Mechanising Function

Product Development
Time and Action Calender

July 2009

1.1. What does Merchandising mean?

The word MERCHANDISING evolves from Merchandise
commodities and goods that are bought and sold in business)

(meaning:

the

Hence merchandising is a function resulting in sale and purchase of goods at the

agreed price, at the agreed date and of the agreed quality. Merchandising function
involves all activities directly or indirectly linked with procuring and selling of
goods, planning and monitoring.
1.2.

What is a Merchandiser expected to do?

A merchandiser is expected to perform the following roles and responsibilities.

All communication, information flow throughout the order cycle (with buyers
& with departments within the company and vendors) from receipt of order
to final shipping of goods.
Costing negotiations (with buyers and vendors).
Detailed production planning and monitoring (i.e. preparing Time & Action
calendar closure of T&A with buyer and vendor).
Approvals on fabrics and accessories.
Order tracking and monitoring ON TIME shipment status
Monitoring material utilization for every order.

Ensuring all products meet the specified testing parameters as laid down by
the buyer / customer.

Approval on fabric quality, color, shade banding and also approval on trims.

Coordination between various departments (such as fabrics, sampling,

purchase, production, quality assurance and logistics) for smooth execution
and timely delivery of orders.

Capacity planning for the season (in coordination with the production
departments)
In some cases merchandisers are expected to supervise design and
development activities as part of the account management of strategic
customers.

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1.3.

MERCHANDISING PROCESS FLOW AN OVERVIEW

RECEIVE DESIGN

PRODUCTION

INDICATIONS FROM

PLANNING

BUYERS (styling &

fabrics)

RAW MATERIAL
SOURCING

DEVELOP DESIGN
SAMPLE APPROVALS

PILOT RUN
CUTTING
SEWING
FINISHING

RECEIPT OF ORDER

PACKING

SHIPMENT TRACKING

SHIPMENT AUDIT

FABRIC & TRIM

APPROVALS
RANGE
PRESENTATION

TESTING

DELIVERY & PRICE

PRE-PRODUCTION

CONFIRMATION

MEETING

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

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PRE-PRODUCTION

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PRODUCTION

LOGISTICS

2. PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

2.1. Introduction
The apparel industry is dominated by numerous small to medium sized businesses
and product development is vital to the survival and success of any business
whatever its size or type of production. The future of textiles & apparel depends
on companies adding value to their products and/or services. Companies need to
understand the product development process and to control quality and costs.
Larger organizations may have departments devoted to the research and
development of products or design departments who are constantly producing new
products and ranges. However the product development process is just as important
for smaller organizations and SMEs.

How can this section help?

You will gain a full understanding of the product development process

You will be able to plan a development process suitable for your company
needs
You will be able to strengthen your teams awareness and understanding of
other department needs
You will be aware of ways of reducing development and company costs
You will become aware of ways of improving customer service
You will find ways of minimizing risk factors and quality issues

2.2 Product development cycle

The owner/manager or the technician often carry out the development or design
process. Innovation and creativity are necessary for any business to move forward
and take advantage of prevailing market conditions. The increasing use of computer
aided design and manufacturing has helped all types of businesses to speed up the
process of product development and to do this more cost effectively.
The process of product development varies from textile context. The development
process covers a wide range of diverse products from new fibers, fiber blends, new
yarns, fabric structures, finishes and surface effects and all types of made up
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products such as knitwear, hosiery, cut and sewn garments, household products and
technical and medical products.

Despite the diversity of textile products the development process is similar for all
and the process has been transformed by the increasing use of CAD/CAM,
computer aided design and computer aided manufacturing. These enable new ideas
and effects to be reproduced on computer and tried and tested in a most cost
effective and visually acceptable way.
The product development process can be splits into three main phases.

Phase 1 - Covers the development of the initial concept or design idea

through to its approval by the customer and full review / risk analysis by the
development and production teams.

Phase 2 - Covers the process following acceptance of the first prototype

sample and includes the functions of sourcing and ordering components,
testing the product and carrying out trials.

Phase 3 - Once the finalized product specification has been drawn up, the
third and final phase commences. This includes a range of activities that are
carried out before large scale or bulk production can begin. This final stage
includes sourcing production capacity outside the home producer/developer
where this is applicable.

