Proceedings of the IT4Fashion Scientific Conference of the IT4Fashion Scientific Conference ... the case of the apparel industry ... PLM and ERP platforms and procedures in their organization

Proceedings of the

IT4Fashion Scientific Conference

Information Technology serving the Fashion Industry

Florence April 20th-22nd, 2016

Ex-manifattura Tabacchi

3

Summary PLENARY SESSIONS ................................................................................................................................................. 5

PLM for Retail, Fashion, Luxury and Consumer Goods Companies .................................................................... 6

OSA & TCBL: Performance Support & Learning Analytics at the Fashion workplace ......................................... 7

Digital Fashion Enterprise: from ERP to Data Hubs ............................................................................................ 8

GOING 3D DIGITAL in LIFESTYLE with University ................................................................................................ 9

Lectra, a vision for the fashion industry ........................................................................................................... 10

Educating the new generation with 3D changing fashion ................................................................................ 11

PARALLEL SESSIONS .............................................................................................................................................. 12

The key elements of social media strategy in the Italian fashion industry ....................................................... 13

Fashion Supply Chains and Social Media: Examining the Potential of Social Media Text Data Analysis for

Decision Making Processes in Fashion Supply Chains ...................................................................................... 14

A Conceptual Design of Intelligent Shoes for Pregnant Women ...................................................................... 15

The Adaptive Fitting Room ............................................................................................................................... 17

Towards case-based morphological classification for fashion product development ..................................... 18

GENDE: GENetic DEsign. Best products evolve according to users’s feedback ................................................ 19

Turning a lean Business Model into a successful start-up in the Wearable Technology sector: the case of Clara

Swiss Tech ......................................................................................................................................................... 20

Testing and deploying an RFID-based Real-Time Locating System at a fashion retailer: A case study. ........... 21

Engagement as the core of social and digital media strategy in the Fashion Industry .................................... 23

Toward a new Fashion Concepts Design Tool: the vMannequin framework ................................................... 24

QR Code and wine Sector: what contents? An Exploratory research on wine industry ................................... 25

Development of a fashion buying education program for an apparel retail company .................................... 28

From financial merchandise planning to Supply Chain design and execution ................................................. 30

Publication Trends in Supply Chain Management in Fashion Industry ............................................................ 31

Linking Inventory Management Performance and Operational Performance: An Empirical Analysis of U.S.

Fashion Apparel and Accessory Industries ....................................................................................................... 32

Logistics solutions to support cross border e-commerce towards China: the case of the apparel industry .... 33

Cross-cultural Research for Luxury Fashion Brands in Chinese Market: A Review of Long-versus Short-Term

Orientation in National Culture Dimensions .................................................................................................... 35

Smart wearable multi-sided fashion product platforms .................................................................................. 36

See Now Buy Now: A revolution for Luxury Supply Chain Management ......................................................... 38

A new research agenda for Luxury Supply Chain Management? ..................................................................... 39

IT to Sustain the Ability in Fashion: Sustainability Performance Appraisal in Luxury Fashion Supply Chains .. 40

Integrating sustainability in the fashion system using association rules .......................................................... 41

SPEAKERS .............................................................................................................................................................. 42

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5

PLENARY SESSIONS

6

Centric

PLM for Retail, Fashion, Luxury and Consumer Goods Companies

Speaker: Anastasia Charbin (VP Marketing – New Markets)

Session – Time: Plenary – April 22th – 9.30 a.m. / 9.50 a.m.

Abstract

Continuous changes in the fashion environment are having a profound impact on the industry

as a whole and leading us to work differently. Who doesn’t have a phone with them at all

times?

In addition to traditional business challenges, the fashion industry has the added bonus of

having to cope with an insatiable demand for newness and proclivity to discounting. The pace

of change is relentless and companies must thus be agile in order to adapt, evolve and keep

sane. PLM has also changed.

The operational efficiencies of PLM have clearly been established and are well known. And

now, as PLM enters a new phase of maturity, strategic benefits such as agility, flexibility and

transparency can also be realized. Learn what modern PLM is all about.

Anastasia Charbin, Centric Software VP Marketing – New Markets, will discuss the

opportunities of extending the value proposition beyond traditional PLM with a strategy based

on innovation and mobility.

7

sedApta

OSA & TCBL: Performance Support & Learning Analytics at the Fashion

workplace

Speaker: Fabrizio Cardinali (SVP OSA Business Development)


Abstract

We are at the dawn of a new industrial revolution, requiring fashion companies to even further disrupt their business processes and adopt new digital platforms and processes to innovate and be competitive.

To be effective in such digital transformation, leading companies must adopt more effective and intelligent solutions to support their workforce whilst embracing digital transformation and adopt new MES, PLM and ERP platforms and procedures in their organization.

In this session, you will hear how the new O.S.A. ecosystem for Process Orchestration, Performance Support & Analytics has been designed by sedApta Group to support its customers during digital transformation pathways from ‘as is’ into ‘to be’ IT processes.

Then we will see how it will be adopted to promote and train best IT practices and procedures within the context of the new TCBL initiative (www.project-tcbl.eu) launched by the European Commission within the H2020 work program with the aim to transform the Textiles and Clothing industry with the creation of an open and shared network of Business Labs that experiment the implications of potential innovations and their concrete impacts on business workforces and processes.

8

DDway

Digital Fashion Enterprise: from ERP to Data Hubs

Speaker: Roberto Loro (Technology & Innovation Director)


Abstract

Providing business value through ICT Technologies in a digital world requires a new approach to enterprise software models, leveraging legacy application and monetizing data.

Developing a new, modular, application ecosystem is key to enable end-to-end customer engagement, flexible and dynamic business models and supply chains.

This is an overview of our co-transformation journey with our Fashion customers, evolving from production oriented ERPs to Digital Fashion Platforms, integrating People, Processes & Products in a “Digital Continuum”.

Thanks to the contamination of experience, competence and practices (e.g. Open Data, Omnichannel, Analytics, etc.) from different industries we focused on four dimensions for Digital Transformation: putting data at the core, transforming legacy, extending reach to the Supply Chain, creating a unique omnichannel engagement layer.

The result is a modular, holistic approach to integrate information from legacy applications and external sources into a Digital Data Hub that enables “Customer Digital Context” and omnichannel end-to-end engagement. Legacy is being de-structured and used as a toolkit to support flexible processes and subsets of core systems are being provided across the production ecosystem to enable Dynamic Supply Chain.

