Proposition of a PLM tool to support textile design: A case study applied to the definition of the early stages of design requirements

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Proposition of a PLM tool to support textile design: A

case study applied to the definition of the early stages of

design requirements

Frédéric Segonds, Fabrice Mantelet, Julien Nelson, Stéphane Gaillard

To cite this version:

Frédéric Segonds, Fabrice Mantelet, Julien Nelson, Stéphane Gaillard. Proposition of a PLM tool to

support textile design: A case study applied to the definition of the early stages of design requirements.

Computers in Industry, Elsevier, 2015, 66, pp.21-30. �10.1016/j.compind.2014.08.002�. �hal-01090967�

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Frédéric SEGONDS, Fabrice MANTELET, Julien NELSON, Stéphane GAILLARD - Proposition of

a PLM tool to support textile design: A case study applied to the definition of the early stages of

design requirements - Computers in Industry - Vol. 66, n°0, p.21-30 - 2015

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Proposition

of

a

PLM

tool

to

support

textile

design:

A

case

study

applied

to

the

definition

of

the

early

stages

of

design

requirements

Fre´de´ric

Segonds

*

,

Fabrice

Mantelet

,

Julien

Nelson

,

Ste´phane

Gaillard

a_{LCPI,ArtsetMetiersParisTech,151bddel’Hoˆpital,75013Paris,France} b

LATI,Universite´ ParisDescartes,71avEdouardVaillant,92100Boulognebillancourt,France

c

Devanlay,22ruedeProvence,75009Paris,France

1. Introduction

Industriestodaymustfacethestakesrelatedtotheincreasing complexityoftheirworkenvironmentandactivities:globalization oftheirmarkets,increasingdistancebetweenindustrialpartners, pressuresrelatedtocosts,proliferationofinformation,evolutions in the environment, reduced time to market, emergence of codesigningpracticesinvolvingsuppliers.Thishasgraduallyled to business process outsourcing, one of the most important changesindesign practicesinthe2000decade,experiencedby manydifferentprofessions[1].

PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) is both a company strategy and a specialized information system. It unites the variousdataand processesrelatedtotheproduct,allowingthe varioustypesofprofessionalsinvolvedtosharethisinformation withincollaborativeenvironments.

Functionalities afforded by PLM tools [2] generally include managingtechnicaldata,andmanagingconfigurationsandtoolsin distributedcollaborative design.Fig.1illustrates current evolu-tionsintheconstitutionofproductdevelopmentteams.Thesetend tobeincreasinglycollaborativeandvirtualized.

Indeed,themainexistingPLMsolutionsweredesignedby3D CAD software firms, and are therefore used very often in the stages of detailed design of a product. In the early stages of design, these solutions are not very flexible and prove to be unsuitable.Furthermore,thetextileindustryreliesheavilyonthe useof2Dpatterns,andDigitalMock-Ups(DMUs)arenotvery stronglydeveloped.DespitethefactthateditorsofPLMsolutions tendtoproposeincreasinglyevolvedsoftwareprograms,atthe timeof writing,thereexistsno clear methodology todefinea collaborative tool that is suited to the needs of the textile industry.

Thescientificcontributionsofthispaperare:(a)astateofthe art ofcurrentPLMsolutionsand theirapplicationin thetextile industry, (b) the presentation of a case study from thetextile industrywhereweidentifiedthemainIntermediary Representa-tions (IRs) used by designers, that are most likely to support collaboration;and(c)thedefinitionandtestingofamockupofa collaborativetooltoassisttheearlystagesofdesignandrelyingon theIRsmentionedabove.

WewillfirstpresentexistingPLMtoolsaswellastheirmain functionalities.WewillthendescribeacasestudyintheDevanlay textile company, starting with the analysis of requirements in termsofcollaborativetools,uptothespecificationandtestingofa collaborativetool.Ourconclusionwillfocusonthegeneralizability ofthemethodandoftheresultsobtained.

Keywords: CAD PLM Textiledesign

ABSTRACT

The current climate of economic competition forces businesses to adapt more than ever to the expectationsoftheircustomers.Facedwithnewchallenges,practicesintextiledesignhaveevolvedin ordertobeabletomanageprojectsinnewworkenvironments.Afterpresentingastateoftheart overviewofcollaborativetoolsusedinproductdesignandmakingfunctionalcomparisonbetweenPLM solutions,ourpaperproposesacasestudyforthedevelopmentandtestingofacollaborativeplatformin thetextileindustry,focusingonthedefinitionofearlystagesofdesignneeds.Thescientificcontributions presentedinthispaperareastateoftheartofcurrentPLMsolutionsandtheirapplicationinthefieldof textiledesign;andacasestudywherewewillpresent,define,andtestthemock-upofacollaborative tooltoassisttheearlystages,basedonidentifiedintermediaryrepresentations.

