ABSTRACT

The textile industries have changed tremendously in the last few years. To sustain competitive advantage, companies must re-examine and fine-tune their business processes to deliver high quality goods at very low costs. Most companies have now outsourced manufacturing to low labour. Globalization has led to increase in competition and quality awareness and therefore it has become very important for the textile industry to integrate itself with information technology to survive. ERP is an integrated system that allows information to enter at a single point in process & updates a single shared database for all functions that directly or indirectly depend on this information.

ERP solutions came into existence in corporate world due to various problems faced in Management Information System (MIS), Integrated Information System (IIS), Executive Information System (EIS), Corporate Information System (CIS), Enterprise Wide System (EWS), and Material Requirement Planning (MRP), Manufacturing Resource Planning (MRP II). This paper deals with the functions of ERP, the response to the ERP in Indian textile market, Challenges of aligning ERP with textile processes, taxonomy of textile ERP system, ERP system Implementation and finally the use of ERP in the Weaving industry considering online data monitoring and actual ERP structure. ERP system enhances information flow through various business processes like production sales, inventory planning and finance - helping companies to gain competitive advantage. Simply to understand - ERP system organizes all of the companies information into one centralizes system, which is always available.

INTRODUCTION:

In every sector of our textile business, the market is forcing companies to stay competitive by taking proactive steps to improve operations. In the pursuit of profitable growth in a global marketplace, mills are looking for new strategies to improve the quality, cut costs, respond swiftly to changes in customer demands and vagaries in raw material supply position, expand globally, develop new distribution channels and forge new value-added relationships with suppliers and customers With the increase in competition and quality awareness within and outside India, no developing and progressive industry would be able to survive for long without application of Enterprise resource planning (ERP).It plans and controls various operations right from the purchase upto selling of the product. This paper mainly elaborates the concept of ERP, its development, implementation with its success and failure factors. There are many slacks in use of manpower, energy, fuel, textile material, and other processing materials in textile industry. Management of the manufacturing resources plays a vital role in any textile industry. It helps in the optimal uses of manufacturing resources. It reduces the wastage of the raw materials. Higher quality of product is obtained by using it.

Controlling of the different textile mills in the different location can be made easy by this system. It vanquishes the old standalone computer system in Finance, HR, Manufacturing and Warehouse, and replaces them with a single unified software program dived into software modules that roughly approximate the old standalone system. It provides software for textile industries of all kind, from vertically integrated companies requiring system top cover the entire production cycle to those to those specializing in single stage of the production process. It helps in the planning for optimizing and scheduling of production orders. It not only provides a user-friendly environment can be tailored to the needs of companies both large and small, but also progressively expanded, both in the ` horizontal` sense to embrace additional organizational functions, as well as `vertically to integrate other stages of the production process.

References

APICS Dictionary Ninth Edition (1998). APICS. Falls Church, VA, USA.

Hodge, George (2000). "Taxonomy of Information Systems for Textiles". 80th World Conference of Textile Institute, Manchester, England, April 16-19, 2000.

APICS (2002) ERP Scorecard APICS Performance Advantage June pp.59-65.

Hodge, George (2000). Directory of Manufacturing Planning and Control Software for the Textile and Apparel Industry, Falls Church VA: APICS 2000, stock number 01176

Umble, E.J. and M. M. Umble (2002). Avoiding ERP Implementation Failure Industrial Management. January/February pp.25-33.

Home Fashions leaders hone internal investment and global options Bobbin June 2000 pp. 62- 63

Taking the pulse of ERP Modern Material Handling February 2001 pp. 44-51.

http://www.sap.com/sweden/pdf/BWP_Textiles_Integrate.pdf

http://www.missaha.com/search/business/enterprise-resource-planning/index.html

http://www.datatex.com/index.htm

http://www50.sap.com/businessmaps/6DBA137E58FAD311B1A50090270F6F87.htm

http://www.expresscomputeronline.com/20051219/management01.shtml .