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Dassault

GOING 3D DIGITAL in LIFESTYLE with University

Speaker: Laura Valagussa (Lifestyle, CG, CGR Senior Business Development Executive)

Session – Time: Plenary – April 22th – 11.40 a.m. / 12.00 p.m.

Abstract

How 3d digital can support and improve go to market also in new market such as lifestyle. How university can be a bridge between “theory” and “practical”.

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Lectra

Lectra, a vision for the fashion industry

Speaker: Bruno Mattia (Director Startegic Accounts Fashion)

Session – Time: Plenary – April 22th – 2.00 p.m. / 2.20 p.m.

Abstract

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Optitex

Educating the new generation with 3D changing fashion

Speaker: Antonio Sgroi (Country Manager Italy)

Session – Time: Plenary – April 22th – 2.20 p.m. / 2.40 p.m.

Abstract

As fashion trends change, so does the pace of how brands and retailers address time to the market. Businesses and universities need to stay on the leading edge of technology. In this presentation we will show how our 3D solutions are empowering businesses to stay leaders and enabaling students and designers to create and be a part of the future of the fashion industry. Since 2008, faculty at Cornell’s Department of Fiber Science & Apparel has been working with Optitex to help students create their own fashion collections, research virtual fit, design and size with the help of body scanning technology. Optitex is providing to the future designers more freedom to experiment in the early stages in the development of new ideas. Taking advantage of the virtual world, such as avatars, it is possible to create better products with better fit leveraging the power of 3D, quick innovation, adopting end to end solutions and focusing on key stepping stones to achieve huge business and educational value through technology.

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PARALLEL SESSIONS

13

The key elements of social media strategy in the Italian

fashion industry

Authors: Monica Faraoni, Romeo Bandinelli, Rinaldo Rinaldi

Affiliation: University of Florence

Session – Time: Brand Management and Strategy 1 – April 22th – 10.10 a.m. / 10.30 a.m.

Abstract

Research regarding social media strategy is a rapidly growing field of interest as social media

(SM hereinafter) become vital tools for marketing manager to communicate with consumer

increasingly eager to share opinion and to be involved in the “brand life”. Customer

involvement in interaction with brand is deeply related to the effectiveness of the SM strategy.

As a consequence, companies need to carefully define the key elements of their SM strategy

and taking decision about goals, target audience, channel choice, content planning activities,

resources allocation, internal policies, monitoring and controlling the online activity in order

to increase consumer brand awareness and make SM strategy effective.

Literature provides some model of analysis but further investigations are still necessary. In

particular it is not clear how certain variables as the level of brand social engagement or, the

company size and the company market segment can affect the level of importance of SM

strategic dimensions. We hypothesized that the key elements of SM strategy can have a

different weight in relation to these variables and we test our assumptions on fashion industry

companies.

The analysis was conducted on a total sample of 42 companies and the results show that there

is a significant different perception about the weight that single strategic dimension can have.

Companies with a high level of social engagement for example, have a higher perception of

the strategic role of the resource allocation, the internal policies and the content definition

compared with the perception of low social engaged companies; Small companies do not

perceived the importance of the monitoring and controlling SM activity compared to large and

medium companies while luxury brands companies rely more on the strategic role of the

target audience dimension, the policy and the content planning activity.

Managerial implications about the way marketing manager can plan a SM strategy are then

derived from these results.

Key words

Social media strategy; Fashion brands; Social media strategy dimensions; Social engagement.

14

Fashion Supply Chains and Social Media: Examining the

Potential of Social Media Text Data Analysis for Decision

Making Processes in Fashion Supply Chains

Authors: Samaneh Beheshti-Kashi, Karl Hribernik, Johannes Lützenberger, Klaus-Dieter Thoben

Affiliation: BIBA - Bremer Institut für Produktion und Logistik GmbH, Germany

Session – Time: Brand Management and Strategy 1 – April 22th – 10.30 a.m. / 10.50 a.m.

Abstract

Fashion companies often face challenges in meeting the demand of consumers since often

production plans have to be placed before exact knowledge of the demand is available. Since

the industry is a highly consumer and trend oriented in-dustry, capturing the customers

demand is highly crucial for the company’s success. Nowadays, these customers have been

empowered through the web 2.0 and are able to publish opinions and experiences on various

social media applications. At the same time, these consumers are members of the fashion

supply chain. This paper looks at a typical fashion supply chain and focusses on the role of the

buyer which is a function on the side of the retailer. The buyer plays a crucial role since he is

responsible for the trend monitoring and selection of future fashion collections. The objective

of this paper is to examine if social media text data shown by means of fashion blogs contains

colour information and if these colour occurrences correspondent to real world customer

demand. For this purpose, 232 blog posts were collected, analysed and compared to

qualitative information on colours provided by a real world clothing company. The analysis

shows that it is indeed possible to discover colour information from fashion blogs. Moreover,

it revealed that the information identified in the blogs correspond with real world customer

demand.

Key words

Social Media; Fashion Weblogs; Text Analysis; Fashion Supply Chains; Trend analysis.

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A Conceptual Design of Intelligent Shoes for Pregnant

Women

Authors: Eva Dimou1, Athanasios Manavis2, Evridiki Papachristou3, Panagiotis Kyratsis2

Affiliation: 1 Coventry University, School of Art and Design, Coventry, CV1 5FB, UK, 2

Technological Educational Institution of Western Macedonia, Dept. of Mechanical

Engineering& Industrial Design, Kila Kozani, GR50100, Greece, 3 Technical University of Crete,

School of Production Engineering & Management, Chania, GR73134, Greece

Session – Time: Methods, Technology and Fashion 1 – April 22th – 12.00 p.m. / 12.20 p.m.

Abstract

Design and technology are coming together to shape the future. Nowadays, researchers

demonstrate that based on different field rules, science is able to create a future that

sometimes people find difficult to imagine. It is generally considered that the possibility of

addressing a series of needs from both the psychological and emotional point of view, can

lead to the production of wearable intelligent products.

The present paper contributes towards the creation of new customized products, based on

wearable technology, which is applied on mass consumption products. The case study used

refers to the design of an intelligent, programmable shoe for pregnant women made from

synthetic biological material (protocells).

During pregnancy women's body undergoes huge changes hormonally and anatomically. Body

weight and shape, and endocrine system are only some of the most common and obvious

modifications. These changes may affect the balance and body stability. A series of activities

in everyday life become more difficult and can cause discomfort and pain. Two are the most

common problems that a pregnant woman is facing: swollen feet and back hip pain.

