Fashion PLM Software vs Fashion ERP Software: Know the Difference

What’s the difference between fashion PLM software and fashion ERP software? Keep reading to find out!

For DTC fashion brands designing, sourcing, and building a high volume of products, implementing a development will streamline essential business operations while boosting productivity and efficiency. Emerging fashion startups and established organizations may choose to streamline vital development processes with the help of product lifecycle management (PLM) coupled with enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. While each solution compliments one another, fashion PLM helps facilitate the complete development and design cycle, whereas fashion ERP assists more directly with supply chain organization, including accounting, inventory, production schedules, and logistics.

Fashion PLM software allows design teams to focus on the ideation, innovation, and development of a product, while ERP’s role is executing that product and managing cost-control during the supply stages. Fashion PLM tools are used primarily by technical designers and product developers, and ERP systems are more commonly used by manufacturing or operations personnel. Each system is diverse in its function and cannot be replicated with the other’s capabilities.

To learn more about how fashion PLM and fashion ERP differ, along with benefits, frequently asked questions, and an easy-to-read comparison chart, check out our blog below!

Traditional PLM Software vs Fashion PLM Software: Why Backbone is Better

It’s time to reevaluate your brand’s design and development processes. Improve productivity and scalability with Backbone’s dynamic fashion PLM software.

In the fashion industry, brands must define goals for seasonal collections and create blueprints for designers, merchandisers, and buyers. Fashion PLM software will help your company establish style numbers, carryover designs, colorways, price points, MOQs, margins, and more. From here, your team can forward crucial product specifications to other departments and begin a cooperative, transparent relationship with your entire vendor base to launch new products, reduce production costs, and increase speed to market. Growth-oriented companies are moving past scattered spreadsheets and making fashion PLM a top priority. In contrast, sinking time and resources into hard-to-use, legacy platforms inhibit real-time collaboration and slows your production schedule. Without a user-friendly fashion PLM, many emerging fashion startups would not be able to secure funding or grow their business. On top of being more affordable and faster to implement compared to traditional legacy systems, Backbone PLM separates itself from fashion PLM systems because of the efficiency in which fashion brands can create new products and customize templates. For example, the average Backbone customer saves eight hours per tech pack! Backbone customers move products from design to development 44% faster than manual systems, and centralized product records are automatically updated, reducing manual data entry by 40%. Backbone’s cloud-based PLM leverages modern user interface and user design technologies to provide an intuitive product that anyone can use, even if you aren’t part of a technical team. To find out more, read our blog for the top six reasons why Backbone PLM is a better investment than traditional fashion PLM software.

6 Ways Design Teams Increase Speed to Market with Fashion PLM Software

Designers and developers can optimize their market strategy with Backbone’s dynamic cloud-based fashion PLM software.

From concept to creation, Backbone’s dynamic, cloud-based fashion PLM helps organize and streamline design and development needs to increase speed to market without negatively impacting the environment. The concept of fast fashion has increased competition and forced many fashion organizations to condense design and product development processes to reach customers sooner. Fast fashion points to fashion conglomerates mass-producing high-end fashion designs at low costs, and the pendulum is shifting to favor faster development and a near-immediate time to market. Unfortunately for consumers, the garments produced are cheap and disposable. While many fashion brands are quick to overproduce and satisfy shoppers at every whim, Backbone PLM provides a platform to create products smarter, faster, and at scale to safeguard revenue, cut down on waste, and increase speed to market — the right way. To learn more about the benefits of fashion PLM, continue reading our blog for 6 ways design teams can increase speed to market with the help of fashion PLM software.

Why Smaller Design Teams Should Embrace Fashion PLM Software

Smaller design teams should embrace fashion PLM software to optimize product development. Here are six reasons explaining why:

For years, fashion PLM software was reserved for industry giants and rarely used by fashion startups or modest organizations. Today, modern fashion PLM has leveled the playing field for a wide range of early-phase apparel brands, and smaller design teams are reaping the benefits of cloud-based SaaS solutions like Backbone PLM. PLM software has become a must-have tool for emerging brands looking to save money, grow their business, or acquire new customers. Most importantly, fashion PLM helps designers remain nimble while optimizing product development and communicating with suppliers. Follow along as we answer your frequently asked questions and discuss six reasons why your fashion designers should embrace fashion PLM software.

Do More with Less: Finding the Right Fashion PLM Software

Fashion PLM software benefits brands of all sizes, but how do you find the right one? Stick around; we’ll tell you.

Today’s modern fashion PLM software covers the entire length of the design and production lifecycle, enabling real-time access to the product at every stage. Cross-functional teams can access the same material lists, design sketches, size specs, and tech packs needed to work efficiently and increase speed to market. Fashion PLM software helps design and development teams align on product data, collaboration efforts, and system processes to introduce high-quality products to an increasingly competitive market. The right PLM solution helps smaller fashion brands empower creativity, scale their business, and remain flexible during the development process. In the current fashion landscape, fashion brands must continuously innovate and discover ways of improving product quality, time to market, and operational efficiency while reducing overhead costs to establish customer loyalty and generate revenue. Embracing a digitally native platform allows your brand to maintain relevance among competitors and become more responsive to evolving trends. In this blog, we will explain the benefits of fashion PLM software, how PLM affects fashion brands today, and how your fashion brand can make the most out of a modern PLM.