S&S Activewear Unveils ApparelSoft IQ Technology

KEY TAKEAWAYS

S&S Activewear, a Counselor Top 40 Supplier of apparel and accessories in North America, announces ApparelSoft IQ, a proprietary intelligence layer designed to anticipate customer demand, optimize inventory decisions, and improve how the business operates at scale.

“Inventory planning has been near and dear to my heart since my first day at S&S. It was the first project I worked on with our chief transformation officer, Brian Beale, back in 2009.”

— Frank Myers, CEO of S&S Activewear

While S&S is making this news public, ApparelSoft IQ has already been in production for more than six months, driving out-of-stock levels to the lowest in company history, especially across S&S's exclusive proprietary and retail brands.

ApparelSoft IQ Targets Demand Forecasting and Inventory Optimization

ApparelSoft IQ is initially focused on demand forecasting and inventory optimization – one of the most critical and complex challenges in the business – while designed to expand intelligence and automation across the entire ApparelSoft platform over time.

Today, ApparelSoft IQ helps S&S Activewear make better inventory decisions, optimizing purchasing and placement across its network to deliver higher in-stock rates, fewer split shipments, and inventory depth and breadth.

“Inventory planning has been near and dear to my heart since my first day at S&S. It was the first project I worked on with our chief transformation officer, Brian Beale, back in 2009,” said Frank Myers, CEO of S&S Activewear. “We believed then, and know now, that having deep and reliable inventory is the most fundamental thing we can do for our customers. ApparelSoft IQ is a milestone in that journey – and a testament to what happens when long-term commitment meets the tools of today.”

ApparelSoft IQ, developed by S&S Activewear’s data science team, is powered by comprehensive datasets that combine more than 35 years of S&S Activewear's historical data with information from alphabroder, acquired in 2024. The dataset spans styles, colors, sizes, geographies, and customer segments at a scale unmatched by competitors.

Credit: LinkedIn by S&S Activewear

Machine Learning

By applying machine learning directly to this data, ApparelSoft IQ generates purchasing recommendations and inventory positioning decisions, helping reduce out-of-stocks and improve inventory planning and deployment across the network.

ApparelSoft IQ is built natively into S&S Activewear’s proprietary ApparelSoft ERP platform, which powers its e-commerce experience, customer tools, and distribution network operating at 99.9% order accuracy. As a result, its insights translate directly into action across the supply chain – from vendor purchase orders to inventory transfers between distribution centers.

Over time, ApparelSoft IQ will extend beyond forecasting to power intelligence and automation across internal operations and customer-facing capabilities, including enhanced product recommendations and insights to help customers grow.

“This starts with a highly sophisticated forecasting system built specifically for the blank apparel industry,” added Josh Clark, chief operating officer at S&S Activewear. “We’re not just reacting to demand; we’re anticipating it and positioning inventory ahead of it. That allows our customers to operate with more confidence and less disruption.”

ApparelSoft IQ builds on a growing suite of technology investments from S&S Activewear designed to help customers operate more efficiently and scale their businesses. These include solutions like:

• ZeroTouch, which enables automated, production-ready workflows that reduce manual steps and accelerate turnaround times, and
• FAST Platform, which connects customers to a network of vetted partners through an end-to-end, automated fulfillment solution.