The predominant reason of this situation is the release of the hormone relaxin, which causes

the ligaments of the foot to become lax and stretch out. That seems not to be the only reason,

both water retention and weight gain play a dominant role as well. Furthermore, because of

their bad posture, when the pregnancy progresses, most of the women are suffering from

back, knee and hip pain. The pelvis tilts and the back arches help them keeping their balance.

Poor posture occurs naturally from the stretching of the woman's abdominal muscles as the

fetus grows, whereas these muscles are less able to contract and keep the lower back in

proper alignment.

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The paper's research methodology was based on literature review and a series of interviews

with some of the experts in this field. Additionally, the use of techniques such as

deconstruction, manipulation, transformation, summarisation, generalization, abstraction,

synthesis, benchmarking etc. was successfully applied.

Based on the aforementioned methodology the design concept was developed. The main

directions and characteristics of that innovative pair of shoes were the factors of adjustable

size, negative heel technology and an easily fastened system to suitably solve the relevant

issues. For the complete creation of a successful product, it is necessary to experiment with

existing trends, forms, technologies and materials based on the philosophy of personalization.

The idea of self-regenerating 3D-printed, synthetic biological soles by the use of protocells

constitutes a new tendency for the creation of artificial materials by generating living

organisms and it is based on real science.

Key words

Intelligent shoes; Pregnant women; Product customisation; Wearables; Synthetic biological

material.

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The Adaptive Fitting Room

Authors: Børge Sjøbakk, Andreas Dypvik Landmark, Hans Petter Hübert

Affiliation: Industrial Management, SINTEF Technology and Society, Norway


Abstract

In order to remain attractive and economically viable whilst supplementing online presence,

physical stores need to play to their strengths and engage customers in novel ways. Stores

have the possibility act as experimental arenas, where customers can browse apparel through

interactive installations and try on products in semi-realistic situations. For fashion retailers,

however, the average fitting room experience is rarely representative of actual use. The

product range is often diverse and varies with seasons, which makes it difficult to create a

one-experience-fits-all fitting room. In this paper, we present a concept for a new customer

experience. By exploiting automatic single item identification using RFID, we propose a fitting

room that adapts to the products that enter the fitting room, using video projection mapping,

magic mirrors and screens, lighting and sound. This allows different types of customer

engagement prior to the point of purchase, opening up new possibilities for integrating

product information, recommendations, clienteling and social media. Some expected benefits

are illustrated through a set of user scenarios.

Key words

Fitting room; RFId; Customer experience; Retail Supply Chain.

18

Towards case-based morphological classification for fashion

product development

Authors: Thomas Fischer, Konrad Pfleiderer, Alexander Artschwager, Anke Rissiek, Magdalena Mandalka, Andreas Seidl, Rainer Trieb

Affiliation: Deutsche Institute für Textil- und Faserforschung Denkendorf, Denkendorf, Germany


Abstract

This paper describes a novel approach for the morphological classification based on body scan

data. This is an important topic for the fashion industry be-cause traditional sizing systems do

not provide perfectly fitting clothes. That is due to the diversity of human bodies and the

limited number of primary dimensions in sizing. The idea is to have experts classifying a

relevant number of repre-sentative body scans and to use this as a case and knowledge base

for further au-tomatic classification. This Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) approach is suitable

especially for classification problems where many variables are involved and no clear rules can

be identified. A new scan is compared with the already classified scans in the case base. The

most similar ones are retrieved and their classification adapted to classify the new scan. A

sophisticated similarity model ensures that only useful, relevant cases are retrieved from the

case base. The system has been tested, including statistical analysis and field tests. An industry

project confirmed the feasibility of the approach and now helps the fashion company to adjust

their product development to the real needs of the customers. The approach will be used in

body measurement portals to optimize size tables and thus the fitting of the clothes as well

as in e-shops to recommend the morphologically best garments to a customer.

Key words

Morphological Classification; Case-Based Reasoning (CBR); Bodyscanning; Morphotypes; Size

table development; Fit optimization; Size recommendation.

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GENDE: GENetic DEsign. Best products evolve according to

users’s feedback

Authors: Andrea Vitaletti

Affiliation: Sapienza University of Rome, Italy


Abstract

GENDE (www.gende.it) is a tool to allow designers, but also common people, to automatically

design new products that evolve according to the principles of Genetic Algorithms (GAs). The

selection of the products that will actually take part to the evolutionary process, relies on

crowdsourcing mechanisms: only the most appreciated products survive. In the era of 3D-

printing, GENDE can pave the way to a completely new class of mass products in which

personalization become intrinsic to the design process and is driven by common users rather

than being confined in the later stages of production and in the hands of professional

designers. While GENDE has been originally thought as an automatic design tool, its unique

process that involves users from the beginning of the design, can also be used as a powerful

marketing tool.

Key words

Design; Genetic Algorithms; Crowd sourcing.

20

Turning a lean Business Model into a successful start-up in

the Wearable Technology sector: the case of Clara Swiss

Tech

Authors: Marco Dal Lago, Donatella Corti, Paolo Pedrazzoli

Affiliation: University of applied sciences and arts of southern Switzerland (SUPSI), Switzerland


Abstract

In the last years the world witnessed a new start-up renaissance driven by the agility of

customer-oriented lean business models. Lean start-ups have demonstrated the opportunity

to over-come the entry barriers of markets consolidated by large companies. The most

innovative aspect of the lean start-up approach compared to one adopted by traditional

fashion companies is the focus on the building of a minimum viable product instead of relying

on time consuming and unachievable business plans. In this paper the main lean start-up

methodologies are presented through a case study of a Swiss start-up operating in the

wearable technology field, CLARA Swiss Tech.

Key words

Wearable technologies; Lean canvas; Lean business model; Lean start-up; Smart clothing; e-

Textile.

21

Testing and deploying an RFID-based Real-Time Locating

System at a fashion retailer: A case study.

Authors: Antonio Rizzi, Giovanni Romagnoli

Affiliation: University of Parma, Italy


Abstract

In this paper, the testing and deployment of an RFID-based Real-Time Locating System (RTLS)

at a fashion retailer is presented. The testing phase is composed of both a lab test and an in-

the-field test. The RTLS is then deployed at a store of a major Italian fashion firm located in

central Italy. The selected store is, at present, the biggest of the whole firm in terms of number

of garments exposed: the store counts an average value of about 20,000 items on the sales

floor every day. During a recent refurbishment of the store, the company installed a RTLS

composed of 254 antennas linked through multiplexers to 13 readers: the readers send data

to the RFID middleware and, ultimately, to the RFID server. The RTLS was designed after an

extensive lab-testing phase, and it is provided with two different algorithms for locating

garments on the sales floor area: the first algorithm is based on the number of reads per

period, and the second one is based on the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI). We

tested both these algorithms in the lab and they performed very well: therefore, we

implemented both these algorithms in the RTLS software, to test them both on the field and

assess which solution could deliver better performances in the selected store.