* Correspondingauthor.Tel.:+33144246341.

2. PLManditsimplementationintheindustry 2.1. Theevolutionofworkpracticesinproductdesign

Inthispart,weproposeachronologicalstateoftheartofthe methodsappliedinthebusinessworldinordertoimprovetheir competitiveness.Thesemethods,appliedintheindustrialworld, seem to be at the heart of the issue of reducing product developmenttime,whichmanybusinessesinthetextileindustry currentlyface.

2.1.1. Concurrentengineering

Towardstheendofthe1980sandthebeginningofthe1990s, twoformsofdesignorganizationemergedasdistinctalternatives: sequentialdesign,which involvescarryingout designtasksone aftertheother,andconcurrentengineering,orintegrateddesign

[4–6]. Two of theaspects of Concurrent Engineering (CE) that distinguishitfromconventionalapproachestoproduct develop-mentarecross-functionalintegrationandconcurrency.InCE,one mustdefinesharedinterfacesbetweenthevarioustasks.Indeed, CEisanapproachtoproductdevelopment,inwhichconsiderations aboutproductlifecycleprocesses,fromproductplanning,design, production to delivery, service, and even end-of-life, are all integrated.Bycarryingoutallthesetasksinaparallelfashion,it becomespossibletoreducethetimeandcostsofdesign,butalsoto improve the quality of products. With the development of InformationTechnology(IT),CEmethodshaveevolvedgradually towardsPLM.

2.1.2. PLM

In the early 2000s, PLM emerged as a solution to adapt engineeringdesigntothedemandsofglobalization.Indeed,asPLM addresses the entire lifecycle of the product, it has a cross-functionalnatureanddealscloselywiththewayacompanyruns

[7].Collaborativedesignhasbeenthesubjectofnumerousstudies. WiththedevelopmentofPDM(ProductDataManagement),PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) and associated workflows, softwarefirmshaveproposedsolutionstotheeverydayproblems of engineering design departments (versioning of documents, namingetc.).ProductLifecycleManagementaimstocoverallthe stagesofproductdevelopment,byintegratingtheprocessesand peopletakingpartintheproject[8].Thisconceptisgenerallyused onindustrialproducts.ForAmann[9],overthepastseveralyears, PLMhasemergedasatermtodescribeabusinessapproachforthe creation,management,anduseofproduct-associatedintellectual capital and information throughouttheproduct lifecycle. Thus, PLMisanapproachinwhichprocessesarejust asimportantas

data,orevenmoreso.ThePLMapproachcanbeviewedasatrend towardsafullintegrationofallsoftwaretoolstakingpartindesign andoperationalactivitiesduringaproduct’slifecycle[7,9]. There-fore, PLM software packages need product data management systems, as well as synchronous and asynchronous, local and remotecollaborationtoolsandifnecessary,adigitalinfrastructure allowingexchangesbetweensoftwareprograms.

2.2. ExistingPLMsolutionsandrelatedfunctionalities

CurrentPLM tools offerfunctionalities that can befoundin mostofsoftwaresolutions[10].Thesecanbeclassifiedintothree maincategories:ProductDataManagement(PDM),configuration management,anddistributeddesigntools.

ThemainfunctionalitiesfoundinPDMtoolsareasfollows[2]: Accessrights management:dependingontheuser’sclearance level,(s)hegivenaccesstoinformationcontainedwithinthePLM system.

Vaults:datasetsandrelateddocumentsarestoredontoaserver calledavault,asopposedtobeingstoredlocallyontheuser’s computer.

Document visualization: users are able to rapidly visualize documentsinvariousformats,withoutowningtheapplication thatcorrespondstoaparticularfileformat.

Check-outandcheck-in:thisfunctionalityallowsuserstocheck outadocumentinordertoensurethatnootheruserworkingon thedocumentatthesametimemayalterit.

Documentversioning: several versionsof thesamedocument maybearchived.

States:variousstatesareassociatedwitheachdocument.These help define their level of maturity: creation, validation, obsolescence,etc.

Workflows:thesesystemsmakeitpossibletomodelprocesses and to automate actions. These systems are mostly used in validationprocessesfordocumentsandtechnicaldata.

Configurationmanagementconsistsincontrollinginformation relatedtoproductstructure,especiallybybreakingitdowninto elementary parts, and adding information related to their functionalandphysicalcharacteristics[11].TheISO10007 stan-dard [12] includes recommendations for using configuration management in the industry. It provides the detailed process, organization and procedures for configuration management. Accordingtothisstandard,thisconfigurationmanagementisan integralpartofPLM.Itprovidesaclearvisionoftheconfiguration state associated with a product or project, as well as their

evolutions by guaranteeing total traceability [12]. Distributed designtools[13]allowuserstoshareascreen,toremotelygain controloveranotheruser’sworkstation,andtoexchangeinstant messages. They alsoallow theuse of a webcam to visualize a colleague,orofVoIPtotalkwithhim/her.

