ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING IN TEXTILES AND APPAREL MANUFACTURING

INTRODUCTION

Enterprise Resource Planning is application software that includes all the data associated with a company and assists the company in providing information at the right time. Enterprise Resource Planning originated as early as the 1960s and has gained overall acceptance in the past two decades among the industries. 

Enterprise Resource Planning software is a set of arranging and highly centralizing concurrent industry application software components distributing a frequent database, which holds core production and business administrative functions, such as planning, purchasing, manufacturing, sales, and marketing, supply chain, finance, and accounting.

Enterprise Resource Planning collects particulars of all the performances in a company

• Enterprise Resource Planning is an automated program that provides access to and stores data about all departments and processing business with a company.

• Enterprise Resource Planning is a perfect application software framework.

• Enterprise Resource Planning contains several modules, and each module is unique and important to different departments and captures their operations.

• Enterprise Resource Planning records all transactions that occur in a company.

• Enterprise Resource Planning assists to improve the business.

• Enterprise Resource Planning can be used to make business decisions in real-time.

• Enterprise Resource Planning helps to organize and manage the business.

• Enterprise Resource Planning supports both a company’s operations and business processes.

•Enterprise Resource Planning includes a  standard database that collects and stores all the information of the company.

Components of Enterprise Resource Planning 

Enterprise Resource Planning has a wide variety of unique features and add-ons available to meet more complex business requirements. They are six main elements of ERP such as,

1. Human Resources

2. Customer Relationship Management

3. Business Intelligence

4. Supply Chain Management

5. Inventory Management System

6. Financial Management

Working with Enterprise Resource Planning Systems in Industries.

The implementation of enterprise resource systems is not at all an easy and straightforward method that immediately improves performance. In reality, companies face several problems in trying to install enterprise resource systems that can turn into nightmares. 

A single comprehensive database is at the heart of the enterprise resource planning system. The database gathers data and feeds data into modular systems that serve nearly all the company’s business activities across business divisions, functions, and across the world. When new information is entered in one location, the related information is automatically changed. Despite its capacity to integrate, the enterprise resource planning system is not versatile. It is a generic approach that does not always comply with the specific characteristics of each organization. A schematic view of the enterprise resource planning system is shown below.

An enterprise resource planning system, by its design, imposes its own rationale on the policy, organization, and culture of a company. It drives an organization towards full integration even though a certain degree of business unit separation might be in its best interest.

When the enterprise resource planning systems are modular, the company can implement only those modules that are best suited to their business. However, the complexity of enterprise resource planning systems makes significant changes impracticable. As a result, most companies implementing enterprise resource planning systems would need to adjust or even fully rework their processes to meet the system specifications.

Since the enterprise resource planning system is a generic approach, challenges occur when the competitive advantage of the companies comes mainly from the distinctiveness of its products. For companies that compete on cost rather than on distinctive goods or superior customer service, the cost of the enterprise resource planning system is always too high and it is more cost-effective not to implement the system.

In addition to the strategic consequences, enterprise resource planning systems also have a significant and paradoxical effect on the organization structure and culture of a company. By offering universal, real-time access to operational and financial data, companies can streamline their management processes and set up flatter, more democratic organizations. On the other hand, they often include centralizing control of knowledge and standardization of procedures, which are more associated with hierarchical organizations with uniform cultures. To maintain local control, some companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Monsanto, and Nestle use a “federalist model” (i.e. state power) where the ERP system is adapted to promote local operating practices.

Finally, as the enterprise resource planning systems profound business implications, top management should be involved in the decision-making process. The possibility of off-loading for the implementation of the enterprise resource planning systems to technologists is too risky. Management must either monitor the development and execution of the enterprise resource planning systems to ensure that the system suits the company or the risk of being under the monitor of a generic system that requires the company to adapt to suit the enterprise resource planning systems.

Needs of Enterprise Resource Planning 

The need for Enterprise Resource Planning is given below.

