The manufacturing processes for the apparel industry can be very complicated and overwhelming to understand. That’s because companies in this industry have to deal with a wide and expansive range of raw materials, product types, production volumes, supply chains, retail markets, and associate technologies in order to stay ahead of their competitors. The good news is that our document management system can enhance the effectiveness of your manufacturing process in various ways.
Simplify Pre-Production Activities
A great deal of work goes into the pre-production stage, and that’s true for many different industries. For apparel manufacturers, pre-production activities include sampling, sourcing raw materials, planning, cost analysis, and approving the proposed product.
The sampling stage may sound simple, but it’s actually a very involved process.
In order to pick the right materials, apparel manufacturers have to collect the following data on each sample:
- Color
- Fabric
- Composition
- Description
- Quantity
- Size
- Style
- Reference number
- Source
When it’s time to place an order, it’s important to have all of this information available at your fingertips. This is where eFileCabinet can make a difference. Instead of browsing through your documents to find the right one, you can use our quick search to pull out exactly the information you’re looking for.
Pre-production activities don’t end with sampling. It’s often necessary to finalize the source of raw materials, plan how many employees and machines will be needed, receive the necessary approvals, and calculate the anticipated cost and profits.
From arranging for accessories to organizing a system for creating and altering patterns, there are a lot of details your company needs to keep track of. eFileCabinet can help you simplify your pre-production activities and help you get to the approval stage faster.
Manage Production Processes Effectively
Producing apparel of any kind may seem straightforward, but it’s actually much more complicated than it seems. Fortunately, you can use rules and policies to keep the process uniform throughout your company. Whether you want your employees to follow proper cutting norms, check workability before cutting patterns, or use a specific method for labeling clothes, it should all be spelled out in detail in your policies and procedures.
Obviously, your employees should have access to the information they need. But employees responsible for embroidery won’t need the same information as employees in charge of sewing or stitching. With eFileCabinet, your employees can quickly find the information they’re looking for in order to do what needs to be done.
Stay in Charge of Post-Production Tasks
The manufacturing process is not over once the last stitch has been made. The post-production stage includes thread trimming, pressing, folding, packaging, and shipment. Of course, you should have quality control measures in place as well.
How can document management software make it easier to keep track of your post-production workflow? As with your other manufacturing processes, eFileCabinet is here to provide traceability for your workflows. And instead of passing on to-do items via email or a traditional inbox, you can handle all these tasks within eFileCabinet knowing that the document won’t be forgotten or lost in the shuffle.
Don’t Neglect Your Supportive Processes
Every company in the apparel manufacturing industry has to deal with supportive processes, including Human Resources, Accounting, and Sales and Marketing. All of these departments can benefit from using document management software (DMS). eFileCabinet even helps you stay compliant with regulations.
Whether you’re hiring employees, running payroll, analyzing costs, or finding new customers, your employees have to understand the processes involved. They also need to know how to manage the information they deal with on a daily basis, and this includes designing policies on creating, altering, archiving, and deleting documents. Last but not least, you should always have a process in place to help you audit your document trail.
How Document Management Software Can Help
Document management software can enhance your manufacturing processes as well as your supportive processes. Using eFileCabinet reinforces your policies and increases your security at the same time. By assigning different roles to different users, we can help you prevent unauthorized access to your information. This keeps trade secrets safe and only allows your employees to see what they need to know in order to do their job.
While certain users may be given permission to make alterations, that doesn’t mean you’ll be giving up control of your information. Our document management software provides you with an audit trail that allows you to see what happened to your documents along the way.
Whether your company is using paper or electronic documents right now, there is always room for improvement. If you’re not currently using document management software, then you might be paying the price in other ways. Give eFileCabinet a try today to see what we can do for you! Just fill out the form on this page for your 15-minute demo.