A first installation of the system was finished in early 2015, but this first implementation

resulted in some discrepancies amongst different antennas: while some antenna read several

thousands of items per day, others saw only few garments on average, and this suggested that

these antennas were misplaced. After an accurate control, in fact, we found out that some

antennas were badly positioned, and we moved them to better reading positions. In autumn

2015, the system was then tested for the first time in the field. A first preliminary test occurred

in October 2015: during this preliminary test, we were bound by some manual operations for

crosschecking RTLS performances, and therefore we considered only a few hundred items.

Afterwards, we performed a wide-ranging test in December 2015, analysing several thousand

items located by the RTLS system and crosschecked via handheld readers. The results of all

the testing phase are reported in the paper.

This case study sparks interest and suggests several ideas for a deployment of RTLS in a fashion

store. Also, and maybe more important, the points of strength and weakness of our

implementation could help practitioners and researchers to maximise the benefits of future

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RTLS implementations in the fashion industry and discover new prospective research topics

within this sector.

Key words

RFId; Fashion retail; Real-Time Locating System; Deployment; Case study.

23

Engagement as the core of social and digital media strategy

in the Fashion Industry

Authors: Gonzalez Alicia, Bandinelli Romeo, Rinaldi Rinaldo


Session – Time: Brand Management and Strategy 2 – April 22th – 4.10 p.m. / 4.30 p.m.

Abstract

The main purpose of this paper is to recognize and to underline the role of engagement as the

core of a digital and social media strategy. As far as many fashion brands haven’t exploited

completely the potentialities that the continuously evolving digital media can offer, the

literature was reviewed in an effort to structure an approach for the definition of an effective

digital media strategy. Furthermore, the Burberry case was studied to identify the axes that

conducted brand’s strategy and the role of engagement on its success. As a result, it is

proposed an engagement oriented approach for the digital strategy definition process that

can be implemented by companies that intend to enter the digital business. The current

scenery demands a continuous evolving mind-set and structure focused not only on reaching

audiences, but also on retaining them through a customer centric strategy.

The suggested approach for might be adopted by companies belonging to various sectors but

customer engagement can be especially useful for visual sectors like fashion, where

consumers are easily reached and content overloaded, and where a captivating digital

marketing strategy can make a difference.

Key words

Customer Engagement; Digital Strategy; Experience; Contents; Social Media Monitoring;

Omnichannel.

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Toward a new Fashion Concepts Design Tool: the

vMannequin framework

Authors: Paolo Cremonesi, Franca Garzotto, Marco Gribaudo, Pietro Piazzolla, Mauro Iacono

Affiliation: Politecnico di Milano


Abstract

IT offers significant tools to foster innovation in the fashion industry. Although the products have a low information content, the information content of the overall development and production process may be rich, specially for high end productions, and the same happens for ancillary processes connected to sales and after sales.

In this paper we present the vMannequin framework, designed to assist the sales process by means of an interactive computer graphics assistance system that allows a customer to virtually explore, live or remotely, his experience with a chosen outfit, with possibility of customization. vMannequin is based on off the shelf systems, and is then applicable also to the small business segment, providing new ways for business development.

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QR Code and wine Sector: what contents? An Exploratory

research on wine industry

Authors: Diletta Acuti, Magherini Lorenzo, Mazzoli Valentina, Romeo Bandinelli, Raffaele Donvito, Rinaldo Rinaldi, Gaetano Aiello



Abstract

Introduction. Consumer habits are changing as a result of new technologies used in day-to-

day life and, as a consequence, consumer goods companies are developing new ways for

relating with their buyers (Peira et al., 2012). Mobile diffusion has not only changed the way

in which organizations and their brands interact with customers, it has largely changed the

consolidated business models: they are able to reach consumers with digital tools and

network with them (Begalli et al., 2012). One innovative mode that “has caught marketers

eyeballs” in recent times in current digital space is QR Codes (Bamoriya, 2014) as a tool of

proximity marketing. QR Code is an abbreviation for Quick Response Code. Basically it’s a 2D

code which once scanned by a Smartphone -with a scanning application software - connects

users to some specific online content connecting to a website, linking to an email address,

delivering e-coupons, texting, leading to registration and so on (Handley, 2012, Bisel, 2011).

Due to the convenience, user friendliness, multiple fields of application, customer-driven

information provided by mobile tagging, it has become the key technology for mobile surfing

(Shiang-Yen et al. 2013). QR Code are a good fit for almost any industry, but they are

particularly important in wine communication (Brabazon et al. 2014). Indeed, wine sector is

challenging the Wine 2.0 era, using the Internet to engage with wine consumers on their

terms, (Olsen and Hermsmeyer, 2008). Tools usually include social networking sites, blogs,

message and other methods that leverage user-generated contents. In this context, the

importance of using QR code in wine sector is due to peculiar characteristics of this product:

large part of consumers do not simply buy a bottle of wine on the shelf for its particular use;

they buy its heritage, brand prestige, production processes and specific organoleptic features.

The interest on content varies depending on the scanning time: QR Codes are not only useful

at the point of sale (Brabazon et al. 2014) but also during the consumption. Hence, shared

contents should vary depending on scanning time, considering the trade-off between

hedonistic/emotional aspects and functional aspects of the product (Ferrarini et al.2010).

Moreover, contents may vary depending on brand awareness of wine. Literature has

investigated wine sector from different points of view (Lockshin et al. 2012), but there is a gap

26

regarding contents taxonomy that wine companies communicate to consumers through new

digital tools. This exploratory research would investigate this issue in the Italian context.

Methodology. The research adopts a qualitative approach through a content analysis

methodology (Berelson, 1952). Authors scanned 91 QrCodes of Italian wines brands retrieved

from one of the largest Italian retailer and classified the contents in terms of website

Homepage or specific website page – technical file of the wine or other pages (Yoo and Kim

2014; Shobeiri, et al. 2014; Geissler et al. 2006). Hence, authors focused only on website

homepages and website technical files of the products with the scope to explore specific

hedonistic (Alba & Williams, 2013; Hirschman & Holbrook, 1982) and technical aspects of each

category (Sheth et al. 1991). The content analysis was carried out on the aspects specified in

Fig.1.

