PLM Software Blog

Apparel Product Testing: 7 Lab Tests That Prevent Costly Returns

Textile lab technician performing apparel product testing on fabric samples

Apparel product testing is the process of sending fabric and garment samples to an accredited laboratory before approving bulk production. Labs measure colorfastness, shrinkage, seam strength, fiber content, and chemical safety against standardized protocols. Brands that skip this step routinely face retailer chargebacks, mass returns, and compliance violations that cost…

Fashion ERP Software: A Complete Buyer’s Guide for Apparel Brands (2026)

Apparel brand operations team reviewing fashion ERP software dashboard

Fashion ERP software is a business management platform that connects inventory, orders, financials, and production in one system. Specifically, apparel ERP handles the operational backbone of a brand — purchasing, warehouse management, wholesale order processing, and financial reporting. At brands processing 500 or more orders per month, a dedicated fashion…

What Is a Fashion Product Manager? Role, Responsibilities & Tools (2026)

Fashion product manager reviewing collection range with design and production team

A fashion product manager is the professional who bridges creative design and commercial execution inside an apparel brand. Specifically, this role owns the product line from concept sign-off through production handover. Day-to-day, this means managing specs, timelines, vendor coordination, and margin targets in parallel. At brands running 30 or more…

Fashion PLM Implementation Timeline: What to Expect in Your First 90 Days

apparel brand team reviewing PLM implementation roadmap on whiteboard

Fashion PLM implementation takes 6–14 weeks for most SMB apparel brands. That is significantly shorter than the 12–18 month enterprise rollouts cited for manufacturing or aerospace PLM. The shorter timeline is possible because fashion PLM solves a narrower problem set. It handles tech packs, BOMs, sample tracking, and vendor communication.…

PLM Software for Activewear Brands: Managing Performance Fabrics, Testing & Seasonal Drops

activewear brand team reviewing PLM software dashboard with performance fabric specs and seasonal drop calendar

Activewear PLM software is a product lifecycle management platform built for fitness, yoga, and athletic apparel brands. It handles tight-fit spec tolerance, performance fabric compliance, and the high-velocity calendar of brands that launch four to six collections a year. If your team manages moisture-wicking fabrics, compression panels, or UPF-rated textiles,…

GS1 & GTIN for Fashion Brands: How to Get Barcodes, Register Products, and Stay Retail-Ready

GS1 barcode and GTIN structure for a fashion brand showing product registration and SKU-level barcode assignment in PLM

Every apparel brand reaches the same moment: a retailer asks for barcodes, and the team realizes they don’t have them. Barcodes are the global standard for product identification. Without them, you cannot sell through most major retailers, marketplaces, or wholesale channels. A barcode is a machine-readable label that encodes a…