Private label development teams are very much dependent on the partners that form every link in the supply chain. Globalized sourcing operations increase the likelihood of risk or disruption at every turn. Fierce competition and tight cost margins can further magnify the impact of a supply chain failure on a business. With the demand to increase the mix of private label products to increase profitability, brand owners also bear the burden of managing the quality process.

In AMR Research’s January 2010 report, “Top Technology Trends in the Apparel Market”, the respondents to this annual survey point to “global risk” as a major concern that can be controlled through software applications that increase supplier collaboration and visibility. The report endorses the use of supplier scorecards and dashboards to measure quality and compliance to mitigate risk — while enabling the private label companies to “control their own destinies more closely as they differentiate their product assortments, respond to market trends in a manner consistent with the brand, and deepen customer loyalty”.

Risk comes in many forms and involves organizations at each point in the product lifecycle. Risk can be classified into Regulatory and Brand risks. Regulatory risks include social, environmental and product safety elements. Brand risks encompass image, quality and consistency. Of course, there are other risks that can’t be controlled or forecast - -such as natural disasters like that we have seen in the Asia Pacific and Haiti, or civil unrest we see in Africa along the Ivory Coast. In the end, it is the retailer or brand owner’s responsibility to the customer to ensure compliance on all levels. Private label retailers need to focus on legitimately collaborating with its supplier network to manage risk on all levels if they want to differentiate themselves from the competition.

As a packaged solution that unifies PDM, PLM, and Supply Chain Management tasks, the Audit and Inspect modules provide a means for users to achieve greater visibility into the processes. ecVision’s unique product can help companies in their efforts to re-evaluate business strategies, gain a better understanding of the critical interdependencies and supply chain risks along the way — from the sourcing of raw materials to delivery to the customer — and appropriately manage or transfer risks.