Yet the fashion retail windows and the more established fashion websites are telling us to get our Autumn looks, layer up and not to forget the essential heavy knitwear.

Weather patterns have been physically changing, or so it seems. Most fashion brands are still being chased by the retailers to get their Autumn collections in early and in some cases risk fines if their heavy winter coats do not arrive in time for that (in this case scorching) weekend. Just in time to take their place on the hanger until the temperature is low enough for someone to actually need a winter coat.

There has been allot of talk about fashion being out of touch with what consumers want and when consumers actually buy things. Men for instance do not generally buy new shorts until around the Easter break, even though they are often amongst January and February deliveries within collections.

And be honest, how many of you work for a company that has a fabulous Autumnal display in store at the moment? Today, that is like offering someone an electric blanket in a sauna. Not good for anyone and with cash availability tighter than before in most companies it does not make sense to fund stock that is clearly not going to be in demand for a while.

Some retailers plan really closely to their actual store / consumer demand and are prepared to give up some (apparent) margin by making in-season products at fast turnaround setups in locations with short transport times. Zara was the great example of that a number of years ago, with products designed, made and shipped to store in a matter of weeks, working very closely to consumer demand per store and region and making small quantities close to home if that meant that the right product would be in store at the right time. You almost wonder if their own success has now made that very process more difficult to achieve.

Is it time to debate the role of the consumer, planning and local source again. Many brands and retailers still work to main seasons (Autumn Winter vs Spring Summer) and have their great new knitwear and Autumnal looks in store just as we are all packing our bags with shorts and t-shirts for that summer holiday we have been looking forward to. That is then repeated at some point in January with spring and summer looks whilst our kids are nagging us that they want to go to the ice-rink (again).

There is no denying that it is difficult to get it right all the time, but it does appear that the old established methods that brought us bulk mass-market fashion over the last few decades are looking dated and out of fashion themselves.

If you have not started, this is the time to set yourself up for more dynamic working methods. It all involves changes in planning, methods and habits throughout businesses and their supply chains.

Introducing rolling product development time-lines, better controls over what is initiated for when, mixing long and short lead-times and adapting processes in design, product, sourcing, logistics and sales departments and inserting visibility of these processes can appear taxing but could be essential for commercial success in a dynamic industry within a changing world.

Conceptable consulted during the selection process after which it was determined that with the right guidance the cost effective WFX solution would be suitable for the needs of this rapidly growing fashion brand.

Ben Muis from Conceptable comments: “Many ERP solutions show gaps in the functionality required by creative brands when it comes to running the product lifecycle, design, development process or even the supplier compliance enforcement within these processes.

These processes are our speciality and as such we are in a good position to identify solutions that match the brand in question.

By combining the ERP system with the WFX PLM system and setting them to perform key tasks whilst seamlessly passing data from one area to another the Gio Goi business obtains functionality that they could realistically only have obtained from their ERP provider with huge investment and risk.

This is a very serious implementation for us within a key fast growing business. Our knowledge in the workings of the WFX system and our integral involvement in implementation of the Microsoft Navision system for Gio-Goi has put us in a position where we can combine the systems with the desired best practice business processes.

We are activating WFX at Gio Goi within a very short time frame, taking a flexible, configurable and extensive Software as a Service solution that was specifically designed for the fashion industry and bolting it on to the K3 Navision solution. This process is supported by our project management, training and expertise in the fashion industry and comes without the huge investments normally associated with traditional software system developments.”

We reward good referrals for our consultancy and interim services. If you are aware of a brand or company that would benefit from our services we would agree a reward level with you if your formal introduction to the project leads to us obtaining the assignment.

Your first step would be to contact Ben Muis to discuss what brand or company you wish to introduce us to along with any information you might have about the kind of project / interim work they would possibly require.

If we agree that the client is potentially a good match for us we will discuss how the introduction or meeting will be arranged. If the result is positive and we obtain the client you will be rewarded as agreed every time that payment for the project is received.

Contact us to start the process or to ask any questions. We will look forward to thanking you!

The program efforts will specifically focus on mums-to-be that have reached or are beyond their third month of pregnancy and new mothers with babies up to 5 months old.

