Robert Mckee from Lawson Software invited many Chinese apparel manufacturers and retailers to attend his luncheon party at Hotel Equatorial Shanghai on 6th August 2010, Friday. This Shanghai event theme is "Defining the New Normal".
Bob is a "China hand". He likes Chinese culture very much. He always quotes a lot Chinese old sayings and idioms when he is making a speech. He began to do business with China since 1980s'.His DNA is "Fashion". He advocated "lean manufacturing " and "module manufacturing " to realize "fast fashion". He called for apparel munufacturers more concerned about consumers' demand.
After the Luncheon party, Anny from China Apparel Net interviewed Bob.
Anny: Bob, why you are called apparel guru?
Bob: Actually I don’t call myself a guru – other people use that term about me. I believe that we are always learning – there is always more to know – more to learn about any subject. I spend the first 27 years of my working career in apparel operations. It seems to me that if you consider yourself to be a guru – you probably are not. You others consider you to be a guru - you just might be. I have always been someone who looked at issues a little differently – I believe that all problems can be solved with the right creative solution. So – I always push the edge of the envelope in search of a workable solution. (I am always taking things to the next level of development to search a workable solution.)
Anny: Bob, I’m very interested in your blog on Just-style. What are those interesting topics you are discussed on your blog recently? (http://www.just-style.com/lawson/index.aspx?type=blog )
Bob: Recently I’ve published a blog regarding sustainability. I think there’s a lot of confusion in the industry around just what sustainability is – my greatest concern is that our current interest in sustainability is nothing more than marketing hyperbole. My next blog entry will be to discuss the dichotomy that exists between fast fashion and sustainability.
Anny: Do you attend Prime source forum every year? What is your impression on 2010PSF?
Bob: Yes, we attend the prime source forum every year. We find to be a very informative event. I was a little disappointed in the last prime source forum – the industry ‘big names’ like William Fung or Harry Lee were not in attendance. It’s always so much better when you have those types of individuals as part of the agenda.
Anny: In China, most apparel manufacturers are small-sized. They think PLM and ERP are just something for the big companies. For small companies, they lack technicians and investment. What would you like to tell them?
Bob: Out of small companies - you get big companies. I have been doing business in China since the early 80s. And since that time, the number of large companies has grown substantially. I think it’s a misconception that China is made up of nothing but small manufacturing companies. Like any other region in the world apparel manufacturing companies generally grow through acquisitions. The same thing is happening today in China. We are finding strong demand for both ERP and PLM – and how can smaller companies ever considered getting larger, if they don’t embrace the technology that will get them there? ERP and PLM are not asked for large organizations. They are tools that are expected by the industry, and if they are not in place customers since not come. Technology infrastructure is often a consideration for companies that are sourcing strategically throughout the world.
Anny: Once you said “PLM and ERP” is just like “Yin and Yang”. What does it mean?
Bob: I simply meant that they are different, but need each other. They were fast, with both components are in place. For some strange reason, product lifecycle management was created to just handle design and development of product. But how on earth can you measure the lifecycle of a product – if you are not actively tracking the events that take place during the light of the product. An item may sell very well, but there may be a fabric characteristic or fabric flaw that only shows up after it gets into the hands of the consumer. If the designer or merchandiser only looks at the sales information – they would consider that this item should be continued – not realizing that most of the items were returned because of this poor fabric performance. In a typical environment the PLM system would be used to track the development of the product – and the ERP system would be used to track the sales, the inventory, and the possible return. You can see how the two systems link the important information – necessary for good decision-making.
Anny: At present, many software companies from home and abroad are competing China market. The competition is very fierce. So why customers shall chose Lawson?
Bob: They choose Lawson, because we are so industry-specific. Our solution is focused on the textile / apparel / footwear industry. Our objective is to provide our customers with an end to end solution. Or as we put it concept to consumer or dirt to shirt. We sincerely believe and practice our company motto “simpler is better”. Our Objective is to make our customers stronger.
Anny: Why did Lawson collaborate with Chinese Baison?
Bob: There are several reasons for the collaboration. We were looking for a strong local partner who specializes in the fashion industry, who have a significant local presence in China, and ideally who have complimentary solutions to the Lawson offering. Baison met all three of those criteria. In return, Baison was looking for a strategic partner with a focus on the fashion industry from a solution and industry skill perspective. Lawson met those criteria. It is a very good fit.
Anny: What is the fashion industry trend in the near future?
Bob: I think that we will see a surge in organizations that practice fast fashion. I think that we will see greater attention to cash flow. I think that we will see organizations getting much more closely in touch with their consumer base. I think that we will see the vast majority of China apparel manufacturing going toward the Chinese domestic market. Network presents largest potential consumer population on Earth – as the consuming population continues to grow retail would become more and more sophisticated and demand more merchandise with more selection at a faster rate. Over a short span of time this will begin to use a large portion of manufacturing capacity that exists.
