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Tech Pack: Simplify Your Fashion and Apparel Production
As fast fashion has become a specific norm in the industry, it is difficult to get your products to the market quickly– quicker than the competition. However, in the global fashion market, getting all the things done on time is a mere nightmare.
Every day professionals have to deal with time and commitments to get the tasks done; however, some retailers can manage complex tech pack processes through the spreadsheet alone (once a garment is designed, its specification are stored in several spreadsheets, and design documents by creating a large folder of the one garment which is then emailed to the supplier) which leads to the risk of human error.
From technical designers – product developers – production managers to suppliers where no one is in the loop ends up with simple design flaws become big problems on both the technical and fiscal end.
The problematic questions that are likely to be raised are:-
- What sort of documentation should be crafted?
- How to communicate with all suppliers?
- What would you give to the pattern maker?
- What is returned to you? How much time it will take?
The trials and tribulations are plenty!!! Finding the right factory and communicating properly with them to make the right product is not something that you can just wing.
Factors that Prevent Efficient Operations in Tech Pack Without a System
- Lack of centralized data: Manual processes are prone to human error and data is not centralized or standardized. Hence document proof is difficult to achieve
- Version Control: Completed design passes through various milestones before the masterpiece is created. Managing this in a spreadsheet complicates the entire process.
- Compliance issues: Garment designs comprise different colors, sizes, and dimensional characteristics, which means that the margin for error is especially high – particularly if all these issues are accounted for separately, instead of in one single place.
- Encumbered collaboration: When external departments and team members (e.g. manufacturers or suppliers) can’t effectively collaborate within a central system to share ideas and insight, creativity and innovation is impeded.
Hence, there comes the need for a streamlined system with high integration of multiple business processes and accessibility of information at any given time.
So, how streamlined system can help you to develop a smart tech pack?
It simplifies collaboration and communication between product professionals, enabling them to effectively manage data throughout product development.
It helps developers, designers, and manufacturers to stay on the same page following the same schedule and interacting in real-time.
For instance: A fashion professional wants to create a sheath-velvet dress; with this solution, everyone involved from design to manufacturing remains in the loop without necessarily being in the same location and can easily access the tech pack of sheath-velvet dress to determine who is doing what, which is the next phase of the project, etc.
What Does It Bring To The Table?
A lot actually. As it enables the team to work on the same page; it makes planning easier, stays updated with the recent version of the product, and finds out if the product is dropped from the line. More time is saved as there is no need for paperwork and manual work or e-mailing every supplier from time to time.
Basically tech pack consists of
- Drawing
- Measurement
- Description of fabric
- Trim Design
- Grading
- Prints
- Label
- BOX
With a tech pack on your screen, you can check out what the product’s agenda is and what modifications are to be made to the product. The ability to manage multiple aspects greatly reduces errors and you can review your product in less time compared to traditional product management.
So, with the streamlined system, everyone associated with the product can stay in the loop and works de facto between manufacturer and client
The benefits can be categorized as
#1. Shorter time to market: On having centralized control over the data, it is likely that product development can be completed more quickly. The product designer and the team associated with it can work faster and data transfer is also hassle-free. Faster development and shorter time to market are always quintessential to remaining competitive.
#2. Increase productivity: Implementing an autonomous system nullifies time-consuming activities like duplicity of data across different systems, multiple times checking of data for any irregularities, searching for missing data, etc. Product design teams who already have integrated this system are less likely to come across processing errors and reworks due to outdated information.
#3. Enhances product quality: As managing and controlling all the information is easy; it likely affects the overall product quality. By using the system, product managers, suppliers, and associated teams are able to implement all the processes which help to maintain product quality and result in customer satisfaction. This is important if the team is spread across different demographics to ensure that quality is not compromised.
#4. Connects design with data: Suppliers can upload new design concepts directly into the system and can quickly bring those concepts to the life by using advanced tools. By connecting creative design ideas to the system, you can increase accuracy and reduce waste.
#5. Enriches user experience: If you have an automated system, you will able to work smarter and faster than ever before with simple drag-and-drop functionalities. This would even require less training and speeds up adoption.
Helpful Tips to Look for…..
- Don’t make your information messy; spread the details so that everything is easy to read. Cluttered things won’t able to keep your instructions simple, clear, and direct.
- Add images to make it clear and detailed.
- There are chances that trim designers may not read the tech pack so it is recommended that you can provide a sample of the garment so that they can know how the final product should look.
- When you design a tech pack make sure there is no typo error, incorrect measurements, or fabric type which results in delays or other problems.
- Create a PDF of your tech pack so that it helps to protect and prevent others from editing it
- Think of creating a PLM system that helps to manage the entire life cycle of the product from inception, through engineering design and manufacture to service and disposal.
The bottom line…
Keeping a consistent tech pack from scratch to the development process will save your time and many headaches in the long run. The system for the tech pack that we craft is crystal clear and planned by industry experts.
We assure you that your production runs will be smooth and cost-effective. We do all the heavy lifting so that you can focus on your brand.
So, looking to develop management software for your tech pack with us? Let’s connect!
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