Aptean Apparel PLM
ADPL ADPL uses PLM and ERP to handle surge in knitwear orders and reduced staffing during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Industry Garment Manufacturing
Challenges
» Many aspects of design and
development were manual and some were paper-based with limited visibility
» COVID-19 shutdowns leading to designers working from home
» Changing consumer preferences during the pandemic
Benefits
» Streamlined processes and brought consistency and real-time visibility across design teams
» Automated key processes and continues to improve collaboration among designers under a hybrid work model
» Automated tech pack creation and increased overall efficiency
» Order volume nearly doubled
ADPL, LLC is a New York-based fashion company delivering design and execution for Dillard’s private label brands. Specializing in women’s clothing—particularly dresses—ADPL designs contemporary lines, maternity lines and even missy lines. Their styles run the gamut from career wear and dresses to t-shirts. Private label brands that ADPL creates for Dillard’s include: Antonio Melani, Gianni Bini, Preston & York and Alex Marie. Six brand teams operate within the ADPL organization. Four teams concentrate strictly on woven designs. There is one dedicated knitwear design team. The dress line division operates as one design team, but they split efforts between a majority of woven designs and some knitwear. Altogether, the company employs approximately 95 people, including about forty designers, tech designers, and product development professionals.
The Need for a Cloud-Based PLM ADPL designs fashions for Dillard’s and handles the execution of placing orders with production vendors. Molly Monarchio, Senior Knitwear Designer, explains ADPL’s operational model: “We [ADPL] own the design and execution of the Dillard’s private labeled brands. We pitch colors, we pitch bodies. We work in conjunction with Dillard’s buyers in all of these decisions, but we start the conversations. We are responsible for having the overseas factories deliver to Dillard’s freight orders overseas. Then Dillard’s takes it from there.”