Gea Collection

Collection development

The design phase of a new collection is particularly strategic.

Time for prototyping is particularly short.

It is therefore essential to meet the established deadlines in view of an unforeseeable submission date.

When designing a collection or developing a sample commissioned by a brand, it is necessary to follow a precise workflow leading – step by step – to the completion of all the activities and operations necessary to have what it takes to produce prototypes and subsequently samples to be displayed in the collection.

GEA-COLLECTION has the task of organizing the above work scheme and therefore controlling the production process of the collection in compliance with the company schedules and targets.

The figure of the collection manager, required by GEA Collection, together with his team, will carry out the appropriate studies and analysis, such as previous year’s sales, the search for interesting models on the Internet or in shop windows, or the translation of a stylistic idea into new products to be included in the collection. He will then focus on the materials to be used and decide the models to be used for the first prototype.

Finally, he will have to assign the tasks to all subjects involved in the collection development, with deadlines within which certain activities will have to be carried out.

GEA COLLECTION will allow to keep under control in a very intuitive and practical way all activities and their development in the allocated times.

The control can be done either through the consultation of a general scheme or, more analytically, through the control of individual articles, and also through notifications / alerts specifically addressed to the various responsible subjects.

Notifications may concern the approximation of some stringent deadlines or the failure to perform / complete certain activities.

After creating in Gea Collection the new collection (or the one for a specific brand) all the possible activities, deadlines and required checks must be identified.

Their description can vary in each enterprise, but – generally speaking – they can be referred to as:

• Date of collection presentation
• Project definition (lines and product types to be proposed)
• Lasts (existing or new)
• Soles / insoles / insole lining
• Heels
• Last fitting tests
• Materials (search and tests)
• Uppers (upper stitching for tests on lasts)
• Accessories
• Prototype production
• Prototype control (default correction etc.)
• Definitive lasts definition
• Definitive soles definition
• Definitive models selection
• Alterations and corrections on all product lines
• Sample production (in various versions – GEA STYLE production progress etc.)
• Collection control (default correction etc.)
• Collection presentation

At this point it will be possible to designate the staff members incharged with every single aspect and especially fixing the deadline in which every single activity must be performed.

Every task (contacting the last manufactgurer for new lasts or the alteration of existing lasts, contacting the tannery for leather, giving indications to the the stitching department, contacting the accessory supplier and so on) will have a deadline that the indicated person will have to meet.

GEA-COLLECTION will monitor the entire operational flow and send notifications to the collection manager and / or other staff members as specified in the collection plan, on any delays and on the approach of certain deadlines.

Therefore, through the various control systems it will be possible to evaluate – with general and analytical data – that everything is running as planned or if any critical situations arise, and where they are located.

Moreover, by using different colors to communicate information, it will be possible to immediately understand the development of the collection plan according to the timing indicated or, where problems arise, to immediataly identify their causes.

Collection industrialization

The other aspect organized by GEA COLLECTION concerns the next phase: industrialization.

When the selling phase is over it is necessary, before production, models sold have to be undergo further tests, defined as conformity tests.

It is vital to have all the possible certainties before starting production of any model. The final approval of the last (consider that samples on sale sometimes may differ from the original) and the test on the whole breakdown of lasts, soles and insoles.

Also in this case it is important that each phase is controlled and carried out within the deadline decided upon.

Some activities that can be carried out simultaneously and others that will be subordinated only to the approval of the previous ones.

However it is crucial to be able to implement a control scheme, customized for each type of shoe factory, to fully control the conformity of each sample.

Also for this process, as for the development of the collection, GEA COLLECTION will be very useful, easy to use and practical in its consultation. It will display data – with the same layout used for the collection – for the progress of individual checks, either at model, line or article type level.