Fast fashion retailer New Look reckons it can now process 185 per cent more purchase orders than five years ago after adopting a supply chain management solution developed by ediTRACK.
Lighthouse, the ediTRACK software as a service that New Look is using, provides an accessible platform for all its trading partners to share information on product development and delivery.
In addition to increasing the numbers of purchase orders it handles each week, New Look has used Lighthouse to increase the number of stores it services and the number of distribution hubs that it can manage.
Maxine Walter, supply chain coordination manager at New Look, said: “Now our buyers can exchange photographs with suppliers and have a real-time dialogue as they develop styles, while buyers out in the Far East can send detailed and accurate information back to their teams in the UK. It has certainly cut lead times and reduced errors.
“Because it includes an event-based tracking tool there is an action list based on the agreed critical path so we reduce slippage and have the merchandise where we want it when it is needed.”
ediTRACK’s service allows buyers in the UK and producers in the Far East to share information about designs, fabrics and delivery schedules electronically in real time, and ensures that the latest information is always available to everyone involved. Having ‘one version of the truth’ has led to a significant reduction in errors.
Dan Monaghan, head of supply chain operations at New Look, said: “If in future we need more distribution hubs to handle additional franchises, then the system can scale up to meet demand.”