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Fischert, International textile bulletin, 2002, 48, 22-26 (5 pages)

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www.Textileassociationindia.org

www.google.co.in

www.schaeffer-pro.com/e/activity.html

www.indiantextilejournal.com

To read more articles on Textile, Fashion, Apparel, Technology, Retail and General please visit www.fibre2fashion.com/industry-article

4.2. ERP IMPLEMENTION:

ERP implementation is the customization and introduction of an ERP system in textiles.ERP software was designed with the concept of the benefit of seamless integration to streamline transaction-processing tasks across an enterprise. While ERP software is touted to provide tremendous benefits to the organizations that use them, there are numerous anecdotes about the success and failure resulting from their use .What has been largely unexplored is the nature of the use that plays an important role in determining the productivity and effectiveness of the use as well as success and failure of the implementation and use.

Respondents were asked what they thought were the main barriers to implementing an
ERP system. The most frequently cite barriers were:

1. Resistance to change
2. Lack of top management support
3. User training & education

Some of the other issues that were mentioned included cost, having the right project team, lack of a clear view of the function of ERP, and that textiles does not follow and ERP business flow. Umble and Umble describe 10 categories of ERP implementation failures which area as follows:

Poor leadership from top management
Automating existing redundant or non-value-added processes
Unrealistic expectations,
Poor project management
In adequate education and training
Trying to maintain the status quo
Mismatch between the system capabilities and the organizations processes and procedures
Inaccurate data
Implementation viewed as an IT project
Significant technical difficulties.

5. Conclusion:

The textile industry in our country is one of the few industries in the country, which has the potential to emerge as a true global player. Recognizing the fact that industry needs concerted strategy and time-bound action plan to convert its core competence in availability of all major raw materials, skilled manpower, managerial competence and entrepreneurial skill to a competitive strength as a producer and supplier of top quality textiles at competitive prices .It is the comprehensive enterprise resource planning (ERP) system with solution from SAP, TIM etc. It has been designed to meet today's changing demands in corporate world. This system allows companies to regain active control of their whole administration and operations environment to increase efficiency and profitability. System enables new levels of business process and technology integration while laying the foundation for incremental evolution of the solution. The ERP is needed to heighten quality, to make profit and to survive in the global market because this allows to think on the results and to make the beneficial correction. To run in competition the ERP is fundamental aspects in consideration with other aspects.

Some of the key benefits achieved are improved punctual delivery, reduced purchasing cost, reduced inventory cost, reduced wastages, improved client relationship, and reduced lead-time.
Textile companies are looking for ERP solution to fit their specific needs. Both generic and textile specific packages have been utilized in the industry. The barriers to implementation in textiles seem similar to those in other industries. Electronic commerce in the form of traditional EDI, but not electronic market place which have see lots of changes in last year, is used by the textile industry

2. WHAT IS ERP?

An Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system is a package of corporate wide software application that drives manufacturing, planning, costing, finance, marketing, human resources and other business functions in real time. Most textile companies today have separate application software to carry out each activity. The significant advantage of an ERP system is that it integrates all the functions to create a single unified system rather than a group of independent application, thus creating a synergy between the vital resources of an organization namely men, material, money and machine.

Definition:-

ERP is defined as an integrated, multidimensional system for all functions based on a business model for planning, control & global optimization of entire supply chain by using IT technology.

ERP is an integrated system that allows information to enter at a single point in process & updates a single shared database for all functions that directly or indirectly depend on this information. ERP is basically a software suit that integrates the whole enterprise, covering the entire internal supply chain from vendors & suppliers to customers.

ERP solution includes functions like human resources, corporate finance, production planning & control, materials management, quality management, plant maintenance, service management & sales and distribution.

3. NEED OF ERP IN INDUSTRY:

ERP covers the techniques and concepts employed for the integrated management of business as a whole with objectives of effective use of management resources to improve the efficiency of the organization. This system designed to model and automatic many of the basic process of the company from the finance to the shop floor with a goal of integrating information across the company and eliminating complex expensive links between computer systems. It produces the dramatic improvements when used to connect parts of an organization and integrate its various processes. Thus, it gives a better products and better services at affordable prices.

A)Tangible Benefits:-

Greater and effective control on accounts payable through better invoicing and payment processing
Reduction in paperwork because of online formats for entering and receiving information
Improved cost control
Quicker response and follow up with customers
Availability of timely accurate information with detailed content and better presentation
Better monitoring and quicker resolution of queries from within and outside.
Quick response to change in business operations and market consumption.
Improved business processes providing a competitive advantage.
Improved supply demand linkage with remote locations and branches in other countries.
Unified customer database usable by all applications
Single write, multi read data.

