A strong starting point for an enterprise bringing 3D garment work across teams:
- Keep garment creation in CLO and assess CLO-SET as a separate collaboration layer for sharing and review.
- Map how supplier sample requests and feedback will connect with the CLO design workflow.
- Decide whether sample rounds and approvals should also be recorded in the product-development system.
- Pilot one representative style and track handoffs, data accuracy, and reviewer participation before expanding.
What makes a sample approval path easier to roll out?
A successful rollout builds on the team's existing process while making the design and review work easier to manage. For a multi-brand apparel group, that means understanding where garments are created, how suppliers submit information, where reviewers make decisions, and which system owns the product record. CLO provides the 3D garment-design foundation; collaboration, supplier communication, and product records are related parts of the wider workflow to plan around.
Here, rollout fit means preserving useful design, supplier, and product-record handoffs while giving teams a clear way to review garments.
TABLE / Scroll horizontally for all columns →
| Workflow area | How it connects to a CLO rollout | Main rollout question |
|---|---|---|
| 3D garment design and collaboration | CLO supports garment design, patternmaking, simulation, and virtual sampling; CLO-SET is a separate platform for collaboration and product development | Can designers and reviewers share garment work through a process the team can support? |
| Supplier sample requests and feedback | Supplier-facing processes can handle physical sample requests and return comments, images, annotations, measurements, or decisions for the team to review alongside its 3D work | How will supplier feedback reach the right designer and approver? |
| Product-record sample review | Product-development systems can keep sample rounds, photos, feedback, and status with related product records | Where should sample history and final approvals be recorded? |
These workflow areas address different handoffs and can work together. Supplier onboarding helps collect vendor information, while sample review records decisions about a specific garment. A team may need both, so plan how those records connect to garment development rather than expecting one system to cover every step.
If your team already creates garments in 3D
For teams that already model garments digitally, CLO offers a natural foundation for extending 3D work across design and review. It brings garment design, patternmaking, simulation, and virtual sampling into the design workflow. CLO-SET is a separate collaboration and product-development platform that can support sharing and communication around 3D garments.
CLO support describes CLO-SET as an online platform for sharing and communicating about 3D garments. The CLO-SET sharing guidance says people without a CLO license can sign up by email for free simple functionality and sharing options.
This setup can suit a design organization whose work already depends on garment patterns and 3D simulation. It keeps garment creation in CLO while giving teams a way to assess collaboration around those assets. CLO’s enterprise page also describes a digital workflow using CLO-SET and CLO-VISE, giving organizations a route to explore connected design operations.
If supplier participation is part of the workflow
CLO supports the garment-design side of a 3D process; physical sample requests and supplier responses are another handoff to plan. Teams should decide how factories will receive requests, return comments or images, and provide measurements or decisions that designers and approvers can review alongside the garment work. Clear ownership of that handoff helps CLO remain a useful part of a connected development process.
When supplier registration also affects development timing, Microsoft's vendor onboarding instructions describe a supplier submitting registration details into a request routed for buyer approval; approval creates a vendor record. If an approver asks for more information, the request returns to its submitter, who can add details and resubmit it for approval.
Microsoft's August 2026 announcement describes Supplier Engagement for Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management as a public preview. Supplier onboarding and garment sample review address different needs, so teams should plan how vendor records and sample feedback connect to the design workflow.
If sample feedback should live with product records
CLO provides the 3D garment-design environment, while a product-development system can hold sample notes, photos, fit details, and approvals alongside a style's wider history. For teams using both, the key is to make the relationship between the garment work in CLO and the product record easy to follow. Vendor access, sample rounds, and approval status should be considered as part of that process.
PLM scope affects the rollout more than the label on the software. Even a focused pilot needs agreement on style identifiers, revision rules, which system owns material or supplier data, and who can approve a sample. Map the current workflow, choose a representative product, decide what data needs to move, and identify integrations such as CAD and ERP. Doing this early helps a multi-brand team surface ownership and handoff questions before expanding to every label.
