How Merrell’s 3D Strategy Has Altered Sourcing, Sampling and Speed to Market

Sarah Jones
·5 min read

In recent years, the product development process for fashion and footwear has been undergoing a digital evolution. Advances in technology have taken sketching and modeling from 2D to 3D, allowing adopters to shorten timelines and improve sustainability.

During Sourcing Journal’s webinar, “3D Deep Dive: Merrell on Opportunities, Overcoming Challenges and Optimizing Processes,” moderated by managing editor and technology editor Jessica Binns, executives from outdoor brand Merrell and Centric Software discussed how 3D tools and technology such as product lifecycle management (PLM) are streamlining the path from initial concept to commercial shoe.

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As John Burch, senior vice president at Merrell Global Footwear, explained, Merrell’s product development was largely analog when it was acquired by Wolverine Worldwide a quarter century ago. Hand-drawn designs were sent to factories to create prototypes, and getting the model right required back and forth and travel to manufacturers in Asia. Going to market could take up to 18 months, or four years if it involved a new innovation. Almost a decade ago, the team began to digitize this process with Romans CAD product data management (PDM) as well as in-house PLM systems.

Today, the brand’s workflow looks very different. Most designers still create in 2D, but instead of sending this initial flat sketch to manufacturers, more development is first done within Merrell. Virtual developers place the drawing on a digital last—or foot-shaped mold—creating a 3D prototype and building a digital tech pack. This allows for internal decision-making before physical production begins, while also making it easier for manufacturers to translate the initial vision. “It was really a shift of where the time is spent, and it took the burden off the factories,” said Burch.

Whereas factories used to produce up to 14 or 15 prototypes, seven or eight of which would be shown to the brand teams, there has been a significant reduction in samples being shipped between manufacturers and Merrell. As of now, the brand’s sample production has been cut by 50 percent, and Charlie Hall, senior product operations manager at Merrell, sees the potential for further reduction. For instance, instead of making sales samples in every colorway, one iteration could be made physically and the remaining colors could be visualized virtually in 3D.

Merrell’s marketing team is also using 3D renderings to test products with consumers. Burch noted that by taking the time to create a more realistic model by removing the virtual last, it engenders more “honest feedback” from consumers.

This 3D strategy has also shortened development time. “We can switch gears pretty quickly,” said Hall. “And that really helps us accommodate changes in the market and increase our speed to market overall.”

As Merrell ramped up 3D modeling, it needed to build a digital material library to enable more accurate depictions of its shoes. By specifying components and the related suppliers and prices via the library, the resulting tech pack can be used to establish a bill of materials (BOM) that includes costs. Combined with forecasting data, this also enables more proactive conversations with manufacturers about upcoming material needs.

With so many systems in play—from material scanning software to design tools—Merrell found it needed a way to connect its ideation and engineering. The brand chose Centric Software’s PLM to bring everything together and improve collaboration. “What PDM was and is has basically been absorbed into these more advanced PLM systems, and that was really intriguing to us, being able to integrate bills of material, material libraries—not just in a meta data format, like spreadsheet look and feel—but actually have the graphic pieces behind that really has taken it to a whole new level for us,” said Burch.

Among the software firm’s solutions is Centric 3D Connect, which integrates with any 3D design platform as well as other 3D tools such as material virtualization. This creates more transparency in the organization and enables all the teams—from materials and sourcing to merchandising—to have access to 3D assets. “When 3D came along, most [PLM] systems weren’t able to manage both 2D and 3D imagery and assets, and so that’s really why we started to develop out this 3D Connect,” said Reid Swanson, sales director, North America East at Centric Software. “We started to build out integrations to be agnostic to allow each company to incorporate that back into the process, back into the collaboration tool.”

Any technology requires investment, but for Merrell, 3D and PLM have created cost savings tied to materials and speed to market. Swanson also noted that productivity and efficiency is key to scale a business and create “profitable growth.” For instance, this can allow a brand to enter a new product category. “We’re at a point where we’re going to see an incredible adoption of new technologies that are going to make companies extremely productive,” said Swanson. “And it’s really going to empower the people working within those companies.”

Watch the webinar on demand to learn more about:

  • Merrell’s discoveries during its 3D journey

  • The remaining challenges in creating lifelike 3D models in footwear

  • Why apparel and footwear has lagged behind other industries in 3D adoption, and what may change this

  • How other fashion companies like Swarovski are using Centric’s PLM

  • What the future holds for 3D design

Watch the webinar here.

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