Anny: What is your good suggestion for Chinese fashion industry?
Bob: Develop more designers – encourage creativity – historically the fashion industry in Asia has spent more time educating people in manufacturing technology than in the more creative regimens. Certainly the US have had the opposite problem over the last couple decades. United States universities graduate are more marketing individuals than engineers. Whereas in Asia are more engineers have been produced by universities. It takes balance – the Chinese fashion industry to the truly successful. It has to produce as many people capable of design and development and it does people who are capable of manufacturing the products. Over the short term, we are going to see an explosion of activity aimed at domestic Chinese consumers. For the Chinese fashion industry to be successful it has to be prepared to meet the demands of this group of people. Again the Yin and Yan of the universe
Anny: Do you have any localization software for Chinese fashion industry?
Bob: Our software is designed and created to handle the issues of a global Fashion industry. We are multi-language and multi-currency ‘out of the box’. We don’t need to create any specific ‘localization’ to be able to handle the Chinese fashion industry. We do have financial and statutory localization required for more than 40 different countries around the globe. We are in use in nearly 400 fashion companies around the globe – some of those tire manufacturers and some of those are brand owners that source their production. We have been working with fashion manufacturing companies since 1992.
Anny: How many Chinese local companies have applied the Lawson software? What are their feedbacks?
Bob: We work with a wide range of local and foreign fashion companies, from small to very large, and across all segments of the supply chain from sourcing and manufacturing companies, through to brand owners and franchisees. Our customers are typically the more forward looking organizations and many are leaders in their respective segments. Belle Footwear, for example, is considered the local leader in terms of a quick response model and they leverage the Lawson solution to enable that model. Other customers, such as Youngor, leverage the Lawson solution to achieve high efficiency in their very large OEM garment manufacturing operations. Smaller customers, such as Pavilion, like that the Lawson solution can be extended to support their business as it changes and they branch out into new areas. The feedback overall has been very positive.
Anny: How many miles have you flied since the beginning of this year? What is your next stop of Asia trip?
Bob: I have flied 90,000 miles this year. I enjoyed the trip to share my ideas and experience with so many people. My next stop is Sydney.
Anny: Thank you to take my interview.
Bob: It's my pleasure. Hope to see you next time.
Related information:
1. About Bob
Robert (Bob) McKee is Industry Strategy Director for Fashion at Lawson. Based in the US, Bob works in Lawson’s Product Management department and is responsible for the overall strategy for the Lawson Fashion solution.
Bob has more than 35 years experience of working with textile, apparel, footwear, home textiles and accessories companies. He has held a variety of positions including VP of Operations, VP of Manufacturing, VP of Sourcing, VP of Materials Management, Materials Manager, Production Control Manager, Production Planner, DC Manager and DC Supervisor as well as being an independent consultant to the industry.
In 1998, Bob joined Intentia International, which joined forces with Lawson Software in 2006. His previous roles at Intentia include Director Global Fashion, Director of US Solution Design and Global Director for the Intentia Fashion Solution.
Prior to joining Intentia, Bob was Vice-president of Operations at O’Bryan Brothers, Inc. an intimate apparel and lingerie manufacturer, Director of Sourcing at Holloway Sportswear, Inc., Vice-president of Manufacturing, Sourcing and Quality Control at Bachrach Clothing, Inc. Vice-president of Manufacturing at The Company Store, Director of Materials Management at Medi-Flex Hospital Products. In his early career, Bob reached Vice-president of Materials Management at BTK Industries and held positions as both Vice-president of Sourcing and Vice-president of Materials Management at Warnaco a $3bn revenue company. Bob started his career in the industry at Hartmarx in 1972.
Bob has implemented 7 different enterprise management solutions in 7 different companies. Today, Bob is considered by many as a guru and is a well-known veteran of the industry and a regular speaker at industry events.
2. About Lawson
Lawson Software provides software and service solutions to customers in healthcare, public sector (United States), service industries, human capital management, equipment service management & rental, fashion, food & beverage, and manufacturing & distribution across 40 countries. Lawson is a global provider of enterprise software, services and support to customers primarily in three sectors: services, trade and manufacturing/distribution. Lawson solutions include Enterprise Performance Management, Human Capital Management, Enterprise Financial Management, Supply Chain Management, Enterprise Resource Planning, Manufacturing Resource Planning, Enterprise Asset Management and industry-tailored applications. Lawson solutions assist customers in simplifying their businesses or organizations by helping them streamline processes, reduce costs and enhance business or operational performance. Lawson is headquartered in St. Paul, Minn., and has offices around the world. Visit Lawson online at www.lawson.com. For Lawson's listing on the First North exchange in Sweden, Remium AB is acting as the Certified Adviser.
3. Chinese version of the interview: http://www.efu.com.cn/data/2010/2010-08-09/316010.shtml
