How many companies are really in a Digital Transformation journey?

There is a lot of buzz about 'digital transformation'.

Many CIO's, IT Managers, C-level executives believe they are in the middle of their 'digital transformation' journey.

But frankly, not many companies are.

Several mid-sized companies are in a 'digital modernization' journey - replacing old stuff with new stuff - upgrading, not changing ways of working / processes, organizational structure, culture or mindset, nor involving the key players in the organization, their transformation is purely driven by IT.

A CTO from an international retail brand with Swedish origins recently said during a webinar (not his precise words):

"Digital Transformation is not 'really only' about bringing in new technologies, but more about focusing on the workforce, on the people, and changing the working model towards working together with the business, working with internal clients, external partners and customers. Reskilling the organization to deliver new business value and to not loose the company."

It reminds me that not long ago I said to the managing director of a company 'you can double your profit by getting rid of the silo's, align business processes and work together'.

Then get rid of on-premise IT-infrastructure & private clouds, stop focusing on keeping old solutions up and running, attrack new talent, put them in the middle of the business, discover what you need, build a transformation vision and plan, and start slowly.

Continue!

❄ What makes Scotch & Soda so interesting? (Part three)

Last year, at the beginning of autumn at the height of my research into Supply Chain and Warehouse Management solutions, my attention was drawn to the Amsterdam-based lifestyle fashion brand Scotch & Soda.

Some announcements in the online press prompted a deep-dive into the world and history of Scotch & Soda.

The deep dive revealed an interesting and compelling journey of a Dutch wholesaler, that grew into a leading international player in the fashion and clothing sector.

See the link to part one and two under references.

The steps towards a composable digital business landscape

Scotch & Soda does not choose to replace its outdated ERP solution with D365 Finance and Supply Chain Management.

The platforms and solutions of NEW BLACK and Manhattan Associates are introduced while the value chain runs on the newest RFID-tags of Checkpoint Systems and the Nedap iD Cloud platform.

🌄 NEW BLACK Unified Commerce Platform EVA

“EVA transformed us from the flintstones into the Jetsons!” — Karis Durmer, CEO Scotch & Soda Americas

New Black, the company behind Scotch & Soda's Unified Commerce platform, is unknown to many.

“We are just a bunch of NERDS, transforming the world of (e)commerce with our truly unique Unified Commerce Platform (EVA), a creation of an ultra-modern, highly adaptive and Technology Agnostic eco-system.” — New Black

New Black works for leading brands and retailers such as Rituals, Intersport, GrandVision, Fjallraven and Scotch & Soda.

With EVA, its Unified Commerce Platform, New Black targets large companies with a focus on the (non-food) luxury segments such as fashion, electronics, beauty and cosmetics.

New Black's goal is to enable brands and retailers to adapt to changes in their environment and facilitate a future-proof, customer-centric, integrated digital architecture.

“EVA, our Unified Commerce Platform, is an SAAS toolset which has the power and the scope to reduce op to 70% of the use of the ’ classical’ monolithic application in common IT Enterprise Architecture.” — NEW Black, Microsoft Partner

Out-of-the-box, EVA brings a solution for running in-store logistics and providing a seamless shopping experience consisting of:

Finance and Control

Mobile Point of Sales (mPOS)

Order Management System (OMS)

Inventory Management & Fulfillment

Advanced order orchestration

Real-time fulfillment calculation

Omnichannel price & promotion management

Moreover, a Software Development Kit (SDK) is provided for building portals, apps and websites to support omnichannel processes such as Click & Collect, Ship-from-Store, Endless Aisle.

New Black strengthens its EVA platform with:

the payment platform of Adyen

[See references: "Adyen goes live with Tap to Pay on iPhone"]

the scanning-engine of Scandit for scanning barcodes with the mPOS

[See references: "Scandit Partner Spotlight: New Black"]

the clienteling app of Mercaux in which Scandit is integrated

Mercaux is also used by the eCommerce platform (commercetools) and the Fluent Commerce DOM, from Emma, the Sleep Company.

[See references: "Mercaux’s Partner Network"]

EVA, runs entirely under Microsoft Azure.

