Item Creation and Maintenance

A challenge in the fashion industry is the large number of stock-keeping units (SKU). As was described previously, a simple man's shirt could easily generate more than 300 items or SKUs. Entry and maintenance of these SKUs can be a time-consuming and expensive proposition. The application software not only needs to support a flexible structure but also to automate this process to minimize keystrokes.

Figure 1 below illustrates the structure supported by Movex. It is divided into two segments. The first segment contains information that is common to all items associated with a SKU. In figure 1 all items for SKU A122131-140 are women's wear, casual blouse. There would also be common descriptive information such as short sleeve, open collar. Differentiating items within a SKU are attributes such as size, color, style, and fabric. Movex supports an unlimited number of user-defined attributes. Furthermore, the software provides a translation from how a user would recognize at item (i.e., small, red cotton blouse) to an item number (i.e., A122131-140-111) needed for locating and picking the product in the warehouse.

Figure 1

While a flexible structure is important, users can be overwhelmed by the amount of data that has to be entered for a single SKU. Movex takes advantage of its structure to minimize the data entry workload. First, the common information such as description, supplier, and style need only be entered once. Then it is automatically inherited by the items within the structure. Figure 2 illustrates the data entry process. Once the template is established for style, color, and size, the quantities entered into the matrix and the necessary items are generated.

Figure 2

Movex supports style composition for labeling. These are those tags that scratch the back of your neck. Using previously entered data users can select information for inclusion on the label. Again, this feature not only reduces data entry but ensures consistency with the SKU description. As you would expect in distributing products to a worldwide market, Movex also supports full language handling capability of attributes, descriptions, and labeling information. In connection with the global impact of fashion, the software can automatically generate European article numbering (EAN) and universal product code (UPC) designations.