Timereaction

BACKGROUND

Please describe your company and your position there.

Creations Cindy Ann is an apparel sourcing, whole-seller, and apparel distributor. I am an executive.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

For what projects/services did your company hire Timereaction, and what were your goals?

Our company was looking for a platform to help us organise our workflows and processes both internally and with our overseas supply chain partners. We required a system to allow us to track progress, communicate, and share files

SOLUTION

How did you select this vendor and what were the deciding factors?

Time Reaction demonstrated a high level of expertise and innovation in developing cutting-edge software solutions. Their team is comprised of talented and experienced developers who are dedicated to creating software that is not only functional, but also user-friendly and visually appealing. The flexibility of the software to address our various challenges also pushed us to select Time Reaction

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

After hearing our concerns the team at Time Reaction sat with us and gave us recommendations as to how best meet our challenges. They also imparted to us the knowledge we required to be able to customise the system ourselves to best address our needs as we implemented the program.

From the moment I first interacted with Time Reaction, I was struck by their professionalism and responsiveness. The team was quick to answer questions and provide helpful guidance, which made the onboarding process a breeze.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

We worked with a product manager & implementation specialist who continue to offer incredible customer service and are always responsive to our questions. We also know that the programmer and chief architect of the software is also available to us.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

Timereaction built an outstanding project management tool. I highly recommend them to any business looking to streamline their workflows and increase productivity. The software is i user-friendly, allowing teams to easily manage tasks, track time, and collaborate with each other. More impressive are the features in new release, which includes a host of new and improved features.

One of the most exciting new features is the ability to create custom dashboards, giving teams the flexibility to create personalised views of their projects and tasks. In addition, the new release includes improved reporting capabilities, making it easier for teams to track their progress and identify areas for improvement. The software now also includes a time tracking feature, which allows team members to log their time spent on each task, helping managers to better allocate resources and manage workloads.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timeliness.

We had several meeting during the initial set-up and roll out. The team continues to reach out personally whenever there are new features available and they always take the time to explain why and how they think some of these features are useful to our business drawing on their considerable experience in the appeal industry.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

The most impressive feature Time Reaction aside from the outstanding customer support they offer is how easy it is to create new workflows to suit new projects as they arise. The other most important aspect is within the communication area where files are shared internally and externally ensuring that all involved parties have the most recent versions of files.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

I should have done some more testing when setting up the system. Because it is so flexible you can "over do" certain tasks within the workflows. That was my issue and not theirs. After a few weeks we went back into the system and made adjustments to better suit our reality.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the CTO of a women’s apparel company mostly selling in the United States and Canada to major retailers and boutiques.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Timereaction?

We needed to resolve issues with late deliveries. Production is complex and involves multiple steps. Every time there’s a fit, we wait at least a week for the maker to make the corrections and send another sample to Montreal. Working with 32 Excel files was never going to work. We’re talking about more than two weeks between each correction, and, with all the production steps, we were continuously late. We hired a new manager, and we still ended up being late on most deliveries. That had a major impact, and it’s the reason we bought the Timereaction solution.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They built software to keep track of our delivery process. It took 3–4 meetings to define our workflows, with the production manager, myself, and the people from Timereaction. We actually created the workflows during the meetings, which was super simple and user-friendly. I created an API for Timereaction.

What is the team composition?

We worked with Allan (Co-Founder and VP of Research and Development) and his team.

How did you come to work with Timereaction?

It took us three years of negotiations. I first met Allan in 2014, and we weren’t ready then. He came back over the years, and we finally decided to do it in 2019. We got a green light, so we called Allan in and told him we were doing it.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $25,942 so far. That includes the monthly fee, which is $750 per month, and the initial price was around $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We had the initial meetings between March–May 2019, and we went live in June of that year.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Timereaction has a lot of benefits for different processes that we want to track. We had a couple of reasons for it, but the year we went with Timereaction we were on time with everything. It definitely had great benefits for the team to know at every step whether or not we were on time. If a critical step is being late, then we can send emails and notifications, so that we don’t fall behind.

It was an adaptation, but the benefit was definitely demonstrated. The software actually helped me understand the production process a lot better. I knew it superficially before, but I and the rest of the IT group know it well now. We’re able to do reporting for that team, and it helped us understand a lot of concepts around fabric, trim, and fit approvals. It was super beneficial.

On the first day, we pushed 2,400 purchase orders (POs) in seven seconds. Their API was solid. They were surprised that it went so fast, but the way we do it here is really tied to the database. The API was able to withstand a big load in one swoop. I was pleasantly surprised by that part of Timereaction.

How did Timereaction perform from a project management standpoint?

Our main contact is a very nice guy. He calls me every day, and we get along well. He was always super committed to this project. There is a way to submit tickets from the application, which is super easy to use and also takes a lot of information about the browser. We get support via email a lot of the time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Timereaction shows all the transactions we want to track, and it can highlight urgent items in whichever color we choose. The dashboard is very useful in helping coordinators make sure they’re on time.

