Maloja Success Story – Functionality with a great love of detail

Maloja is not just a name – Maloja is lifestyle attitude!

Special moments shared with friends. Treating fellow humans and nature with respect. The conviction to go your own way – all of these are components of Maloja’s corporate philosophy. Every year, the enterprise based in Chiemgau in Bavaria that is well-known for its successful fusion of functionality and style develops two collections under one motto: In 2017, it was “Beyond the Mountains”.

Maloja sets great store by design, but not only with regard to functional clothing and streetwear. The company also stands for state of the art technology and the highest quality standards. When the paths of Koppermann and Maloja crossed in 2009, Maloja was looking for a Product Lifecycle Management System as the company’s continuous growth necessitated a change in how mass quantities of creative data were handled. Up until then product data had been managed using numerous different Excel spreadsheets. This caused problems not only with regard to everyday use, as it was also the cause of an increased susceptibility towards errors affecting every process step. The task in hand was clearly defined right from the start: the PLM system should be structured, intuitive and ready for use as soon as possible. Koppermann’s PLM solution TEX-DEFINE™ convinced Maloja mainly because it is highly flexible and quick to implement, making it possible to execute the project from start to finish in the same year.

Karin Kunte, project manager at Koppermann, was on location from the start to analyze the company’s processes and to design the solution both in accordance with Koppermann’s best practice principles and, more importantly, on the basis of Maloja’s specific needs and wants.
She reports: “The atmosphere at Maloja is great. It is obvious that the employees live by the spirit that is reflected in their collections.”

Thanks to the rapid standardization of existing process steps and the continuous data updates that go with it, it was possible to achieve a comprehensive and sustainable increase in the efficiency of creative product development.

Whilst small to begin with, the PLM system continues to grow alongside the company: Additional users and departments have been integrated over the years and new functions added to enhance the system. And Maloja is growing fast! The number of employees grew by 45% over the past four years and the number of Koppermann users doubled in the same time period.

A new milestone was reached in the year 2016 with the introduction of the workflow module. Beforehand, all data had been mapped in four individual Excel lists up to the 1st prototype status; this data then had to be transferred by hand to the PLM system. Not only did this involve a huge amount of work effort, it also led time and again to misunderstandings and errors. This error source was eliminated with the introduction of the Koppermann Workflow module; all the information is now stored centrally and is always up to date and available around the clock.

Administrator training for Carolin Guggenberger, responsible for the Product Lifecycle Management System at Maloja, was another significant step for the company.
“Implementing minor modification requests is no longer a problem for us as it is something I can do directly”, she reports. “Knowing what is actually possible has led to a continuous flow of new and exciting ideas for expanding the project.”

Maloja’s growth still has huge scope for many opportunities and Koppermann will naturally respond to the company’s requirements in the future so that the success story can continue.

About Maloja

The success story of the sports fashion label from Chiemgau began in the winter of 2001, when Maloja founder Peter Räuber experienced a memorable day of snowboarding with friends. The search for a virgin powder snow slope led the free riders to a location in the Swiss Engadin region whose name is the epitome of something good and beautiful: Maloja.

When Peter Räuber decided in 2004 to realize his vision of sports fashion far from the beaten track, it was only logical to give the brand the name it bears today. Together with Klaus Haas, who as a partner is mainly responsible for the company’s commercial matters, he built a small team and presented the first collection of cycling clothing and streetwear that very same year.

Today, Maloja produces functional clothing for everyone who prefers to be active in the great outdoors all year round. The label’s combination of state-of-the-art technology, outstanding wear comfort and sporty style meets more demands than just those of outdoor athletes. The brand has also gained popularity in the urban space thanks to its mix of functionality, quality and unusual design.

Maloja is an outfitter of the national German ski mountain-climbing team and the professional cycling team “Maloja Pushbikers” and is meanwhile stocked by around 800 retailers around the world.