Full Version: Fashion Mannuscript
When the world was raging over advanced technology such as iPhones, Kindles, and even the rise of social media presence back in 2010, the global supply chain of the fashion industry was still using outdated technology for business operations. Since then, AIMS360, a fashion ERP software company and an industry veteran with over 35 years of experience, stepped up to the plate and continually faced this challenge with enthusiasm.
The President of AIMS360, Shahin Kohan, recalls the time when he and his brother, Shahrooz Kohan, CEO of AIMS360, navigated the team under their leadership back in 2010, “There’s that spirit of entrepreneurship; it’s energetic and it’s hyper-focused on innovation and reinvention. You could say we’re a startup, because that’s how AIMS360 runs—our team are visionaries who demonstrate these qualities, because we want to change the perspective of how people look at business software.”
AIMS360 armed itself with a diverse and talented team. “It just happened that the most qualified people for the job were mostly women,” says Shahrooz Kohan. The team not only did a complete overhaul of the software, but also the infrastructure and philosophy in order to take on the task of reinventing the way apparel companies think and operate.
Bringing AIMS360 Customers Up to Date with the Modern World
But how does one company even begin to tackle this extremely complex task? And, quite frankly, what makes them qualified to take on this task? AIMS360’s move was to make sure their product is updated with advanced technology and can alleviate the manual paper workload. So, they began their conversion process to move their users from AIMS v 9, their on-premise ERP solution, to its new modern cloud-based solution: AIMS360. Aided by Microsoft Azure, Microsoft’s most powerful cloud infrastructure, AIMS360 guarantees customers’ operations can run without physical set-up and with near zero implementation cost.
With a strong dedication to customers, AIMS360 successfully upgraded a staggering 95 percent of customers within the first four years. As a result, users ran their operations more seamlessly with leaner processes. “As a fast-growing fashion label, there are many challenges and urgencies. Having to commit so much time to the manual and error-prone processing of sales orders was stunting the growth of our business,” shares David Rimkoh from RTA Brand. “Now with AIMS360, it only takes about 10 minutes or less to completely process an order. Compared to the old paper and email-based process, this newer process dramatically cuts the time to finalize and ship a customer order.”
But besides changing the software, the AIMS360 team also recognizes that in order to prevent the industry from falling back to old practices, it’s important to change the way that it learns about fashion software. Educating within this sector is just one aspect; AIMS360 notes that proper education needs to take place in the physical classroom of the next generation as well. Partnered with universities such as FIDM and Cal Poly Pomona, AIMS360 works with educators in deploying the software and its practices to the next generation.
Providing the Right Tools and Knowing How to Use Them
The fast-paced nature of the fashion industry is too familiar and manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers struggle to find the time to learn how to use an ERP system properly. With the assistance of their key team members, AIMS360 has developed the Customer Success Program to help companies apply best practices and learn how to utilize AIMS360 software that’s appropriate for their specific business type and needs.
“After years of helping new businesses grow, we decided to change the focus from general education and training to make each implementation more specific to the company’s needs. That way we are focused on what will make their specific business successful and not solely on generalized use of the AIMS360 software,” remarks Scott Allen, customer success leader. Curating a unique experience for each of their clients, AIMS360 maximizes customers’ valuable time and stimulates their engagement. To provide further accessibility, AIMS360 also offers online training to learn the fundamentals of their software and targeted courses such as EDI, Production, and Manufacturing.
More importantly, during training, AIMS360 wants to also provoke users to think with an open mind. “We want our users to think of the why’s and the how’s, but most importantly, the what-if’s,” adds Shahin Kohan. These are the ideals that founded the AIMS360’s spirit and what AIMS360 hopes to inspire in their users.
Looking Ahead
Now in 2019, the changes keep on coming. AIMS360 looks ahead to take the fashion industry to the next level with big-ticket items such as the highly anticipated, Intelligent
Allocation, Multi-Currency, and a new AIMS360 API (Application Program Interface). “Just because our company has been around since 1984, doesn’t mean our technology has to be stuck in that time,” Kim Kerr, VP of business development, observes. Keeping a watchful eye on trends in the technology and fashion industries is an important factor AIMS360 uses to determine which features to prioritize.
“We wanted to maximize the flow of inventory,” explains Shahrooz Kohan. “Therefore, we created the Intelligent Allocation feature to automatically allocate inventory to orders in the most efficient way and always on time. As a result, the clients that we tested within our preview program experienced better customer satisfaction and reduced chargebacks.”
The feature is an automated prioritization tool that will enable AIMS360 users to allocate based on preset rules created by the users. Users may want to allocate goods by prioritizing customers, method of payment or terms, shipping type or any other number of possible options. Shahin adds, “And ensure they’ll have their goods shipped on time, all the time.”
Plus, with their upcoming API release, AIMS360 customers will be able to connect more areas of their business operations with their ERP software. API is fundamental for accurate communication between integrations and occur in real-time without the synchronization wait. Shahrooz explains, “We had already made great traction with our current API that had been around for quite some time. With our new upgraded API, anyone can connect to AIMS360’s data to create workflows that help skip manual steps in daily operations. This will save the operator (i.e brand manager, production user) time so they can focus on other important areas of their business.” Having their own API might be an overlooked feature to non-technical business owners, however, the AIMS360 team proves that even the least ‘dazzling’ features can be a game-changer.
“We’re Not Focused on Competing, We’re Focused on Innovation”
The fashion industry isn’t advancing as fast as technology is moving. There’s a lot of pressure to quickly develop solutions that can solve this issue, but to AIMS360, it’s not a race and frankly, for quality purposes, it shouldn’t be. They’re trying to break from that idea by inventing new ways of doing things and by changing how the industry should think. Shahin states, “ We’re not focused on competing, we’re focused on innovation. We’re giving our customers more options, so they’re set up for success and can continue to succeed.”
AIMS360 automates manual and time-consuming processes so operators won’t need to conduct any more manual work; instead they can use the data generated by the AIMS360 system to make intelligent decisions right away. Although trying to keep up with technology is a near-impossible task, AIMS360 puts customers one step closer by teaching them how to use the right tools and inspiring them to achieve their vision with an open mind.
AIMS360
310-361-5710
empower@aims360.com