BlueCherry

In sum:

Overall the experience with the BlueCherry product has been good. The system functions as it should with little maintenance and virtually no down time.

Benefits:

Updates with the switchover to Infinity provided great visibility into detail of the business from all departments

Drawbacks:

Screens were sometimes too detailed it was hard to read and shortcuts were not always easy to access

Benefits:

With the breadth of fashion and apparel companies using BlueCherry, it has all of the features and functionality you would expect. The ease of use, ability to configure and wide range of features make it a very extensible and scalable solution. It's a perfect solution for small to mid-size or start-up companies.

Drawbacks:

For more complex organizations and operations, specifically multi-national or multi-currency companies may find the system unsuitable, if not set up properly.

Benefits:

I receive orders from retailers via bluecherry system and it is easy to fill them based on a pull of the UPCs on each PO.

Drawbacks:

It is nearly impossible to decipher 860 change notices when sent via Mi9 and authorized and sent to the vendor via EDI. We nearly always request that they generate a new PO.

Benefits:

The ERP is great and the integration with the business is perfect. If you are a manufacturing company, this system will cover all the process since the PLM to the B2C.

Drawbacks:

What I least like on the software in the Wiki. The system is so complex that the wiki is not following this peace. Have more agent entering information, it will be good for the software and everyone else.

Benefits:

Once all of the initial controls and reference tables are setup, the information necessary to complete the users processes are simply a matter of filling in the blanks. Although each customers needs vary, depending on their type of business, CGS has provided more functionality than most companies actually need. We have found that periodic, on premises support, with a seasoned Project manager, has provided us with functionality we did not know existed in the program. We work with many retail customers and have never come across a situation where we could not fulfill their needs thru the program.

Drawbacks:

Support, other than EDI support is sometimes not up to par, otherwise resolution is timely. A simple method of uploading orders via spreadsheet would be nice.

Benefits:

I've used Blue Cherry for 14 years, and watched as the application grew, and evolved into the robust system that it is today. Anytime I've been tasked to come up with a 'way to do it' I've almost always found a Blue Cherry solution to address the need, or a suitable work around. There really is much more to the system that I think most people don't realize, that is until they need it to do something. My relationships that I've developed with CGS personnel, over the years is invaluable, and they have taught me more than I ever expected. We use several modules including ERP, PLM, Retail EDI, BI, EDI 3PL, as well as integrations with Retail and soon E-commerce systems. So many of our success stories have revolved around Blue Cherry, and their remarkable technical, and support staff, and Project Managers. Our entire organization completely changed many years ago, and Blue Cherry software was there to help us through the change without much of a hiccup. Although no product is perfect, I would not change it even if I could. Many challenges face us in the near future, and I always count on Blue Cherry to evolve, and help us meet the challenges.

Drawbacks:

Well this is a tough one, as I have little to be dissatisfied with, but as with any software company, it does get frustrating sometimes finding the right resource to address your problem, but ultimately it happens. Their staff always includes many experts on many subjects.

Benefits:

Great allocation engine with plenty of options for allocating sales orders with inventory and WIP. Having multi-level product hierarchy (Product->Color->Size) built into the foundation of the product makes every business process that much smoother. Integrated EDI and the availability of standard EDI maps for our retail trading partners and logistics providers makes EDI processing less painful. Good reporting engine allows us to get data when we need it and how we need it, to make better decisions. The future plans to move to a more open platform allowing for APIs and workflows will be a game changer.

Drawbacks:

Upgrades can be difficult if you have a customization or modules that aren't used by a lot of customers (Ex: BC Extender). Support is amazing at fixing "System is down" errors today, but not so great at resolving the less urgent issues (open tickets can drag on for weeks). Difficulties in the past with launching non-standard EDI/API integrations like Retailer Drop Ship programs. Production Order Modules need a bit of a rework. Can be glitchy when trying to mass update multiple Purchase Orders, or trying to track certain types of costs, or moving production stages.

In sum:

We're a fashion brand selling on multiple channels including our own ecommerce site, in multiple countries, and BlueCherry allows us to be flexible and scalable as we navigating this volatile retail environment.

Benefits:

What I most like is how Bluecherry can support a retail business. The PLM functions, CSC and other integrations are the differentials for this system

Drawbacks:

The support is what I least like about this software. They need to assist you better and faster. The system is good, but a good service support is necessary.

In sum:

We are using BC for many years and we are happy with our accomplish with the software.

Benefits:

One of the best things about BlueCherry is its flexibility. I have worked for 3 very different apparel companies over the last 19 years, and each one has used BlueCherry in its own unique way. The product is flexible enough to use its multitude of functionalities to support existing business processes and also structured well enough to build business processes around. In addition, I love that BlueCherry is truly a total ERP. From an integrated PLM module down to AWS to run your warehouses........it is nice to not have to worry about integrating multiple systems for the basics, when so much focus in the industry today is on Retail and Ecommerce, which by their very nature require integrations to multiple external systems. For smaller IT depts., this is big plus, as they are supporting additional modules within BlueCherry and not custom-built integrations to external systems for things like PLM, EDI, AWS, etc. Lastly, the team at CGS is one of the best I have worked with. They are always thinking of how to make each release of the product better than the previous, and truly trying to provide value to their customers.

Drawbacks:

One of the cons with this software is the process for maintenance (applying fixes, upgrades, etc.), as CGS does the majority of that. I understand the rules they have put in place and why, but I would like to be able to do more for myself. I would even pay for the training, just so that I could have the flexibility to do these things when I needed to, instead of being put in a queue for the work to be scheduled with their team and then waiting for the work to be completed.