AIMS Apparel ERP Software - Go Green, Be Profitable!
“Going Green” is one topic that has become of much importance in almost any industry you can think of. With making low cost fixes to be a part of the green movement, many clothing manufacturing companies have seen profits rise. But this change to “green” has not been easy for the fashion industry. Sure, many garments are being produced with 100% organic cotton and other environmentally friendly materials, but this is just one part of what can be done.
Manufacturing of textiles is one of the biggest pollutant industries globally due to antiquated manufacturing systems for processes such as dyes and finishes as well as growing cotton and producing synthetic fibers. Each year, tons of wasted materials get rejected from mills because of incorrect dye colors which then need to be destroyed by incineration and eventually leads to toxins in the air. Many water sources near manufacturing mills are polluted and turn into various colors depending on which season that mill is producing due to toxic dyes that are washed off during the cleaning process.
All of this sounds morbid but, apparel businesses can conduct research and really understand the entire processes of making the fabric to the end product. Companies should put into place a criteria list which evaluates environmental performance of suppliers. After appraising all suppliers, the one that is most eco-friendly will be the one that receives the contract. What dictates profitability for mills is the number of production orders they receive, so if you, the brand, assesses the mills environmental practices and standards and see that they are not up to par, then that particular mill will probably see less business and hence will be less profitable.
As we try to clean up the manufacturing process, the apparel industry also experiences issues such as over production of goods and garments being worn for shorter periods of time and being disposed of in order to move on to the next season. Apparel businesses demand more from their manufactures and expect a quicker turnaround time and all completed within short notice, which in turn leads to higher chances of making mistakes in production. When all is said and done and there is an excess inventory left because the garments did not sell or were manufactured incorrectly. You now have tons of perfectly good pieces that end up getting pushed to jobbers and/or eventually end up in landfills. Thus, the waste created cuts into the companies’ profits due to lack of sale.
Many mistakes that are made during production or in the ordering process which lead to non-usable goods and have to be thrown away, are due to lack of software that can assist in planning of a production. Many apparel companies feel that paper orders and manual processing is OK and do not realize the impacts that can affect both profitability and the environment. AIMS 360 has been the leading apparel ERP software company in the industry for 28 years and continues to address issues to help drive efficiency and create eco-friendly solutions. Not only does the software address the issues of manual planning of purchasing, the software itself is eco-friendly. Current software industry itself demands many hard components such as servers, CPU’s, monitors, etc. and just like the apparel industry, thousands of old and unusable equipment is tossed into landfills each year. In order to reduce computer component wastage, AIMS360 offers its servers in the cloud, meaning the user does not need to have a server on-site. AIMS will host and store all of the client on AIMS servers. The more clients a software company can get to run in the cloud, the less equipment waste in landfills and power consumption.
Along with hosting, AIMS 360 offers iPad apps such as AIMS RemoteLink for salespeople that take orders on the go. This native app allows you to take orders using an iPad and eliminates the necessities of paper. All orders are logged into the app and uploaded into the AIMS software with a simple click of a button.
In the case of production errors, the AIMS 360 software helps streamline the process allowing the user to manage and assess quantities, sizes, colors etc. and place an order correctly and quickly with a few clicks.
When it comes to fashion garments, more-and-more customers are becoming environmentally conscious and are looking at where a product is made, how it was made, what it was made of, who made it, etc. which, at the end of the day can increase profitability and the brand or severely hurt it.
For more information about the AIMS apparel software, please contact info@aims360.com or call 310-361-5710 ext. 736. You may also visit them on the Web at www.aims360.com
