What is PLM Software?

We get it. Given the fast-pace of the fashion world, staying up-to-date across your team can be a tough challenge when there are so many conversations, spreadsheets, and products to manage. Deliveries coming in when? What about that purchase order? How many did we order? Which trims are we using the most across our product ranges? Did you send the tech pack to the manufacturer? Exhausting!

That's where PLM software comes in. PLM stands for Product Lifecycle Management – and it's the software type that many clothing companies choose when looking to go above and beyond the traditional clunky spreadsheets and emails to manage their operations and product development, and move to a clean, joyful workflow-based system where everyone can communicate seamlessly – and where everything is in one unified place.

When should you opt for a PLM?

If you want to have:

⚡️ Reduced operational complexity – time and cost savings for brands

⚡️ Improved communication between clothing designers, production managers, and stakeholders

⚡️ Improved communication between brand, manufacturers, and suppliers

⚡️ Better visibility across product development and production

⚡️ Storage of product details and commonly used components

⚡️ Simple tech pack creation and sharing

⚡️ Updates and notifications about development, sampling, production, purchase orders and shipping statuses

⚡️ Ultimately – Provides better company structure for companies trying to scale into deep 7, 8 or 9 figure revenue

Sounds great right? Not always. PLMs for years have been outdated, making the spreadsheets they were replacing seem like they might have been worth sticking with. So many PLMs can be hard to navigate, understand, and generally painful to use. Entering product details, costings, purchase orders can feel overwhelming with outdated User Interfaces that just make it more of a pain than a joy to use.

Only up until recently have a very small few PLMs focused on a pleasurable User Experience. Why is that UX (User Experience) important? Because it increases efficiency and reduces operational complexity – saving companies not just time, and their mental health, but money too – as operations become faster and improved communication means less human errors are made.

Problems with most PLMs

❌ They're outdated design-wise and not simple to use

❌ They often introduce or force processes that you might not need

❌ They aren't flexible, or if they are charge you $1000's or $10,000s for custom functionality

❌ They don't allow communication – they just focus on storing product details

❌ They don't cater to the sampling process, which is a major part of most fashion brands workflow

❌ They attempt to improve communication between brand and manufacturer, but often create friction

❌ They can take anywhere from 30-90 days to properly implement

That's where Lifecycle PLM comes in. Our 10+ years experience in designing beautiful software, combined with multiple years ourselves in the clothing industry building businesses mean that we just get it. We understand the problems, and we've built the tool that fashion brands need.

Why Lifecycle PLM?

✅ Beautiful and joyful to use – making onboarding team members a breeze

✅ Flexible and customisable right out the box. Set it up in the way that mirrors your workflow.

✅ A focus on communication – be updated in realtime with notifications about products and shipments

✅ Affordable compared to many alternative PLMs. Per seat based pricing.

✅ Fastest-in-industry Tech Pack Studio tool - Create Tech Packs in 5 minutes or less

✅ Sampling Studio – Sample one piece across multiple manufacturers together with your team

✅ Comprehensive product details, searching, and filtering

✅ Purchase Orders & Shipments – Create POs based on your product details already within the PLM, and track shipping numbers across 1000's of couriers worldwide

✅ Timelines – Schedule out different stages of your apparel production in our timeline calendar tooling

✅ Assign team members to products, sampling, timelines, and a whole lot more

🔥 Save 10+ hours in your week, and save $1000's of dollars in wasted time

Does it sound like Lifecycle could help your 7+ figure clothing brand become more efficient and save thousands on your bottom line? Get in touch with us today and we'll give you a quick demo, answer any questions you may have, and give you a free 14 day trial so you can understand the power Lifecycle can bring to your business!