Catching up with Martin Schneider, Vice President & Chief Information Officer at VF Corporation.
This month CGT Executive Editor Kara Romanow catches up with Martin Schneider,Vice President & Chief Information Officer, VF Corporation. With a portfolio that includes names such as Lee, The North Face and Nautica, the company's goal is to build "lifestyle" brands. Find out which part he plays in driving this mission.
 | What keeps you up at night? SCHNEIDER: More than ever, the consumer is dictating where, when and how they will purchase products. As a result, the lines between traditional wholesale, retail and e-commerce are becoming blurred. This implies that we need to continually evolve our processes and technology to meet consumer demands, starting with innovative products to managing the complex supply chain through the selling experience. And it's delivering these solutions timely and cost effectively that counts. How do manufacturers and retailers better collaborate? SCHNEIDER: To maximize sales and profit, collaboration has to happen at all levels of the organization and throughout the manufacturing/ retail processes. It has to be a partnership, developing a common vision, strategy and objectives. It involves sharing information such as point-of-sale data and product availability. It's about leveraging each others strengths in areas such as geodemographic analysis, consumer insight, assortment planning, replenishment, inventory management and product innovation. What role does VF's Global Business Technology (GBT) group play in supporting the growth of VF's apparel brands? SCHNEIDER: VF's vision is to grow by building leading lifestyle brands that excite consumers around the world. Our growth drivers include building more lifestyle brands, stretching our brands to new geographies, expanding our direct-to-consumer business and leveraging our global supply chain to fuel the growth. GBT implements robust technology solutions that meet these goals. We're rolling out a global common systems environment that supports our long-term growth and speeds the integration of newly acquired brands. We've developed a solution to enhance our product design and development processes, from conception through execution. Our systems provide the supply chain visibility to manage more than 1,000 contract manufacturers. We have a robust systems strategy that supports our $1 billion retail business. Additionally, we're implementing a global business-driven project prioritization process to ensure our initiatives and spend are aligned with the continuously changing business requirements. So what keeps me up at night? CG |