How Small and Medium-Sized Brands Thrive with PLM Technology

According to a Remake fashion accountability report, smaller fashion brands scored significantly higher in sustainability and transparency, even when accounting for scale. These brands are proving that size isn’t the only factor in driving meaningful change; rather, it’s about making sustainability a core business priority.

The industry’s challenge isn’t a lack of technology—plenty of innovative solutions already exist to minimize waste, reduce carbon footprints and promote ethical practices. What’s holding back true progress is the mindset at the top. Decision-makers often prioritize profit margins and speed-to-market over long-term environmental impact. This approach, while financially rewarding in the short term, risks the industry’s sustainability and social responsibility.

However, smaller brands have shown that it’s possible to grow a business while maintaining a commitment to ethical and sustainable practices. They often operate with a more agile, values-driven approach, integrating sustainability into their brand DNA from the outset. This not only builds trust with consumers who are increasingly demanding transparency but also sets a powerful example for the industry as a whole.

With globally distributed supply chains and end markets, brands need an end-to-end system for connecting people, systems and processes throughout the value chain. Digitalization, specifically with Centric PLM, is one of the most transformative fashion technologies available to industry players who want to make better decisions faster and improve sustainability at the same time. This especially applies to smaller fashion brands.

Dudley Stephens uses Centric PLM to:

• Streamline product development process to meet the rapidly growing demand for eco-friendly products.
• Ensure a centralized repository for all product data.
• Enable efficient, data-driven decision-making.

From transparency into ethical suppliers and environmentally conscious materials to built-in alignment with legislation and compliance requirements, Centric PLM enables designers, merchandisers, marketers and sourcing teams to embed sustainability practices across a product lifecycle.  

Implementing a PLM platform offers SMBs a transformative opportunity to assess and mitigate the environmental impact of product design, production methods and vendor sourcing—capabilities that far exceed the limitations of traditional spreadsheets.

By harnessing the power of a PLM platform during the design phase, you can influence up to 80% of a product’s sustainability potential and make significant strides in waste reduction.

 Here’s how: 

• Access intelligent reports that provide actionable opportunities to reduce waste across your product lifecycle.
• Instantly track and verify claims to ensure your labels meet all sustainability standards, keeping your brand aligned with regulatory and consumer expectations.
• Gain reliable, real-time visibility into every aspect of your processes, materials and suppliers, ensuring your decisions are data-driven and environmentally conscious.

Elevate your brand’s commitment to sustainability by enhancing transparency throughout your product development process and ensuring that every decision reflects your dedication to environmental responsibility.

Thanks to streamlined, real-time communications that ensure sustainable purchasing practices, you can take the next step in managing your strategic partnerships.

Brands that build relationships with partners who are committed to sustainable practices build more resiliency and competitiveness compared to those operating in isolation. More importantly, these strategic partnerships and collaborations inspire other brands to act, igniting change across the industry. 

Rothy’s, a brand renowned for its sustainable and stylish footwear, faced the challenge of maintaining high standards of quality and sustainability while scaling its business. The company needed a solution that could streamline product development, enhance collaboration, and provide real-time visibility into its operations. By adopting Centric PLM, Rothy’s overcame these challenges, enabling them to innovate efficiently and continue their commitment to sustainability without compromising on quality or speed to market.

Here’s a look at how Rothy’s keeps its sustainability goals on track:

• Tracks and manages eco-friendly material use.
• Streamlined workflows bring sustainable products to market faster.
• Improved team collaboration prioritizes sustainability throughout production.

Best of all, Rothy’s teams no longer have to juggle endless manual processes, spreadsheets, emails or disconnected systems!