Fig.1 – Concept map of content analysis

Finally, the authors compared contents relying on the degree of brand awareness based on

official ranks1 with the aim to identify a relationship between typology of content shared and

typology of brand analyzed.

1 Wine Spectator 2015 by Opera Wine.

27

Main results. The results show that most part of contents matches to the Website Homepage

(42%) and Technical file of the wine (37%). In some cases (9%), QrCodes correspond to the

google search page, but these results was not considered into the analysis. Technical files of

the wine belong to two different types: the written one (a written page describes wine

features) and the spoken one (a video describes wine features). Video generally do not limit

to the functional aspects of the wine, but try to stress also hedonistic and emotional aspects

of wine consumption. In addition, written technical files seek to mix the two aspects, but in

most part of cases, wineries limit the description only to specific functional and organoleptic

aspects, such as area of production, terrain, grapes, vinification, color, aroma and taste.

Besides, in some cases, wineries seek to evoke also hedonistic aspects, such as heritage and

tradition of the brand. However, functional and organoleptic aspects are more consistent.

The same criteria drove the content analysis on website homepages. In this case, hedonistic

aspects are predominant, focusing on images and text that evoke brand values such as quality

of the production as a result of the strong link with the territory and the brand heritage. The

technical aspects identified in this case are certifications (Igt, DOC, DOCG or Organic

Production) and sustainability procedures.

Finally, the authors analyzed the results considering only the wineries of the sample included

into the official wine rank in order to find out which type of contents are shared by the most

important players of the wine market. 11 out 91 wineries was considered for the analysis. 7

out 11 shared through QrCodes the technical files of the product, trying to mix technical

aspects and hedonistic ones, through different tools such as video, text and images.

Besides, 4 out 11 most important wineries use QrCode to share website link. Websites are

featured predominantly of hedonistic aspects in terms of the elements previously discussed.

Conclusions. Wineries use QrCodes in different ways. Technical files of the product seem to

be the most effective content, considering the market big players practices. However, this

information should be sustained by other information more related to hedonistic aspects.

Indeed, users may use QrCode to know additional information than the one shared by the

traditional label. Therefore, wineries should find a balance between functional and

organoleptic aspects, useful for demanding and prepared consumers, and hedonistic aspects

that may be determinant for other consumers that need to be seduced by contents.

Limits and future researches. This research is an explorative analysis of contents shared by

QrCode technology, considering only a sample of 91 Italian wine brands. Future research

should explore more in depth the semantic choices of words of the contents shared through

QrCode. Moreover, future researches should consider the consumer perspective, exploring

the contents that users would like to have through QrCodes.

Key words

References available upon request.

28

Development of a fashion buying education program for an

apparel retail company

Authors: Sezer, S.*, Guven B.*, Karaoğlu O. E.**, Candan, C.**, Onder, Z.*, Aydemir E.* , Tandar G.* *

Affiliation: *LC Waikiki Corporate Academy, İstanbul, TURKEY **Faculty of Textile Technologies and Design, Istanbul Technical University, İstanbul, TURKEY

Session – Time: Challenges of the Retail Industry – April 22th – 10.10 a.m. / 10.30 a.m.

Abstract

Retailing today is at an interesting crossroads. On the one hand, re-tail sales are at their

highest point in history. New technologies are improving retail productivity. There are lots of

opportunities to start a new retail business —or work for an existing one— and to become a

franchisee. Global retailing possibilities abound. On the other hand, retailers face numerous

challenges. Many consumers are bored with shopping or do not have much time for it. Some

locales have too many stores, and retailers often spur one another into frequent price cutting.

Customer service expectations are high at a time when more retailers offer self-service and

automated systems. At the same time, many retailers remain unsure about what to do with

the Web; they are still grappling with the emphasis to place on image enhancement, customer

information and feedback, and sales transactions. As competition continues to escalate at a

significant rate, retailers must utilize all their knowledge to keep pace with other merchants

in the marketplace. Being able to forecast accurately the needs of their customers and satisfy

them with the appropriate merchandise take a great deal of experience and know-how.

Perhaps more than anyone else in a retail organization, it is the buyers and merchandisers

who are responsible for ensuring that the store’s merchandise mix has the appeal to turn

browsers into shoppers. Although the sophisticated technology available to retail

organizations today is an enormous help to buyers and merchandisers, their task still requires

a great deal of knowledge and hands-on experience. In order to stay ahead of the marketplace,

today’s retailers need to be smarter in managing and controlling what goes on their shelves.

Therefore, it is essential for professional buyers to focus on their product selections, and to

ensure that these selections are the products which will satisfy their customers. In other

words, professional retail buying is all about being able to anticipate consumer demands and

to create ideas that can be converted into exciting products that fulfil consumer’s desires.

However, this is not always an easy task to do for especially Turkish retail buyers as there is a

lack of professional buying courses applicable for Turkish apparel retailers. The courses

available are generally too theoretical and/or too general for practical implementation. As a

result of that, LC Waikiki Corporate Academy, in collaboration with Faculty of Textile

29

Technologies and Design, Istanbul Technical University, aims to establish â€œan in-house

buying certificate programâ€• which covers the how-to, the what-to and the when-to, with

easy to understand material and case studies that will enhance their buyers’ skills and

facilitate the management of their daily activities. The program also aims to help participants

to acquire knowledge of the discipline of fashion buying, to explore current global and local

issues in retail buying, and finally to enhance the development of participants’ global

awareness, critical and analytical thinking and communication skills.

Key words

Apparel; Fashion; Retail; Information technologies; Education.

30

From financial merchandise planning to Supply Chain design

and execution

Authors: Marco Tricase*, Augusto Bianchini**

Affiliation: *Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Bologna, **K.GROUP

Session – Time: Challenges of the Retail Industry – April 22th – 10.30 a.m. / 10.50 a.m.

Abstract

For years agents believed that technology could have bridged the gap in fashion companies.

This has not come true. Relevant investments aimed to implement complex systems have

often failed. Indeed, they have not been able to integrate in a simple, flexible and

comprehensive way all the processes that, by definition, are changeable and not only

influenced by deterministic factors.

Therefore, it turns necessary, in complex organizations, to promote those best practices and

habits that support and enhance personal freedom, judgments and hypotheses.

This is the process by which the retailer seeks to provide the right amount and quality of the

right merchandise in the right store at the right time, while seeking to meet the financial goals

of the company.