B)Intangible Benefits:-

Improved customer service and satisfaction
Increased flexibility in operations
Improved resource utility, reduced quality cost and information accuracy.
Improved decision making processes due to availability of online information.

4. ERP IN TEXTILES:

Textile manufacturing revolves around three entities customers, banks and suppliers. A customer gives a sales order to the company and this forms the basis for production planning. Raw material is purchased and dispatched to the mills. Receipts and payments are made through banks. Before the ERP deployment, most of the work was done manually resulting in inaccuraciesboth incorrect and missing entries.

With the new system, the group wanted to maintain its procedures. ERP has enabled accountability, accuracy, and transparency without breaking the existing workflow.

4.1 DEVELOPMENT OF ERP PACKAGE FOR TEXTILES:

ERP facilitates a company wide integrated information systems covering all functional areas such as manufacturing, sales and distribution ,accounts ,payables,receivables,inventory ,human resources,etc. ERP integrates and automates most business processes and shares information enterprise wide in real time thus improving customer service and corporate integration. ERP solution includes manufacturing marketing as well as finance sectors.
The main steps in development of such a software package are:

Defining the problem
Designing the programme
Debugging
Testing
Documentation
Maintenance
Redesign

Defining the problem:-

It includes feeding of data (i.e. specifications of input and output processing requirements).Thus to design such a system one requires to know various parameters of textile
Fibre module: - It consists of market price of fibres as well as technical specifications like grade, fineness, strength, moisture regain, etc should be included.

Yarn module: - It includes various technical, process as well as commercial details.

i.Technical parameters like yarn count, strength, weight, CV%, twist, quality ratio, breaking strength and irregularity.

ii.Production details like lot number, shift production, efficiency and wastage

iii.Process parameters like carding, drawing, spinning.

iv.Commercial details like end use, market price, etc.

Fabric module:- It also includes

i.Technical specifications like yarn count for warp and weft, reed count, ends and picks per inch, process specification at winding.

ii.Process details like weight and fabric width, no. of knots, sizing paste, size take up, ends and picks fabric faults.

Marketing module:-This deal with store section and various parameters like stock, MRP.
Finance module:- It deals with HR cell and includes various parameters like database on HR, performance rating,HR allocation and selection and recruitment.

Designing the programme:-

The first step is to input incoming orders, check the feasibility of requested dates for delivery, suggest possible delivery, manage the entire order cycle from acceptance and entry to packing list, shipping and invoicing, manage the price list, allow orders to be accepted via internet, order taking, booking of stocks.

Second step is article coding (giving codes to different end products).The code structure of each article type may be named and defined as per software developer or user and parameters required.

Planning is next step. It means working from given budget and production plan and calculating material and capacity requirements, laundering production orders and identifying divergence of orders being processed from planned production schedules.

Next step is checking of product manufacturing. It allow planning, laundering and tracking of production activities across whole cycle and to handle fault reporting and mapping, optimizing cutting of pieces at each inspection cycle.

Inventory and purchasing should be taken care of defining purchasing and stock policies by specifying minimum inventory levels, recorder quantities and replenishment times.

C. Debugging:- It is the procedure of correcting the errors.

D. Testing:- Checking of correction of individual programme as well as complete system.

Documentation :- It gives full description of package and details for executing the system.

Maintenance :- It is the preservation of complete package.

Redesign:- Extension and changes as per the requirements of individual situation.

4.2 FEATURES OF AVAILABLE TEXTILE ERP PACKAGES:

Datatex has been designing, developing, and implementing solutions exclusively for the textile and apparel industry since 1987. Today there are over 380 implementations of TIM operating in 38 countries in 14 different languages, at the service of large, medium, and small-sized textile manufacturers. Datatex is an international company with offices in Italy, Israel, the USA, Germany, and Switzerland.Datatex has created TIM  a specialized ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) product addressing the information requirements of all segments of the textile and apparel industry.

4.2.1Benefits of TIM:-

Information integration with unique database.

Business process streamlining.

Optimal use of manufacturing resources.

Monitoring of profit margins.

Quick response

Improved customer service.

Higher quality, less waste.

Reduction of work in process and inventory.

On time deliveries.

