Companies that manufacture and distribute textiles and apparel—from consumer and industrial fabrics and carpet to home goods, clothing, designer lines, and fashion accessories—face major challenges from globalization, complex supply networks, and ongoing mergers and acquisitions. Apparel and Textile for Microsoft Dynamics AX is a Microsoft Dynamics Industry Solutions offering that can help companies overcome these challenges by better managing complex material and product variables, which can reduce time-to-market and help increase profits. Built on the Microsoft platform, Apparel and Textile for Microsoft Dynamics AX integrates smoothly with other Microsoft products to minimize training requirements and help maximize existing IT investments. Designed to address the complex item coding, traceability, and process flexibility needs of apparel and textile manufacturers, this powerful solution also supports multiple languages and currencies to help you operate smoothly across geographies. On This PageManage complexity for comprehensive traceabilityTo help you track items from raw fibers to finished goods—and back—use multidimensional item coding to effectively handle numerous material and product variables. Trace materials from various sources and subcontractors through multiple manufacturing and finishing processes, inventory statuses, and logistics routings. Increase agility with adaptable processesMeet shifting needs by managing flexible sourcing, manufacturing, and shipment allocation processes. Meet changing customer and supplier requirements by using blanket orders, neutral bills of materials (BOMs), multi-line manufacturing orders, and variable routing and allocation simulations. Take control of costs and profitabilityIntegrate material, item, order, and cost information into comprehensive financial management and reporting tools. Analyze and understand performance and profitability across your business, including seasonal or brand collections, specific customers or markets, subcontracting options, and the impact of various distribution channels. Gain insight to respond effectively to changing conditionsRun simulations and model new processes to adapt effectively to changes in product lines, manufacturing capabilities, supply partners, production geographies, vertical integration, and distribution. Streamline supply chain interactionsTake advantage of multicurrency, multilingual, and multi-site support to speed transactions, improve transparency, and facilitate consolidated financial reporting. Share information by using Microsoft formats familiar to people worldwide, and extend replenishment processes to suppliers through the Internet. Features overviewDimensional item management | Manage complex item variables with advanced coding attributes and "smart" stock-keeping unit (SKU) coding for raw materials, process outputs, and item characteristics including collection or seasonal grouping, style, color, color-way, size dimensions, decorations, and finishing variants. Automatically update item codes based on manufacturing process completion with transaction-driven code changes and extensions. | Bi-directional materials tracking | Improve upstream and downstream traceability when you can track goods by lot, batch, and serial number, and link finished goods back to components and suppliers through item BOMs. | Flexible BOMs | Streamline planning and increase production agility by using neutral BOMs that enable production and materials planning independent of variables such as size, color, or color-way. | Adaptive production management | Increase efficiency and respond quickly to changes with multi-line manufacturing orders, flexible and alternative routings, and reprocessing management. Support either push or pull production policies and integrate subcontractor routings and management into planning and logistics. | Tailored customer order capabilities | Streamline order entry by creating multiple order types, such as collection and showroom orders, and opening blanket orders with truncated codes for later specification. Accommodate multiple shipment addresses and delivery dates per order and save time making mass modifications in existing or blanket orders. | Quality assurance support | Integrate quality grading processes and information into the production and supply chain. Allocate products of various grades to different distribution channels and gain insight into grade costs and profitability. | Integrated shipping | Define and meet customer requirements for put-up options, labeling, unitizing, and documentation. Reduce errors and speed billing and reconciliation with item and shipment information fully integrated into invoicing and accounting processes. | Inventory management | Maintain multiple material status indicators and improve inventory management with comprehensive tracking of materials and finished goods, including samples, off-site deposits such as trade show or showroom stocks, multiple real and virtual warehouses, and wholesale or distributor inventories. | Supply chain management | Increase supply chain visibility, monitor subcontractor performance, and collaborate effectively. Incorporate supply partners into costing and routing decisions, share demand and inventory information in real time, and offer trade partners security-enhanced, self-service access to key business processes through familiar Web browsers. | Price lists | Access integrated cost information to easily generate price lists for finished goods of various quality grades, sizing, and quantities, and create and maintain special promotional, trade show, or showroom pricing. | Multiple units of measure and conversions | Streamline and automate measurement conversions based on algorithms for improved accuracy and consistency. |
Next steps Note Note that industry-builder solutions will become available for different industries and different regions over time, and some may not be available in all regions. If you have questions about solutions for a specific industry and region, please contact us.
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