This week, Browzwear shares a strategy for a successful digital transformation that requires key steps. The company illustrates the strategic plan with a case study from a global apparel maker. Meanwhile, Zebra Technologies shares insights from a survey that shows it pays off to update a company’s workflow processes with AI.
Lastly, there’s new research from Databarracks revealing a dependence on suppliers makes it difficult to fight off supply chain cyberattacks and disruptions.
A six-pillar plan for success
Browzwear recently published a research report that identified the challenges facing apparel manufacturers and retailers in regard to remaining competitive in an ever-changing market and how deploying a digital strategy can help.
“The fashion industry is evolving fast,” the report’s authors said. “Consumer expectations are higher than ever, technology is advancing at lightning speed and the push for sustainability is no longer optional—it’s essential. Both brands and manufacturers face unique challenges in this new landscape. Still, one thing is clear: embracing digital transformation is the key to stayiing competitive, working smarter and thriving in the future.”
To succeed, retailers, brands and manufacturers need to implement a “digital mastery framework.” This requires following six pillars that include a clear strategy and vision; investing in key digital tools (such as 3D design, virtual prototyping and digital fit testing in product creation); ensuring real-time inventory and supply chain visibility; adopting the right technologies for PLM; practicing effective communication and collaboration; and, finally, integrating sustainable practices across all operations.
In the report, Browzwear researchers presented how the framework works in practice and included a case study about MAS Holdings, a global leader in apparel manufacturing. “MAS has built strong partnerships with leading brands and embraced cutting-edge technology to achieve incredible results,” the report noted. “From improving efficiency to setting new standards for sustainability and innovation, their story highlights the power of collaboration in driving progress.”
For MAS, the path to digital mastery began in 2017 and centered on integrating cutting-edge tech across the entire business and then following the six pillars. Placing Digital Product Creation (DPC) at the heart of the business strategy was transformative. In 2020, MAS established a DPC Centre of Excellence to further lead the transformation. Today, MAS now develops over 4,000 unique 3D styles annually for over 50 brands, which the company said demonstrates the tangible impact of its digitally mature capabilities.
“DPC is a core capability in our product creation space,” Anupama Fernando, head of the DPC Centre of Excellence. “Since starting in 2017, we’ve built it as an enterprise-wide strategy aligned to our business goals. Our ambition is to go after a game-changing level of impact in lead time, agility and sustainability.”
The benefits of modernizing supply chain tracking
Zebra Technologies has released new findings from an ongoing research partnership with Oxford Economics, and the numbers make a strong case for updating old-fashioned frontline operations.
The study surveyed 1,000 senior leaders in retail, manufacturing and transportation and logistics across eight countries and found that upgrading everyday workflows with AI, automation and better data pays off in a big way.
Manufacturers who upgrade their supply chain and inventory tracking saw a potential profit boost of $6.6 million for a typical company, while smarter maintenance processes added another $6.2 million and improved production lines contributed $3.5 million more. Retailers who modernized checkout systems saw gains of roughly $4 million, and logistics companies that improved shipping and loading added about $2.8 million in profit potential.
Beyond the dollar figures, over half of manufacturers reported real productivity improvements from updating production lines, and more than half of logistics firms said faster operations followed once they modernized picking and packing.
The research also points to a bigger shift already underway: companies are moving past talking about AI and are actually building it into daily operations. Half of manufacturing leaders looking to upgrade production lines now see AI as their top priority, and interest in AI for shipping and loading among logistics firms has nearly tripled.
Zebra’s chief technology officer, Tom Bianculli, framed the findings as proof that connecting intelligence directly to frontline work does more than streamline tasks; it drives measurable financial results and keeps workers more satisfied on the job. The timing lines up with Zebra’s recent recognition by the “Wall Street Journal” as one of the top 10 companies for AI readiness, reinforcing the company’s push to position itself as a leader in bringing AI tools to workers on the ground rather than keeping it confined to back-office systems.
A lesson on how to treat suppliers
Here’s an eye-opening statistic: one in four businesses in the U.K. have suffered a cyber incident that originated in their supply chain over the last year. This is in spite of companies being highly aware of the risk facing them. And nearly half said they have continued working with suppliers despite known resilience or security concerns.
The findings were from the Data Health Check 2026, an annual survey of 500 IT decision-makers conducted by Databarracks. The top three sectors represented in the survey responses were from tech companies, retailers and banks.
The survey showed that many of those affected lacked viable alternatives. More than a quarter (26 percent) of those polled identified “dependence on suppliers” as a main barrier to improving resilience. Some of the other key findings from the research include that 89 percent of respondents assess supplier resilience at onboarding, while 61 percent assess supplier resilience on an annual, quarterly or continuous basis.
“Supply chain vulnerabilities” was also identified as one of the top three challenges facing business over the next five years, having been cited by 23 percent of respondents. This is behind only AI-driven cyber threats at 46 percent and ransomware with 26 percent.
Chris Butler, resilience director at Databarracks, said this year’s findings “indicate that supply chain resilience remains a critical pain point for many businesses, which the majority are aware of and which continue to be exploited by attackers. When something goes wrong at a key supplier, the cascade effects can be profound for businesses throughout the chain.”
Butler said that despite good intentions around assessing supplier resilience, “most companies don’t fully understand the depth of complexity in their supply chains. Often, they’ll know who their core suppliers are, but beyond that, visibility drops away.”
The solution? Butler said companies need to have better visibility. “Business leaders need to treat supplier resilience as part of their own resilience, not somebody else’s problem,” he said. “It’s a bit of a cliché but for good reason: you really need to treat your critical suppliers like you would your own business.”
