George collaboration portal cuts overseas costs

George head of global Kevin Rusling said that the system is cutting the cost of producing products for sale internationally, as well as creating “one version of the truth” to provide consistency in how George products are created and sold.

By using the Concrete Connect Franchise Collaboration platform, George has been able to create a portal where Walmart’s businesses in other countries can browse all product designs and download artwork for those they wish to produce.

Each international Walmart business sources its own product from local partners, based on George designs that originate from the Lutterworth head office in Leicestershire. Before the portal was introduced, this artwork was being redrawn in each country for local suppliers to work from.

Around 70% of George’s UK product offer is available for use internationally.

Rusling said that the introduction of the system met the company’s objective of consistently lowering its operating costs, so it can pass these savings on to consumers.

He expects that more product from the George range will be produced by each country, and they are also able to get products into production more quickly with the portal in place. For instance, in Canada, the amount of childrenswear designs put into production has doubled since the portal was introduced.

Rusling said that the system will cut the cost of creating samples for the international businesses by 30%, as samples will only be made for products they actually want to produce.

The portal also has a content management tool for the management of the complex international ticketing process for clothing care labels and swing tags.

So far, Walmart staff in seven countries are accessing the portal - although not all of them are yet producing George product.