TIM consists of the following integrated functional modules:

a)Sales: for order acceptance, shipping, and invoicing,

b) Planning: for optimizing and scheduling of production orders

c) Manufacturing: for the management of the production cycle, including dye-house management, and quality control

d)Inventory & Purchasing: for the optimization of reordering, stock control, and valuation policies

e)Costing: for the monitoring and control of standard and actual costs.

SALES:-

Satisfying customers is becoming an ever increasing challenge. The ability to smoothly and efficiently enter, track, allocate, ship and invoice a sales order is essential to anyone operating in the textile and apparel business. With the ever increasing pressure brought on by domestic and global competition, and the stress resulting from severely shortened product life cycles, the task of Customer Service gets more and more challenging.

COBRA/TRP: (for stock manufacturing) processes incoming orders, checking the feasibility of requested delivery dates or suggesting the earliest possible delivery date.

VIP: (for order-driven manufacturing) processes incoming orders, checking the feasibility of requested delivery dates or suggesting the earliest possible delivery

COPS: manages the entire order cycle from acceptance and entry to picking list, packing list, shipping and invoicing.

TPM: (for third-party manufacturers) manages price lists and invoicing directly from job lots.

ECHO: the e-business module which allows orders to be accepted via the Internet, online order tracking, booking of stock availability and on-line catalogue publishing.

b) PLANNING:-

Planning has become the most critical success factor in the textile and apparel business. Quicker delivery times, on-time delivery, smaller lot sizes and online order acceptance, are only some of todays market expectations. In order to satisfy both your customers needs and those of your company, datatex enables TIM to guarantee order acceptance based on finite production capacity, available stock, work-in-progress and forecasts.

COBRA/TRP: working from a given budget and production plan, calculates material and capacity requirements necessary for the completion of the specified processes.

VIP: checks stock availability and manufacturing capacity allocating and scheduling resources to the critical production steps.

DISPO: launches production orders and identifies divergence of orders being processed from planned production schedules

C)TEXTILE MANUFACTURING:-

The textile industry is totally different from all other types of manufacturing, but the area where the difference is most relevant is production.

Correct and thorough control of each production process to maximize volume and profits for each individual department, and of the entire company

Be able to track production to find and prevent defective lots or defects in production.

Reduce production lead-times

Improve quality by better managing both material usage and process parameter settings

Reduce waste by properly defining the production standards and monitoring production processes

Maintain close management of external operations involving shipping of items to be processed to the converter, delivery dates, and processing price

Perfect communication between sales and production so that delays and problems can be identified before they affect customer service

DISPO: allows planning, launching and tracking of production activities across the whole textile production cycle.

CATS: handles fault reporting and mapping, optimizing the cutting of pieces at each inspection table, recording quality and rectification details for each piece.

d) INVENTORY AND PURCHASING:-

In an industry where lots, bales, pieces, rolls, raw materials, finished products, colors, sizes etc. are everyday elements, keeping a warehouse under control, both financially and logistically, is just as important as it is difficult.

TIM is totally adapted to specific textile work areas, and helps buyers and inventory managers to fulfill warehouse objectives such as

Reduction of unsold and obsolete stocks and supplies through careful controls that minimize carrying costs

Optimization of physical warehouse and location selection

Improvement of customer service in terms of quality and response-time, thanks to better warehouse organization

Management of any kind of warehouse whether internal or external; by quantity, batch, piece, lot, container, or size

Reduction of buying expenses thanks to better organization of purchase requisitions and their order status

Capability of issuing any kind of transaction order, whether for production materials, consumption materials, or miscellaneous goods

Choice of the best supplier with respect to prices, quality, and delivery times

MASH: manages and evaluates raw materials and finished products in terms of inventory levels, requisitions and allocations

MRS: defines purchasing and stock policies by specifying minimum inventory levels, re-order quantities and replenishment times.

SRS: allow authorized personnel to enter purchase requisitions.

SOS: handles purchasing up to the issuing of the order and the checking of purchase invoices.

e) COSTING:-

Because of ever changing customer requirements, manufacturing methods and technologies, it has become impossible and highly unreliable to calculate margins based exclusively on past experience. This is why TIM calculates both standard and actual costs allowing for changes in production plans and actual manufacturing processes to be considered online

MAIS: calculates standard costs (direct costs or full costs) for all articles, calculates contribution margins and indicates the production mix required to maximize profitability

MACO: calculates actual production costs and indicates divergence from standard costs.