The Hindu Business Line : 3i Info unveils solution for apparel sector

3i Infotech on Thursday launched `Orion' — an ERP solution for apparel manufacturers and distributors in Tirupur. It plans to launch the product in Mumbai and Ludhiana in a month's time.

Its Chief Operating Officer (South Asia), Mr Anirudh Prabhakaran, told Business Line that his team had worked with some of the organisations in Tirupur before the launch. "Success in today's competitive environment is no longer primarily dependent on managing plant operations alone. It is getting increasingly dependent on meeting customer needs," said Mr Prabhakaran.

He said that the solution would help apparel manufacturers plan their production schedule, do quality control checks, help execute different types of orders and shipments, help recognise foreign buyers' requirements and so on. "The existing solution does not address certain critical production aspects such as quality control checks. We have been working with a German company — Gerber, a leader in manufacturing and design — and managed to develop the solution for the apparel industry," he said.

The end-to-end solution could be extended to suppliers as well, he said and added that retail sales in the apparel industry started with good planning in the design stage and continued throughout the product's lifecycle. "Our flexible line planning application would enable the user to plan at many levels and at each stage of the process," he said.

To illustrate he said, "Say the exporter has an order for one lakh garments of five different colours in five sizes and the importer asks for shipment of three specified colours in all sizes in the first lot, the manufacturer should start planning the production schedule, check for supply of cloth, needle, thread etc. The software is the enabling tool for taking a snapshot of these features, which he would otherwise have to do manually," explained Mr Prabhakaran.

He said organisations were gearing up to meet the demands of the eBusiness supply chain.

To a query on ROI, he said it would vary between 18 and 24 months depending on the volume and number of features used. The solution is meant for the apparel industry, irrespective of the size of the manufacturing unit.