Have you ever paged through a magazine and stared longingly at The Duchess of Cambridge’s dress or pictured your son in Cruz Beckham’s cargo pants, all the time wondering if they won’t be passé next season when they hit South African stores?
(Photo: iSync’s Peter Booysen)
The good news is, with “Fast Fashion” slowly making its mark on the South African fashion industry and the technology of iSync Solutions and their Sync ERP Software System, you could be wearing this season’s high fashion … well … this season!
According to the managing director of Durban based company iSync Solutions, Peter Booysen, Fast Fashion was pioneered by fashion retailer Zara, and with their expansion into South Africa brought home the need for local retailers to start adopting it. “Fast Fashion means being able to turn around high fashion items (off the catwalk) from concept to store in less than 30 days! This is the global benchmark. Locally, the aim would be less than 60 days, which is a huge shift from the current norm of SA retailers which is up to six months,” said Booysen.
But will Fast Fashion become something the consumer can expect from all retailers? According to Booysen, one of the best ways to achieve Fast Fashion is for retailers to work with local manufacturing industries and or to better manage the way they import products. “Being able to achieve Fast Fashion, whether you’re manufacturing locally or importing, requires the synchronisation of many factors and this is where iSync Solutions and our Sync ERP Software System comes into play,” says Booysen.
Many clothing businesses operate on a combination of software systems, each managing a part of the process, which tends to slow the product development life cycle down. Sync is a comprehensive, all-encompassing software solution that manages the entire garment sourcing and manufacturing process, improving visibility throughout the product life cycle of a garment. This means a reduction in lead times, the streamlining of business processes, increased employee productivity, and the ability to highlight the critical path to ensure on-time delivery.
Apart from the 80 or more apparel companies currently using the system in South Africa, Sync is currently being implemented by The Foschini Group (TFG). Its effectiveness is starting to be felt, with TFG purchasing one of their Cape Town based suppliers, Prestige Clothing, which has significantly boosted local manufacturing – a major advantage of Fast Fashion.
According to Booysen, collaborations like this also prove the effectiveness of The Clothing & Textiles Competitiveness Programme (CTCP), a government grant system for which the Sync software qualifies. “The CTCP helps stimulate Fast Fashion in South Africa, by promoting investment in local manufacturing through grants given for machinery, systems training and the like” says Booysen.
The future is bright for iSync Solutions, with offices in Durban and Cape Town as well as numerous clients in Joburg. Winning tenders over international software systems has proved Sync to be a world-class product, and with a new industry emphasis on Fast Fashion, it seems apparel business in SA cannot afford to be without this all-encompassing ERP software.
You can find iSync Solutions at 21 Broadway, Durban North. Phone them on 086 100 SYNC (7962) or email info@isyncsolutions.com, or visit www.isyncsolutions.com