“With Microsoft Azure we can build and deploy our application consistently, seamlessly manage data, enable Anywhere Access with single sign-on, and deliver integrated security and management across on-premises and the cloud.” — NEW Black, Microsoft Partner

The EVA-based Unified Commerce solution ensures seamless shopping while at the same time complying with (inter)national privacy and tax laws. With a company's stores as an anchor point, EVA unifies all customer touchpoints and enables a unique brand experience.

Is EVA PaaS or SaaS?

EVA - in my opinion - is more a combination of SaaS (with the existing solutions / functionalities) and aPaaS (application development- and implementationenvironment) as appropriate within MACH a lot of integrated partner-solutions.

[See references: "Microsoft Azure: What is PaaS?"]

🌄 Adyen - Tap to Pay | Juli 2022

“We are thrilled that Scotch & Soda is one of the groundbreakers to launch Tap to Pay on iPhone. As consumers increase their use of digital wallets, Tap to Pay provides a secure and contactless payment option which ensures our customers will have a seamless checkout experience.” — Karis Durmer, CEO Scotch & Soda Americas

Adyen, the global financial technology platform, recently launched its solution that allows businesses to use their iPhones to accept contactless payments.

Adyen has teamed up with New Black to enable this payment facility for retailers such as G-Star and Scotch & Soda.

“As consumers increase their use of digital wallets, Tap to Pay provides a secure and contactless payment option which ensures our customers will have a seamless checkout experience.” — Karis Durmer, CEO Scotch & Soda Americas

[See references: "Adyen goes live with Tap to Pay on iPhone"]

References

✅ What makes Emma, the Sleep Company, and Scotch & Soda so interesting? (Part one)

✅ What makes Scotch & Soda so interesting? (Part two)

✅ Adyen goes live with Tap to Pay on iPhone

✅ Microsoft AppSource: EVA Unified Commerce Platform

✅ Microsoft Azure: What is PaaS?

✅ Mercaux’s Partner Network

✅ Scandit Partner Spotlight: New Black

Continue!

Single Source OF Truth (SSOT) ERP, PIM of PLM of een mix van PIM en PLM?

Product Informatie Management en Product Life Cycle Management overlappen elkaar steeds vaker.

Vooral in Fashion zien we dat productgegevens van ontwerp tot overlijden vastgelegd worden en beschikbaar gesteld omdat:

✅ Duurzaamheidsrapportage-verplichtingen bedrijven dwingen te rapporteren over milieu-aspecten die buiten de eigen controlesfeer liggen. (de Value Chain emissies - zoals opgelegd met CBAM, ESPR, CSRD)

✅ Klanten, overheden en multi-stakeholder duurzaamheidsinitiatieven vragen naar informatie over de samenstelling en recycleerbaarheid van producten

Na invoering van de nieuwe Ecodesign verordering ontstaat de noodzaak voor het vastleggen van product- en productiegegevens in alle industrieën.

☛ Single Source Of Truth (SSOT)

Tijdens implementaties van PIM-oplossingen vinden regelmatig discussies plaats over wat de 'bron van waarheid' dient te zijn.

Jaren terug was ERP vanzelfsprekend de bron omdat er geen andere oplossingen waren of integratie met ontwerp-tools ontiechelijk moeilijk.

Vandaag adopteren steeds meer sectoren PLM.

➡ In de Mode- en Kledingindustrie is "PLM for Fashion" een vrij gangbare begrip geworden, met leveranciers als Delogue PLM, Centric Software, PTC FlexPLM, EN DeSL.

Deze industrie is één van de meest vervuilende en wil met PLM meer grip krijgen op haar relaties met leveranciers en de beschikbaarheid van product- en ontwerpgegevens in de toeleveringsketen.

In High-Tech is het gebruik van PLM voor het creëren, onderhouden, bewaken, in- en uitfaseren van producten en stuklijsten al jaren ingeburgerd en niet meer weg te denken.

➡ In andere sectoren zoals Retail neemt PIM een voorname plek in bij het verwerken van productcatalogi van derden (de productdatapools).

Veel Retailers bieden online een assortiment aan, het longtail-assortiment, welke ze niet op voorraad hebben, en artikelen die niet in ERP staan. De gegevens voor de shop komen uit de catalogi van derden. Pas na ontvangst van een klantorder worden artikelen opgevoerd in ERP.

