In this exclusive documentary series, Maxim Sion, fashion entrepreneur and Business Development Manager at Bleckmann, shares his experience of building a brand from the ground up – providing valuable insights on the practicalities of making your vision a reality. In this episode, he reveals how partnering with a professional logistics provider transformed Black and Gold’s operations, securing a platform for continued growth.
As a result of Black and Gold’s success, the small team was struggling to keep up with the sheer volume of B2B and D2C orders coming in. This led Maxim to investigate working with a third-party logistics (3PL) partner. However, he was unsure whether a brand of their size would be able to work with an enterprise-level provider – until an online search led him to Bleckmann. The next stage of Black and Gold’s growth journey had begun.
Press play on episode 6 to learn how working with a 3PL helped unlock Black and Gold’s next expansion phase with enterprise-grade logistics and warehousing services.
The power of partnerships to streamline fashion logistics
Bleckmann turned out to be the ideal fit for Black and Gold, providing the fashion expertise and scalable capacity to reach the brand’s growth ambitions. During a visit to one of Bleckmann’s warehouses, Maxim was impressed by the size and scope of the operations. “You come into a big warehouse and you see a lot of automation,” he says. “You see a lot of big brand names and how they’re working, and you compare that to our own warehouse at that time, where everything was manual.” The visit convinced him that working with Bleckmann was the right move, and Black and Gold started its onboarding.
However, moving to a third-party logistics setup required key operational adjustments. For example, the team had to align its barcoding system and SKU classification with the requirements of a large-scale logistics set-up and transition to a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) system. They also had to reposition all the hang tags from inside the garments to the outside for ease of scanning, and carry out a full manual stock count to ensure accurate inventory management – which was no easy task given that they had over 10,000 items. Once onboarded, though, the brand could start reaping the benefits.
The outsourcing advantage: Going further together
Many fashion founders who are used to managing logistics in-house are surprised by just how much time they save by outsourcing, and Maxim was no exception. “We had a lot more focus back on our core activities, so more on design, more on sales, so that was very productive,” remembers Maxim. “Our new ERP system was connected to Bleckmann’s warehouse management system, so we were constantly synced with each other – everything was automated.” With Bleckmann managing the entire end-to-end fulfilment process – including returns – the team could refocus on building the brand.
This was particularly important during peak periods such as Black Friday, which fell just two months after onboarding was completed. Instead of spending their evenings in the warehouse picking and packing orders, the entire team could concentrate on the activities that actually drive business growth during this critical sales window: marketing, reporting, and managing customer relationships. The resulting boost in customer experience proved how beneficial such fashion logistics partnerships can be for brands. However, a true partner will support you through times both good and challenging…
Press play on episode 6 to learn how outsourcing fashion logistics enabled new growth opportunities for Black and Gold. And, if you want to find out more about taking your brand to the next level, get in contact for a free consultation with a Bleckmann expert!
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Transcript
Maxim Sion:
At that time, we were still very young, and we didn’t really know that there were logistics providers specialized in fashion. We also thought we were too small as a company to even be considered. We didn’t know what to expect, so everything was very new to us. We were open to the conversation, mainly to understand what they could offer and, of course, what the costs would be.
When we arrived at the warehouse—it was quite new at that time—it was very impressive. As a smaller brand, you walk into a big warehouse and see a lot of automation and many big brand names, and how they operate. When you compare that to your own warehouse at the time, where everything was manual, you start thinking that if you want to scale, working with a logistics provider might be a good idea.
It was very important to us that the 3PL could handle clothing and that they offered services that could support our company over time. Cross-border logistics and working in a more sustainable way were also important factors, as that would increase the chance of selecting them as a long-term partner.
After that, we signed the contract and moved step by step to the logistics provider. The transition started with moving to a new ERP system. We also learned that working with a logistics provider requires proper barcodes—something that is normal for items—but also that SKUs are very important and need to be set up correctly so everything is scannable and workable.
The positioning of the label also changed. Before, the label was always on the inside because we checked everything ourselves. Now, we had to make sure the hangtag was on the outside, with the barcode clearly visible on top.
At some point, we also realized that we were no longer counting stock ourselves. When you have around 10,000 items, it becomes very difficult to count everything manually. At the end of the process, we did one final count to double-check, and from the moment the pickup happened, everything was transported to the warehouse. There, the items were sorted and put into stock.
From that moment on, it felt really good because our new ERP system was connected to Blackman. We were constantly synced, and everything became automated.
The first weeks were a bit difficult, letting go of the process, but we did several visits together to decide how everything should work. One of the biggest impacts we noticed was in returns. From the moment a return arrived, the warehouse checked it, put it back into stock, and the customer was automatically refunded. Before, returns were handled manually, but with the new system and Blackman, we had a fully automated flow that no longer required our direct involvement.
On the warehousing side, everything also ran very smoothly. This was extremely important for us as a company, because it allowed us to shift our focus back to our core activities—design and sales—which was very productive.
I clearly remember the first Black Friday after joining Blackman, about one or two months later. We were quite relaxed. Instead of being in the warehouse picking and packing orders, the entire team was focused on IT, sales, and reporting. We were all together in the evening, around 8:00 p.m., monitoring how the sales were going.
It was a completely different structure compared to before. Rather than being in the warehouse handling goods, we could focus on what really mattered: Black Friday marketing, sales performance, and how to interact with our customers.
