Swedish collaborative solutions provider Intentia claims to have the only enterprise management software in the market designed specifically for the fashion industry. The Movex Fashion software, which comes in simplified and traditional Chinese, was written in Java to support multiple platforms, scalability and easy maintenance. The solution helps garment manufacturers and distributors manage and integrate business processes from planning to production, distribution and after-sales support. Robert McKee, director of Intentia's fashion industry application centre, said: 'Basically, it is suitable for any organisation that has the requirement of style, colour and size.' The Stockholm-listed company has developed similar solutions for the food and beverage, and distribution sectors, but the Movex garments solution contributes the most to Intentia's revenue. The company has worked with many of the leading names in fashion, including Gucci, Hermes, The North Face, St John's Knits, Quiksilver and Hirsch Armbander. Intentia established an office in Hong Kong late last year and signed a contract with local apparel manufacturer TAP Group, whose customers include Brooks Brothers, Calvin Klein, Giordano, Ralph Lauren and Hugo Boss. The company has since signed six more customers. TAP was provided with a solution that included customer and partner relationship management, enterprise resource planning, supply-chain management and a range of e-business features. The system was implemented across TAP production centres in Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Taiwan, and was worth more than US$4.5 million, including US$2 million in software licences. According to David Hope, Intentia's managing director for north and south Asia, Intentia experienced its highest growth in revenues last year, despite the economy's downturn. It had net revenues of 4.01 billion Swedish krona (about HK$3.01 billion) last year, a 25 per cent increase from 3.24 billion krona in 2000. 'Last year was a difficult year for all industry segments and we had one of our strongest growth years ever,' Mr Hope said. 'If you look at world leaders in their marketplace, a lot of them say there is no better time to invest in improving efficiency. 'It also helps them prepare for growth in the future. And with all the change that is happening in the industry and the [World Trade Organisation] effect, they realise their investment is critical to be able to remain competitive and remain a leader in their particular industry sector.' Mr McKee said: 'To fashion, it is never a good time for implementing a new system. But everyone recognises the downturn in the economy is going to be short-lived and the economy is going to turn around again. 'A number of organisations took it as an opportunity during the slow time to begin implementation of fashion and apparel systems.' Intentia's Hong Kong office has 10 employees and Mr Hope said the team would be expanded to 20 to 30 by the end of next year. The company opened an office in Shanghai four years ago, and has 11 mainland customers.
