ISELIN, NJ, May 15, 2008 – California-based retailer Mervyns has been applauded by Apparel Magazine as a Top Innovator for 2008. Mervyns, which operates 173 department stores in 8 states and produces private label fashion and home décor products, is using ecVision® XpressCommerce® to achieve true end-to-end visibility into their PLM and supply chain operations.

Last year Mervyns set out to improve collaboration with its key private label import partners, this required replacing its current stand-alone bookings database. The company needed an integrated solution for improved access to data through intelligent reporting/analytics. The goal was to allow visibility into the supply chain tasks required to manage private label product development, such as workflow and scheduling. Only a few months after implementation, Mervyns has already realized increased productivity and soft dollar savings, by reducing time spent by product development managers manually re-entering data already existing in other systems. Additional time will be saved since the sourcing team will no longer have to manually manipulate reports to access data on import business, supplier projections and performance.

“Involving sourcing teams and suppliers in the design and development phase of the product lifecycle can result in cost reductions of nearly 18% compared to organizations that lack such collaboration”, said Thomas Ng, ecVision’s CEO. “This level of collaboration can also yield up to a 20% improvement in time-to-market speed. Overall, retailers find that a collaborative solution, can impact cost and supply considerations such as logistics, supply stability, supplier performance, quality performance, innovation and component obsolescence.”

As a comprehensive Product Lifecycle Execution™ (PLE™) solution, XpressCommerce encompasses both PLM and SCE functionality creating a unique offering that is a dynamic tool for product development and planning. These advanced capabilities help organize product information from the initial concept through to delivery and provide the necessary collaboration and visibility to everyone involved in these processes. The Mervyns implementation includes tight integration to multiple systems including Gerber WebPDM®, JDA MMS, and two home-grown systems for item and supplier management.

XpressCommerce enables retailers to be more flexible with the changing consumer trends, increase margins, improve productivity of their global supply network, and quickly deliver quality items to their customers. To learn more about ecVision’s Reserve Module, visit http://www.ecvision.com/Products/XpressCommerce_Reserve.htm.