PVH's New ERP Drives Efficiencies

May 2013 Integrated Solutions For Retailers

By Bob Johns, associate editor

The global apparel company implements a new ERP solution to capitalize on sales and inventory data to preserve margins and enable growth.

It is difficult enough to manage data for one brand. When you are a company like PVH, formerly Phillips-Van Heusen, it becomes exponentially more complicated. PVH leverages a diversified portfolio of brands, including Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Van Heusen, IZOD, ARROW, and GH Bass & Co., and markets them globally. Fortunately, the company has a fairly sophisticated in-house IT department to oversee technology throughout the company. In less than 10 years, PVH has experienced a tremendous amount of change and growth with the acquisition of Calvin Klein in 2003, Tommy Hilfiger in 2010, and the Warnaco Group in 2013, which includes Speedo and Chaps. The combined brands have transformed the company into a global apparel powerhouse with sales of over $6 billion in 2012.

“Along with massive growth come major IT issues,” says Jeff Lombardi, PVH’s director of merchandising systems. “These brands each had their own IT infrastructure, which we needed to integrate with existing systems. We needed a system which would allow us to have a comprehensive view of the brands and also allow us to drill down into inventory stock levels on a granular level.” Part of the problem with implementing a new solution, though, is finances. “If you’re going to put the money out there in this type of economy, you’ve got to see some type of return on it, whether it is a physical dollar amount or operational efficiencies,” Lombardi notes. “If we can’t show the solution fits our immediate and future business needs, we are not getting approval.” Data was the key to getting the project approved, data that can be used to operate the company more efficiently and increase margins.