PLM is currently evolving towards PLM 2.0, which takes advantage of the intelligence that is collectively generated by onlinecommunities.Inthisview,allusersmayimagine,share,and experimentwith3Dproducts.Currentsoftwareeditorsfollowa globalapproachwhendesigninginformationsystemsin compa-nies.Inotherwords,suchsystemsaimtostructurecollaborative workateverystageintheproductlifecycle;tocaterfortheneeds ofeveryprofessioninvolvedinthedesignprocess,andtomakeuse ofallavailableinformationand potentialsourcesof innovation. This poses the question of adapting their software to the company’sorganizationalcontext,aswellasthequestionofthe compatibility of information systems within the company. Implementinganintegratedinformationsystem–ormoresimply, asharedinformationsystem–shouldneverhinderthe develop-mentofacompany[14].

Therefore,thefunctionalitiesdescribedinthissectionmustbe integratedwhenchoosinganddeployingaPLMtoolinthespecific fieldofthetextileindustry.Inthesectionbelow,weanalyzethe constraintsinvolved whenapplying thesefunctionalities tothe caseofdesigningatextileproduct.

2.3. AdaptingPLMtotextiledesign

PLM tools are mainly derived from CAD software editors

[2]. Therefore the development of PLM in the textile industry closelyfollowsthedevelopmentofCADinthissector.However, theuseofCADsystemsinclothingdesignisstillquiterestricted. Therearetwomainreasonsforthis.First,CADtoolsaredifficultto access,infinancialterms,forbusinesseswhosemaininvestments lieinrawmaterials.Second,designreliesentirelyon theuseof patterns, which are two-dimensional. These patterns are then assembledtoformanitemofclothing(seeFig.2).Sinceitemsof clothingareflexible,thetypesofconstraintsusedindesigndepend onthepatternmakers’experience,andisdeterminedona case-by-casebasis.Thewell-recognizedflowchartofCADsystemsfor2D clothingincludesthestagesoffashionstyledesign,patterndesign, pattern grading and marker making [15]. For example, typical commercialCADsoftwarefor2DclothingincludeGerberinUnited States,ShimaSeikiinJapanorLectraandVetigraphinFrance.

AfurthercontributionofCADintextiledesignistheabilityto carry out mechanical simulations in order to verify that the product’sspecificationsareobeyed.Thesedigitalsimulationshave made it possible to drastically reduce development times in industrial product design. They rely on modelling systems,

e.g. FiniteElement Modelling.Inthetextileindustry,modelling isafarmoredelicatematter.Consequently,itsuseisnotquiteso widespread. Indeed, designing and simulating virtual items of clothinginvolvescombiningawiderangeoftechniques,involving mechanical simulation, collision detection, and user interface techniques, allofwhichareadaptedtothecreationofitemsof clothing[16].Simulationtools arecomplexandtake advantage ofalgorithmsfromthefieldofmechanicalsimulation,animation andrendering.

Then, in the field of the textile industry, concepts of configurationandtraceabilityareessential.Indeed,eachcollection numbers roughly 1200 references, and each item of clothing correspondstoapattern,whichisgivenaspecificcolourandsize, asitisdestinedforatargetcustomer.Thus,configuringanitemof clothingatDevanlaytakesintoaccountthefollowing character-istics:

Theitemreference

Thecolour,size,anddesigntrends

Theproductline:knitwear,weft,pullovers,andaccessories Thetargetmarketandproductionplatform

Thepatterning

The related bill of material, which takes into account the regulatoryconstraintsofthetargetmarket

Costandsellingprices,whichdependonthedistributionchannel Inthenextsection,wedrawacomparisonbetweenthemain existing PLM solutions in order to determine their functional capabilities,inatextileapplication.

2.4. AfunctionalcomparisonbetweenPLMtoolsinthetextileindustry InordertochooseasuitablePLMsolution,itiscrucialtocarry out a technical study of the functionalities present in various availablecommercialsolutions.Wehavetested,inanindustrial context,theabilityofvariouscommercialsolutionstorespondto designerrequirements.

Thesesolutions weretestedin thefield. Our evaluationwas basedonouruseofthevariouspiecesofsoftwaretested,running onadedicatedmachine,andonourattendanceofvarioustechnical presentationsofthesepiecesofsoftware.Theteststookplaceover aperiodofthreemonths,attheheadofficeofacompanyinParis. Followingthepresentationof‘‘industrial’’PLMtoolsby[2],itcan benotedthateverypieceofPLMsoftwarecannoteasilybeadapted for use in thetextile industry. Indeed, whereas somesoftware editorsfocusheavilyonPDM,collaborative,andprocess manage-mentfunctionalities(e.g.DassaultSystemsandPTC),othereditors focusoncollaborationandPDMfunctionalitiesprimarily(Lawson) or, alternately, on textile-specific CAD functionalities (Lectra).