Any time something goes to red, they’ll know there’s an issue. That’s really the benefit of Timereaction. If we set up our workflows, we’ll know right away what we have to take care of. Once it’s resolved, it goes back to green, and we know we’ve corrected all the fires for that day or that week.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We were really hoping to have pictures, so we suggested that to Timereaction and they’re implementing it on the next release. They promised it, and they’re going to deliver. I’ve seen the demo, and they’ve done a few things that we requested. Working on just a style number can be hard, so we wanted to have the whole collection showing with images.

The thing they could improve on is reporting. Having reports like vendor performance could help us make decisions on whether or not to keep a vendor. We have to build our own reporting now. There aren’t sufficient BI elements, but we’re giving them suggestions.

Do you have any advice for future clients of theirs?

It's important to perform the development in phases. We did everything at once, and it was too much. We sent 2,400 orders in one day, which sent 2,400 emails to different people involved in the process. Not only that, the system sent one email for each workflow. We had a message for the PO being sent, one for the fabric approval for each style, one for the trim approval, and one for the fit. In one day, 10,000 messages left the building.

That’s just the way we organize our workflow, and we didn’t know. We made it super complex and actually complicated our lives. We’re reorganizing our workflows to not have 2,400 fabric approvals. It’s important to understand the processes and make sure to work with Timereaction advice. We wanted to do it in a certain way and didn’t listen to their recommendations, so we really made it complicated for ourselves. It’s a matter of understanding what the system can do for us, and using it wisely.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I control production for a company in the garment industry.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Timereaction?

When I started here, there was no system. Everything was done by email, making it difficult for follow-ups. I introduced Timereaction to my company, and they thought that they were great. We worked with them to put something in place to keep our orders on track.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The system allows us to know what timeline we need to start an order from the day the PO is issued until the factory date. It goes into all of the design work required, fit approval with trimmings, and other factors. We established a delivery date because our maker asks for a certain amount to produce the order. If we want to respect that date, we know we have to follow approval dates.

What is the team composition?

My primary contact is Allan (VP Research & Development).

How did you come to work with Timereaction?

I knew of Timereaction from a previous engagement.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working on this project in April 2016.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The system they’ve put in place keeps everything on track for our production processes. It was approved by both the maker and supplier. We’ve established a step-by-step process before sample approval. It’s our main tool and the first thing we look at in the morning.

Before, the supplier was always asking questions through email. Now we can focus on the priority with the next system because there are many orders with different delivery dates. It makes our team more efficient.

How did Timereaction perform from a project management standpoint?

We always send messages under the system. Sometimes we have group conversations. In the morning when I arrive, I check the messages and see if anyone sends any issues. It is a quick way to fix the issue before it becomes more of a problem.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I appreciate how transparent the system is. There’s nothing to hide within it. Everything is clear. People can’t lie or try to cheat us. Sometimes people do make mistakes. It’s better than working emails because sometimes emails disappear. Timereaction avoids that. It’s good for both sides.

Are there any areas they could improve?

We would like to have more people within the system. We have a factory date that’s never completed because the person in charge of that isn’t onboarded on the system. Some people are older and don’t want to change the way they work, but usually, everyone loves it.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

When you get to know how the tool works, you want to be really detailed, but at the beginning, it has to be simple. Everyone has to learn how it works in order to get used to it.

Every year, we make adjustments to fit our needs. Sometimes people make the system more complex than it needs to be. Keep it in simple in the beginning.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a jean manufacturer in North America. I’m the president of the company.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with Timereaction?

We’re trying to reduce the number of emails by compiling the communication regarding the production of all the different styles and pieces for our business, into one area. Basically, we wanted to streamline the process and follow correspondence from start to finish in a timely manner.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They customized and installed this technology that manages all the components that go into our products. We input all the pieces and they create a flow, and they outline what happens on each day. So, We have a calendar that notifies us if we’re behind schedule and we get alerts if something is missing.

Timereaction also provides a lot of technical support.

What is the team composition?

Allan (Co-founder, Timereaction) and one other person come to the office from time to time, but I’m not sure who else is working there.

How much have you invested with them?

We’ve spent $100,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in January 2011, and our engagement is ongoing.  

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement? 

 It helped us tremendously because we have 20-30 people that use it. Before, we had emails between everyone and about ten different factories. So the coordination for the purchase of raw material, fabric, patterns, and trims were all over email. For just one pair of jeans, there may have been 100 emails and then we had to track the product’s progress. So, this new system cut down on the time and resources it takes to make any given product.

How did Timereaction perform from a project management standpoint?

Our team lead communicates with them directly, and they have an excellent rapport. Their reaction time is very quick—they help solve problems as they arise. They were really good, generous, and helpful about fulfilling our needs. We’ve worked with them for almost ten years, so our partnership is very mature.

What did you find most impressive about them?

They’re a passionate group. They’re always there, and they’re heavily involved. They want our system to work.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, we’re more than satisfied.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

You have to stick with it. It’s like a jigsaw puzzle in the beginning, so it’s easy to get overwhelmed. You need to be committed to it to make it work.