☛ PIM en PLM naast mekaar of geïntegreerd

Met composable architectuurlandschappen kunnen PIM en PLM steeds makkelijker naast mekaar bestaan waarbij een duidelijk scheiding bestaat tussen wie voor welk type gegeven, waar en wanneer de bron van waarheid vertegenwoordigd. PLM gaat altijd over ontwerp- en design gegevens van de eigen merkproducten.

Echter wanneer straks het 'Digital Product Passport' gemeengoed is en alle bedrijven moeten voldoen aan de eerder genoemde duurzaamheidsrapportages kan het best zo zijn dat PLM oplossingen voor alle producten (eigen merken en derden) gebruik gaan worden.

Continue!

❄ What makes Scotch & Soda so interesting? (Part two)

Last year, at the beginning of autumn at the height of my research into Supply Chain and Warehouse Management solutions, my attention was drawn to the Amsterdam-based lifestyle fashion brand Scotch & Soda.

Some announcements in the online press prompted a deep-dive into the world and history of Scotch & Soda.

The deep dive revealed an interesting and compelling journey of a Dutch wholesaler, that grew into a leading international player in the fashion and clothing sector.

See the link to part one under references.

The steps towards a composable digital business landscape

Scotch & Soda does not choose to replace its outdated ERP solution with D365 Finance and Supply Chain Management.

The platforms and solutions of NEW BLACK and Manhattan Associates are introduced while the value chain runs on the newest RFID-tags of Checkpoint Systems and the Nedap iD Cloud platform.

🌄 Nedap becomes strategic RFID partner | February 2021

Scotch & Soda selected Nedap as strategic RFID partner for Europe and North America.

Scotch & Soda will deploy Nedap's iD Cloud inventory management platform throughout 162 stores globally with the objective to increase accuracy throughout the supply chain.

Intented goals:

☛ Maximize customer loyalty

“We have been looking into RFID for quite some time already. Now is the time for us to step in, as product availability has become vital to fulfill the increasing demand of today’s consumers.” — Rik Kok, Procurement Director of Scotch & Soda

☛ Gain real-time insights in and optimize stock levels throughout the supply chain

“A single view on stock is crucial for a successful omnichannel strategy. It allows us to increase our online sellable stock, as we do not necessarily need to ship from our distribution centers anymore. We can now use our stores as mini-DCs and use stock from the shop floor and back-of-house for web order fulfillment as well” — Rik Kok, Procurement Director of Scotch & Soda

☛ Phased deployment

Scotch & Soda kicks off the RFID implementation in the physical stores. This is closest to the consumer, as most sales-transactions take place there. Goods are source-labeled at the factory, leading to full traceability in the supply chain from source to consumer.

Nedap's iD Cloud solution not only ensures that products are available for sale in the store, but also provides the ability to quickly locate web orders in the store via the "App for in-store RFID-processes". In this way, the time required to prepare an e-commerce order is kept to a minimum.

The next step will be taken at Scotch & Soda's new distribution center, where efficiency and accuracy must be optimal.

[See references: "App for in-store RFID processes"]

☛ Contribute to reducing the negative impact of the fashion industry on the environment

As RFID provides real-time insights in stock levels throughout the entire supply chain, safety thresholds can be reduced to a minimum. This enables Scotch & Soda to fulfill consumer demand without overstocking, and eventually wasting garments.

[See references: "Scotch & Soda selects Nedap as strategic RFID partner"]

🌄 The new generation of RFID-tags van Checkpoint Systems | August 2021

In the summer of 2021 Scotch & Soda decided to extend its partnership with Checkpoint Systems. Scotch & Soda has been using the Checkpoint Systems’ labelling technology for more than 10 years.

New Jersey-based company, Checkpoint System, is a global leader in EAS (Electronic Article Surveillance) and RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) solutions for the retail industry, encompassing loss prevention and merchandise visibility solutions in growing omnichannel environment.

The brand is now advancing in the collaboration by incorporating the latest generation of RFID labels, featuring the high-performance Njord label with the Impinj M750 chip, onto all its merchandise.