The project, developed by the collaboration between Department of Industrial Engineering

(University of Bologna) and K.Group, aims to show how financial planning of Merchandise

Planning may be implemented in a major Italian Fashion Retail Company presenting the

preliminary plan to integrate it with the specific processes of Supply Chain Planning and

Execution, hence highlighting achievements, methodology and technological resources in

terms of:

data management (normalization and load data),

business intelligence (score carding, dashboards, reporting, analysis),

predictive analytics (clustering, simulation),

performance management (budgeting, planning & forecasting, profita-bility),

workflow management

data integration.

Keywords

Merchandise Planning (MP), business intelligence, predictive analytics, per-formance

management, data integration.

31

Publication Trends in Supply Chain Management in Fashion

Industry

Authors: Basak Cetinguc, Eyüp Calik, Fethi Calisir

Affiliation: Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, TURKEY

Session – Time: Fashion operations and Supply Chain management – April 22th – 12.00 p.m. / 12.20 p.m.

Abstract

The main objective of this research is to conduct a scientometric analysis on supply chain

management in fashion industry literature. The data were gathered from Web of Science

database. â€œFashion Industryâ€• and â€œSupply Chain Managementâ€• were used as

keywords to perform this research. Without narrowing down the time bounds, it is found that

a total of 123 publications related to supply chain management in fashion industry were

published up to date. Though there have been ups and downs in publications by means of

publication year, the annual number of publications were increased from 1 in 2000 to 18 in

2015. The most productive year was 2014 with 23 papers. Articles were the most popular

documentation style with 94 papers, and the rest of the documentation types were

consecutively meetings, reviews, patents and editorial papers. Moreover, 91% of publications

were written in English, and China was found to be the most productive country. By means of

research areas, there was a wide range of alternatives, and the most trendy research area was

engineering area by 26%. Furthermore, source titles were gathered under 79 various source

types. International Journal of Production Topics is the top one with 13 publications; 47

different source titles contained only one publication each. This research offers an insight into

the fashion industry literature specifically supply chain management area. The statistics

gathered from Web of Science might enlighten the way of researchers who want to publish a

document in this area.

Key words

Fashion Industry; Supply Chain Management; Scientometric; Publication trends.

32

Linking Inventory Management Performance and

Operational Performance: An Empirical Analysis of U.S.

Fashion Apparel and Accessory Industries

Authors: Fethi Çalışır, Gülşah Hançerlioğulları

Affiliation: Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, TURKEY


Abstract

Managing inventories is at the core of operational performance in fashion industries. Due to

its importance in practice, inventory management has been a well-studied area of research in

operations management. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between

inventory management performance including inventory efficiency, productivity and

responsive, and firm operational performance. We present and empirically test a performance

model which integrates the various dimensions of a fashion industry’s inventory management

execution. The regression analysis is used to study the effect of various measures on inventory

performance. We use financial data for 40 publicly listed U.S. fashion apparel and accessory

industries for the 6-year period, 2010 to 2015, from â€œCompustat North America Annually

Updatedâ€• available at Standard & Poor's Compustat database using Wharton Research Data

Services (WRDS). We discuss the implications of these empirical results on the study of

inventory policy execution, and propose some guidance for further research.

Key words

Inventory management; Fashion Apparel Industry; Operations management; Operational

performance; Inventory efficiency; inventory productivity; Inventory responsiveness.

33

Logistics solutions to support cross border e-commerce

towards China: the case of the apparel industry

Authors: Maria Giuffrida, Riccardo Mangiaracina, Alessandro Perego, Angela Tumino

Affiliation: Politecnico di Milano, Italy


Abstract

Purpose: In the past few years, China has experienced a significant and concurrent growth of

both its economy and the adoption of technologies. With 566 billion euros turnover, it has

become one of the biggest B2C e-commerce markets in the world (Forrester, 2015;

eMarketer,2015). As Chinese consumers are generally leaned towards buying international

brands, entering this market while exploiting the rising trend of online and mobile commerce

adoption might be an interesting opportunity for western fashion companies. However, the

ultimate success of an e-commerce initiative depends on many factors. One of the most

important ones is the effectiveness of the distribution process. Geographical and cultural

distance, expected service level, tariff and non-tariff barriers are some of the obstacles making

this activity more complex in a global environment. The aim of this paper is to provide a

quantitative model to compare different logistics solutions underlying a B2C e-commerce

initiative in China. The ultimate goal is to provide companies with a tool to support their

decisions. The analysis takes the perspective of a European firm operating in the apparel

industry.

Research Approach: The paper has an empirical approach. It presents an activity-based model

to quantify the costs of three logistics solutions that can be adopted to sell online in an

international context. The alternatives were identified through interviews and context data

were derived from six in-depth case studies. Five of them were conducted on fashion

producers or retailers, while one was conducted on a major European logistics service

provider with experience in managing the international distribution processes of companies

in the fashion industry. The fashion companies and the logistics provider involved in the

research eventually applied this model to their business and validated the results here

presented. The considered logistics options are (i) distribution from a warehouse located in

China, (ii) distribution through a sorting hub located in China, and (iii) distribution from a

warehouse in the Country of origin through express couriers. By elaborating some specific

data (e.g. weight and volume of the garment) as inputs, the model returns the distributive

34

solution associated to the lowest logistics costs. In addition, a sensitivity analysis is provided

to take into account variations in both the annual demand of the item and its value.

Originality: This study simultaneously addresses three major subjects that are important for a

fashion company, i.e. the design of a logistics strategy, the use of e-commerce and the

implementation of an internationalisation project. A preliminary literature review has

revealed that these themes have largely been debated as stand-alone topics while the

â€œintersectionâ€• of these fields has not been adequately investigated yet.

Research Impact: The present study contributes to create knowledge in the field of

technology-driven internationalisation strategies. At the same time, it paves the way to

additional meaningful research that can be originated by addressing some of its limitations.

For instance, one of the hints for future research on this topic is to evaluate the impact of

product returns that can be complex to manage at an international level.

Key words

Cross border B2C e-commerce, China; Fashion Industry; Logistics; Quantitative model.

35

Cross-cultural Research for Luxury Fashion Brands in Chinese

Market: A Review of Long-versus Short-Term Orientation in

National Culture Dimensions

Authors: Ruichen Lu, Yi Wang, Richard Kennon

Affiliation: Univisity of Manchester, England

Session – Time: New business models in the Fashion Industry – April 22th – 2.40 p.m. / 3.00 p.m.

