TRIMIT Fashion reviewed: Tailor made out of the box?

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1 TRIMIT Fashion reviewed: Tailor made out of the box? Introduction TRIMIT Fashion delivers fashion specific functionalities on top of the recognized ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system called Dynamics NAV from Microsoft. Though the Dynamics NAV installed base worldwide has grown significantly over the past few years, the number of solution providers focusing on Fashion remains relatively low. As the TRIMIT Fashion application is one of the more recent additions to the list of industry specific solutions available internationally, the company behind this ERP system is around for twenty years already. I am interested to find out what benefits 20 years of Dynamics NAV (previously called Navision) experience can do to the software solution, when building an ERP system that is focusing on a single industry. The system and navigation within When the system starts up, I recognize the Role Tailored Client front end, in which Microsoft has invested heavily: a dashboard that delivers a single view of the work that is waiting for you. It is all combined in a single screen: work to do, s, statistics, internal messages. At the left side, the familiar menu list is displayed. Both ways take you deeper into the Dynamics NAV and the TRIMIT Fashion functionality. Page 1 of 9

2 I am accessing the system using a super user account, which means that I can see all available options in the system. From time to time it is dazzling how rich the system is in its functions and menu options. The consultant assures me, however, that during configuration and implementation, user access and security is an important exercise to conduct, and the end user will only see what he or she needs to see. Not only will you segregate duties as is required from control and accounting purposes, it also hides all menu options and functions that are irrelevant to the role of the employee using the system. Apart from minimizing the risk of mistakes by executing unauthorised functions, it also makes the system more user friendly. Usually multiple teams, often in different locations, make use of the system. The strength of an ERP system is that it stores the data only once and retrieves it when appropriate. For a sequential process, where the time window from mood board to shop floor is getting narrower every year, and more collections are crammed into a year, you can imagine that decisions taken may have significant impact later on in the process. This puts extra pressure on communication. TRIMIT Fashion delivers in many places the possibility to add comments on a granular level. This makes it possible to quickly add a note to a certain article, to inform the next person to work on this style about important characteristics or decisions to make. This manner of commenting on articles and steps in the process is in my opinion much more effective than ing (we already receive too many s, you risk that the comment is not read in time). The use of images throughout the system is also possible. When I select an article in various screens, I can see the relevant image, even in the right colour. This is highly adjustable, and can be discarded when it is not needed. However, for Fashion companies it is a great advantage to have the ability to see the product you are working on throughout the process. Page 2 of 9

3 Reporting & Business Intelligence Dynamics NAV delivers basic reporting as part of the base system. TRIMIT Fashion delivers additional reports that include the Fashion specific data stored in the system. Microsoft has introduced a new reporting platform (SQL reporting services). This new technology is technically so different from earlier reporting in Dynamics NAV, that all the reporting that Microsoft partners have created as part of their Dynamics NAV based solution cannot simply be converted, but in most cases these have to be recreated within this new platform. This is just a matter of time. TRIMIT has chosen to incorporate an ETL (Extract, Transform and Load) tool in their solution, plus prebuilt cubes (extracts of data, including their internal relationships, ready to be used in reporting, data warehousing and business intelligence). Page 3 of 9

4 Reporting has always been a topic that calls for emotion when put on the agenda, and this approach allows the customer to use their own reporting solution as they like. Also it delivers greater flexibility to the end customer in creating the reports exactly as they like it, without the need to invest heavily in report development with their solution vendors. Where relevant, I have reviewed specific Dynamics NAV reports, delivered as part of the system. PDM Product Data Management (PDM) is a distinctive and significant function for (Fashion) companies who create/design their own products. Since style and product creation is a creative process, this is probably one of more complex functions to embed into a software solution. TRIMIT has a lengthy track record in providing solutions that support this process in other industries, which can be used at full strength to deliver a very flexible, yet standard PDM solution for the Fashion industry. The first thing that is noticed, is the use of images, pictures and colours in the various screens. The application even provides a digital form of the plan board as seen in many companies (you may recognise this: the long walls covered in small coloured post-its showing which styles are in which phase of the process) Page 4 of 9

5 It can be very frustrating when a system limits you in what you want to do. Especially if it is a must have and you have to develop custom code to deliver the required functionality. TRIMIT Fashion provides you the possibility to define, as part of the initial configuration of the system, as many horizontal and vertical dimensions as you like. As powerful as this is, remember it will add extra effort to the setup of the system when you implement this. You will need to spend time with your systems consultant to thoroughly define what you require, and discuss the consequences this may have in other parts of the system (*). But it is definitely worth the effort, since having more than two dimensions is often required but hardly ever supported by a standard implementation of systems. (*) for example, matrix functionality may not be available for a certain function, since displaying more than two dimensions is not possible in matrix format. (I have seen this in the fabric projection screen where you wish to see the projected required meters of fabric per dimension (colour, size). This will then be displayed in list format. The system has an intelligent design, allowing the end user (together with the systems consultant) to define the process step by step. Alterations on a standard process can be implemented without customizing the standard system. The process is technically constructed so it uses codes to define the various steps. You can, in a relatively simple manner, introduce additional codes (which represent steps or phases in the design process of your products) and use these actively in the alterations of the process and in the various calculations. Taking this concept a step further, you can even have the system create Bill of Materials of these alterations on the fly. When needed the system will, behind the scene, even create the style/product codes for you, once you have approved a certain alteration to be created. Standard Dynamics NAV will require you to first manually create a style code for this alteration before you can use it. And it will be a lot easier to upgrade your system to a newer version, since you have not introduced custom code to achieve this. TRIMIT Fashion provides you with a standard, yet flexible and powerful function to support the product design process. Improvements may be expected in the area of reporting (using the SQL reporting services, see above), introducing escalation & messaging functionality in the workflow and extending the functionality of the plan board. Page 5 of 9

