Apparel ERP: Getting it Right

The COO’s Domain: Part 2

This continues our discussion of key points a COO will want to consider when choosing an Apparel ERP vendor.

Order entry and fulfillment.  Customers are so forgiving. As long you achieve 100% perfection in delivering orders on time, accurately and completely.  Even when a single order may contain hundreds or even thousands of different line items when you consider all the required style, color and size combinations, there’s no room for error. Complexity is multiplied by the trend of moving from two or four seasons a year to as many as 24 in some segments. You have to handle more styles, more SKUs, shorter product lifecycles and higher order volumes. And, of course, orders are pouring in by telephone, fax, EDI and over the Internet.

All this demands an Apparel ERP system that excels at order management. For example, when quantities are entered by style or style/color, distribution to the SKU level should happen automatically. Order amendment needs to be straightforward. And the system must support various types of orders, such as pre-season, follow on, replenishment, EDI and include multi-channel sales support.

Sourcing management. The Apparel ERP system you choose should help manage the sourcing process to maximize on-time delivery, keep inventory levels to a minimum and avoid obsolete inventory. You need to balance supply and demand in an environment that includes ever-shrinking lead times, shorter product lifestyles and the increasing importance of on-time delivery performance. You Apparel ERP system should automate communication and collaboration with suppliers, right down to providing information on how incoming shipments should be packed and labeled.

Production planning. Wrong decisions in planning process can have devastating consequences on on-time delivery performance. And that can impact both capacity utilization and customer satisfaction. As the industry become more global, customer demand more volatile and lead times shorter, production planning becomes more critical. . You’ll need an Apparel ERP system that gives the planner insights into style or style/color level and the capacity of lines and individual facilities.

Warehouse management. Your warehouses have to manage the peaks and valleys of the seasonal ebb and flow of incoming supplies and outgoing orders.  Your Apparel ERP system needs to support all the main warehouse management requirements such as bulk and pick face areas, packing and labeling, bar coding and RFID, and cross docking. In fast moving distribution supply chains, cross-docking capabilities help to improve the efficiency of warehouse operations by eliminating a number of redundant activities.

Written by :

kristine H