• To incorporate all the operations of the company.

• To get real-time information.

• To authorize or deny any company online activity with immediate action.

• To increase the visibility of the company by allowing stakeholders to quickly access the necessary information.

• To provide greater control of organizational capital, including men, machines, and materials.

• To understand the variations in the quality of a product.

• To expand productivity and attain higher efficiency levels.

• To avoid or reduce wastage in processes.

• To follow best-practice procedures.

• To increase customer satisfaction.

• To manage and control costs.

• To maintain accurate records.

• To get detailed analysis reports.

• To get reduced lead times.

• To reduce labor work.

• To forecast demand proactively.

• To optimize production schedules.

• To meet delivery deadlines.

Source of Enterprise Resource Planning system

Enterprise Resource Planning is a data-gathering system that incorporates all aspects of the industry, such as research and development, production, marketing, distribution, human resources, sales, and finance. Enterprise Resource Planning makes more efficient process flows, business activities, and production methods pursued by the organizations to achieve the goals predicted for the supply chain management.

In the Enterprise Resource Planning system, all the company activities are entered into the system software based on the production, sales, marketing, and financial reports that are attainable for analysis. Enterprise Resource Planning activities encompass supply chain management (SCM), Human resource management (HRM), MRP II, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and financial resource management. New Enterprise Resource Planning systems include PLM. Enterprise Resource Planning helps in the complete integration of all the departments of a company. It supports multiple languages and a wide variety of industries and can also be used across multiple locations.

Enterprise Resource Planning in the textile industry caters to all the vertical domains like spinning, weaving, knitting, non-woven, technical textiles, dyeing, printing, finishing, home textiles, and trading. It uses a single database, like Oracle and SQL server where all the data related to the industry are stored. All the data related to the company are stored in a single location on a computer (server).

Enterprise Resource Planning Product selection Criteria

There are five strategic requirement levels are needed for the selection of product in the Enterprise Resource Planning system such as,

• Functionality
• Technology
• Vendor
• Support
• Costs

Salient Features of Enterprise Resource Planning in textiles

1.Spinning, knitting, weaving, and dyeing processes are managed automatically as a single system.

2. Automatically plan and control for production/sourcing.

3. Availability of raw materials is tracked automatically.

4. Real-time monitoring of production orders.

5. Easy access to visual dashboards.

6. A consistent technology framework enabling a high volume of transactions.

7. Inherent functions for a need-based application.

8. Smooth flow of information within and outside the company.

Enterprise Resource Planning Life cycle in the textile and apparel industries

Any Enterprise Resource Planning life cycle is close to the usual life cycle of software development. The stages such as designing, development, full growth, and decline. In the textile and apparel sectors, the introduction of  ERP will take place through the following phases: assessment, Assortment, execution, and post-implementation phase.

The different steps involved in the life cycle of Enterprise Resource Planning in textile and apparel industries are given below,

Step 1: Investment decision in Enterprise Resource Planning system

Step 2: Assessment of existing ERP systems.

Step 3: Assortment of ERP system.

Step 4: Prerequisite analysis of the vendor.

Step 5: Expanding and modifying the ERP system.

Step 6: Execution.

Step 7: End-user Training.

Step 8: An equivalent run of ERP software and accessible practices.

Step 9: Exist run by the ERP system.

Step 10: Periodic system updates and error fixing.

Step 11: Constant usage.

Step 12: Substitute for the available ERP system.

Functions of Enterprise Resource Planning Software’s in textile and apparel industries

Access to Sales order

Considering color, size variations, production of preformed invoices, shipping papers, sales invoice, selection of finished products, generation of packaging list, letter handling of credit facilities.

Inventory

Raw materials availability, finished products per lot, package, batch-wise, work-in-progress, order wise.

Procurement

Requests, permissions, the form of orders for purchase, receipt of products by receipt of documents.

Production

Production phases with a breakdown of usage,  beginning and finishing dares, waste calculation, and monitoring of production progress.