Fig.3comparesvarioussolutionsfollowingdifferentcriteria. Followingthisreview,itcanbenotedthattherecurrentlyexists no turnkey software solution which would provide all the functionalities expected of a PLM system suited to the textile industry.Consequently,thechosentoolsmustprovideanadequate answertotheanalysisofuserneeds,inthecontextofmulti-user collaborations.Such userneedsanalysismayrelyoninterviews withrepresentatives ofthesoftware’s end-users[17,18].In the sectionbelow,wepresentthefieldworkwecarriedoutinorderto formalizeend-userrequirements.

2.5. Researchquestionsandmethodology

As this state of the art suggests, PLM is one of the major evolutionsinthepracticeofinnovationdesigninrecentyearsand hasledtothedevelopmentanddiffusionofnumeroussoftware solutions. However, it also suggests that the textile industry

Fig.2. A 2D-to-3D transformationand simulation model usedin thetextile industry,adaptedfrom[15]and[16].

presentsa number of unique characteristics and requirements fromthepointofviewofthedesignoftoolstoassistPLM,leading tothefollowingquestions:dotheavailabletoolstrulyaddressthe needs of professionals in the textile industry, particularly in collaborativedesignteams?Andwhatarethefunctionsthatare requiredinacollaborativetoolfortextiledesign?

Toanswerthesequestions,wehavecarriedoutacasestudy basedontheprinciplesoutlinedbyDulandHak[19].Wewillfirst presentthecontext of ourintervention,corresponding towhat these authors call the stages of problem finding and problem diagnosis (Section 3.3); we will then describe an intervention consistingin theimplementationofa newPLMenvironmentat Devanlay,corresponding to thestages of designof intervention, implementation,andevaluation(Section3.4).Toanswerthefirst researchquestionnotedabove–focusingonuserrequirements analysis–wecarriedoutaseriesofuserinterviewsfocusingonthe kindof mediaused tosupportcommunication in collaborative work. To answer the second research question, the interview resultsservedasabasistodefinethefunctionalspecificationsofa newtool,termedCoTeEn.Followingaclassicaluser-centreddesign methodology[20]wedevelopedamock-upofthiscollaborative toolwhichwassubjectedtouserevaluation.Inthestagesofthe projectreportedinthispaper,wereliedonquestionnairestoassess the perception of various elements of the user interface by professionalsinthecompany.Hence,ourmethodologicalproposal correspondstotheearlystagesofauser-centreddesignprocess,as definedbytheISO9241-210standard[21].

3. Acasestudyinthetextileindustry

3.1. Contextofthestudyandstructureofthecorporategroup TheDevanlaygroupholdsanexclusivelicensewiththeLacoste clothingbrand.OurindustrialstudytookplacemainlyontheParis site, where is located, in particular, the group’s creation and marketingdivision.Thisofficecollaboratescloselywithacentral developmentplatformlocatedinTroyes,France,whichisincharge ofproductdevelopment.Inthetextileindustry,thedevelopment cycleincludeseverystagefromproductlaunchuptowithdrawalof

the product from the market, but it is the stages of product definitionanddevelopmentwhicharethemostdemandingstages in terms of time and financial resources. Furthermore, the developmentcycleisunchanging,andcorrespondstooneseason (therearetwo seasonsperyear). Forexample,Fig.4illustrates variations in stock size throughout the various stages of the productdevelopmentcycle,inthecaseofthepoloshirt–Lacoste’s best-sellingitem.Manyofthestagesinthisprocesscanalsobe found in a classical product design process (needs analysis, conceptualdesign,implementation,etc.)asdefinedin[22,23]. Oth-erstagesaremorespecific,suchasstructuringthecollection,or restocking.Restockinginvolvesreorganizingthestockofneeded items,butcanalsorefertoreorderingitemsfromsuppliersinthe event of unexpectedly high sales. Production volumes are approximately250,000itemsperreference.Oneelementthatis specifictothedesignofacollectionofclothing,forthepurposeof selling these items to wholesale dealers or salespersons, is organizing a convention in order to present the items of the collection,tostarttheorderingphase,andtolaunchlarge-scale manufacturingoftheitems.

3.2. StakesofPLMinproductdesign

Designingitemsofclothingisacyclicaltask,inthesensethat starting up a collection begins with the analysis of the last collection.At theDevanlay company,theproductdevelopment cyclecurrentlylastsbetween20and22monthsdependingonthe collection,beforethecollectionisdiscontinued.Theproduct’stime tomarketisapproximately13monthstostoredelivery.Forthe sakeofcomparison,thetablebelow,adaptedfrom[24],liststhe timetomarketforthemaintextilebrands.Overthepast25years, theLacostecollectionhasgrownfrom17productreferencesin 6coloursin1985,to1200referencesin8coloursin2012.Itstands toreasonthattheamountoftechnicaldatarelatedtotheseitems havegrownaccordingly(Table1).