Important temperature information and details about Babyglow’s temperature sensitive baby clothing products will be made available via the free to join Bounty parenting club, which works with top brands, charities and government to provide mums and mums-to-be with product samples and information and help get them most out of family life. This will include extensive distribution through; the famous Bounty sample packs given to around 98% off all new and expectant mums and its free information guides, which are inserted into Bounty packs and have a staggering distribution figure in excess of 2.2 million per year. Plus its website, bounty.com which receives over 1.3million visits each month and its supporting forums, E-newsletters and social media activity.

Babyglow, having researched and developed temperature sensitive baby clothing, have both a very good understanding of how the body reacts to temperature rises and how to monitor this using easy, modern methods.

Babyglow garments use micro technology and natural fibres to turn a convenient product such as their sleep-suit into a wearable, washable monitoring device. This means that mothers and carers would be able to see at a glance if their baby has a fever or raised body surface temperature anywhere on their body.

This is important as some illnesses will first start generating a temperature reaction in specific parts of the body before spreading through the rest of the body. This can for instance create a temperature increase around the organs before other parts of the body surface would have noticeable increases. Having a Babyglow suit will show these early temperature increases already as the suit monitors the whole body surface all of the time, whilst keeping the head clear to allow cooling.

Bounty has estimated that on an annual basis the Babyglow temperature related information and product details will be sent to or handed to mothers and pregnant women within the target audience 13.2 million times.

Bounty Consumer Champion, Faye Mingo says “Bounty are delighted to be backing the Babyglow venture with extensive access to our media portfolio which includes Bounty packs, guides and www.bounty.com. This is a true partnership and we look forward to working closely together to come up with new and exciting ways to reinforce key messages to mums and we look forward to having a longstanding and mutually beneficial relationship in the future”

Editor’s Notes

About Babyglow
Babyglow Marketing (UK) Ltd (www.babyglowuk.com) is the official distributor of Babyglow products in the United Kingdom.

Babyglow is a brand that designs, develops and markets clothing and related products that monitor or regulate body temperatures in infants, marketed in more than 12 countries around the world.

Babyglow sleep-suits are wearable, washable temperature monitors. Further products are being launched by the company within the coming year.

Babyglow products have a clear visual indication all over the product to show temperature changes from regular body temperature to raised body temperature and reverse.

Babyglow Marketing (UK) Ltd performed a soft-launch of the temperature monitoring sleep-suit product in the UK in October 2010 following appearances in ‘The Apprentice’ and the largest London based baby consumer show.

Babyglow products can be found in a growing number of independent speciality shops and pharmacies in the UK, as well as at the onlines store at www.babyglowshop.com. Babyglow is commercially consulted by Conceptable Limited in London

About Bounty
Bounty (www.bounty.com) is mums’ best-loved source of advice and support for everyday parenting and has been giving mums more for more than 50years

Bounty is a free to join parenting club that works with top brands, charities and government to provide mums and mums to be with product samples and information and help get them most out of family life

With over 50,000 new members joining every month, more than 9 out of 10 new mums receive Bounty packs and information guides and on average, bounty.com receives more than 1.3million visits to the site each month

The brand was encouraged by its commercial consultants to look at the Chinese market at early stages of its development. The single child policy and the importance of that market to the current and future global economy make it a unique location for a brand such as Babyglow.

The launch platform was the important Mother-Infant-Child Products Fair in Beijing. Inventor Chris Ebejer flew to China for the occasion where he completed six television interviews, some of which were broadcast live nation-wide and simultaneously shown on 25 foot giant screens at the show.

This latest bold move marks another milestone for this award winning British baby care brand, who have only started to operate commercially from the middle of last year with their products which warn carers if a baby has an increased localised or average body temperature.

Chris Ebejer with wife Jane and one of the babies that wear the Babyglow sleep suits.

Chris Ebejer has spoken to some of the Chinese parents that visited the show via interpreters. He was touched by stories from concerned parents who’s children have suffered from febrile convulsions and fits caused by fever. He commented afterwards that “it is when you hear people tell you themselves that your product is going to be so helpful to them that all the years of hard work getting to where we are now become so worth it”.

