The term starving artist has been around forever, there used to be truth to that statement but now the software is available and more affordable.
Richard Farb, Vice President of Sales and Marketing of Simparel, sat down with Nolcha to tell us why it is important to start your business with technology. Lynn Furge: Please tell me a little about how Simparel came about in the Retail Industry?
Richard Farb: Simparel, the concept of the software about 5 years ago. David Roth is our visionary and inventor of this technology. He is the “Father” of ERP in the fashion industry. ERP manages sales orders, inventory, shipping, allocation etc. No two companies do things alike and there is no template for manufacturing fashion. This is a problem for traditional software since it’s very ridged and designed not to change. Companies would buy a system and it had to be customized or change their unique business practices to fit into the software model. This restricts the young original entrepreneur that wants to do things differently since the costs of customization are time consuming and expensive. Most software in the Fashion sector is built for apparel. What happens when you manufacture footwear or socks or bedding etc.? You are forced to come up with time consuming work a rounds or go out of the system into excel. Since Simparel is based on data dictionaries (meta data) and not hard code we can easily configure each division to have their own view that suits their product. Configurations that would normally take weeks or months take hours or days because we have eliminated traditional programming code.
LF: Can the system be used by independent retailers as well to process necessary data?
RF: Yes, the system can be used by retailers for manufacturing. We interface to retail POS systems so we can do replenishment as well.
LF: What about a business that is run totally on-line?
RF: Of course, we can handle all the on line transactions. We have a very sophisticated way we handle credit cards and we are fully automated from purchase to ship.
LF: For a person that is not totally computer savvy… please give me the Sesame Street version of what Simparel does for the fashion industry?
RF: We build a system for a designer that allows them to manage their daily business from manufacturing to shipping, sales between the vendor etc. SaaS (the software as a service subscription)is a per month fee. We have a secure hosting facility so all you need is a computer and internet connection. Average time is about 9-12 weeks for a fully configured system. We manage all the upgrades, backups and enhancements so you can focus on your business and not your software. For a small company it is about $300/month per user ($3000 a month for 10 users). It is like leasing a car, for cash flow in a small business it is the best bet and there is no subscription payment until you start using the system. For a bigger company that wants to manage their own server, we have an enterprise solution and we teach you how to manage your system.
LF: Why should an independent business be concerned about supply chain management in terms of implementation as well as hosting and support once the implementation is completed?
RF: No matter how static you think your business is, your business constantly changes. Unless you are totally freestanding, you are being dictated by the retail environment. Whether it is the design trend, your time to market, or where you manufacture goods, everything is constantly changing. If a business analyst comes to recommend software in the 90 days it takes to write up the document, your business has changed. Simparel is designed for change. The only way to be successful is to be flexible and adjust to your demands.
LF: What type of systems do designers typically use and how is Simparel different?
RF: The options today are still traditional systems that haven’t changed much in the past 20 yrs. The cost of implementing and supporting these old systems has gone through the roof. While advances in technology are prevalent throughout PDA’s, computers and IPods while ERP software for the fashion industry has made little progress. That is a fundamental problem especially for the young designer who are expanding into different verticals and need to be creative and flexible not restricted by old methodologies. That is what makes us different. We are build on the newest Microsoft technology so we are the fast, flexible and engineered for change.
LF: What types of unique industry problems is Simparel prepared for since it doesn’t have the programmer consistently there to back them up?
RF: As your business grows it shifts and changes. You need your software to adjust with you rapidly. With our technology changes can be made in real time so you can adapt quickly and not have to wait weeks for a programmer to write and test the change. With programming code there are bugs and syntax errors because 100’s of other companies are sharing the same software. Every time a change is made to the core it affects everyone and conflicts and breaks occur. Since your dictionaries are your own and there is no code, an enhancement to someone else’s instance never touches yours so you remain problem free. EDI is another challenge. With retailers forced to get goods on the floor faster and more accurately there are constant changes to their EDI segments. With Simparel these changes can be done in a fraction of the time with pin point accuracy. With Simparels patented universal connectivity we can capture information from all of your systems anywhere in the world. This allows you visibility from POS all the way through your supply chain.
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