OneoftheprioritiesinimplementingaPLMsysteminDevanlay is to foster creation and innovation in teams by reducing the administrativeworkloadofoperationalteams.Thisaimstomakeit easiertoimplementaprojectandtoimprovetheeffectivenessof

decision-makingprocesses.This,inturn,willleadtoreducedtime tomarket and shortmanufacturingruns, making itpossible to respondmoreefficientlytomarketneeds.Inthiscontext,product developmentimpliesfivemainstagesrepresentedinFig.5: Analysingandstructuringthecollection:thegoalofthisstageis

todefinewhichitemsofclothingwillbecommercializedinthe futurecollection,andinwhatquantities.Thisreliesonanalysing pastsales,marketneeds,andemergingtrends.

Definingtheproduct:thegoalhereistodefineeachproductin the collection (one collection amounts to between 250 and 300 references) in terms of its colour/theme/material/cut characteristics. One sourceof intermediary dataat this stage is the conceptsketch file,which specifiesall theinformation related to theproduct(detailed description, sizing, materials, supplies,etc.).

Product design: the goal here is to design and to validate prototypes of items of clothing(a few dozen piecesfor each reference)dependingonthepreviouslydefinedcriteriaofcolour/ theme/materials/cut.

Productdevelopmentaimstovalidatethedefinitivecollection andtodraftitsfinaldocuments.

Productindustrialization:thegoalis toproducethetechnical manufacturingfileinordertolaunchmanufacturingorders.

In order to support collaborative work and exchanges of technicaldata,thesectionbelowpresentsanexperimentwhose goalistodefinethecollaborativetoolsusedbythecompanyduring productdesign.Thisallowsustoprovideadequatespecifications foraPLMtooltosupportthetextiledesignprocess.

3.3. FormulatingthefunctionalspecificationsofacollaborativePLM environment

User-CentredDesign(UCD)ofacollaborativePLMenvironment requiresthatdecisionsregardingsystemspecificationsberooted

inknowledgeofendusers’needsandactivities.Toproducesuch knowledge,weappliedtwodifferentmethods.Weconducteda series of exploratory, open interviews with representatives of theseendusers,workinginvariousdepartmentsofthecompanyin order to better understand its workings (Section 3.3.1) and a questionnaire-based survey to learn about the tools used for collaborationinthecompany(Section3.3.2).Analysingthemedia whichworkersusedtocommunicateintheirworkallowedusto drawalistoffunctionsrequiredinthefuturePLMsystem(Section

3.3.3).

3.3.1. Exploratoryinterviewstounderstandcollaborativework Considering the complexity of the collaborative processes involvedinthedevelopmentofatextileproduct,aswellasthe sheernumberofactorsinvolved(about300people),characterizing theexchangesbetweenthesepeopleisacrucialstartingpointin ordertounderstandthecollaborativeactivitieswhichtakeplace within the company. In order to provide the best possible specificationsforacollaborativeworkenvironment,thefirststage ofourworkaimstoidentifythemainmodesofcommunication usedinthecompany.

Inordertodothis,wecarriedoutaseriesof18interviewswith apanelcomposedofprofessionalsinclothingdesignatDevanlay,

Fig.4.Evolutionsinstockforoneitemoverthecourseofoneseason,exampleforawhitepoloshirt.

Table1

Examplesoftimestomarketinthetextileindustry[24]. Brand Timetomarket Devanlay(Lacoste) 13months Celio,AT,Be´re´nice 6months

Zara 15days

includingsixpersons fromthe‘‘style’’department,sixfromthe ‘‘product design’’ department, and six from the ‘‘information systems’’(IS)department.Thelatterdonottakepartdirectlyinthe developmentof acollection,but theyplay a crucialrole in the implementation of new software tools that reflect the work practicesofsupportteams.

Interviewsweretranscribedverbatimandsubjectedtocontent analysis [26]. This analysis focused on the functions of each departmentinthecompany,inordertounderstand thevarious tasksthatmightbecarriedoutusingthefuturePLMsystem.The rolesofthesedepartmentsareoutlinedinTable2below.TheIS departmentis located at thecrossroads between the company designers, based in Paris, and the engineers from product development,based in Troyes. Therefore, thepersons from the ISdepartmentareintunewithwhatimprovementscouldbemade totheir existing tools forcollaboration. Thethree departments

work in close collaborationthroughout the earlystages of the design process.Oneofthemaingoals ofourinterviewswasto identify theforms of communication that werepredominantly usedwithinthecompany.Indeed,thefactthat thecompanyis located on two geographically separate sites makes exchanges betweensitesacrucialelementofprojectsuccessandcompletion. Analysingthesecommunications,therefore,isa keypartofthe developmentofanynewtooltosupportcollaboration.

