Fishman & Tobin Advances to YuniquePLM to Manage Expanding Global Operations 

Longtime Gerber Technology webPDM User Upgrades to PLM to Enhance Collaboration and Streamline Processes      

January 10, 2011 – Tolland, Conn., USA – Gerber Technology, a business unit of Gerber Scientific, Inc. (NYSE: GRB), announces that leading childrenswear company Fishman & Tobin is upgrading and expanding its webPDM™ software installation to the latest YuniquePLM™ platform. When fully implemented, the company plans to triple its current user base by extending implementation of the web-based product lifecycle management solution in its Conshohocken, PA (USA) headquarters; New York design and merchandising center; Panyu, China development, sourcing, and manufacturing operations; and numerous regional design, development, and sales locations throughout the United States. Fishman & Tobin will leverage the comprehensive YuniquePLM toolset to accelerate new product development and delivery, increase visibility and management of global business processes, and empower its teams to be more productive through enhanced collaboration and system usability.  

According to Fishman & Tobin chief information officer Lewis Summers, “YuniquePLM gives us the productivity tools and platform we need to connect all of our teams together in a single, accessible system. While our PDM system served us well for more than ten years, the expansion of our global operations and the addition of several new brands in recent years required us to implement a more robust collaboration platform. After evaluating several PLM software packages for nearly one year, we are confident that YuniquePLM is our best-fit solution to solve the challenges we now face with multiple system platforms that cannot be easily shared across our many locations.” 

The Fishman & Tobin evaluation started with a complete review and mapping of existing business processes. A cross-functional task force carefully studied the interaction of departments, flow of work, and the positives and negatives that existing technology had on these processes. This work helped all teams come together on a specific set of requirements that they used in their PLM vendor evaluations.

“One of the main goals of the move to PLM is to gain a symbiotic relationship between our New York design team and the many locations that are carrying out the development tasks,” noted Amanda Lally, director of business operations. “Currently, our primary means of visibility is through email threads and spreadsheets that require constant back-and-forth interaction. YuniquePLM incorporates color and material management, style catalogs and line lists, merchandise and line planning, workflow management and much more all in the same system that we use to create our tech packs. Instead of working from independent documents and manually entering data into a separate system, our teams will build a complete product record in normal course of their work in a single system. YuniquePLM was our choice because Gerber clearly understands the needs of designers, merchants, and salespeople; and the relationship between color, artwork, materials, and the management of the tech pack.”

“A key factor in our choice of PLM was the user experience offered by the software,” added Summers. “We did not approach this as an IT project, but rather as a business project. Because we understand the importance of both management and user buy-in to the success of the project, our end-users played a major role in the decision. They chose YuniquePLM because they saw it as the easiest to use and the best functional alignment with their needs. From an overall business perspective, workflow management and process visibility were very important as we see those as improvements that can transform our business. YuniquePLM will give everyone in the company the tracking and visibility they need to prevent and manage the exceptions. We have learned from experience that managing by spreadsheets is not the answer. After all, the information contained in spreadsheets is only beneficial to those on copy. Information shared in a central database is available to everyone with appropriate permissions.”

“We are pleased with the opportunity to continue our work with longtime client Fishman & Tobin as they achieve new levels of excellence,” commented Bill Brewster, president of Gerber Technology’s Software Solutions division. “Their confidence in Gerber once again validates our decision to add YuniquePLM to our growing list of innovative solutions for our industry. We look forward to a successful implementation and the opportunity to support the growth and success at Fishman & Tobin.” 
 

About Fishman & Tobin

Since 1914, Fishman & Tobin has been recognized as a leading children’s apparel company and a supplier of excellence for its quality, service and innovation. The company has successfully manufactured and marketed high-profile brands to top tier, Fortune 500 retailers in the United States and Canada. They attribute this long-standing success to their ability to maintain strong working relationships based in trust and to consistently breaking all boundaries with growth in new markets and adding new licenses. More information is available at www.fishmantobin.com.

About Gerber Technology Software Solutions

Gerber Technology Software Solutions is the software and information technology division of Gerber Technology. Focused on innovation in the concept-to-consumer lifecycle, GTSS manages a portfolio of best-in-class software and information technology (IT) solutions, including YuniquePLM™ product lifecycle management, AccuMark® pattern design and marker making, webPDM™ product data management, Vision® Fashion Studio design, and Vstitcher® 3D visualization solutions. Through these and other industry-proven solutions, Gerber Technology enables its global client base to enhance creativity, increase productivity, improve supply chain visibility, and maximize profitability.

For more information about YuniquePLM, visit http://www.yuniqueplm.com/.

About Gerber Technology

Gerber Technology (www.gerbertechnology.com), a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, develops and manufactures the world's leading brands of product lifecycle management (PLM) solutions, product data management (PDM) solutions and CAD/CAM automation systems for the sewn products and flexible materials industries. These systems automate and significantly improve the efficiency of information management, product design and development, pre-production and production processes. The company offers specialized solutions to a variety of end-user markets including apparel, composites, industrial fabrics, transportation interiors and home textiles. Gerber Technology’s world headquarters are located in Tolland, Connecticut, U.S.A. with regional offices, agents and distributors in more than 126 countries serving over 22,000 customers through 16 Customer Solutions Centers on six continents. The company engineers and manufactures its products in various locations throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. For more information about Gerber Technology, connect with us on Twitter, YouTube and LinkedIn.

Through innovation and commitment to our customers, Gerber’s products have become industry standards as well as benchmarks by which all others are measured. By continuing to explore emerging technologies and to build strategic relationships, Gerber intends to continue the pace of setting new standards for innovation and productivity.

Established in 1968, Gerber Technology is one of three business units of $553 million corporation Gerber Scientific, Inc. (www.gerberscientific.com) of South Windsor, Connecticut. Gerber Scientific is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the “GRB” symbol.

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webPDM and YuniquePLM are trademarks of Gerber Technology.