Minimum was born in Aarhus in 1997, from an idea by Peder Tang. With a desire to put a Nordic minimalist twist on subculture trends right before they become commercial, Minimum has turned into a global brand recognized for its simple yet stylish silhouettes, high-quality materials, and a focus on sustainability.
However, maintaining high standards and exploring innovative materials can be difficult if the organizational part isn’t taken care of. Buying manager Kristina Nissen, who has been working with Minimum for over ten years, shares how Delogue helped the brand become more efficient and created space and structure to embark on new adventures.
Many Delogue customers are buried in Excel sheets before implementing the system. Minimum was no different. “Not even a year ago we still had this huge Excel sheet with a follow-up list to track how far we were with the samples, who has replied, and so on,” shares Kristina Nissen. “You cannot imagine how big it was, and with different colors, each meaning a different thing.” The team realized they needed a change when they hired a new employee who had already worked with Delogue. She recommended the platform as a way to streamline the whole product development process. “It seemed like such a simple solution, and I just fell in love.”
When implementing a new system, there’s always the issue of employees not wanting to collaborate. Managers often worry about how a new platform can be received by designers, who tend to have a more creative approach and are less prone to follow a structured system. The issue was close to Kristina Nissen, who recognizes that everything starts with them. “My first priority was for the designers to be pleased to work with Delogue because it couldn’t have been implemented if they weren’t.” Delogue has been created with the fashion industry in mind, using a visual language that is intuitive for creatives and designers. Kristina Nissen shares:
One of the perks of Delogue is the possibility to have all the information in one place, always accessible from wherever you are. In an industry that used to rely so much on travel and that has been forced to work from home recently, the cloud-based system of Delogue takes into account that sharing information is necessary even when you cannot be in the same room. Kristina Nissen agrees: “For me, to have one place where I can look up everything is simply fantastic. To have all the reports, style sheets and visual overview in one place is really great.”
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Kristina Nissen is aware of the importance of keeping suppliers close. As a buying manager, she appreciates creating a good relationship and visiting Minimum factories around the world. “It’s one of my favourite parts of the job.” She shares that she finds Delogue useful for checking the communication for each specific style and having all the comments in one place. Her team appreciates the recently introduced Price Calculation feature. “I know that they are very happy with it,” says Kristina Nissen.
By implementing Delogue, Minimum has been able to streamline its workflow and centralize the information, all while keeping the creative department happy. As they retain their global focus while maintaining their Aarhus roots, one thing is for sure - for this brand, creating high-quality and impactful styles is the Minimum.