3.3.2. Usersurveys

Following the interview, the 18 participants took part in a questionnaire-basedsurvey.Thissurveycomprisedtwosections: (a)positionoccupiedin thecompanyandstagesoftheproduct lifecyclethattheirworkfocuseson;(b)mediaofcommunication used in everyday work. In addition,after filling in the survey, participantshadtheopportunitytodiscusstheirresponseswith theexperimenteristheywished todo so.Wealsoused closed questionswithLikert-typescales[27]tosimplifydatacollection andanalysis.Thisallowedustocollectprecisedatainareasonable lengthoftime(eachsurveylastedabout30min)andfostereda genuinedialoguebetweentheinterviewerandinterviewee,while preservingaframeworkthatistailoredtothegoalsoftheproject. Inourcase,thequestionsfocusedonthetypesofcommunication toolsusedbytheinterviewees.Questionsweregroupedintofour maintopics:meansofcommunicationused,departmentinvolved inthecommunication,durationofuseofthecommunicationtool, andtypeofinformationtransmitted.

Fig.6summarizespartoftheresultsobtainedinthesurveys. Means of communication are classified depending on time (synchronousvsasynchronouscommunication)andspace (colo-cationvsremotelocations)[13].

Eachcirclerepresentsonespecifictoolforcommunication.The diameterofthecircleis proportionaltotheaveragenumber of occurrencesofeachiteminthe18surveys.Forexample,company employees use email in 50% of all communication situations, confirmingthefindings presentedbyBrown[28].E-mailis the

Table2

Departmentsinvolvedindesigninganewitemofclothing,adaptedfrom[24]. Department Rolesintheclothingdesignprocess

Style Analysingtrends Definingnewpatterns Creatingnewpatterns

Definingvariantsinpatterncoloursdependingonthe structureofthecollection

Productdesign Collectingmarketdata

Analysingsalesfrompastseasons

Structuringthecollectioninacollaborationwiththe styledepartment

Collaboratewiththestyledepartmenttocreatenew patterns

Producedocumentsforthecollection

InformationSystems Selectingsoftwareprogramssuitedtouserneeds Selectingdatabasetools

Implementingdatastoragespacewithtreestructures intendedtoreflectthestructureofthecollection Ensuringqualityandreliabilityofthetransmitted information

means of communication favoured by the participants in the productdevelopmentprocess.OnecandeducethataPLMtoolwill likelyhavetoprovidethismeansofcommunication,unlessitis alsoprovidedthroughadedicatedemailclient.

Imagesarealsofrequentlyusedasameansofcommunication (15% of cases). Indeed, in theearly stages of the development processforthetextilecollection,IRs[29]oftheproductarealmost exclusively graphical in nature (e.g. sketches, photos, outlines, etc.Inparticular,collectionsketcheshavebeenidentifiedasakey IRin thedesignprocessat Devanlay[24]. Communicationthen relies on annotations made directly on the sketches. Another exampleisthe‘‘wallofsketches’’,whichgroups bytopicevery element of thecollection on a magnetized wall.This makes it possibletohavean overallviewof theharmonypresentin the collection.

Next, telephone calls have an important part in current communication practices at Devanlay(10% of situations). Tele-phoneisoftenusedasacomplementtoemailinthecaseofhighly technicaldiscussionsonthedetailsofproductdesign.

Finally,paper-basedcommunicationdocuments,sketchwalls, and interactions with these graphical representations cannot currentlybeimplementedinthedigitaldesignprocess.Onefinal type of collaborative tool is the tools used for managing and communicating data related to the products themselves, also calledProductDataManagement(PDM)systems.Theseareusedin 5%ofcommunicationsoverthecourseoftheproduct’slifecycle. SomeofthekeyfunctionalitiesofthesePDMtoolsshouldtherefore beintroducedinourproposalforacollaborativeenvironmentto assisttheearlystagesofthetextiledesignprocess.

All these observations are important to help develop a prototype. We are interested in knowing not just which tools areused,butalsowhattypeofinformationisexchanged.Indeed, based on these results, it seems that the product’s IRs hold a number of key information that should be provided by our prototype.Inthesectionbelow,welistallthetechnicaldatawhich shouldbemanagedthroughoutthelifecycleprocessofanitemof clothing,asevidencedbyourexperimentationatDevanlay. 3.3.3. Listingthetechnicaldatarequired

The interviewsas well as the responsesto the usersurvey allowedustodrawupalistofthedatarequiredbytheendusersof thePLMsystemaspartoftheireverydaywork.Thefirstelementof thedesignprocessthatproducesdataontheproductisthecreative idea, which yields a number of overall characteristics for the productincludingthesilhouette,thefashionflat,andthefashion sketch.Thisdatasetconstitutestheproductconceptfile.Then,the productfileincludespatterndrafts,gradingspecificationsandbill ofmaterial.Thismarks theendofthestagesofproductdesign.