“2020 has changed the buying behaviour of consumers worldwide. Shoppers no longer just buy clothes in a physical shop or online. They buy through their preferred channel, as and when it is convenient for them, if retailers want to grow, they will have to accommodate their consumers with this omnichannel behaviour. RFID ensures that shops can perfectly align e-commerce, click & collect and other online services. This improves customer loyalty by ensuring that the experience is enjoyable, from mobile/desktop browsing through to collection or delivery.” — Geert den Hartog, Key Account Director Apparel at Checkpoint Systems

[See references: "Scotch & Soda macht Online- und Offline-Shopping mit Checkpoint Systems zu einem neuen Erlebnis"]

🌄 Omnichannel European Distribution Center | Juni 2022

At the President business parc in Hoofddorp the new European distribution center of fashion company Scotch & Soda was completed in the past summer months.

Scotch & Soda will integrate three distribution centers in Europe into one distribution center from which omnichannel sales will be facilitated.

The distribution center provides space for a state-of-the-art warehouse of approximately 20,000 m2, sixteen loading docks and a three-storey office of 1,200 m2.

The impressive building of more than two football fields stands out because of its black facade panels, gold-colored roof awning and overhead doors, imposing glass sections and green columns that cover part of the facade.

The all-electric building has been designed and built in such a way that the highest sustainability ambitions are met. The requirements of the WELL Gold certification go very far, up to the height of the taps and the width of the sinks. Everything to ensure that the people in the building experience a pleasant environment.

“The hall is heated with two air-water heat pumps that supply the heaters with warm air. In the office area, the climate system cools and heats by means of a VRF system.” — Peter Moddejongen, project leader at Top Installatiegroep

Underneath the new building is a parking basement for almost a hundred cars, including a large bicycle shed.

“This building is all about the well-being of the people who work there. A good working climate with good air is therefore important. On the roof, for example, measurements are carried out with a sensor. If the air quality turns out not to be good, lights will come on inside and the employees will have to close the windows. After all, the company is located near Schiphol and that has consequences for air quality.”

[See references: "Opening Omnichannel Europees Distributiecentrum (June 2022)"]

[See references: "It was the installer's first time working for a WELL project"]

🌄 Manhattan Active® Allocations and Warehouse Management | 2022

The Dutch fashion brand Scotch & Soda implements Manhattan Active® Allocation and Manhattan Active Warehouse Management.

The choice for these solutions did not just fall out of the blue. It is part of a strategy to drive omnichannel transformation, both in-store and online, globally. In this way, the new omnichannel distribution center in Hoofddorp and the DC in Hong Kong can be used optimally.

The real-time approach to allocation makes for fewer redirects and end-of-season markdowns, less stranded inventory and less financial risk.

“By migrating three key distribution centers to Manhattan Active Warehouse Management, we are supporting a distribution and fulfillment transformation with smarter, more transparent and sustainable fulfillment and delivery options, which will ultimately benefit our growing customer base.” — Rik Kok, procurement director at Scotch & Soda

“Manhattan has reimagined the entire allocation process with the notion that today’s retailers must better align inventory deployment decisions with how the brand intends to engage its customers. For the first time, allocators will have the ability to make allocation decisions pre-season, before inventory hits the stores, and in real time during the selling season, leveraging granular omni-fulfilment insights. This will give them the ability to align their short-lifecycle inventory plans with their omnichannel fulfilment strategies, resulting in fewer fulfilment redirects and end-of-season markdowns.” — Scott Fenwick, senior director of product strategy at Manhattan Associates

Manhattan Active® Allocation is always up-to-date, constantly adapting, and automatically scales and bends to meet changing needs as a business grows.

The microservices-based, cloud-native solution never needs to be upgraded,

Manhattan Active® Warehouse Management is versionless, with continuous access to new capabilities. The system works in the cloud and is equipped with machine learning, which means that updates are not necessary. When Scotch & Soda needs more functionality, the solution will automatically scale with the need.

