Making sportswear communication more transparent

hummel is a global sportswear brand founded in 1923 by the German Messmer family. It's well-known for making the football kits for teams like Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur.

At hummel, everything starts and ends with sports. They want to change the world through sports. To make a positive change, they support national football associations in Afghanistan and Sierra Leone.

hummel needed a change in its processes to support its growth and digital journey. They chose Delogue PLM to manage their product development.

Bridging the communication gap between the brand and suppliers

The communication gap between employees and suppliers was the first challenge hummel wanted to resolve. It was becoming an obstacle in their efficiency. They wanted to achieve transparency across all departments that would encourage close partnerships.

"We made changes and additions throughout the product development flow to improve communication between colleagues and suppliers, which is extremely important," explained Sussi Joan Rokkedahl, former Product Development Coordinator, back when hummel first acquired Delogue.

READ MORE: Language and Cultural Barriers in the Fashion Industry: How to Bridge the Gap

Smooth onboarding with Delogue's platform

Implementing Delogue PLM at hummel was a quick and smooth process. hummel had full access to the support team at every step of the way. Today the product development team and suppliers collaborate and communicate at all levels. Creating better products and improving transparency throughout the entire supply chain.

Two years later we talk to Maibritt Gram Simonsen, Technician, and Maria Rossau Lynggaard Bording, Product Manager Apparel, at the Hummel Kids department agree with Susie Delogue has become a vital tool in their day-to-day work.

“We use Delogue all the time from early in the morning until we finish our workday – every small step happens in Delogue. It makes our job much easier and we are more efficient as a team.”

Equipped for the best outcome – even during a pandemic

hummel has been working with Delogue for two years now. They incorporated the software to optimize their workflow, but it wasn’t until the corona crisis hit, perhaps, that they realized what an important tool Delogue is for them to succeed in their business.

Delogue was a savior during the corona lockdown for the team at Kids hummel. Despite a reduced staff in the office as more people worked remotely and new shifts were introduced, the department was able to face the challenges of the lockdown thanks to Delogue’s support and facilitation of their everyday work.

“With Delogue you can always see when small changes have been made – by whom and when. So when corona came, we were able to use all the information previously inserted in Delogue to take over our colleagues' tasks,” says Maibritt.

“We could see the communication between the suppliers regarding the different styles – something that would normally be on our mail server. Back then, when we had to take over a colleague’s work, we couldn’t see this mail history – which is fundamental – but now everything is integrated with Delogue for everyone to see.”

A PLM software specially designed for the fashion industry

In this sense, Delogue acts like an all-knowing platform that makes remote work and handovers from colleague to colleague a fast and easy task, whether it is during an extraordinary situation such as the coronavirus or the result of somebody taking a vacation or sick leave. Additionally, it acts as an integration system where all the information is stored, so anyone working on a style can have access to this information. And, most importantly, it is a targeted system for the fashion industry.