Laterstagesfocusonthephysicaldesignoftheproduct,starting with the prototyping stage that sets the data for the initial operatingsequence.Thelaststagefocusesontheproductionline, wherethecollectionitselfisgeneratedthroughaprocessofdress rehearsal.

Fig.7illustratesthesuccessivestagesinreferencingtechnical dataandphysicaldeliverables.

Inadditiontolistingwhichcollaborativetoolswerefavouredin thecompany,ouranalysisthusallowedustoclassifythetypesof IRsused.Thesespecificationswillbeusefultothedesignandtest ofacollaborativeplatform.

3.4. Deploymentandtestingofacollaborativeplatformsuitedtothe requirementsofDevanlay:CoTeEn

Wecreatedthemock-upofacollaborativetoolusingPublisher in order to validate its main functionalities. The functional architectureofthistool,namedCoTeEnfor‘‘CollaborativeTextile Environment’’,ispresentedinFig.8.

Within this tool’s functionalities, are included the main communicationtoolsdefinedinFig.6.Inparticular,theCoTeEn tool allows direct access to e-mail (50% of the instances of collaboration) and alsoallows access tothe various IRs of the product by using the‘‘search for reference’’thumbnail (15% of casesofcollaboration).

Finally, we have developed an entire module dedicated to sketch-basedcollaborationviaannotations,sincethiswas identi-fiedasakeyIRsinthedesignprocessatDevanlay[24].Thismodule makes it possiblefor many people tocollaborateand annotate productsketchesinasynchronousorasynchronousmanner.This tool makesitpossibletocentralizealltheremarksrelated toa particular model, whether these remarks come from the style department,productiondepartment,orothers.

The CoTeEn tool prototype, which serves to support a collaborative environment in theearly stages of design in the textile industry, is represented in Fig. 9. It was subjected to numeroustestsinvolvingfiveexpertsinthecompany.Following thesetests,thereactionsoftheexpertswerecollectedusinga two-pagequestionnaire.Thisquestionnaireisstructuredaccordingto fivekeytopicsrelatedtothefunctionalitiesthatareexpectedfrom thistool:

Thestartupscreen:aretheiconsclear?Doesthetoolmakethe userswanttouseit?etc.

The design of the Human–Computer Interface (HCI): is the environment clearly presented? Is it consistent with the companyidentity?Arethecontentswellarticulatedwithone another?Isthenavigationintuitive?etc.

Contents: does thetool offernew, interestingfunctionalities? Are there any functions lacking? Are the available options representative of my everyday work? Can the contents be understood without any additional explanation? Are the contentslogicallyrelated?Etc.

Communication:do thepagesencourage youtointeractwith them?

Overall:doyoubelievethatthiskindofcollaborative environ-mentfortheearlystagesofdesignisrealistic?

Userswererequestedtorespondusingafive-pointLikertscale, rangingfrom‘‘notatall’’or‘‘totallyill-suited’’to‘‘absolutely’’or

‘‘excellent’’. Likert scales are more intuitive than Osgood’s semantic differentialscale [30]. A semantic analysisscale is in theformofalistofadjectives,oritems,thataregroupedinpairs andlinedup,orseparatedbyanoddnumberofboxes(usually5or 7).Allowingparticipantstopositiontheirjudgementoneachline asapointlocatedbetweenthesetwoextremities.Thecentralpoint correspondstoaneutraljudgement.Althoughthemeaningofthe adjective is more precise in a semantic differential scale, the participantmayfeeluneasyduringtheevaluation.Thereasonwhy theadjectives aremorepreciseis thepresenceof anantonym, whichallowsdisambiguatingthemeaningoftheadjectiveused.

Fig.8.Structureofthepagesinthefunctionalmock-upofCoTeEn.

For example, the adjective ‘‘intuitive’’ has a differentmeaning dependingonifitisassociatedwiththeadjective‘‘rational’’orwith theexpression‘‘requireslearning’’.However,theratingscaleitself maybemoredifficulttofillinbecauseofthefactthattheratingis lessintuitive.

Forthisreason,wehavechosentouseLikert-scale[27]type ratings.However, onemustpointoutthat theexpressionLikert scale is ill-suited, since such scales do not use antonymous adjectivestospecifytheirmeaning.Whenchoosingtheitems,the respondentstothequestionnairemustbeclearlyidentified.This makes it possible to adjust the tone and formulation of the questionsandtouseanappropriatevocabulary–oneshouldnot usetechnicaltermswhenaddressingnewcomers.