Abstract

Cross-cultural research is widely used in multinational brands’ operation and management.

The growth of demand for luxury fashion brands in Asia emerging economics with higher level

GDP than before (Halepete, 2011), especially in China, motivated the advance of the luxury

market (Li et al, 2011). Chinese luxury fashion market should be explored to promote global

collaboration, and the internationalization of transnational companies (Laskowska-

Rutkowska, 2009). Changes such as consumer preference in market are influenced by many

factors like culture diversity (Halepete, 2011), population, educational status, technological

level, etc (Rauch and Meier, 2000). This paper will review culture dimensions and mainly

review and provide recommendations to the fifth dimension of Hofstede cultural model. This

paper is divided into three parts. First part is the review of culture including concept of culture

and national culture. Second part is an overview of Hofstede cultural model and the review of

fifth dimension. The final part is an analysis of current Chinese market for luxury fashion

brands and future direction.

Key words

Luxury Fashion, Culture, Chinese Market.

36

Smart wearable multi-sided fashion product platforms

Authors: Sergey Yablonsky

Affiliation: St.Petersburg State University, Russia


Abstract

Digital technologies, including the Internet and other related technologies, are changing the

way the companies do business and are a principal driver of the surge of interest in business

models. Today IT is embedded in products themselves, transforming value creation through

products while triggering a new wave of shifts in the value chain, product design,

procurement, marketing, supply chain, and services while creating the need for new activities.

As enterprises continue the journey to becoming digital businesses, identifying and employing

the right technologies at the right time will be critical. Currently in the digital business market,

the dominant definition of an business models refers to platform intermediaries, where two

or more agents interact through an intermediary two or multi-sided platform (Armstrong,

2006) that form two-sided and multi-sided markets. Multi-sided platforms (henceforth, MSP)

comprise a large and rapidly growing share of the world digital economy (Peitz, and Waldfogel,

2012). MSP are increasingly prevalent: 60 of the world’s 100 largest global companies earn

most of their revenue from MSP.

Wearable devices and their supportive complementary services have been under anticipation,

hype and speculation mostly during the last decade. The Internet of Things (IoT) has the

potential to transform fashion industries and the way we live and work (Gartner, 2015).

Wearable smart devices industry is booming up and being highlighted by the market recently

as an alternative of post smart phone industry. They also have unique characteristics of

industrial ecosystem different from the ecosystem of the smart phone industry. We analyse

the characteristics of wearable applications for IoT scenarios of smart fashion and related

products like e-textile, smartwatches (e.g. Samsung’s Galaxy Gear, Pebble watch and

Qualcomm’s TOQ), wristbands (Polar Loop, Nike Fuel band) and wearable bio-monitors. Long-

term engagement and consumer adoption in the wearable technology (henceforth, WT)

industry are not yet entirely established, additionally, several companies strive to understand

this field of technology in order to create strategic competitive advantage, innovative business

models as well as sustainable and unique value.

In this paper, we propose smart fashion product technology stack and insist that there are a

huge number of vertical markets for wearable smart fashion product and services. We suggest

37

that the multi-sided platforms may possibly be a successful business model for smart fashion

products adoption. The paper reports a study of ontology/taxonomy of platform-enabled

innovations for smart fashion products and services. The analysis and discussion lead to a

multidimensional framework of platform-enabled smart fashion innovations, with a particular

emphasis on business model, product, service, marketing, and platform innovations. We argue

how smart, connected fashion products and services might transform companies and

competition. The research contains guidelines to help practitioners and policy makers develop

platform-enabled smart fashion innovation strategies through the consideration of different

levels of smart fashion business models. It offers a relevant source of ideas and guidance for

anyone interested in research and practice related to rethinking fashion product and service

innovation.

Key words

Multi-sided platforms; Business models; Wearable technologies.

38

See Now Buy Now: A revolution for Luxury Supply Chain

Management

Authors: Alessandro Brun, Cecilia Castelli, Hakan Karaosman



Abstract

Fashion collections used to be for the eyes of editors, buyers and journalists. Yet, digital

technology and IT transformation have opened this once-enclosed world and fashion has

become an open-access entertainment. The customers are exposed to collections through

social media immediately. However, in the current fashion system, there is a wait of at least

six months between runway shows and retail availability. Some might wonder if customers

could opt to wait for what a traditional fashion calendar offers. To this end, the entire fashion

system is about to be reconfigured. See Now Buy Now (SNBN) emerges as a business model

to make a fashion revolution by putting the fashion items immediately on sale after runway

shows. However, it is extremely vague in terms of what this movement will constitute for

those involved in supply chain operations. Thus, it is time to interrogate if this movement

could build a new system with improved production processes to fulfil demand more

efficiently. Looking at the SNBN revolution with the standpoint of academic researchers, this

study aims to take a closer glance at what is going to change at the supply chain and operations

level. Furthermore, it is set to identify the fundamentals in terms of supply chain structure

and capabilities to enable SNBY.

Key words

See Now Buy Now; Luxury Fashion Industry; Supply Chain Management; Luxury Fashion

Operations; Fashion Revolution.

39

A new research agenda for Luxury Supply Chain

Management?

Authors: Alessandro Brun, Federico Caniato, Antonella Moretto

Affiliation: Dept of Management, Economics & Industrial Engineering, Politecnico di Milano Milan, Italy

Session – Time: Sustainable Fashion Supply Chain – April 22th – 4.10 p.m. / 4.30 p.m.

Abstract

The relevance of luxury industry is still increasing at double digit from an economic perspective at the global level; whereas this dramatic increase is not followed by a comparable improvement of research about Luxury Supply Chain Management. This paper aims at presenting some papers as well as some examples from key luxury case studies, with the purpose of addressing a new research agenda for Luxury Supply Chain Management. And Supply Management, Demand Management, Contract Management, Variety Management, and Sustainability are areas of research that are still under-explored, although the incredible potential high relevance for luxury Critical Success Factors.

Keywords

Luxury fashion industry, Supply chain management, Demand Management, Contract Management, Supply Management, Visibility, Inventory Management, Sustainability

40

IT to Sustain the Ability in Fashion: Sustainability

Performance Appraisal in Luxury Fashion Supply Chains

Authors: Hakan Karaosman, Alessandro Brun, Gustavo Morales-Alonso



Abstract

Pressure over sustainability is constantly growing. Luxury goods companies are thus required

to prioritize their corporate goals and to integrate sustainability into upstream supply chains

(SCs). Nevertheless, it is getting difficult to find sustainable partners as a consequence of

globally dispersed fashion SCs (FSCs). In order to commit to business sustainability, a luxury

goods company must address and appraise not only its own but also its suppliers’ social and

environmental performance. While there have been efforts in assessing environmental

sustainability, to date, there are still gaps in the current literature in terms of social

sustainability assessment and to what extent social sustainability could be integrated into

contemporary decision-making processes. Prior research stress that having an integrated

approach to investigate interactions among social, economic, and environmental dimensions

is more practical than applying deep yet disconnected investigation in only one dimension.

