830894 --> 00:32:53,744.6830894 And they started stripping things out. 306 00:32:54,314.6830894 --> 00:33:02,84.6830894 Um, they eventually got it to a manageable level, but that it was a, it was a hard lesson to learn on hard goods, especially cuz you have such a huge SKU count. 307 00:33:02,454.6923802 --> 00:33:05,4.6923802 another big one I see is too many rounds of samples. 308 00:33:05,300.6998129 --> 00:33:09,110.6998129 you only have so much time in the development timeline and if you do multiple rounds of samples, you. 309 00:33:10,145.6998129 --> 00:33:14,615.6998129 For the travel time, for the samples to wherever you're, you're approving them or reviewing them. 310 00:33:15,78.5066881 --> 00:33:20,478.5066881 some of the online approvals now are, make it easier, but if you go through too many samples, they're, they're not gonna be ready. 311 00:33:20,538.5066881 --> 00:33:29,958.5066881 And that goes into the part of the pos have to be cut on an unapproved sample, and then also trying to implement too much change at once. 312 00:33:30,258.5066881 --> 00:33:35,703.5066881 Um, if you try to go in big Bang with this and you're changing process, it's gonna be difficult. 313 00:33:35,703.5066881 --> 00:33:42,933.5066881 So that's, that's where Robert's comment comes in about start small, implement some small things, and gradually grow your implementation. 314 00:33:42,933.5066881 --> 00:33:45,23.5066881 If you do it all at once, it's, it's hard. 315 00:33:45,421.4856563 --> 00:33:45,661.4856563 Yeah. 316 00:33:45,661.4856563 --> 00:33:51,231.4856563 The one thing I would add, and you alluded to it early on in the discussion, is roles and responsibilities. 317 00:33:52,756.4856563 --> 00:33:54,136.4856563 There's so many handoffs. 318 00:33:54,766.4856563 --> 00:34:04,106.4856563 At the beginning we mentioned, and it might have seemed overwhelming, all the different groups that John talked about, there are literally handoffs, sometimes logical, sometimes physical. 319 00:34:04,111.4856563 --> 00:34:05,956.4856563 Hey, here's a color. 320 00:34:05,956.4856563 --> 00:34:11,686.4856563 Swatch just a physical handoff, right? Here's a sketch that might be electronic, it might not. 321 00:34:12,406.4856563 --> 00:34:20,206.4856563 All of those handoffs, if it's not clear roles and responsibilities and who does what with it and what happens in certain meetings, I know that all. 322 00:34:20,941.4856563 --> 00:34:26,371.4856563 Silly, but if that's not well defined, you get a lot of inefficiencies. 323 00:34:26,521.4856563 --> 00:34:36,781.4856563 Sometimes you get redundancies, sometimes you get gaps where somebody was waiting for something to happen but it didn't and it, Well, yeah. 324 00:34:36,786.4856563 --> 00:34:45,121.4856563 We're so, so and so was supposed to take that to the next step, and that goes back to that project manager type role, right? To make sure that those things all move. 325 00:34:46,171.4856563 --> 00:34:59,251.4856563 One of the companies I was just talking to the other day is convinced that their domestic team and their offshore team overlap 20 to 25% of the steps. 326 00:34:59,881.4856563 --> 00:35:03,391.4856563 And so obviously that's not efficient. 327 00:35:03,451.4856563 --> 00:35:05,671.4856563 And then you end up with different results. 328 00:35:05,791.4856563 --> 00:35:13,981.4856563 They don't have a PLM system, and so this offline, right? New York thinks it's this, Shanghai thinks it's that. 329 00:35:14,476.4856563 --> 00:35:15,886.4856563 Doing the same task. 330 00:35:16,246.4856563 --> 00:35:30,676.4856563 So since Shanghai is probably handing off to another group within Shanghai, they probably win because they're, they're, they take it to the, to the tail end, but that may not be, and usually isn't an efficient way or an accurate way. 331 00:35:30,681.4856563 --> 00:35:40,216.4856563 So roles and responsibilities, not just in this realm, but in almost all realms, are really important to nail down and make sure that everyone is clear and what those handoffs are. 332 00:35:40,216.4856563 --> 00:35:42,246.4856563 When my job's done and I go to the next step. 333 00:35:43,160.0993647 --> 00:35:45,961.5045703 last Question, and we're almost outta time, but. 334 00:35:46,636.5045703 --> 00:35:58,516.5045703 We talked about again, PLM systems and some 3D capabilities, and some of the things that probably were made better during Covid because of just nature of not being able to travel. 335 00:35:58,816.5045703 --> 00:36:21,987.7088306 What other innovations can improve how company manages product development? I don't know if it's an innovation, but it's, it's definitely a sweeping trend, which is a focus on sustainability, which I touched on earlier, having not just that mindset, but now tools to help understand. 336 00:36:23,332.7088306 --> 00:36:37,77.7088306 what's my baseline? And it could be as simple in air quotes, What are my greenhouse gas, uh, uh, you know, emissions to make this product? What is my water use? What is the electric draw? I mean, there's, there's a ton of different things. 