Resultsconcerningcontentsandcommunicationareillustrated inFig.10.Theyshowthattheuserssubscribecompletelytoour proposal.Thequestionsposedinthissectionofthequestionnaire were: the site offers interesting new options that concern my work;thereareoptionsandfunctionsmissing;theoptionsoffered by the work environment are represented in my real work; contentsareunderstandablewithoutanyfurtherexplanations;the contents are logically linked; contents motivated me to act (completefiles,adddocumentsetc.).

Themostimportantcriteriontousisobviously thecontents proposedfortheplatform.Theserequire,inordertoberelevant, from designers to apprehend the complete design process. It emerges that theparticipantswe have involved in theprocess appreciatethissolutionproposal,suggestingthat thefunctional mock-upofourcollaborativeenvironmentdoesindeedrespondto the needs of users at Devanlay. Our work of formalizing this processhasalottodowiththisresult.Indeed,itallowedusto betterunderstandthestakesofdesignandthecontentsthatwere necessaryforthedevelopmentofaproduct.

Toanswerourresearchquestions,wedemonstratedthanksto theseriesofuserinterviewsthattheavailablePLMtoolsdon’ttruly addresstheneeds ofprofessionalsinthetextileindustry.Then, usingthebasisoftheinterviewandourstateoftheart,wehave shownthattherequiredfunctionsinacollaborativetoolfortextile designare:messengercalendarandemailfunctionalities,virtual meeting, workflowmanagement, access to thevarious IRs and sketch-basedannotationtool.

Wewillnowproposeaconclusionregardingthe generalizabil-ityoftheseresultsandtheprocessusedinthiscasestudy. 4. Conclusionsandprospectsforfuturework

Inthispaper,wehighlightedthekeystakesinthe implemen-tationofanewPLMtool.Followinga comprehensivereviewof existingPLMsolutionsandofthesuitabilityoftheirfunctionsto theworldoftextiledesign,wepresentedacasestudyofacompany where we contributed to the design of a new PLM system to supportdesignactivities.Todothis,wemappedandquantifiedthe collaborativeexchangesinvolvedinthedesignofatextileproduct

intheDevanlaycompany,basedonaseriesofopeninterviewsand on a survey carried out with end users working within the company.Thisallowed ustoidentifytheproductdatathatwas requiredbytheseenduserstocarryouttheirdesignwork,aspart ofacontributiontotheearlystagesofthedesignprocessforthis collaborativePLMsystem.TheemergenceofPLMtools,following increasingcompetitionbetweenbusinessesrequiresafine-grained analysisofuserneeds,intermsofcollaborationandexchangesof technicaldatabeforedesigninganddeployingthesystem.Thefield workreportedhereallowedustospecifysomeusefulsolutionsto implementa PLMsolution.Themethodusedfor collectingand analyzinguserneeds,whicharespecifictothetextileindustry,can bereplicated–andisnecessaryfordefiningacollaborativework environmentthatisoptimallysuitedtouserneeds.Ourapproach, whichissuitedtothecontextofourintervention,makesitpossible todeployandtestatailoredPLMsolution,basedonfeedbackfrom endusers.

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Fre´de´ric Segonds is AssistantProfessor at Arts et Me´tiersParisTechandmemberoftheProductDesign andInnovationLaboratory(LCPI).Hisresearchinterests focusonearlystagesofdesigncollaboration, optimi-zationandcollaborativedesign.Itincludesthe integra-tionofstakeholder’scorecompetencesintoearlystages ofdesign,andprovidesassistivemethodologiesand toolstosupporttheearlyproductdesign.

FabriceManteletisAssistantProfessorinInnovation ProcessandCreativityatArtsetMe´tiersParisTech.After havingreceivedtraininginengineering,hecompleted hisdoctoralstudiesatArtsetMetiersParisTech,France, onthetopicofemotionaldesignandinnovationdesign. Hisresearchinterestsincludethevalidationof creativ-itymethodsforinnovationdesignprocess.

JulienNelsonisAssistantProfessorinErgonomicsand HumanComputerInteractionatParisDescartes Uni-versity.Afterhavingreceivedtraininginergonomics,he completed his doctoral studies at Arts et Metiers ParisTech, France, onthe topic of ergonomics and innovationdesign.Hisresearchinterestsincludethe validation of ergonomics methods for innovation design,evaluationmethodstosupportthedesignof human–computerinterfacesbasedonemerging tech-nologies, and using technology to supportcreative activities.

Ste´phane Gaillard currently acts as PLM Business process&innovationManageratDevanlay–Lacoste.In thisroleheis taskedwithallaspectsofthePLM’s projectmanagementincludingbudgetdefinition, re-sourcemanagement,progressreporting,phaseanalysis and validation, risk analysis, implementation plan generation,documentorganizationanddatarecovery andcleaning. Previously, Ste´phane also actedasIS ManagerforMarketingandCollectionningand Organi-zationProjectManager–ProcessDesign/Development atDevanlay.