How does an international sales team design sports team apparel from any web browser in the world?

Sports Moms are typically actual full-time mothers of young children who are looking for a way to earn a supplementary income. As such, Sports Moms usually work out of their homes and go onsite to meet with customers. This network of Sports Moms is expansive, stretching across Canada and various parts of the U.S.

The business process followed by the Sports Moms is outlined in Figure 1. It begins with a Sports Mom browsing various sports apparel manufacturers’ catalogs with the customer. The Sports Mom then sketches a crude representation of the selected garment and begins to draw the uniform’s decorations onto it. Once this step is complete the total cost is calculated by adding the blank garment cost to that of the estimated decoration cost (this can only be estimated because the actual cost is never known until the embroiderer has completed applying the decoration). Once the estimated payment is collected the garment is shipped off to the embroiderer whose instructions for decoration come from a scanned sketch and a fax. When the fully decorated garment arrives at the central warehouse, it is checked for mistakes and then shipped to the customer if it passes approval.

SMN came to KREOFUSION in March of 2010 with a business idea that involved streamlining this heavily manual process that was slow and prone to errors. KREOFUSION stepped up to the plate and built a complete e-commerce solution where users could pick from a massive database of blank garments, color them, upload images, and design them to create detailed uniforms all from the comfort of a web browser. Once the designs are saved, they can be sent to other users for feedback and ultimately sent as an order to SMN headquarters to be filled and shipped. In Figure 1, the yellow rectangle represents where the web application comes into play. Everything from searching/browsing manufacturer garments (Step 1) to sending the decorated garment instructions to the embroider (Step 5) is handled by the application and all stored for future reference.

“We utilize Adobe Flex to deliver a rich enough user interface to allow the users to do things that we just can’t achieve with today’s standard web tools,” said Janusz Sobelewski, senior web application developers and user experience expert. “At the end of the day, if the app isn’t fun and easy to use, there is no value added.”

SMN showcased their new web application at a launch party in September where guests were amazed at the ease-of-use and flexibility. How does the application stand up in the field? SMN already had sales agents on the system, raving about it before KREOFUSION had even officially deployed the completed application.

“Not only can we get through the sales process quicker, but there are virtually no more returns due to the errors in the design process,” says Howard Lenett, CEO and Founder of Sports Moms Network. “When I initially conceived of this application, I really didn’t think it would turn out as good as it has.”

VALUE-ADDED

• Reduction in the number of decorated garments returned to embroiderer due to decoration being wrong
• Quicker turnaround time because all manufacturers’ catalogs are consolidated and quickly browseable/searchable
• Quicker turnaround time because designing decorations is done digitally
• Quicker turnaround time because costs are automatically calculated and processed
• No more errors in calculating cost
• Quicker turnaround time because designs are more quickly conveyed to embroider
• Better customer service because historical designs/purchases are saved, better accuracy, fewer errors
• Cost savings due to the quicker workflow
• Environmental impact of going paperless