Fashioning a much better model system

London-based £4.5 million Rootstein Hopkins, owned by Yoshichu Mannequins and with sites in London and New York, produces hand-built mannequins for the high end retail market – customers like Harrods and Selfridges in the UK and Bloomingdales in the US. Since starting on the road to integrated enterprise systems two years ago, it has ramped up efficiency and customer service, become virtually paperless and halved stock to £1.1 million. Manufacturing management here is more complex than first sight suggests, due mainly to the scope for variants and the last minute demands of the industry. Every mannequin is made to order, and the range is huge, with clients choosing from some 500 designs across Adel Rootstein's seasonal collections, long term models and those based on fashion icons like Twiggy, Joanna Lumley and Yasmin Le Bon. Each collection features from eight to 12 base figures and then tens of thousands of variations of arms, legs, heads, wigs, make-up, etc. So configuration is very detailed. Additionally, everything has to be geared to a four week turnaround, so process stage timing and sequencing are key. And in a hand-build environment there’s no escaping the human skills, with the need for tight controls around bottlenecks. Complexity in numbers There are seven main departments. First is production of laminated moulded fibreglass figures; then assembly where limbs etc are added; then ‘first finish’, paint spraying, finishing again, spraying again with QA, and finally the spraying of skin tone – all managed also against drying times. BoMs (bills of materials) are flat, so the complexity comes from the sheer numbers, economic resource limitations and unpredictability. Customers effectively book blocks of production time, not production orders of fully configured mannequins. They can split orders and largely only finalise design close to deadline. Getting hold of it has meant building a database to identify kit sets against configurations, so that job numbers pull out kit lists for the departments. But it’s also meant working to link that back to materials replenishment and inventory control – meaning data accuracy and cycle times geared to minimising safety stocks, cutting operating costs and getting the business leaner. Most of that has been achieved and is now running on a Frontstep SyteLine ERP system on Compaq servers at the London site, having replaced two non-integrated in-house green screen systems that had run out of steam. Phase one was implemented in November 2000, and total project cost over the last 21 months has been around £250,000 including hardware, IT infrastructure and associated services. Next up will be an extension into the firm’s New York site. It’s money that IT manager Ed Stammers believes has been well spent. Moving to the new system, he says, has resulted in better functionality and integration of manufacturing, version control, sales order processing, financials – the lot. And the result has been better efficiency and customer service. All departments – accounts, sales, admin, order entry, the wig department, make up, production and so forth – now communicate effectively. And they have accurate and up to date information they can share with customers, enabling faster, more responsive and error-free order management. Specifically on business intelligence, Stammers says the system has hugely simplified routines like mannequin collection analysis, keeping track of and predicting the impact of changing fashions on forecasts. Not only are these now quicker and easier to run, they are also founded on live information. Similarly, it’s improved the efficiency and cost of transportation through better planning and scheduling of carriers. Stammers doesn’t pretend it’s been easy though. His advice: be absolutely sure specifications are as detailed as possible, garner substantial resource and people’s time and certainly do not scrimp on training or facilities like a proper project room – or ongoing communication with the eventual users. And he urges a careful balance between establishing new business processes and keeping those that make you special.