Costing

Pre-costing of goods by Merchandisers and real costing of raw materials currently used on the production floor.

Dye house management

A huge waste comes from the dyeing industry, which is likely to raise the price of the fabric. ERP software allows the control of the dye usage in the dye house management.

It provides an inventory of chemicals, daily waste generation reports, recipe generation, management of dyeing lab, batch management system, real cost estimation of reprocessing dyeing, etc. in their standard ERP system.

Enterprise Resource Planning Software for Textiles and Apparel Industry

• ERP Software for finance, Spinning, Yarn Dyeing, Technical Textiles, and Weaving.
• ERP Software for Asset Management, and Human resource management system.
• ERP Software for Sewing Thread.
• ACS Optima
• Bann
• BPCS
• Datatex
• Intenia MovexFashion
• J D Edwards
• PointMan
• SAP
• SyteFashion

Benefits of Enterprise Resource Planning 

Some of the advantages of using ERP are described as follows; 

• Improved organizational transparency and accountability. 

• Reliable and quicker access to data for timely decision making. 

• Enhanced consumer response.

• Promoting strategic development. 

• Uniform reporting in compliance with global standards.

• Optimized asset/resource utilization.

• Increased efficiency of operation has been made possible by the availability of reliable data.

• Communication occurs in the actual-time period.

• Performance analysis.

• Identifying the costs of production.

• Cost of quality can be measured.

• The consistency of the product can be reviewed automatically if it enters into the ERP framework. 

• The movement of a stock through multiple units is made easier. 

• Arranging quotations and sales orders are simple, especially for repeat orders. 

• Simple workflow management in all processes.

• Production reports can be obtained immediately.

• Employee performance and machine performance can be accurately measured.

• Payroll analytics, salary analytics, and performance-based reward systems can be integrated using ERP analysis reports.

• Preparing financial reports at the end of the year is simpler.

•A detailed review report can be accessed from the Enterprise Resource  Planning.

Benefits of Enterprise Resource Planning in Textile and Apparel industries

1. Easily track the industry. 

2. Compiling the report in a very short time 

3. No risk of data manipulation 

4. Save time 

5. Simple access from anywhere in the world.

6. Reduction in cycle time

7. Cost savings

8. Reduction in machinery downtime

9. Improvement in sales

10. Customer satisfaction

Barriers to implementing an Enterprise Resource Planning  system

Key obstacles to the implementation of the Enterprise Resource Planning System. The most widely cited obstacles are,

• Change of resistance

• Top management support is limited

• Consumer training and education

• Implementation at a Higher cost

• Lack of a right project team, and apparent view of the ERP function.

Failures in Enterprise Resource Planning  implementation

The failure occurs in the implementation of ERP system in any industry was mainly due to,

1. Deprived leadership from top management

2. Computerizing accessible redundant procedures

3. Impractical expectations

4. Weak project management

5. Insufficient teaching and training

6. Difference between system potential, and organization procedures

7. Imprecise data

8. Important technical complexities.

Conclusion

Both basic software and textile precise software packages are exploited in the existing industry. The hurdles to the accomplishment of the Enterprise Resource Planning system in the textile and apparel industries appear to be similar to other manufacturing industries. E-commerce exists in the form of traditional Electronic Data Interchange with a lot of changes, but no electronic market places are used in the textile industry.

Textile industries seem to incorporate their Enterprise Resource Planning systems with business intelligence, finance, production, and supply chain management systems. Most recent ERP software programs such as ERP-I and ERP-II has overcome these problems. A recent ERP  system, automatically analyzes a financial statement and forecast, outlook stock needs to retain inventory at a healthy level. The key benefits attained in recent ERP systems are enhanced punctual delivery, minimized purchase cost, minimized inventory cost, and low wastages, enhanced relationships with clients, and decreased lead-time. Such key benefits have assisted to increase the scope of Enterprise Resource Planning in large firms, small firms, and medium firms for a healthy business atmosphere.