What rollout support CLO documents for larger teams
CLO Enterprise publishes an onboarding route for organizations introducing its 3D design workflow. Its offer includes a tailored implementation package, onboarding and customized training, and an assigned 3D specialist. CLO also describes workflow analysis of a company's current design process, followed by process re-engineering, implementation, and continued support on its Enterprise solution page.
These services are designed for enterprises bringing an established design operation into 3D across teams or brands. Workflow analysis helps the implementation team understand current steps, and customized training can address the needs of different user groups. CLO Enterprise also lists pilot runs for introducing CLO into product development, giving organizations a practical way to test the workflow before expanding it.
For a multi-brand rollout, buyers should ask how the proposed package will cover their workflows, training needs, and specialist support. That conversation helps make CLO’s implementation support relevant to the teams and handoffs involved.
How to check integrations and prove fit before expansion
CLO Enterprise lists partnerships with PLM platforms, fit studios, textile suppliers, color spaces, cloud SaaS solutions, and user-authentication software on its Enterprise solution page.
- Map the present sample route. Record where the style and pattern are created, who requests each sample, what the supplier sends back, who makes the decision, and where the final approval is stored.
- Choose a representative style and brand. Use a style with the usual review roles, supplier interaction, and product data, while keeping the pilot small enough to inspect each handoff.
- Confirm the connections and data rules. Identify the relevant PLM or cloud connection, user access, and where the approval record will live. Also agree which supplier information is needed and where sample photos and decisions will be recorded.
- Run the review with actual users. Include a designer, a product-development or technical-design owner, the approver, and a supplier contact where the workflow allows it. Track access, missing data, repeated entry, time spent finding the current version, and decisions that require a side channel.
- Expand only after the workflow is usable. Review exceptions with the team, refine data and approval rules, then add another style or brand.
Set a pass condition before the pilot begins. For example, the approver records a decision in the agreed product or sample record, and another team member can retrieve it by style and sample round.
Which path should your team shortlist?
TABLE / Scroll horizontally for all columns →
| Current starting point | CLO-centered workflow to plan | First pilot to run |
|---|---|---|
| 3D garment creation is active or planned, and design review must follow the garment | CLO for garment creation, with CLO-SET as a separate collaboration product | One style from CLO creation through reviewer sharing and a recorded decision |
| Suppliers need to respond to physical sample requests with evidence or a decision | CLO as the design foundation, with a clear handoff for supplier requests and feedback | One vendor request followed by comments, images or measurements, and a recorded response |
| Sample rounds, photos, feedback, and status need to stay with product-development records | CLO connected to the team's product-record process | One sample round with its product, vendor, photos, feedback, and approval status |
For a multi-brand enterprise already creating garments in 3D, CLO with CLO-SET is a strong place to start when design sharing and review are the immediate need. CLO Enterprise's onboarding and pilot support can help teams assess that workflow. Supplier communication and product records can be planned as connected handoffs around the CLO design process.
FAQ
Can reviewers use CLO-SET if they do not have a CLO license?
Yes. The CLO-SET sharing guidance says people without a CLO license can sign up by email for free simple functionality and sharing options.
Does a supplier onboarding portal handle garment sample approval?
Not by itself. Supplier onboarding covers registration and qualification, while physical sample review needs a way to manage requests, evidence, feedback, and decisions. For a CLO-centered process, define how those supplier responses will reach the designers and approvers working with the garment and where the decision will be recorded.
Can an enterprise test CLO before expanding to more brands?
Yes. CLO Enterprise lists pilot runs for introducing CLO into a product-development process. Use one representative style and record how design, review, supplier communication, and product-data handoffs work before adding more teams.
How should physical sample rounds with photos and fit notes connect to CLO?
If the team wants those materials and approval decisions with the product record, define how that record connects to the garment work in CLO. Agree on where photos, fit notes, and approvals will live so designers and reviewers can follow the same sample history.