6 Portals TRIMIT Fashion delivers a truly interesting approach to portal technology (B2B, B2V, B2C and Sales Agent Portals), by integrating all portal backend functionality (calculations, filtering, lookups, data storage) within TRIMIT Fashion. Since you use that data and business logic that is stored in TRIMIT Fashion already, and enrich it if needed with portal specific functionality within TRIMIT Fashion. The styling (look and feel) of the portal site can be manipulated by the end customer via CSS and HTML. Including dynamic content (such as Flash) is more complicated, especially when this needs to be integrated with the back end. But this is no different from other external portal solution if you connect these to your ERP. Because of the architecture and design of the portal solution, it is possible to create a working portal in around an hour. Be realistic, and expect a basic portal with black & white layout. But a working, integrated portal, nonetheless! Very powerful and strong feature of TRIMIT Fashion. Page 6 of 9

7 Configuring and customising The success of implementing TRIMIT Fashion depends very much on the commitment from the end user and the implementation partner. It is a joint effort to conduct proper and detailed analysis on the desired product configuration and customization. It has already been mentioned before that the TRIMIT Fashion application is highly configurable through parameter settings and calculations. This is standard functionality, however it requires thorough understanding of both the end users business process that must be supported, and how the systems works (including the impact of changing the parameters & calculations). TRIMIT Fashion supports many dimensions, and though I can clearly see the benefit of this, be careful not to get lost in this feature and create endless number of them. Work with your systems consultant to ensure optimal use of the dimensions. When used properly, they are very powerful and can simplify your processes and how the system is used significantly. Installing and upgrading The way the TRIMIT Fashion system is designed and built, it provides a lot of configuration through parameters and formulas. It is an approach that is similar to the Dynamics AX platform. A great advantage is that more can be achieved by adjusting formulas and setting parameters (or even introducing new parameters that can be used in formulas) without having to touch the code (thus keeping the system standard). On the other hand, it is apparent that this will introduce extra effort in the installation and configuration process, where you, together with the systems consultant, will have to decide what the parameter settings should be (and take care of any subsequent consequences) In case you need specific functionality that cannot be provided by manipulating the systems setup through adjusting formulas and parameters, TRIMIT Fashion provides in various common places in the system code placeholders for custom code. As long as you develop the custom code completely separate from the TRIMIT Fashion code system, you can upgrade TRIMIT Fashion incredibly fast. Obviously there are a few (technical) prerequisites which I will summarize for now as: the data and program code in TRIMIT Fashion that is used by this custom code should not have changed at all in the newer version. If that is the case, you will need to review your customization and make the necessary changes. Page 7 of 9

8 Miscellaneous Though TRIMIT Fashion supports most types of fashion companies, it does not support Corporate Wear. TRIMIT has a track record of providing frequent updates to their software, often including enrichment of the software functionality. Though Corporate Wear is currently not yet included in the software roadmap, it may be included if the need for such functionality justifies the investment of its development. This is the case for other functionality not yet included as well. Internet sources for more information on TRIMIT and Microsoft: TRIMIT corporate website Microsoft Dynamics NAV website: About this article This article is a summary of findings, written with the intention to provide an unbiased and independent review of the TRIMIT Fashion business application (TRIMIT Fashion version 6.03 RTC (Role Tailored Client)). I have not focused on the basic Dynamics NAV functionality, since that is proven functionality for years already. Instead, I have selected functions that are unique to Fashion, plus I have taken the unique selling points mentioned by TRIMIT, and reviewed all of these in detail. About Transition IT Your professionals spend far too much time on retrieving and validating information, whereas they should be making decisions and focusing on your business' primary objectives. Business systems should create a work place where you have all the relevant information at hand. When the need for information has changed, your systems should be able to capture, process and retrieve the information that goes with that new situation. To get there, it requires a very specialized approach to starting up and running ICT projects. Investing in ICT is all about setting the conditions for tomorrows business. Making the right decisions today, allows you to deal effectively with tomorrow. Be prepared for tomorrow. Be different than anyone else. Transition IT prepares you to be different. With over 14 years of relevant experience in the international Fashion industry, Transition IT is an excellent partner in advising how Fashion companies can really invest in ICT, rather than spending money on it. No matter whether you are talking about point of sale, warehouse management, planning and allocation or ERP systems, or any other system used in Fashion, Transition IT can offer you advice on strategy, as well as support you in tactic and operational projects and change processes. Corporate website: info@transition-it.nl Page 8 of 9

9 Disclaimer The contents of this article are the independent opinion of the author, based on discussions with third parties and reviews of systems and documentation. Although Transition IT has made best effort to avoid publication of incorrect statements and information that has not been fully verified, Transition IT accepts no responsibility and cannot be held responsible for claims made for damages and for loss of earnings (and for loss of future earnings) for decisions and actions taken based on statements published in this article. Page 9 of 9