The Herford fashion company Leineweber GmbH & Co. KG with its brands Brax, Eurex, Raphaela and Brax Golf has taken another big step to-wards digitization. Leineweber now controls, manages and networks its entire de-velopment process with PLM. GoLive – from article planning to the handover in production.

“Our PLM system is based on a proven reference process that we have adapted to the individual requirements of Brax,” says Michael Stöhr, Director PLM at Assyst. “Brax is distinguished by the extremely high quality of its products – and the perfection with which they are developed in the company is also reflected in the new process.”

Around 250 of the 1250 employees at Brax have been working with the PLM system since January

“Together with Assyst, we have thoroughly prepared the introduction of PLM. GoLive and involved our employees extensively in the development process – and this commitment has paid off. The startup with PLM GoLive ran really smoothly,” says Nicola Ionfrida, Brax Head of Procurement for Pants. PLM. GoLive has now replaced several Brax internal tools, bringing together data that was previously managed at different locations. “This creates leaner structures and avoids sources of error, since a lot of our data is only centrally stored once. We’re also creating more synergies, enabling us to develop new collections faster and more efficiently. The Brax ‘feel smart’ world is slowly taking shape,” adds Thomas Dalsass, Managing Director at Brax.

Brax has been using Assyst software solutions for several years now. The CAD.Assyst pattern system was integrated with PLM GoLive. All the information stored in CAD.Assyst, like material quantities and different pattern pieces, is directly entered into BOMs – and consequently into the cost estimate. The company’s own measurement chart is also stored in PLM from the outset, making it available for production and quality assurance. PLM also ensures that employees obtain important information for their particular areas of responsibility more quickly than be-fore.

Another milestone on the road to digitization is the creation of yet another integration: Brax and Assyst are currently working to establish a link between PLM and the 3D simulation software Vidya. This will result in photorealistic patterns of a garment be-ing integrated into the process at an early stage, achieving yet another level of quality.

About Brax

Brax was established in 1888 in Berlin. Today, the headquarters of the premium casual label Brax is located in Herford, East Westphalia, Germany. The fashion label has specialised in pants for men and women since 1971. Drawing on its long-standing success in the core pants segment, Brax is now expanding its strengths to include knitwear, shirts, blouses and outdoor wear – transforming the company into a vertical outfit brand. Worldwide, Brax presents its collections to all major retail partners in over 1,800 shop-in-shops and 100 freestanding stores in Germany, Europe and Asia. Brax generated sales of €314 million in 2017. More than 1200 employees are at the heart of the three brand values – Stylish, Smart and Ardent.