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NGC’s Mark Burstein Named Supply & Demand Chain Executive’s Pro to Know of the Year

Every year, Supply & Demand Chain Executive identifies more than 200 outstanding supply chain practitioners and solutions provider executives for their list of “Pros to Know.” Among those 200-plus industry leaders, the publication identifies a single “Pro to Know of the Year” and this year, we are honored to say that our very own Mark Burstein, president of NGC Software, brought home the honor.

A Lack of Supply Chain Transparency Should Keep You Up at Night

Today’s fashion companies are placing compliance, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), quality and safety as top priorities. That’s because brands know these are crucial in order to mitigate risk, gain consumer trust and protect the brand’s image; these are key reasons why vendor compliance and supply chain transparency are such hot topics today.

AAFA Executive Summit Recap – Surpass the Competition with Better Quality Processes

At last week’s annual AAFA Executive Summit in Washington, DC, Ananth Raman (UPS Foundation professor of business logistics at Harvard Business School) made a powerful statement in regard to the elaborate turnaround plans apparel brands and retailers have been announcing. He said, “whether these companies win or lose will be determined more by how they execute than how well-crafted their initial strategy was,” and I couldn’t agree more!

2018 Sourcing Outlook: Challenges and Expectations

Despite the fact that many dubbed 2017 as the “Year of the Retail Apocalypse,” the fashion and apparel industry is still alive and well as we kick off 2018. However, the sourcing landscape has changed and will continue to evolve as customer demand, rising costs and rapid innovation are here to stay. While none of these trends are new, these drivers have reached a tipping point and can no longer be ignored if retailers and brands want to succeed in 2018.

Meet with NGC at NRF and Enable the Digital Supply Chain in 2018

A new year means new opportunities, and in 2018, new opportunities can be found by enabling the Digital Supply Chain. That means retailers and fashion brands must embrace solutions that enable the Digital Supply Chain and help them thrive in today’s tough business climate. In fact, an important research study from McKinsey & Co found that digitization is a major priority despite its low maturity rate in the apparel sourcing industry: 76% of executives surveyed said digitization will lead to a significant reduction of lead time from assortment planning to first touchpoint in the market – “reducing their lead time by 2 – 8 weeks to achieve the agility needed in a demand-driven market.” The results of this study validate our vision of the Digital Supply Chain as the key to business transformation and align perfectly with the features in NGC’s Andromeda Cloud Platform, which NGC will be demonstrating at NRF booth #2520.

NGC Named Leader in Annual Guide of the Best Retail Technology Providers

NGC Software was recently named a leader in 25 categories in the 2017 RIS Software LeaderBoard. 2017 marks the sixth consecutive year that NGC has appeared in the Leaderboard, underscoring the company’s continued focus on customer satisfaction, technical superiority, and support. The RIS Software LeaderBoard ranks technology vendors based on customer satisfaction surveys across a wide range of criteria, serving as an objective guide to help retailers find the vendors and solutions they need. It is widely recognized as one of the retail industry's most authoritative rankings of retail technology software vendors.

Be Thankful for Real-Time Sales Data This Thanksgiving

This holiday season, the very best fashion retailers are starting to react to current sales trends as soon as they happen with immediate information. Because of real-time sales data, retailers and brands can implement read and react strategies and power the digital supply chain, giving them a whole lot to be thankful for.

Q&A with WhichPLM: Transforming the Fashion Industry

Recently, NGC’s Mark Burstein sat down with WhichPLM to discuss the need for retailers and fashion brands to transform their business. In the Q&A, Burstein highlights why the old model of PLM is no longer effective and how, in order to be successful, companies must integrate data from all corporate departments and third-party providers of goods and services into one source of information, from merchandise planning through sale to the final consumer.

Join NGC Software at Sourcing Journal Summit 2017: Pain Points + Pivots

On Tuesday, Oct. 17, NGC Software will be in NYC for the fifth annual Sourcing Journal Summit, a gathering of supply chain executives leading the sector’s latest initiatives. We’re proud to be a sponsor for this year’s event, focusing on “Pain Points + Pivots.” This year’s content will include an analysis of how the new U.S. administration has changed taxes, trade and regulations, and the impact each has had on our industry. Speakers will investigate the seismic shifts hitting retail and how the entire supply will have to adjust to meet the new consumer demands. Discussions will highlight the way in which innovation is changing the supply chain, including production, sustainability, transparency and retail transactions.

Supply Chain Visibility – The Key to Overcoming Quality Issues

Quality issues are inevitable. But reacting to the issue(s) once goods arrive is not the solution – visibility into your supply chain is! At NGC, we’ve been stressing the importance of supply chain visibility for years. With zero or limited visibility throughout the production processes, it’s difficult to address problems and/or institute a solid quality control program. As retailers and brands come to realize what poor product quality means - not just to their brand reputation, but to their bottom line – they realize the need to implement better quality programs. In our last post, Poor Product Quality – What It Means to Your Bottom Line, we identified the costs associated with poor quality. Now let’s look at how to avoid quality issues – through supply chain visibility.