VCE Verkehrslogistik Consulting & Engineering GmbH

The German IT Consultancy company VCE Verkehrslogistik Consulting & Engineering GmbH took care of the implementation from start to finish in a number of phases:

May 2022 – Relocation wholesale division into new warehouse building

July 2022 – Relocation of retail division moves into new warehouse with switchover to new IT landscape (using MAWM)

September 2022 – Cutover of wholesale from old software to Manhattan WMS

October 2022 – Go-live of retail and first e-commerce division

February 2023 – Go-live of remaining e-commerce division incl. outlet

[See references: "One Warehouse IT Consulting at Scotch & Soda"]

References

✅ What makes Emma, the Sleep Company, and Scotch & Soda so interesting? (Part one)

✅ App for in-store RFID processes

✅ Scotch & Soda selects Nedap as strategic RFID partner

✅ Scotch & Soda macht Online- und Offline-Shopping mit Checkpoint Systems zu einem neuen Erlebnis

✅ Opening Omnichannel Europees Distributiecentrum (June 2022)

✅ It was the installer's first time working for a WELL project

✅ Scotch & Soda drives global omnichannel supply chain transformation with Manhattan Associates

✅ One Warehouse IT Consulting at Scotch & Soda

Continue!

❄ What makes Emma, the Sleep Company, and Scotch & Soda so interesting? (Part one)

Last year, at the beginning of autumn at the height of my research into Supply Chain and Warehouse Management solutions, my attention was drawn to the Amsterdam-based lifestyle fashion brand Scotch & Soda.

I had just taken a deep dive into Emma, the Sleep Company, one of the fastest growing sleep innovation companies in the world, which is/was on a beautiful digital business transformation.

What makes Emma and Scotch & Soda so interesting?

Two things stand out:

📌 First of all, their 'Composable Architecture' approach grounded on MACH principles (Microservices based, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS and Headless), based on a platform concept of Cloud solutions.

The idea, my belief, that in the world of business solutions, MACH only works by connecting solutions and not functionalities from different solution providers.

📌 And just as interesting is the Unified Commerce idea, the step after Omnichannel, where ERP becomes subordinate to the eCommerce OMS and the Supply Chain Management platform. All customer and supplier channels are united in one central place - actually two: the commercial and supply & distribution chain, which are strongly interconnected.

Emma – The Sleep Company implemented D365 FSCM with on top of it Pulpo WMS, Fluent Commerce OMS and the Toolsgroup SCM.

☛ Emma did not choose to implement the WMS and SCM functionalities of Microsoft D365, perhaps partly due to timing.

Scotch & Soda, implements the Unified Commerce Platform EVA from New Black and the WMS and SCM solutions of Manhattan Associates.

☛ Scotch & Soda has not chosen to replace its outdated ERP solution with D365 Finance and Supply Chain Management.

but What is Unified Commerce?

Unified Commerce, the step after Omnichannel

Unified Commerce, a term that has gained popularity in recent years, is about the customer experience.

The better and easier the employees of an organization have access to all customer channels and information, the better the service they can offer customers, the more satisfied the customers.

Source: Boston Retail Partners

While retailers all aim to deliver a consistent and seamless customer experience at every stage of the customer journey, they need to understand that omnichannel services and unified commerce solutions are very different.

Omnichannel Commerce focuses on creating front-end consistency, which is what customers see across all customer channels or touchpoints. Whether a customer is shopping on Instagram on mobile, on a laptop on your e-commerce website, or in person at your physical store, omnichannel commerce ensures that they encounter the same messaging, branding, and purchase process.

Omnichannel Commerce cannot always tell customers who are looking for a particular product in real time whether and where items are in stock.

To customers, it looks like channels are working together in real time, but in reality, several standalone systems, with different functionality and different data, talk to each other in the background, so the customer experience is not always seamless, at best cross-channel.

Unified Commerce goes one step further and unifies all channels, all back-end systems, and consolidates data into one centralized platform, allowing one version of the truth to exist at any time, anywhere.

When store associates have real-time product, inventory, customer, and order information, they can provide customers with even better service, sell or reserve products from any store or distribution center, convert returns into exchanges, and leverage the power of upselling algorithms.

Unified commerce addresses one of the challenges of omnichannel commerce, which is reconciling incomplete, conflicting, or duplicated customer data across multiple systems.

With unified commerce, all channels of a retailer, mobile, website and the physical stores, are linked in real time. The result is a smooth, transparent funnel for the retailer and a seamless shopping experience for the customer.

Emma, the Sleep Company

A tightly managed process in which various Cloud-based solutions and platforms form the engine of Emma today.

Emma, to lift a corner of the veil, was working on the implementation of the Supply Chain Management solution of the Toolsgroup around the autumn period 2022, after Emma a year earlier made a crazy but well-considered leap by putting D365 Business Central aside for the big brother D365 Finance and Supply Chain Management.