337 00:36:37,917.7088306 --> 00:36:47,37.7088306 And so solutions are probably behind in being able to catch up to what, uh, organizations are contemplating. 338 00:36:48,117.7088306 --> 00:36:51,57.7088306 I'd argue that there's not a real clear. 339 00:36:52,257.7088306 --> 00:37:06,837.7088306 Industrywide expectation of what those things should be other than consumers are saying, I wanna buy from a company I feel good about that either has, uh, circularity, there's a word you don't hear very often. 340 00:37:06,837.7088306 --> 00:37:10,77.7088306 We can talk more about that, um, sustainability. 341 00:37:10,677.7088306 --> 00:37:14,637.7088306 And so the brands react and say, Well, we've gotta go do that. 342 00:37:15,207.7088306 --> 00:37:18,477.7088306 But what that is varies wildly. 343 00:37:18,477.7088306 --> 00:37:21,177.7088306 And so the software companies, given that. 344 00:37:21,942.7088306 --> 00:37:23,622.7088306 Requirements are all over the place. 345 00:37:23,622.7088306 --> 00:37:30,102.7088306 Don't necessarily know what exactly to do, but like it or not, this isn't going to go away. 346 00:37:30,102.7088306 --> 00:37:32,802.7088306 And so call it an innovation. 347 00:37:32,862.7088306 --> 00:37:35,472.7088306 There will be innovations in how this works. 348 00:37:35,472.7088306 --> 00:37:44,802.7088306 There are groups higg and they have a higg index that talks about how on a standard basis, greenhouse gases are omitted. 349 00:37:45,244.0611733 --> 00:37:48,964.0611733 for early adopters, that seemed to be an okay model. 350 00:37:49,354.0611733 --> 00:38:02,614.0611733 Now there's a lot of controversy where people are using some baseline models from these organizations like Higg and others and saying, Well, here's what our greenhouse gas emissions are. 351 00:38:02,974.0611733 --> 00:38:07,624.0611733 And sometimes they're getting called out on that and it's like, you know that's not really true. 352 00:38:07,774.0611733 --> 00:38:13,834.0611733 You used a baseline that says when you source from a XYZ type of factory from this country, here's what it would. 353 00:38:15,499.0611733 --> 00:38:23,329.0611733 You know, be careful, you know, not that it's Dateline, but a Dateline esque analysis might find that that factory is actually horrible. 354 00:38:23,779.0611733 --> 00:38:29,389.0611733 And if you're using that factory and you really don't know what's being done there, you're gonna be exposed. 355 00:38:29,389.0611733 --> 00:38:34,369.0611733 So there's a lot of innovation that's going to come down, uh, on this. 356 00:38:34,729.0611733 --> 00:38:43,399.0611733 And what's really interesting to me, most often when we deal with companies on the sourcing side, they're wor they're working. 357 00:38:44,449.0611733 --> 00:38:55,879.0611733 The, the factory that's putting the finished goods together in, in the soft goods area, which we were talking about, we would also likely talk to the fabric mill and maybe where the trim goods are coming from. 358 00:38:56,809.0611733 --> 00:39:11,329.0611733 But now with the sustainability push, it's all the way back to the farm, especially with the uyghurs and the, uh, the enslavement of the uighur and the cotton source, that 20% of the world's cotton is coming from that part of the world. 359 00:39:11,674.0611733 --> 00:39:21,664.0611733 You need to understand and prove now the US government to import, you have to prove that the goods were not sourced cotton from that part of the world. 360 00:39:21,814.0611733 --> 00:39:28,354.0611733 Well, how do you do that? Well, there's no easy answer to that, but there are evolving ways to do it. 361 00:39:28,354.0611733 --> 00:39:37,894.0611733 And so as the, as the legislation and regulations start to dictate it, companies, software, and. 362 00:39:38,944.0611733 --> 00:39:49,954.0611733 Are going to have to react to that and, and not get caught without an understanding of what their, their environmental impact is and how they're improving upon that. 363 00:39:49,954.0611733 --> 00:39:52,864.0611733 Which is another thing that might come with the New York Fashion Act. 364 00:39:52,864.0611733 --> 00:39:54,304.0611733 So there's a lot there. 365 00:39:54,379.9711641 --> 00:40:01,969.9711641 There's, there's a whole element of innovation that needs to happen and probably happen faster than the market's gonna require it. 366 00:40:02,449.9711641 --> 00:40:08,882.0459507 So I'll pause there if you have any questions on that or anything else you wanted to add, John? Now I'm. 367 00:40:09,661.5192262 --> 00:40:09,991.5192262 All right. 368 00:40:10,511.5192262 --> 00:40:11,81.5192262 All right. 369 00:40:11,81.5192262 --> 00:40:11,801.5192262 Sounds good. 370 00:40:11,801.5192262 --> 00:40:13,961.5192262 Well, this is great information. 371 00:40:13,961.5192262 --> 00:40:19,479.3333997 I certainly learned a lot, as I always do, and I bring my fantastic team on the podcast with me. 372 00:40:19,722.107959 --> 00:40:19,932.107959 yeah. 373 00:40:19,932.107959 --> 00:40:26,106.7396129 Well thank you for joining me and I will look forward to having you both on the podcast again Thank you. 374 00:40:26,466.4569981 --> 00:40:27,526.4569981 Thank you for having us.