Lectra is pleased to announce that Aokang has adopted Lectra Fashion PLM to streamline the company’s process and organization.
Founded in 1988, Aokang is a top footwear company in China, with four of their own brands: Aokang, Kanglong, Redess and Meirie’s. Aokang designs, develops and manufactures products to make high-quality leather shoes.
The company’s strategy is to capitalize on its strong branding and sales to increase its own distribution network. Aokang is leveraging its design, manufacturing and R&D capabilities to expand activities throughout China. The motivation to adopt Lectra Fashion PLM came from the need to optimize management and organization.
Lectra Fashion PLM will help the company better control workflow and collection planning, supporting Aokang’s goal to streamline its supply chain and reduce time-to-market. “To face fierce competition, the rising cost of inventory and discounts at retail, we have to strengthen our merchandise planning capabilities and streamline the flow of goods to retail. We chose Lectra Fashion PLM to overhaul our line planning process. From R&D to design, product development, manufacturing and marketing, Lectra Fashion PLM will allow us to have visibility and control over the supply chain,” says Wang Zhen Quan, Aokang CEO.
Aokang designs and develops 50% of its products in-house and internally manufactures their entire range. The company’s goal is to increase its design activities by up to 70% by 2015. “By increasing our in-house design activities, we are looking to change a core component of our customer value proposition and a core part of our strategy. Lectra Fashion PLM helps us to achieve our objectives by merging creative and technical skills,” continues Wang Zhen Quan.
With three manufacturing centers and more than 5,000 stores, Aokang also needs to optimize its production process. “With a comprehensive solution, from design to production, Lectra Fashion PLM will allow us to manage the entire collection process favoring early-decision making and bringing down costs,” says Xu Xu Liang, Aokang Vice-President of Sales.
Lectra’s innovative solution and continuous investment in R&D was also a factor in Aokang’s decision to partner with Lectra. “Innovation is one of our core values. We have three R&D centers in charge of internal design and development. We know we have to improve our R&D management, if we want to stay ahead of competitors and keep our market shares,” resumes Xu Xu Liang.
“Lectra Fashion PLM will help us improve R&D management and better control our processes to bring high quality products to market,” adds Wen Yuan Yin, Aokang R&D director.
In addition to Lectra Fashion PLM’s strengths, Lectra’s best practices and strong professional services team also made a difference. “Lectra China will get our merchandisers, designers and developers up and running so that our team’s skills are fully put to good use. They will learn not only how to use Lectra Fashion PLM, but how to use it in an optimal way for us, based on international best-in-class ways of working. This will help us become more competitive as we look to change strategies and grow our business,” resumes Wang Zhen Quan.