The ToolsGroup's SCM solution is listed as a Niche Player in the Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Supply Chain Planning Solutions - Edition 2022, together with the solution of Manhattan Associates (Scotch & Soda).

[See references: "Emma – The Sleep Company Selects ToolsGroup Supply Chain Planning Software to Support Growth"]

In the summer of 2021, with roll-out in 2022, Emma implemented the eCommerce Cloud platform of commercetools. On top of the platform the Distributed Order Management (DOM) solution of Fluent Commerce.

[See references: "Fluent Commerce - Case Study: Emma - The Sleep Company"]

“In this partnership, we share a high degree of strategic principles and practices in software engineering to maintain the highest level of agility in our fast-growing business. commercetools is the first eCommerce platform that was designed to be headless and cloud-native from the start and that has excellent developer tooling at its disposal. We are pleased to have found the perfect partner for Emma's eCommerce platform of the future.” — Andreas Westendörpf, CTO, EMMA

[See references: "commercetools - How the innovative D2C sleep brand Emma is building an eCommerce solution to fit their rapid business growth."]

In addition, the WMS solution of PULPO WMS was implemented.

[See references: "Pulpo WMS - Case Study: Emma - The Sleep Company"]

the truth of Emma is in the vision, strategy and approach of the leadership team

I could tell a nice story about the entire application landscape, but the real truth - the strength - lies in the vision, strategy and approach of the leadership team.

I can't emphasize it often enough 'in the preparation, in the thinking, and in the will to succeed through trial and error, lies the success'.

Guts, courage, openness, cooperation, leadership, selflessness.

[See references: "The 5 Must Dos most Leaders fail at"]

Scotch & Soda

Some announcements in the online press prompted a deep-dive into the world and history of Scotch & Soda.

The deep dive revealed an interesting and compelling journey of a Dutch wholesaler, that grew into a leading international player in the fashion and clothing sector.

A roadmap, like the one from Emma, for companies that want to grow, take the steering wheel and start a successful digital business transformation together with partners - 'a roadmap for a well-considered growth'.

Scotch & Soda is a leading designer, marketer, wholesaler and retailer of contemporary casual apparel for men, women and children.

— Sun European Partners, LLP, the European adviser to U.S.-based Sun Capital Partners, Inc.

Scotch & Soda, the originally Dutch wholesaler, founded in 1985 and since 2011 part of the American clothing group Kellwood Company, has been in the news in recent years.

😎 In June 2022, the European distribution center (20,000m2) was delivered and commissioned

😎 In July 2022, the roll-out of Ayden's 'Tap to Pay' solution was initiated

😎 In November 2022, Scotch & Soda launched its Blockchain NFT (Non-Fungible Tokes) based loyalty program: Club Soda 3.0 | 2022

😎 In September 2022, Scotch & Soda published its Environmental Profit & Loss Impact Report | 2021/2022

The reason for the digital business transformation

For many years, business operations at Scotch & Soda ran on a highly modified version of Microsoft Dynamics AX (AX2012) with the Warehousing for AX (WAX) solution from Blue Horse Shoe on top.

[See references: "Implementation Microsoft AX2012 R3 (incl. WAX) at Scotch & Soda"]

By the way, Blue Horseshoe is also the basis of the current Warehouse Management solution from D365 Finance and Supply Chain Management.

By the way, the supplier Blue Horseshoe, now part of Accenture, is at the basis of the current Warehouse Management solution from D365 Finance and Supply Chain Management.

[See references: "Are Microsoft, NetSuite, and Epicor in your WMS Leaders Quadrant?"]

In 2019, Scotch & Soda reached the limits of their system, which resulted in quite a few disruptions during peak season.

Scotch & Soda wanted to grow, but their outdated ERP prevented that.

In 2020 it was decided to gradually replace the system with a combination of specialized software solutions - you could say the beginning of a composable-oriented approach.

The initiatives at Scotch & Soda show a textbook example of how business and technology shape a company, how business and technology go hand-in-hand.

Building a house starts with a solid foundation

The strength and ultimately the success lie in the preparation, in the research, the thinking and the foresight to the future.