Deliveries of the brands’ iconic temperature monitoring suits are now arriving in those stores in China that placed orders prior to the show.

China’s most important baby industry retailers have been eager to spend time with the team on the stand and additional retail space in the country has already been agreed.

The brand is distributed in China by Babyglow’s authorized distributor HHIT. Babyglow is consulted and represented internationally by Conceptable London.

Babyglow has been set up for export and its products are available in store in several countries, more information of which can be found at www.babyglow.info or www.babyglowshop.com.

About:
Babyglow is a brand which markets baby care and baby safety products based on inventions or developments by privately owned Baby Glo Ltd. The inventor of the unique Babyglow temperature monitoring sleepsuit is Chris Ebejer, from Suffolk in England. Babyglow is represented internationally by Conceptable Limited, based in London, England. For more information about Babyglow please visit www.babyglow.info.

Emily will be working on the social media activities of Conceptable and two of our clients. We wish to welcome Emily to the team and look forward to receiving the more regular updates on Twitter, Facebook and other social media.

During the first six months of the relationship Ben Muis from Conceptable worked very closely with the brand to establish their manufacturing capabilities and to appoint the first few distributors. The initial task was to get the brand to a point where their body temperature monitoring product could be made to the highest quality standards, with full testing at each step of the way. More than 90 tests are performed on Babyglow items today which the brand finds absolutely crucial to help them to be the very best in their business.

Once this new manufacturing setup had been established the next stage involved getting the product delivered into different countries for the very first time.

By October 2010 Babyglow was being sold in the UK and Spain, with Sweden and Portugal close behind.

Now, 12 months after the initial first steps, Babyglow has agreements in place for distribution in 16 countries. Most distributors are either in the market today or are waiting for their first deliveries and getting ready for launch.

Babyglow are now at a point where they will be working toward increasing their staff levels, evolving their internal structure and evaluating their production capacities.

Obviously the relationship between the team at Babyglow and Conceptable is very strong. It has to be to go through a process like the one above in only 12 months. There is still plenty of work to be done together and we all look forward to the next 12 months, at the end of which around 20 distributors are expected to be live, going into their second season in store with their products.

For more information about Babyglow please visit www.babyglow.info.

This latest approval will make it clearer to consumers, retailers and authorities that potential other wannabee brands and copies of the successful Babyglow brand are in violation of granted rights.

The brand markets the clothing, which monitor a baby’s temperature, in an increasing number of countries through distributors appointed by Conceptable.

Conceptable has consulted Babyglow from its position 12 months ago where a working product needed to be commercialised to their current position where they are already confidently supplying 12 countries with their patented products.

Babyglow Colour Changing Clothing

Chris Ebejer, chairman of Babyglow, has spent 8 years of his life developing the product and refining the technology, much of which was improved during the first 4 months of the last year.

As he is aware how crucial it is to babies that the product works well his greatest concern is the counterfeit market. This is why Conceptable has worked on a number of authentication methods for Babyglow products, ultimately giving consumers the power to verify that what they spent their money on was a genuine product.

Congratulations go out to Babyglow from the Conceptable team and all those involved in the recent international launch of the brand.

Both our address and telephone number have changed as a result of this move. Email and web addresses will remain the same as before.

Our new full address is:

Conceptable Limited
1st Floor
105 Farringdon Road
London EC1R 3BU
United Kingdom

Our new telephone number is +44(0)20 7193 6963.

Conceptable, 1st Floor, 105 Farringdon Road

This move is in line with our growth plans and follows a successful year for the company.

Our new home in Farringdon Road provides us with more private meeting facilities and an infrastructure that is more in tune with our needs for the coming period.

Conceptable would like to thank everyone that has contributed in some way during the past year for helping to make it possible for us to hit and exceed our growth plans.

Ben Muis

Gio Goi

Conceptable plays a vital role in the planning, project management and coordination of the process of implementation and creation of best practices, during which time all Gio Goi employees will be getting ready to merge their processes in to a company wide integrated system.

The project is scheduled to span a six to eight month period, during which a close working relationship will be established between Gio Goi, Conceptable and software system providers.