How Global Fashion Company s.Oliver Cut Color Selection Time By 80% with ColorReaderPRO

The pressure to move faster is an everyday reality in the fashion and apparel industry. German-based global fashion company s.Oliver is working on several solutions to speed things up. The designers and technicians needed to manually match each color sample to one of 3,000 swatches and corresponding color codes. What at first seemed to be a minor part of day-to-day operations at s.Oliver turned out to be a major roadblock. No doubt, something had to change.

s.Oliver was searching for a solution that would make color look-up easier and use colors and color codes more efficiently. Whatever solution they chose had to be:

Robust and able to quickly handle large measurement tasks
Flexible enough to use with or without a smartphone or tablet
Able to achieve a high level of accuracy

With these requirements in mind, s.Oliver put the ColorReaderPRO to the test.

Before long, the benefits were clear. Equipped with the ultraportable, Bluetooth®-connected color measurement device, designers and direct buyers could tap into the company’s digital archives in seconds and with a single click. A simple button push on the device matches the color in question to one of those 3,000 predefined swatches.

After completing each scan, the designers and direct buyers can view the closest color matches from the s.Oliver color atlas, in addition to coordinate colors. And the associated s.Oliver color codes are right on the screen, completely eliminating the need for manual color look-up.

I want to learn more about ColorReaderPRO

A Color Matching Transformation

With a color matching success rate greater than 95%, the ColorReaderPRO certainly met s.Oliver’s high standards for accuracy

A device charge that lasts a full working day — perfect for long days at trade shows or store visits
The ability to take measurements with or without an internet connection — letting buyers and designers do their job anywhere
The freedom to capture color inspiration anywhere, from any object at any time, and send it to team members immediately

“The search for the needle in a haystack has finally come to an end. The ColorReaderPRO supports us perfectly in the selection and assignment of color codes and saves a lot of time and effort. We were able to reduce the time required by 80% and can now make decisions very quickly.”

Katja Bilharz, Head of Design

Faster-Than-Ever Decisions: Coming Soon to all s.Oliver Departments

Head of Design, Katja Bilharz tested the ColorReaderPRO at another s.Oliver brand, s.Oliver Women, focusing specifically on the collection development process. “The ColorReaderPRO simplifies the search for the right color in our color library and accelerates the daily design process in our office as well as on the road,” says Katja Bilharz, Head of Design, s. Oliver Women. “The search for the needle in a haystack has finally come to an end. The ColorReaderPRO supports us perfectly in the selection and assignment of color codes and saves a lot of time and effort. We were able to reduce the time required by 80% and can now make decisions very quickly.”

Katja Bilharz was even able to look up colors and come to an agreement during the course of a single meeting. s.Oliver is also taking advantage of the ability to visualize and compare colors and create their own color fan decks.

s.Oliver’s test phase with ColorReaderPRO may be over but the company is just getting started with the device. Now, they’re rolling it out to all s.Oliver departments with the support of the company’s Global IT team.