This year Paul Smith celebrates 20 years of working with fashion business systems provider Prologic.

British fashion designer and retailer, Paul Smith, has gone live with Prologic CIMS V7.8, the specialist multi-channel fashion business system. The new release includes improvements in store grading and stock replenishment functions. Users of the new software  are reporting productivity improvements of up to 50%.

The partnership between Prologic and Paul Smith began over 20 years, during which time there have been many successful collaborations between the two companies. In 1989, Paul Smith implemented an early version of Prologic CIMS to manage stock through its wholesale operations, and its purchases of fabric for its Cut-Make-Trim operations. Ashley Long, Commercial Director at Paul Smith, comments, "20 years ago, without a fashion-centric software system, we struggled to track our fabrics coming into the business and ascertain whether the products we designed were meeting demand and were actually being sold. Indeed the whole industry faced similar difficulties, but the arrival of Prologic allowed us to match our fabric purchasing commitments to our order books and make accurate predictions, which had a real impact on our bottom line."

Over the course of the relationship, Paul Smith has upgraded its CIMS software on average every 18 months. Each time, Prologic has co-operated closely with Paul Smith to ensure that the CIMS product addressed the new and changing needs of the rapidly growing Paul Smith organisation. As Long explains, "Prologic has constantly evolved CIMS to adapt to our business, but there have been key milestones in its development that have made some major differences to us. For instance, when our business model changed to include our retail-based services in the early 1990s, Prologic collaborated with us to ensure that the system was fully prepared and capable. More recently, the new EPoS, Gift Cards systems and multi-channel warehouse management that Prologic has delivered have greatly improved our sales service and customer loyalty – critical in these times."

The Prologic CIMS model is based on responsive and continuous improvement to a single version, single database product. Because all Prologic customers operate within the fashion & lifestyle sector, functional improvements are of value to most customers. This means that the rate of functionality enhancement is far greater than could be achieved by each customer making their own bespoke improvements. The model also means that customers benefit from the stability, low cost and robustness associated with a single version software product.

Sam Jackson, Chief Executive of Prologic, comments, "Our customers operate in many markets and have adopted a variety of different business models,  but at the same time, they are all in fashion and so have many similarities. The enhancements we provide for one customer will very often be useful to another. This process ensures that our software  accommodate the widest possible spectrum of fashion retailer needs.  The relationship with Paul Smith is a great example of how this model works in practice."

Long concludes, "Our relationship with Prologic means we have always been confident that as our business changes direction we will have a reliable IT backbone to support us. We will not have to resort to the struggle of integrating new point solutions to tackle each new demand."

About Prologic

Stock market-listed, Prologic is a specialist provider of software, services and consultancy to the fashion & lifestyle sector. The company's enterprise software application, CIMS, is a web-deployed, single solution, multi-channel business system designed to meet the complex needs of the sector. Modules include planning, merchandising, store systems, sourcing, warehousing, wholesale, franchise, eCommerce and reporting.

Prologic's approach of delivering its software as a single version, single database product, based on continuous customer-driven improvement, provides distinct advantages over the traditional practice of interfacing disparate point solutions.

With a track record extending over two decades, Prologic has supported the growth of many of the UK's best known and most successful brands. Customers include Aquascutum, Fat Face, Hobbs, Liberty, Paul Smith, Ted Baker, TM Lewin, White Stuff and many other high street names.

Released: 05 August 2009