Nonetheless, it is important to underline that sustainability indicators do not ensure the same

impact on all industries; henceforth sector-specific assessment frameworks need a further

investigation. This study therefore attempts to synthesise both current and novel components

in a comprehensive framework to appraise sustainability performance. The main contribution

of this study is the proposition of a 360 Degrees Performance Appraisal model to evaluate the

impact of SC operations on sustainability. Hence, this chapter provides an understanding of (i)

how SC of a luxury goods company must be configured toward sustainability, (ii) how

sustainability performance must be assessed through incorporation of a wide range of

stakeholders, and (iii) how sustainability could be further advanced in luxury FSCs. Not only

could this tool provide an integrated approach to value sustainability by encompassing all

related stakeholders associated, but it could also help luxury fashion companies monitor,

interpret and further improve their suppliers’ and sub-contractors’ sustainability

performance.

Keywords

Sustainability Performance Assessment; Luxury Goods Industry; Self-Assessment; Fashion

Supply Chains; Sustainable Fashion Supply Chains.

41

Integrating sustainability in the fashion system using

association rules

Authors: Filippo Emanuele Ciarapica1, Ilaria De Sanctis1, Barbara Resta2, Stefano Dotti2, Paolo Gaiardelli2, Romeo Bandinelli3, Virginia Fani3, Rinaldo Rinaldi3

Affiliation: 1Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale e Scienze Matematiche Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, Ancona – Italy , 2 CELS - Research Group on Industrial Engineering, Logistics and Service Operations– Department of Management, Information and Production Engineering, University of Bergamo, Viale Marconi 5, Dalmine (BG) – Italy, 3Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Florence, Viale Morgagni, 40, Firenze


Abstract

This work aims at analyzing the environmental strategies developed by fashion companies in

order to identify the most important stakeholders involved in the strategy, the environmental

practices carried out and the competitiveness im-pacts. A conceptual model, based on

Association Rules (AR), has been proposed for investigating the network of influences among

the environmental strategy, the environmental management practices and the environmental

competitiveness and profitability of the companies. The research has been conducted through

a survey submitted to fashion companies operating in Textile, Clothing and Leather (TCL)

sectors. Results indicate that “customers” and “suppliers” are the most im-portant

stakeholders to be involved in the environmental strategy. A greater com-pliance and a risk

reduction can be reached when the Financial institutions, Environmental NGOs, Rivals and

Shareholders are involved in the environmental strategy. In this regards, results highlighted

the importance of Environmental au-diting programme for suppliers and Sustainable

disclosures. Moreover, in fashion sector, the companies that pursued “Lower cost” as

competitive advantage aim at obtaining from environmental strategy a great access to capital

and lower cost of capital.

Key words

Sustainability; Textile; Apparel; Leather; Fashion.

42

SPEAKERS

43

Fabrizio Cardinali

Fabrizio Cardinali is one of Europe’s leading experts on Learning & Performance technologies & standards.

After chairing for many years the European Learning Industry Group (ELIG) and advising the Technology Enhanced Learning (TEL) Unit of the European Commission as invited expert & advisor, Fabrizio recently launched Skillaware (www.skillaware.com), a new IT Workforce Performance Support Platform startup, part of the sedApta Group.

Speaking at the PLENARY session on April 22th from 9.50 a.m. to 10.10 a.m..

Anastasia Charbin

Anastasia joined Centric in 2015. She has more than 20 years’ experience in fashion and technology for companies like Lectra, Gerber Technology, Karat Software, Cross Creek Apparel, and Perigee Software in marketing, communications, product development and sales roles.

Stacey holds Bachelor of Science degrees in business administration and apparel design from the University of Delaware, and a Master of Science degree in textile and apparel management from North Carolina State University.


Roberto Loro

Roberto Loro is Director of Technology & Innovation in Dedagroup, one of the largest Italian-owned IT groups. In his role he leads the continued development of innovation, building broad external support and providing strategic direction for the development of new products and services.

He has extensive experience in service design and is actively involved in exploring new technologies and creating partnerships with startups and Research Insistutes.


Bruno Mattia

As Director Strategic Accounts Fashion at Lectra since 2 year, Bruno Mattia as the responsibility of managing the major Lectra customers in the Fashion domain.

Prior to joining Lectra in 2006, Bruno Mattia was Senior Consultant and Project Director within the PLM Branch of IBM Global Services in France, in charge of complex international projects.

During the last 6 years at Lectra, he was responsible for strategic projects for the fashion market, mainly in charge of implementing Lectra Fashion PLM. Bruno Mattia is an Engineer graduated of the prestigious French engineering school “Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Arts et Métiers”.

Speaking at the PLENARY session on April 22th from 2.00 p.m. to 2.20 p.m..

http://www.skillaware.com/

44

Antonio Sgroi

Antonio Sgroi joined Optitex in September 2014 in quality of Country Manager Italia. He is responsible for managing strategic accounts and local sales and for driving further growth of Optitex solutions in Italy. With an extensive experience in the world of 2D and 3D design, PLM and CAD/CAM equipment for textiles, leather and industrial fabrics, he previously served as a sales director with a long legacy of success in the Italian market. Since 2011, Sgroi is member of ANTIA (Associazione Nazionale Tecnici Professionisti Sistema Moda) Managing Board.

Speaking at the PLENARY session on April 22th from 2.20 p.m. to 2.40 p.m..

Laura Valagussa

Laura is CG, CGR Senior Business Development Executive at Dassault Systemes.

Laura has almost 20 years of experience in Fashion & Lifestyle, focusing on business challenges and process for Strategic Accounts; previously she worked in Lectra where she covered different positions, till being Professional Services Manager.

Laura studied Mathematics and Engineering at Università degli Studi di Milano and Politecnico di Milano.

Speaking at the PLENARY session on April 22th from 11.40 a.m. to 12.00 p.m..

Documents

Proceedings of the IT4Fashion Scientific Conference of the IT4Fashion Scientific Conference ... the case of the apparel industry ... PLM and ERP platforms and procedures in their organization