Garment and apparel software: seven types, one job each.
What each type of software does in a garment business, what it leaves to the others, and where Kamna fits.
What types of garment and apparel software are there?
Garment and apparel software comes in seven types: 3D design and pattern CAD, PLM, ERP, MRP, production tracking, inventory and warehouse, and accounting and billing. Each does one job well and leaves the rest to the others.
| Type | What it does | What it does not do |
|---|---|---|
| 3D design and pattern CAD | Draws the garment and its pattern pieces on screen, grades sizes and lays out markers before any fabric is cut. | Track what happens on the floor or what a garment costs to make. |
| PLM (product lifecycle management) | Holds each style from concept to approval: tech pack, measurements, bill of materials and sample rounds. | Run the business once orders are in production. |
| ERP (enterprise resource planning) | Puts the whole company in one system: accounts, purchasing, sales, stock and people. | Go deep on any single department; that depth is what the other types sell. |
| MRP (material requirements planning) | Works out what fabric, yarn and trims an order will need and when they must be bought, against what is in stock. | Record what was actually consumed once cutting starts. |
| Production tracking | Follows garments through cutting, stitching and finishing, in the factory and at job-work vendors: pieces sent, pieces received, work in progress. | Plan purchases, keep the accounts or design the product. |
| Inventory and warehouse | Counts yarn, fabric, trims and finished goods in and out of stock. | Say what a lot cost or where its pieces are now. |
| Accounting and billing | Raises invoices, records payments and keeps the ledgers. | See the production floor behind the numbers. |
How is PLM different from ERP?
PLM owns the style before it is made. ERP owns the company once it is selling. A business developing many styles at once keeps them in PLM: specs, sample comments and the bill of materials. The same business pays suppliers, books sales and counts stock in ERP.
How is MRP different from production tracking?
MRP is the plan. Production tracking is the record. MRP says how much fabric an order should need and when to buy it. Production tracking says how much was actually cut, which vendor holds the pieces today and how many came back. Margin is decided in the gap between the two.
Is retail billing software meant for a factory?
No. Retail billing and point-of-sale software is built for shops selling finished garments: counters, barcodes and customer invoices. A factory making garments needs its lots, stages and vendors recorded, which shop software does not hold.
Where does Kamna fit?
Kamna belongs to the production tracking type, with costing kept at the level of the lot. It records each lot's stages, in the factory and at job-work vendors, and the pieces sent and received on each. At lot close it calculates cost per piece from recorded fabric consumption, cutting payouts, stage bills, trims and other costs, divided by first-quality pieces, and compares it with the target selling price.
It does not cover garment design, style development, purchase planning or company accounts. Those jobs sit with the CAD, PLM, MRP, ERP and accounting types above.