How a Global Apparel Sourcing Leader for Nordstrom, ALO Yoga, and Other Top Brands Transformed Quality Assurance

The Search for Smarter Inspections

As Newtimes Group expanded its operations across more than 30 countries, each with its own network of factories, CEO Paul Walsh and his team recognized the growing limitations of traditional pen-and-paper QC reporting. With quality teams dispersed globally, relying on manual processes made it increasingly challenging to maintain consistency and visibility across the organization. They knew it was time to adopt a more standardized, technology-enabled approach to quality management.

“We needed a more unified and systematic way of working as our business grew and became ever more geographically dispersed. Introducing a modernized process wasn’t just about efficiency—it was about strengthening our overall focus on quality.”
— Paul Walsh, CEO of Newtimes Development

Around 2017, while exploring inspection platform solutions, the team evaluated Pivot88 (a TradeBeyond company) alongside several other well-known solution providers. They conducted a rigorous benchmarking study to assess not only how each platform was positioned, but how it performed in real daily use. “Our study focused on how the solution supported the work of our QC staff, who were the true end users. We examined factors such as customization capabilities, user-friendliness, and ease of use across laptops, tablets, and other devices. By the end of the process, Pivot88 clearly stood out as the winner,” said Paul Walsh, CEO of Newtimes Development.

Modernizing Quality Control with a New Approach

Newtimes’ unique business model presented several challenges during the initial setup of their Pivot88 inspection solution. As an agent supporting multiple vendors and customers within shared factories, they needed a platform capable of accurately separating and segmenting data across different stakeholders. Working closely with Pivot88’s customer success team, they were able to configure the system in a way that aligned seamlessly with Newtimes’ operational structure.

A key advantage that the Newtimes team mentioned is the ability to have deeper visibility into each inspection. This level of detail enables them to drive improvements across their factory base and demonstrate to their customers that, as their agent, they are vigilant about quality and able to deliver the inspection transparency they expect.

This dynamic visibility has been especially valuable for the Newtimes team. Previously, QC staff were often so busy that reports were uploaded days or even weeks after an inspection, leaving the business to rely on outdated information. Paul Walsh wanted to elevate their approach to quality beyond simply improving first-time pass rates—he wanted to understand the underlying performance of factories at a more granular level and embed a mindset of continuous improvement across the organization.

“Access to real-time data has enabled us to identify issues quickly and respond with speed and precision. It has also allowed us to spot emerging trends before they escalate, driving higher first-time pass rates and, ultimately, improving overall pass quality by reducing defect rates. With Pivot88, we can clearly pinpoint root-cause quality issues and take decisive, data-driven action,” said Paul Walsh, CEO of Newtimes Development.

“Other solution providers were certainly more aggressive in their marketing, but we wanted to look past the messaging and focus on how each solution actually performed in practice. By the end of our pilot benchmarking study, the conclusion was unanimous—Pivot88 delivered a far superior experience compared to the alternatives.”
— Paul Walsh, CEO of Newtimes Development

Beyond inspection data, centralizing CSR information has created meaningful efficiencies. With support from the Pivot88 team, CSR metrics are now captured and updated in real time, giving Newtimes clear visibility into each vendor’s compliance status. Automated alerts notify CSR teams when audits are approaching expiration, helping them prioritize auditor schedules and reduce compliance risk. With all data unified in a single platform, Paul’s team can effortlessly generate customized CSR reports that keep compliance efforts current and aligned with ongoing production activities.

“One major benefit is visibility. Having immediate insight into inspection failures—and receiving alerts that allow us to act quickly has been a game changer.”
— Simon Dowd, EVP Operations at Newtimes Development

Driving Tangible Quality Improvements

Harnessing Pivot88’s inspection solution, Paul and his team have not only improved quality performance on a surface level but also have the insight to dive deeper into process details to make improvements at the roots level. The ability to have enhanced visibility into different areas related to quality, such as CSR has helped to further improve their services to their end clients.

“There is an advantage when you have quality and CSR data packaged together for a vendor. It gives you a more holistic viewpoint on the performance of the vendor across compliance, quality, and even testing.” said Paul Walsh, CEO of Newtimes Development

By leveraging Pivot88’s inspection solution, Paul and his team have elevated their quality management approach far beyond surface-level improvements. Enhanced visibility enables them to drill into process details, identify root causes, and drive meaningful, data-backed improvements across their factory network. This greater transparency—extending into areas such as CSR—has also strengthened the value they deliver to their end clients.

Overall, Newtimes was able to achieve significant business outcomes through delivering better inspection services to their clients with Pivot88:

• Reduced human error by 60%

• Increased inspection efficiency by 30%+

• Improved first-time pass rates by over 15%

• Drove down AQL defect rates to under 3%