Companies must adapt and expand their boundaries to stay ahead of the curve in today’s highly competitive business landscape. Apparel retailers have a major challenge in managing daily operations, especially with the number of different apparel products they offer.
In this article, we will highlight some of the benefits that software in the fashion industry brings.
What is Apparel Manufacturing Software?
Apparel manufacturing software is a tool with a set of features designed to manage the ordering, inventory, and assembly of clothing and other items. Apparel manufacturing software is software used by companies that have their own apparel manufacturing factories or those that use external manufacturers. Some common features of such software include:
- Automated order entry;
- Automated production planning (using algorithms such as MRP);
- Labor-management (scheduling employees based on daily work orders);
- Facility management (tracking machines and staff);
- Advanced forecasting;
- Trend analysis;
- Inventory control (maintaining optimum levels for items based on quantity and demand forecasts); and
- Quality control/assurance.
Apparel Manufacturing software can be found in online databases like G2 Crowd and Capterra or researched on a company’s website.
The Importance of Apparel Manufacturing Software in Fashion
While fashion is known for its ever-changing trends, the apparel manufacturing industry takes pride in being a constant. With almost 70 percent of top global fashion brands using apparel software to manage their core business process, it is evident that fashion companies are willing to invest in technology to streamline operations and increase productivity for a successful business.
The fashion industry impacts billions of lives every day, from the people who support the clothing designers making their artistic visions into reality to those getting a livelihood out of providing these clothes worldwide. The sheer size and scope of this thriving enterprise mean there will be an increasing demand for more collaborations, partnerships, and supply chain efficiency across various channels in order not only to stay competitive but also survive in this ever-changing economy.
Apparel manufacturing software helps fashion companies in the following ways:
- Allows retailers to limit risks by better managing contingencies in the production and supply chain while also improving customer service levels.
- Provides brands with the ability to sell directly to consumers through e-commerce channels, reducing overheads related to working with third-party distributors.
- Enables businesses to monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) such as inventory turns, margins, geographic location of goods for demand forecasting.
The apparel industry is transforming into a digital enterprise, where technology enables collaboration between internal departments that previously did not have access to important information about their business strategy. And it is no surprise why so many companies are opting for a technology solution to manage business operations, as proven by a study released last year from the National Retail Federation that shows 75% of retailers feel using more data will help them compete better.
The Benefits of Using Apparel Manufacturing Software
The emergence of technology has changed the way businesses operate, allowing them to automate processes or assist in decision-making considering already existing data. In this regard, retail is no exception when it comes to embracing technology and finding ways in which various technologies can help simplify their processes and provide a bigger picture for decision-making purposes.
Software solutions make things easier by allowing repetitive tasks to automate, minimize human errors, and save time. It allows retailers to get more accurate information about the market, understand their consumers better, and thus market products accordingly.
Apparel retail is an industry that consists of tedious processes many times – processing orders, getting stock in, taking new orders, etc. Apparel management software helps streamline all these complex tasks by automating them with built-in features while increasing accuracy thanks to data integration capabilities.
It also provides flexibility because it can be easily adapted to suit different retailers’ needs, so you won’t have to worry about compatibility issues when it comes down to integrating your existing systems with the newly acquired ones. The point here is that most fashion apps are cloud-based, and as such, they can be found in the current trend of software as a Service (SaaS).
The capabilities that SaaS fashion apps bring with them allows retailers to monitor their stock closely, forecast demand, and then adjust product lines accordingly. This solution also provides an efficient inventory management strategy, which is essential for businesses to streamline workflow and stay efficient at all times.
Inventory management is not the only benefit fashion software brings with itself – it also goes further than reduced workloads by assisting in decision-making processes through data analytics capabilities. Retailers are presented with various reports, such as sales performance by region or product type. This means that retailers will be able to make accurate decisions that will directly impact their operations and the bottom line based on the data collected.
On top of that, fashion software also acts as a link between retailers and their wholesale partners by providing them with access to important information such as available stock quantities or incoming orders without calling one another all the time for this kind of data. This is an efficient way to minimize human errors. Still, it also speeds up processes since, instead of waiting on hold while calling a supplier about an order, you get an immediate answer via a real-time fashion app.
In addition to everything mentioned above, apparel management apps can be used from anywhere, making them even more accessible and easy to use. Understandably, today people value convenience in every area of their lives – being able to do things from wherever they are and whenever convenient for them is a huge advantage. This way, retailers will never miss a beat while being on the go – taking care of their business has never been this easy.
In conclusion, fashion software provides numerous benefits to apparel retail businesses and wholesale suppliers, so there is no surprise that it’s an in-demand industry nowadays.