Osh Kosh B'Gosh
Design
Critical Chain in New Product Development
Summary of Success
The success of Critical Chain using the Concerto tool in the design department was so impressive that it was rolled out to manage production and importation of garments. The process helped cut lead-time and sampling costs by 30% and focus was increased on what designs were making an impact in the market. Visibility and communication improved and the managing the team became much easier.
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The impact on visibility has been dramatic. It has made managing the whole area a lot better and a lot easier! …. now everyone knows what is meant to be done when, so designers work on what is most important, not what they like doing. We can see straight away if things are running off-track, long before they turn into disasters, so our planning is much more proactive than the reactive method we used to use.
Philip Zylstra, Managing Director
The Problem
Although designers and staff were talented, skilled and hardworking, ranges were frequently late, over budget or the quality was not up to the group’s stringent standards.
There was also no standardised way of managing all of the elements that need to be controlled in order to get sample ranges ready and stock into stores on time, while meeting budget constraints and the dictates of fashion.
Additionally, there were problems and issues with suppliers, textile sourcing, manufacturers, foreign currency fluctuations, and of course rapid changes in fashion tastes. Whilst it was clear that the people were working on many projects at the same time, there was no clear or standardised way of managing or prioritising the work.
The Solution
A diagnostic workshop quickly establised that the root cause of the problems in the design department was developing multiple ranges, each one competing for limited resources, without any standardised processes to reliably deliver an ever increasing number of products in shorter and shorter lead times.
Ensemble demonstrated that the innovative Critical Chain Multi-project Management methodology, supported by Concerto Software, would meet all the criteria necessary to meet the demands of the challenge. The solution would be capable of simultaneously handling many designs, each of which would need inputs from many people in different functions, to transform a fashion idea into merchandise sold profitably to a satisfied customer.
