Opaak

Most brands can only dream of being picked up by some of the finest retailers around the world after a few seasons. Launched in 2017 and based out of Cologne, Germany, Opaak experienced serious growth in its early stages. And so, the need to search for a system that could sustain this growth was necessary. “At a certain point, when you realise you are selling and getting reorders, there is a demand and an interest. That is when you realise the wheel is turning, and it is time for a system to add structure and scalability. Opaak started with Zedonk just in time.”

Finding a reputable system that would be able to understand and support the complexity of running a fashion label was a high priority. “I checked and compared multiple ERPs to see what would be best for me. When I met the Zedonk team in Paris, I quickly realised that I was talking to people who work in fashion and get my problem. What also really convinced me was the client portfolio, it felt like we were entering a really cool pool of people with Zedonk.”

With no system in place, it meant orders were created with Excel files, order confirmations using InDesign and an invoicing programme that, well, just created invoices. After a while, it became too much of a hassle managing all these processes across multiple files. “It was very much affected by mistakes, by typing everything manually, it was either us or a client that wasn’t paying attention, leading to discrepancies that we had to follow-up on and iron out.”

Fixing simple mistakes that occurred and having to re-programme spreadsheets, yet still resulting in wrong totals, made it clear that the current way of working wasn’t worth all the pain. “You can’t be sure every line is correct or trust your client knows how to work in the documents. It’s not a real system, it is out of your control sometimes and constantly we had to reformat it, in the end, it was a huge amount of time that we lost.”

It wasn’t only time that these mistakes lost, they also came at a cost. “In the end, they really cost us money, we were losing money due to bad planning and wrong estimations. Now, Zedonk is really putting it black and white, we can just rely on the numbers and calculate better. Zedonk has definitely saved us time, we work more efficiently, and faster.”

Adding structure has been paramount, and as the team has grown, time has been freed up that can now be invested back into planning for the future. “We realised everything needs to go out of the brain of one person and be shared with the rest. It was perfect timing because we can now work in parallel and trust we’re on the same wave. We are opening new dialogues about the future thinking of the brand. Now, we can build our outward brand communication and focus more on marketing upcoming collections.”

Using a cloud-based system, that everyone can access, has allowed responsibilities to be shared. Now, with all data safe in one place, there is a new sense of security. “What is very relieving is to know that it is all on the internet in one platform. If our computers would break down, it’s all saved, we don’t even have to do backups anymore. It is great that anyone in the team can work on the system and nothing gets lost, that is quite soothing.”

Not only is it internally the benefits have been noticed, but also externally. Communication and relationships have improved, thanks to the automation of tasks. “The feedback of our clients is great as they say things are incredibly helpful. There are pictures on order line sheets and the price lists have a nice overview. Less mistakes are happening because we don’t have to lay this out by ourselves.”

Sharing responsibilities with employees lets Agathe concentrate more on what she loves to do. “Zedonk has enabled me to take more action in decision making and given a lot of freedom. I have more time right now for designing and product development.”

As the business grew, so did the inventory of products, fabric and trims. Having a modular solution that would be able to store stock, when needed, influenced the decision-making process greatly. “The goal is to have control over the quantities we are ordering and the materials we are stocking. Before it was done manually and with Zedonk, we realised it was too complex and didn’t want to keep it that way.”

Being able to get in touch with a likeminded team to discuss any problems that arise has prevented any more mistakes from happening. Time is no longer wasted on trying to figure out the answers on their own. “There is always a reply back within 15-20 minutes and I really feel the Support team listen. We take it step by step to describe our problem and they always understand it. I adore the communication, it’s always friendly, and so much more than we could expect.”

Eliminating working across multiple systems and only having one system in place has allowed new additions to the team settle into their roles with ease. “Even our interns are fantastic with Zedonk, it’s so self-explanatory. It would have been hard to understand the old workflow, it was very individual with so many Excel documents, files and sheets saved in Dropbox or wherever. We have stopped downloading files because we know we can pull it out of Zedonk, paperwork is completely gone.”

By implementing Zedonk early on in the brand’s life, Opaak has been able to simplify and streamline internal processes, to easily analyse their numbers and boost profitability. “Zedonk was the perfect system to build structure and we have a very good overview right now. We have increased our margins to create better growth potential because it has all become leaner. If we hadn’t made the decision, it would have become a big mess. For us, Zedonk helped to be more efficient and has been very important for scaling.”