How Much Are Your Workarounds Really Costing You?

Spreadsheets. Email threads. Shared drives. They work—until they don’t.

At first glance, these tools seem harmless. Familiar, even. But for growing fashion brands managing complex product lifecycles, these so-called “solutions” are actually quiet saboteurs. They’re costing you time, money, and accuracy—and you probably don’t even realise it.

The Comfort of Chaos: Why Workarounds Feel Normal

For many growing apparel brands, the hustle is real. Teams juggle dozens (sometimes hundreds) of SKUs, design iterations, supplier conversations, and deadlines—all while managing approvals across merchandising, development, and production.

It’s no wonder makeshift systems crop up. You create a spreadsheet here, forward a thread there, loop someone in on a group chat, colour code a column to indicate delays… and hey, it “works.” Until it doesn’t.

The problem? You’ve normalised inefficiency.

Because it’s familiar, it feels functional. But familiarity isn’t efficiency—and what feels like “good enough” is often hiding deeply expensive flaws.

The Hidden Costs You’re Not Calculating

When was the last time you truly assessed how much your workarounds are costing you?

Let’s break it down:

• Lost Hours: Manually updating multiple spreadsheets, chasing down email approvals, or double-checking version control isn’t just frustrating—it’s time-consuming. A team of 10 losing 5 hours a week? That’s 500 hours a year. Imagine what you could do with that time—launch new collections faster, improve product quality, or expand your supplier base.

• Human Error: Typos in a style spec. Miscommunication on a colourway. Missing an update buried in an email thread. One small slip can delay production or trigger expensive reworks. According to industry research, manual data entry can carry error rates of up to 4%—enough to wreck your timelines and margins.

• Operational Drag: Using disconnected tools creates silos, slows decisions, and prevents you from scaling. What works for a 2-person team becomes a bottleneck for a 20-person operation. Before you know it, you're hiring just to manage the mess.

• Delayed Speed-to-Market: The longer it takes to get your product from idea to shelf, the more money you leave on the table. Brands clinging to outdated tools often face weeks—or months—of preventable delay, costing real revenue.

All of this leads to a critical question: Are your “free” tools really free?

The Opportunity Cost of “Good Enough”

Here’s the truth: operational inefficiencies often feel normal—because you've adapted to them. But that’s like driving a race car with the handbrake half on.

When you’re spending valuable energy managing disjointed systems, you’re not innovating, optimising, or growing. You’re stuck maintaining chaos.

PLM (Product Lifecycle Management) systems exist for a reason: to unify your team, centralise data, and accelerate product development. But many brands delay the switch because the pain of the current system hasn’t fully surfaced—yet. Until it does.

A Centralised PLM Isn’t a Luxury—It’s a Multiplier

Investing in a modern PLM platform isn’t about adding another tool. It’s about eliminating the need for workarounds altogether.

Imagine this:

• One source of truth for all product data

• Real-time collaboration across teams and vendors

• Automated workflows replacing manual checklists

• Faster approvals, fewer errors, smoother launches

Suddenly, your team isn’t firefighting—they’re focused, proactive, and moving faster than ever.

And the ROI? It’s not hypothetical. Brands that adopt centralised PLM platforms often see:

✅ 25–30% faster time to market

✅ 40% reduction in manual tasks

✅ Fewer costly errors and reworks

✅ Improved cross-team alignment

Final Thought: What Are You Really Saving?

If you’re still relying on spreadsheets and scattered tools, ask yourself:

• How much time am I losing each week?

• How many decisions are delayed because of missing info?

• How often are mistakes traced back to manual processes?

• How much stress is this placing on my team?

Now ask this:

What would my business look like if all of that was solved?

It’s time to stop managing the chaos—and start leading with clarity.

Ready to See the Difference?

Workarounds may have gotten you this far—but they won’t take you where you’re going.

Let us show you how a centralised PLM platform can cut costs, speed up your process, and finally give your team the tools they deserve.

Let us help you stop patching the cracks and build better with a PLM that works as hard as you do. Book a free demo now!