How to Optimize Apparel Manufacturing Processes
Like any other business, there are certain pitfalls and challenges in the apparel manufacturing industry as managing multiple processes and staying creative at the same time seems to be difficult, especially given the fashion industry’s highly competitive market. Designers have to work with a wide range of materials, identify new retail markets and wholesale partners, design new products and stay informed about the latest technological trends.
However, we cannot expect design people to become financial gurus as they prefer to spend more of their time in the studio designing something new rather than managing all the business processes in their company.
Fortunately, modern technologies allow entrepreneurs to breathe a sigh of relief as there are many software solutions designed to enhance the efficiency of business processes in various industries, including apparel manufacturing. Regardless of the size of your business, there is always a way to optimize the apparel manufacturing processes.
Optimization of Pre-Production Activities
Creating clothes is a long process as it takes a significant amount of time and work before the end-client purchases a beautiful dress in a shopping mall somewhere. Apparel manufacturers have plenty of work during the pre-production stage including planning, sampling, selecting raw materials, determining the cost, and approving the final product.
When you use a reliable enterprise resource planning (ERP) or any type of task management system makes it easier to keep all required information in one place.
For instance, while picking out materials for future clothing manufacturers typically collect information such as color, fabric, composition, description, style, reference number, price, amount, and much more. Those who plan the production also need to schedule the daily tasks for each department wisely so they can minimize the idle time of the machinery and meet the requirements of various production lines.
Optimizing all this data and storing it in one place will allow you to find whatever you need in a matter of seconds and a few clicks. In addition, if stored in the cloud, you can access the data from any device anytime you need it. If you keep your data, for example, in Excel spreadsheets, it is insecure as the file can break at any point and you can lose valuable information, and you can even make mistakes when using formulas.
Custom apparel management software can simplify multiple activities from planning materials acquisitions to shipping orders, and save precious time.
Optimization of Production Processes
Manufacturing apparel might seem like an interesting and creative process, but in reality, it requires a lot of work, attention to detail, and dedication. Any apparel manufacturing business has its own set of policies and standards that must be observed in each stage of the production. Whether it is about cutting norms or patterns, labeling, or any other type of issue, each rule must be described clearly.
Unfortunately, the enormous set of rules makes it hard to find the right information when it is really necessary. But if your company has a special web service, you can share the policies across different departments so all employees can have their instructions. Furthermore, managers can assign tasks without difficulty and view the entire process in a single location, so no detail is overlooked.
Optimizing the Post-Production Stage
Optimizing the apparel manufacturing process does not end when the last button is sewn on the clothing pieces. You should also think about post-production management which includes quality control, shipment, selling, etc.
Regardless of how great your product is, you should never forget the final step. If you lose items, make bad-quality products or have trouble delivering them, it can hurt your business reputation and credibility as well as the quality of the service you provide. As a result, you must make sure to control the entire process until an item is sold and your customers and clients are fully satisfied.
Communicate Plans
One thing that you should take into consideration when looking to optimize apparel manufacturing processes is to ensure that employees are aware of all the plans. This can be easily done via proper manufacturing software which will share the plan, related work orders, and production schedules with your employees and inform them of their responsibilities at all times.
The main goal of production optimization is to constantly produce quality products in a timely manner and keep up with the demands of the market.
Final Thoughts
Using software solutions can come in handy during each stage of apparel production. They allow you to optimize apparel manufacturing processes during the preparation stage, the production itself, document flow, and marketing and apply it for whatever business process you need. By optimizing your apparel manufacturing business, you will have peace of mind and achieve new heights of success.
