Spinning Success With IT Solutions

The textile industry occupies a unique place in the Indian economy by contributing to nearly a third of the country's export earnings. Right from sourcing the raw material to making the fabric, IT plays a crucial role. Like every other vertical, textile also has core processes that differentiate it from others and make it unique in many ways. Computerizing these unique processes is one of the biggest challenges faced by CIOs as well as IT vendors.

Fortunately, textile unlike logistics does not suffer from the problem of not having an ERP or an enterprise-wide solution. In case of textiles, ERP vendors are attacking the market aggressively, knowing that most of the textile companies, except the big ones, operate with disparate IT systems. Most of the companies have built disparate IT architectures making integration a far cry.

Ground IT Realities

According to IT vendors, the organizations in the textile and the garments segments are treading slow in IT investments. Says Chetan Pathak, general manager, Sales and Marketing, Ramco Systems, “Textile organizations typically have home-grown applications for some key functions like production, sales, etc. These are non-integrated systems that do not give a clear picture of the entire supply chain. The established and the growing players, however, have either implemented or are in the process of implementing an integrated application.” The high levels of heterogeneity and lack of a standardized IT backbone are driving the textile companies towards adoption of new technologies like ERP.

When one looks at the inherent dynamics of the textile vertical, CIOs need to counter a string of challenges to create a robust integrated IT architecture. Quips Guruprasad S Rao, head, Textile, Apparels, and Retail Vertical, Infinite Computer Solutions, “Merchandising peculiarities, market planning and forecasting, product planning and seasonal variations are some of the key IT challenges the industry faces, particularly in India. These affect the manufacturing cycle.”

The portal, YarnsandFibers.com, covers the entire range of the textile value chain-from fiber intermediates to fabrics. It has over 95 member countries and all the leading players in the business

Since the beginning of this decade, the managements of the textile companies have started focusing closely on IT. Large textile groups started facing the heat of competition from global brands and started looking at improving productivity across the organization. As a result, some of the large domestic textile companies have adopted integrated IT systems like ERP, SCM and CRM. Still, there are lots of mid-sized and small textile companies that have home-grown non-integrated applications. The companies that have adopted ERP have primarily automated financials, sales and distribution, materials management and plant maintenance processes. On the other hand, the companies with home-grown solutions have essentially automated financial accounting and sales invoicing systems.

One of the key challenges the textile industry faces is that of capacity planning and scheduling. Various IT products like MQM from Datatex or PP/DS module of SAP APO try and address this problem. Another major issue is the dye house and process house management, which can be well addressed by Datatex solution K2DYE.

Says Guruprasad, “We have a vertical in Infinite called TAR (Textiles, Apparels and Retail). The textiles functionalities are handled by our services built around Datatex TIM, which is the global leader in textile solutions with over 400 successful implementations.” Infinite has successfully deployed TIM in complex manufacturing scenarios. In some cases the spinning scenario is as large as five lakh spindles, weaving for about 400 looms. Infinite's solution has also been implemented by a Chinese company with 2,500 looms and 300 dyeing machines.

Companies like SAP, Ramco Systems, Infinite, and the likes have large mandates in the textile space. Most of the companies where they have deployed solutions have gone through a lengthy process. In most cases they have not taken the big-bang approach to implementing solutions like ERP. Instead, they have gone in a phased manner. Says Deb Deep Sengupta, regional director, North, SAP India, “Large textile companies like Raymond, Grasim, Nahar and others have adopted end-to-end integrated systems like ERP, SCM, CRM, but IT adoption in mid-sized and smaller companies is yet to mature. Industry consolidation and globalization has enabled organizations to adopt integrated systems.”

"Large textile companies like Raymond, Grasim, Nahar and others have adopted end-to-end integrated systems like ERP, SCM, CRM. But IT adoption in mid-sized and smaller companies is yet to mature" -Deb Deep Sengupta, regional director, North, SAP India		"Many IT solutions are deployed primarily to address online transaction processing requirements. One of the key challenges the textile industry faces is that of capacity planning and scheduling, which can be effectively handled by implementing ERP" -Guruprasad S Rao, head, Textile Practice, Infinite		"Organizations in the textile and garments segments are treading slowly into IT investments. The companies running non-integrated systems get a limited view of the processes leading to operational inefficiencies in the supply chain" -Chetan Pathak, general manager, Sales and Marketing, Ramco Systems

View from the Enterprise

With a select group of vendors offering enterprise-wide solutions for the textile industry makes it a very niche vertical.  Many vendors have shied away from addressing this vertical due to the complexities involved. The few solutions offered are highly customized and specifically address the IT requirements of the vertical.

Take the example of Madura Coats, the Rs 750-crore Indian subsidiary of UK's Coats Plc, the world's leading sewing, threads, crafts and accessories manufacturer with 22% global market share and operations in 67 countries. In India, it operates through its two divisions-Coats India and Global Thread Supply (GTSI)-employing around 7,000 people. Headquartered in Bangalore, the company has eight manufacturing locations in India and an office in Dubai. It uses Ramco's IT solution in GTSI, Water Mill (an important dye house in Coats India) and at the group head office.

Coats felt the need for an ERP in order bring in an integrated enterprise management software system adequate for all business activities. The need for an integrated IT environment was triggered by the existing IT setup that was not able to handle the performance on peak load, along with inadequate user involvement. The legacy applications built into the existing system led to various problems such as redundant information management, soaring data maintenance costs, lack of coordination among various business functions and the like. Post the roll out of Ramco's ERP, Coats India accrued wide ranging benefits such as higher productivity, improved delivery performance, minimal IT maintenance, and an integrated IT environment.

Going in for an integrated solution is the need of the hour for high to mid-end textile companies. As per the enterprise IT spends, the vendors offer various custom solutions. As per the enterprise IT spend, the vendors offer various custom solutions. Jupiter Knitting Company (JKC) is one of the manufacturers and exporters of hosiery and knitted readymade garments located in Tirupur, popularly called the knit city. Having sketched ambitious growth plans, the Rs 40-crore company wanted to re-engineer its IT architecture for tighter controls and integration. It also wanted an integrated client-server system with a graphical user interface. After evaualating various options, the company chose the SAP All-in-One solution.

Says P Muthusamy, general manager, JKC, “We were facing many problems before the successful implementation of SAP R/3, but with the ASAP approach, we went on schedule. This initial project has been an outstanding success and with the experience and knowledge gained, we will leverage this for all our future business engagements.”

Looking at the inherent dynamics of the textile vertical, the CIO needs to counter a string of challenges to create a robust integrated IT architecture

Therefore, with both big and mid-end enterprises in the textile space going for an IT overhaul, the market for solution providers is fast expanding. The vendors catering to this space are aggressively promoting ERP as the panacea for improving operational efficiencies. They, however, opine that the IT decision making in this vertical is quite slow. The proposal for modernization from the IT department does not always elicit immediate response from top management. Moreover, at the stage of selecting an integrated solution, most companies are apprehensive whether the solution can address the unique demands of the vertical. But, successful cases emerging from vendors like SAP, Infinite, Ramco, and the likes are making the textile industry aware that integrated information architecture is the key to enhancing their operational efficiencies.

Shrikanth G

shrikanthg@cybermedia.co.in

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