But it should not be forgotten that Scotch & Soda had already laid a foundation much earlier with the introduction of Bynder Digital Asset Manager (DAM) in 2013 and Centric Software PLM Software for Retail and Apparel Industry in 2014.

🌄 Bynder Digital Asset Manager (DAM) | 2013

Seeing means selling for Scotch & Soda. Visual imagery is a key driver of selling their unique brand identity, with most of the product images captured in a studio on the canals of Amsterdam.

Their commercial teams depend on Bynder's digital asset management (DAM) solution on a daily basis to ensure all marketing efforts run smoothly and see it as an essential tool to generate revenue through their B2C web store and B2B applications.

Having so much value tied to their visual materials, Scotch & Soda’s partners, buyers, and distributors need round-the-clock, instant access to the latest content.

“Bynder is the most business-critical tool we use in the photo studio because it’s the closest to sales. Without Bynder, we don’t have images and ultimately products won’t sell.” — Niels van de Vorst, Photo Studio Manager at Scotch & Soda

Read the full story of how Scotch & Soda deploys Bynder's DAM solution on the Bynder website.

[See references: "How Scotch & Soda run high volume e‑commerce with DAM by Bynder"]

🌄 PLM Software for Retail & Apparel Industry of Centric Software | 2014

Intended goals:

☛ Support the growth of the growth and geographical expansion

“Scotch & Soda will use the Centric PLM software to support the growth and geographical expansion of its retail, apparel and footwear companies.” — Duco Habbema, head of sourcing, Scotch & Soda

☛ Streamline the product development process

“Centric PLM will help to expand the product range, streamline the product development process, increase productivity, and improve collaboration within and between internal and external teams.” — Duco Habbema, head of sourcing, Scotch & Soda

☛ Increase the insigth of buyers and production teams into collections

“Centric provides a solution that allows the design staff to remain creative while providing improved insight into the upcoming collection for buying and production teams” — Duco Habbema, head of sourcing, Scotch & Soda

☛ Improve collaboration between internal and external teams

“The ability to achieve greater alignment between the company’s development and buying teams in Amsterdam, and its agents and suppliers in Asia, with allow Scotch & Soda to move forward confidently.” — Chris Groves, president and CEO of Centric

Read the full story about the selection of the PLM Software on the Centric Software website.

[See references: "Scotch & Soda Selects Centric Software Product Lifecycle Management"]

The steps towards a composable digital business landscape

More in Part two

Scotch & Soda does not choose to replace its outdated ERP solution with D365 Finance and Supply Chain Management.

The platforms and solutions of NEW BLACK and Manhattan Associates are introduced while the value chain runs on the newest RFID-tags of Checkpoint Systems and the Nedap iD Cloud platform.

References

✅ What makes Scotch & Soda so interesting? (Part two)

✅ Emma – The Sleep Company Selects ToolsGroup Supply Chain Planning Software to Support Growth

✅ Fluent Commerce - Case Study: Emma - The Sleep Company

✅ commercetools - How the innovative D2C sleep brand Emma is building an eCommerce solution to fit their rapid business growth

✅ Pulpo WMS - Case Study: Emma - The Sleep Company

✅ The 5 Must Dos most Leaders fail at

✅ Implementation Microsoft AX2012 R3 (incl. WAX) at Scotch & Soda

✅ How Scotch & Soda run high volume e‑commerce with DAM by Bynder

✅ Are Microsoft, NetSuite and Epicor in your WMS Leaders Quadrant?

✅ Scotch & Soda Selects Centric Software Product Lifecycle Management

Continue!

When is it a good time to say goodbye to your old ERP?

When is it a good time to say goodbye? Is replacing ERP the right thing to do at this moment?

The Irish company Luminia Consulting, last week in the article "When is the right time to change your ERP?", presented a number of signals for replacement of ERP.

I regularly speak to companies and there is no ready-made answer. Said signals do not always have to lead to immediate replacement.

Sometimes other choices better align with ambitions of companies.

Such as implementing Distributed Order Mngt via a Unified Commerce platform to take Customer experience to a higher level, ensure increased efficiency and job satisfaction of employees, and increase turnover / profit.

Every situation requires a critical look and in-depth investigation.

We all recognize these signals:

✅ The end of the road is in sight

When ERP suppliers announced they were stopping support for older software versions, there was a lot of unrest.

