Manufacturing2 min read
Manufacturing ERP Guide: BOMs, MRP, Shop Floor and Costing
A practical guide to manufacturing ERP: modelling BOMs and routings, making MRP trustworthy, shop-floor data capture, costing, quality and traceability.
Industry · Manufacturing
Garment ERP for style, colour and size — at volume
Apparel businesses think in styles, colourways and size runs. One purchase order can contain hundreds of SKUs, each with its own quantity, and a single fabric shortage can hold up the whole shipment.
- M01Product Variants
- M02Manufacturing
- M03Subcontracting
- M04Purchasing
- M05Inventory
- M06Sales
Context
ERP in garment
Whether you manufacture for brands or run your own label with contract factories, the ERP must handle the size matrix natively, plan fabric and trims accurately, and track production stage by stage.
01Operational challenges
What usually breaks before the ERP project starts
01
Size-matrix order entry
Orders with dozens of colour and size combinations entered line by line.
02
Fabric and trim planning
Consumption per garment estimated loosely, leading to shortages or surplus fabric.
03
Production visibility
No real-time view of how many pieces are cut, sewn, finished and packed.
04
Buyer compliance
Labels, packing instructions, testing and audit requirements vary by buyer.
02Core flows
How the ERP should handle each part of the business
- Sales flow
- Buyer orders entered as a style × colour × size grid with delivery dates; brands also manage wholesale and direct-to-consumer channels.
- Procurement
- Fabric and trims calculated from consumption per size and order quantities plus wastage; purchased against the style or order.
- Inventory
- Fabric by roll and shade, trims by item, finished goods by style-colour-size and carton.
- Warehouse
- Finished goods packed per buyer's ratio or solid-pack instructions, with carton labels and packing lists.
- Manufacturing
- Cutting, sewing, finishing and packing tracked by bundle or order, in-house or at CMT contractors.
- Accounting
- Costing per style including fabric, trims, CMT charges and overheads; landed costs for imported goods.
- CRM
- Buyer relationships, sampling stages and seasonal line planning tracked.
03Industry workflows
Workflows specific to garment
01
Sampling cycle
Proto, fit, size-set and pre-production samples tracked with comments and approvals.
02
Cut plan
Cutting quantities by size from order ratios, with fabric issued by roll and shade.
03
CMT subcontracting
Cut panels sent to contractors with trims; finished garments received with rejects counted.
04
Carton packing
Ratio packs and carton labels generated to buyer specifications.
04 — Reporting
Reports that should come out of the system, not a spreadsheet
- Order status by stage and style
- Fabric and trims shortage report
- Cost sheet vs actual by style
- On-time shipment by buyer
- Contractor output and reject rates
- Sell-through by style for own-brand lines
05 — Compliance
Compliance considerations
Buyer codes of conduct, social compliance audits, product safety and labelling rules (fibre content, care labels, country of origin) and chemical restrictions. Keeping test reports and certifications against styles and suppliers supports audits.
Regulatory requirements vary by jurisdiction. We configure the system to support your obligations; confirm specific rules with your auditor or compliance advisor.
06 — Integrations
Systems the ERP needs to talk to
PLM tools for tech packs, CAD/marker-making software, eCommerce platforms and marketplaces for own-brand lines, and EDI with large retailers are common.
07AI opportunities
Where AI is genuinely useful here
Practical uses that sit on top of clean ERP data. None of them replace getting the core transactions right first.
01
Tech pack extraction
Read tech packs and buyer POs to pre-fill styles, BOMs and size breakdowns.
02
Size curve suggestions
Suggest size ratios for new styles based on sell-through of similar products.
03
Compliance document tracking
Capture test report results and expiry dates from supplier documents.
08ERP modules
Modules a typical deployment includes
- M01Product Variants
- M02Manufacturing
- M03Subcontracting
- M04Purchasing
- M05Inventory
- M06Sales
- M07PLM
- M08Accounting
09Roadmap
Implementation roadmap
- 01
Style master
Styles, colourways, size scales and BOMs per size.
- 02
Orders and materials
Matrix order entry and fabric/trim planning.
- 03
Production tracking
Cutting, sewing, finishing and CMT flows.
- 04
Channels
eCommerce and retailer integration for own-brand lines.
10Common mistakes
Mistakes we see repeatedly
01
No matrix entry
Entering size runs line by line is slow and error-prone.
02
Single consumption for all sizes
Fabric usage differs by size; averaging creates shortages on larger sizes.
03
Untracked CMT stock
Material at contractors must remain visible as your inventory.
04
Ignoring wastage
Cutting wastage must be built into material planning.
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Can we enter orders as a size grid?
Yes, product variants with a matrix entry view let users enter quantities across colours and sizes in one screen.
How do we track production by stage?
Production orders with operations for cutting, sewing and finishing, or stage-based tracking per bundle, provide stage-level visibility.
Can we sell online and wholesale from the same stock?
Yes, with allocation rules that reserve stock for wholesale orders and expose the remainder to online channels.
Similar industries
Industries with related workflows
ManufacturingBOMs, routings, MRP, shop-floor control, costing and traceability for discrete and mixed-mode manufacturers.Metal FabricationJob-shop ERP for quoting, nesting-driven material planning, routings, heat numbers and job costing.Plastic ManufacturingERP for injection moulding and extrusion: resin and regrind, tooling, cavities, cycle times and scrap.
Next step
Size runs causing chaos?
We will show how style-colour-size works end to end in one system.