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Mambo
FileMaker Integrates with Legacy System at Australian Clothing Label Mambo
A return to the old ways is proving to be the way forward for
irreverent Mambo clothing label. Mambo may be known for a lack of
conservatism in its T-shirts, accessories and art, but the same
progressive philosophy does not apply to IT.
The wholly owned subsidiary of clothing manufacturer and importer
Gazal Corporation recently aborted a Lotus Notes database
implementation in favour of reinventing a FileMaker system to
service its expanding needs.
Established in 1984, Mambo has grown from a niche surf-wear label
to a national lifestyle icon with global brand aspirations. It
employs 250 people worldwide and is marketed throughout Asia and
Europe.
This growth had not been matched in IT infrastructure, however, as
noted by managing director David Gazal in March, 2000, when Gazal
Corporation bought Mambo after manufacturing its garments for 10
years under licence.
"The one-company approach going forward creates great opportunity
to maximise the potential growth of the Mambo brand, both in
Australia and worldwide. Our commitment to building a sourcing and
IT base from which the business can grow creates the tools needed
to achieve this growth," Gazal says.
Thus the company set out to merge, or at least interface, the
design and ordering systems used by Mambo with the legacy system
used by Gazal.
Mambo was using two FileMaker databases developed in-house - for
design and garment styling. But the two did not communicate,
although both provided images for a graphics-heavy trade catalogue
three times a year.
Gazal's legacy system, an early version of SSA Global Technologies'
BPCS (Business Planning and Control System), has served the company
well since 1994 but demanded manual re-entry of all Mambo data to
perform material requisitions, production scheduling and inventory
tasks satisfactorily.
"They were different systems with a gulf of an interface between
the two and a whole pile of paper handed over between them," says
Mambo operations manager Shaun Cameron-Lee.
"The duplication of data and margin for human error was incredible.
The integrity of the data was pretty sloppy."
According to Cameron-Lee, Mambo managed to keep up with sales
growth only because staff spent a lot of time double-checking
data.
However, when consultants came to recommend an IT solution, Lotus
Notes was hailed as the most robust system for the task and the
only one guaranteed to interface with BPCS, which runs on an IBM
AS/400 server. Gazal and Mambo believed their original FileMaker
databases would not converse with the mainframe.
Approximately $200,000 and seven implementation stages later, the
company realised Lotus Notes could do many things well, but could
not cope with the graphic load required by Mambo, whose typical
summer range includes about 500 styles in varying sizes and
colours.
So Gazal went back to FileMaker for advice and was recommended the
services of another consultancy, database developer Key
Software.
"Within an hour, one of our experienced technical directors was
able to prove that their old system could talk to the AS/400," says
Key Software director Joseph Suhr.
The company then implemented a complete redesign of the databases
using FileMaker Pro 5.5 into a central system to cater for design,
sample production, pricing requirements for all components
necessary to produce the range, and cataloguing to enable
orders.
The system went live in July and has finished downloading this
year's second fashion season without significant glitches.
Although no measures in productivity or efficiency gains are
available, Cameron-Lee says the reduced margin for error derived
from the electronic interface between Mambo and Gazal will have a
direct cost benefit.
"But mainly we can now make better (purchasing) decisions based on
more accurate and quicker data with less frustration," he
says.
The system will be gradually rolled out to other brands in the
Gazal stable.
However, further development will be done using SQL database
technology. Phase two will allow historic sales orders to be
extrapolated to produce component purchase orders for the coming
season, and phase three will facilitate international
logistics.
Key Software's Suhr says SQL will better track modification history
to a field and serve as an audit file of each design.
But FileMaker Inc's Asia-Pacific region general manager, Steve
McManus, says many people were under the erroneous impression that
FileMaker was an interim solution.
"Being user-friendly is a plus, but it makes us come undone
sometimes because (people think) if it's too easy, it can't be
powerful," he said.
Gazal now intends to review the trusted BPCS system, although the
AS/400 is staying put.
Gazal IT manager Jim Lynch says the company has started looking at
options to replace BPCS to obtain the Web-enabled facilities built
into new packages. But it will not jump into new technology too
soon.
"The (clothing) industry is not known for being technology-driven.
We see ourselves as ahead of the competition, but we won't jump at
anything just for the sake of technology. We've got to make sure it
is going to work, long before we sign off on anything."
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/13/1034222639032.html
Contact information
Contact Info for Customer:Filemaker Contact:
Kevin Mallon
Public Relations Manager
FileMaker Inc.
408-987-7227
kevin_mallon@filemaker.com
http://www.filemaker.com
- When Australian clothing label Mambo was acquired by manufacturer and importer Gazal Corporation, the company's IT department found that Mambo's FileMaker Pro-based design and ordering systems could integrate with the legacy system used by Gazal -- thanks to the ability of FileMaker Pro to connect with corporate data sources.
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