What to Look for When Selecting Apparel Decorating Software

3 Mar 2020

A group of people planning in a business setting.

As you search for an ERP software solution for your apparel decorating or promotional products company, the sheer number of choices can seem overwhelming. To help make the selection process easier, it is important to look for a system designed with your unique industry needs in mind and functionality tailored to streamline everyday business practices.

There are several things to consider when choosing apparel decorating software:

Industry Experience

The vendor selected should have an extensive understanding of apparel decorating and promotional goods industry best practices, terminology, market climate and business methods – resulting in a comprehensive solution with feature-rich functionality designed to meet the dynamic requirements of decorators. By being an active participant in industry associations and maintaining good relationships with suppliers, they are able to stay current with market trends. Vendors who are industry experts capture the uniqueness of the apparel industry and incorporate that knowledge into their print shop software.

Integration Availability

The chosen ERP vendor should foster integrations with marketplace leaders and have strong relationships with industry-best solutions that complement the software, as well as meet end user’s needs. Integrating with suppliers, popular eCommerce platforms, secure payment processors, shipment tracking and other partnerships is essential in today’s marketplace. Select an ERP provider that plays an active role in finding and maintaining integrations that benefit your company now and into the future.

Customization and Scalability

The investment of screen printing software tailored to your particular company’s needs and business requirements is an important ERP selection criterion. Any vendor chosen must demonstrate the ability to grow with your business by offering the ability to add new features, functionality, applications and cross-platform capabilities that scale along with the growth of your apparel decorating and promotional goods business. Adding optional modules, increasing users, expanding to additional facilities or increasing the amount of data should also be available should the need arise. Select a vendor that actively remains at the forefront of technology to stay abreast of industry changes.

Inventory Tracking

Effective inventory management is a challenge for many apparel and promotional goods decorators. The chosen ERP solution should offer comprehensive functionality for tracking incoming, outgoing and on-hand inventory. Additionally, robust solutions offer an integrated warehouse management system (WMS) that utilizes barcodes and mobile scanners for real-time updates and provides accurate visibility into your company’s inventory to ensure efficient order fulfillment.

Production Management Capabilities

Industry-specific functionality that streamlines shop floor processes and manages activities should be a selection criterion in your ERP search. You’ll want to ensure that scheduling capabilities efficiently track set-up, run time and employee productivity, as well as include automated alerts to provide information on jobs that require attention to resolve problems before they get out of hand. The solution should allow you to easily reschedule over-allocated machines or work centers with drag and drop technology and enhanced visibility of your production scheduling conflicts.

When searching for shop management software for your apparel decorating or promotional goods business, it’s important to utilize a variety of selection criteria including industry experience, integration availability, customization and scalability, inventory tracking and production management capabilities.

Aptean Impress, a recognized leader in the apparel decorating software industry for over 25 years, offers a robust apparel ERP solution, developed as a complete system to meet the critical needs of garment and screen printing manufacturers. From beginning sales order entry through shipping, we’ve tailored the solution to meet the intricacies of the industry, while providing the ability to customize and scale to adjust to your business requirements.