Understanding Integration and Why Your Apparel Business Needs It

Almost anyone in the apparel/footwear space has heard the term ‘integration’. Many are already well underway with it and have been for many years, perhaps without even knowing it.  By its simplest term, Merriam Webster defines ‘integrate’ as – “ to form, coordinate, or blend into a functioning or unified whole”.  

So how does this translate to your apparel business? Let’s start by explaining two primary aspects of integration:

Data Integration

Within every business, data is the fundamental resource. As business expands and grows, so does data and so does the need to analyze it. The growth of data, the sheer volume of it, can prove to be a daunting challenge for companies to manage. This in turn can delay or even obstruct value generation and revenue growth. Without meaningful access to accurate data and metrics, companies fail to fully understand their business performance, their bottlenecks, and even their greatest successes. Data integration is paramount and without it an optimal business operation is nearly impossible.

So, what does this mean, exactly? Your business data must “form, coordinate, or blend into a functioning or unified whole” if it is to be relevant or useful.

With a robust apparel ERP software, companies can manage their data easily, quickly, and securely because of smart data integration such as:

• Data Sources - ABS provides comprehensive transactional data grids to analyze business activities such as sales, shipping, margins, and payables. These data grids give employees an easy way to access key information sources, drill for more detail, sort, filter and even export data. The use of data grids adds tremendous value and efficiency for accessing history and  making educated future decisions. ABS also allows more savvy users to create their own data sources and apps to view them.
  
  
• Dashboards – With important KPIs, dashboards give executives and management that essential bird’s eye view of performance. ABS offers a variety of dashboards that instantly supply information like total sales YTD (and variance to last year’s YTD sales), open A/R, top performing customers, top performing styles, and on-time order fulfillment metrics.
  
  
• Reporting/Query tools – Having multiple industry reports at your fingertips is a great way to analyze your data. Having access to query tools that allow for easy data selection and presentation gives your business ‘on-demand’ results quickly and accurately.

Partner or System Integration

 Exchanging data with other internal systems or external partners is pinnacle in today’s business landscape. The exchange of data is everywhere, and the key is making sure that exchange is automated and simple in apparel software.

Apparel and Footwear brands need to convey their style catalog and inventory to their buyers. Buyers place orders. Many brands are selling their product on B2B or B2C E-Commerce sites. Importers place supplier purchase orders and are notified when these orders are completed and shipped. Warehouses need to know what’s expected in an inbound container. They also need to know what to pick, pack and to whom to ship to.  Factored companies need to make sure their invoices are received by that Factor. Some customers remit payment directly from their bank. There are dozens of scenarios where data is exchanged. Automating this exchange in a timely and seamless manner can be an absolute game changer.

Integrating these transactions and data to support them (verses manual entry) is crucial for expedient, efficient and accurate information exchange. There’s no doubt that Integration can:

• Reduce operational overhead
• Empower user efficiency
• Onboard new systems and partners more quickly
• Substantially speed up business processes
• Foster customer confidence and satisfaction

A modern and robust apparel erp software should have the tools to integrate with any external application. ABS provides key integration protocols such as:

• EDI
• API
• Delimited, XML, CSV and other file layout exchange nodes

..and we are always expanding our integration protocols as the industry calls for them!

The Apparel and Footwear business is anything but stagnant. Changes, compliance factors and new regulations happen frequently. Integration is needed now more than ever to remain relevant and competitive in this industry. One overlooked data or system integration opportunity can result in lost revenue, compromised customer loyalty, and delayed fulfillment.

Want to learn more about integration, and how Apparel Business Systems can help you meet your goals and streamline your business? Contact us!