Slowly this faded away. Some companies accelerated down an upgrade path, not always what they really needed, and others are still refocusing.

✅ Consolidate and harmonize

Especially companies that have grown considerably through acquisitions or launching new activities, should find answers to these questions "Where are we now? What are our ambitions and priorities?" in order to make the right choices.

📌 In my view, however, two more important reasons that call for action are:

☛ (1) grip on the ecological and social footprint

Recently, the European Commission announced a load of new or revised laws and regulations.

Rules that oblige companies to reduce their water, air and soil pollution and eliminate their greenhouse gas emissions (scope 3 emissions).

Regulations requiring companies to report on their environmental and social footprint.

For example:

Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)

Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)

Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)

Construction Products Regulation (CPR)

Regulation on Packaging and Packaging Waste

The announced Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and the Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) are mandating the introduction of a "Digital Product Passport (DPP)".

☛ (2) enhance the employee and customer experience

The better and easier employees have access to customer channels and information, the better the service they can offer to customers, the more satisfied the customers.

Reorienting is the KEY to structural CHANGE!

Rethink business processes, organizational structure, culture, customers and suppliers relationships, growth strategies & scenarios - who, what, when, how, why!

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Wanneer is het moment aangebroken om afscheid te nemen van uw verouderde ERP?

Wanneer is het tijd om afscheid te nemen? Is vervanging van ERP wel de juiste stap op dit moment?

Het Iers bedrijf Luminia Consulting presenteerde deze week in haar artikel "Wanneer is het juiste moment om uw ERP te wijzigen?" een aantal signalen voor vervanging van ERP.

Ik spreek regelmatig bedrijven over dit vraagstuk en er is geen pasklaar antwoord. Genoemde signalen hoeven niet altijd te leiden tot onmiddellijke vervanging.

Soms sluiten andere keuzes beter aan bij ambities van bedrijven.

Zo kan invoering van Distributed Order Mngt via een Unified Commerce platform de klantervaring naar een hoger niveau tillen, zorgen voor een verhoogde efficiëntie en werkplezier van medewerkers, en de omzet / winst verhogen.

Elke situatie vraagt een kritische blik en diepgaande onderzoek.

Een aantal signalen herkennen we allemaal:

✅ Het einde van de weg is in zicht

Toen ERP leveranciers aankondigde de support voor oudere versies stop te zetten ontstond er flink wat onrust.

Doch deze is langzaam weggeëbd. Sommige bedrijven zijn versneld een upgrade-pad ingeslagen, niet altijd met succes en anderen zijn zich nog aan het heroriënteren.

✅ Consolideren en harmoniseren

Vooral voor bedrijven die flink gegroeid zijn, door overnames of het opstarten van nieuwe activiteiten, is het vinden van antwoorden op de vragen "Waar staan we? Waar liggen onze ambities en prioriteiten?" belangrijk voor het maken van keuzes.

📌In mijn optiek, zijn er echter twee belangrijkere redenen die vragen om actie:

☛ (1) grip op de ecologische en sociale voetafdruk

Onlangs heeft de Europese Commissie een vracht van nieuwe of herziene wetten en regelgeving aangekondigd.

Regels die bedrijven verplichten om hun water-, lucht- en grondvervuiling, hun uitstoot van broeikasgassen in de keten (scope 3 emissies) terug te dringen.

Regelgeving die bedrijven verplichten om te rapporteren over hun voetafdruk.

Denk aan:

Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)

Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)

Deforestation Regulation (EUDR)

Construction Products Regulation (CPR)

Regulation on Packaging and Packaging Waste

De aangekondigde Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) en het Circular Economy Action Plan (CEAP) vormen de belangrijkste omdat zij de invoering van het "Digital Product Passport (DPP)" verplicht stellen.

☛ (2) de medewerkers- en klantervaring versterken

Hoe beter en makkelijker de medewerkers van een organisatie toegang hebben tot klantkanalen en -informatie des te beter de service die ze klanten kunnen bieden, des te tevredener de klanten.

Heroriënteren is de SLEUTEL voor de KEUZE!

Herbezinnen over bedrijfsprocessen, organisatie, cultuur, klanten, leveranciers, groeiscenario's - wie, wat, wanneer, hoe, waarom!

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