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2.3 Product development process flow

Final Product Development

Initial Product Development and Design

Research
& review
market
trends

Create
line by
brand,
color,
theme &
store
set

Receive &
Discuss
discuss
corporate
strategic
information

No

Product
Engineering
Inputs

Communicate
range/color/
theme palate

Execute
design
concepts
Develop
financial line
plans and
reconcile with
corporate plan

Communicate
allproduct
productline
all
line
selections

Product /
line
assortment
Report
report

Manufacturing package

Review/
approve raw
material
options from
vendors

Ensure product
alignment
between target
consumer, brand
strategies

Concepts
&
materials
approved

Design
labeling
and
packaging
samples

Determine
/select bill of
materials

Yes

Research
& develop
raw
materials

Select &
consolidate
common
raw
materials
across
divisions

Investigate
preliminary
sourcing
options

Develop initial
product
specifications

Help
provide
raw
material
options
from
vendors

Determine item
information,
retail price &
sizes, target
costs, units,
required
delivery dates

Identify target
vendors based
on research,
prior
performance
and sourcing
strategy

Vendor
report and
database
Product
Engineering
concepts

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Pre-cost
product

Yes

Research
new
vendors to
support
corporate
sourcing
strategy

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Product raw
material,
specs and initial
costing sheets

Send product
specification/
pack to
vendors

Decide
how &
where
products
should
be
sourced

Initial product development and design

Research
& review
market
trends

Create
line by
brand,
color,
theme &
store set

Receive &
discuss
corporate
strategic
information

Communicate
range/color/
theme palate

Develop
financial line
plans and
reconcile with
corporate plan

Communica
te all
product line
selections

Product /
line
assortment
report

Activity
Research and review
market trends

Performed By
Designer

Output
Fashion and Color
Forecasting

Create line by brand,

color, theme, store set

Designer

Season Line Skeleton

Communicate
range/color/ theme palate

Designer, Merchandiser

Range Planning and

Identification

Executive Director,
Business Manager

Seasonal Targets and

Goals

Executive Director,
Business Manager

Investments and
Dividends analysis along
with product strategy

Business Manager,
Product Manager,
Operations Manager

Product line Identification

and assortment

Receive & discuss

corporate strategic
information
Develop financial line
plans and reconcile with
corporate plan
Communicate all product
line selections

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Final product development process

No
Product
Engineering
Inputs

Execute
design
concepts

Review/
approve raw
material options
from vendors

Ensure product
alignment between
target consumers,
brand strategies

Concepts
&
Materials
Approved

Yes

Research &
develop
raw
materials

Research
new vendors
to support
corporate
sourcing
strategy

Select &
consolidate
common raw
materials
across
divisions

Investigate
preliminary
sourcing
options

Vendor
report and
database

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Develop initial
product
specifications

Help
provide
raw
material
options
from
vendors

Activity

Performed By

Output

Product Engineering
Inputs

Product Technologist

Manufacturing cost and

time reduction

Execute design
concepts

Designer, CAD, Product

Technologist

Providing outline to
design concepts

Review/approve raw
material options from
suppliers

Product Manager,
Merchandiser, Designer,
Product Technologist

Decision on the raw

material sourcing
options developed

Ensure product
alignment between
target consumer,
brand strategies

Executive Director, Business

Manager, Product Manager,
Retail & Sales Manager

Final product
identification

Research & develop

raw materials

Merchandiser, Sourcing
Executive

Development of raw
material and supplier
database

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Manufacturing Package

Product raw material,

Specs and initial
Costing sheets

Design labeling
and packaging
samples

Pre-cost
Product
Determine /select
bill of materials

Send product
specification/ pack
to vendors

Determine item
information, price
tickets & sizes, target
costs, units, required
delivery dates

Identify target vendors

based on research,
prior performance and
sourcing strategy

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Product engineering
concepts

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Decide how &

where
products
should be
sourced

Activity

Performed By

Output

Design labelling and

packaging samples

Product Manager,
Merchandisers, Product
Technologist

Product presentation decision

Determine bills of material

Merchandiser

Product specific raw material

details

Determine item information,

retail price, target costs,
units, sizes, delivery dates

Business Manager, Retail &

Sales Manager, Product
Manager, Merchandiser,
Commercial Manager

Complete product sales

information

Identify target vendors based

on research, past
performance and sourcing
strategy

Product Manager, Operations

Manager, Commercial
Manager, Sourcing Executive,
Merchandiser

Shortlist vendors for the

identified product

Product Engineering
concepts

Product Technologist

Details on garment
construction specifications
and manufacturing
requirements

Pre cost Product

Merchandiser

Estimated Product costing

Decide how & where to

source products

Merchandiser, Sourcing
Executive

Decision on order placement

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2.4 Market Research

Before product development can start it is essential to carry out market research
to find out what the market wants. There are both internal and external factors to
be considered which will affect potential markets and products. Social, economic
and political environments can all have an influence. Factors closer to home such as
competitor activities and company policy may also have an effect. Market
information gathered from trade shows, trade journals and market reports is also
important. Salesman samples are also one of modes to carry out research to
understand market pattern.
Every business decision made by the company is affected by a no of factors. The
below chart is a representative of the various factors.

COMPETITION

TECHNOLOGY

NEW PRODUCTS

SOCIAL INFLUENCES
CONSUMER SPENDING
POWER

THE
COMPANY

FASHION TRENDS

CONSUMER
ENVOIRNMENTAL FACTORS

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FINANCIAL

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GOVERNMENT
LEGISLATION

INTERNATIONAL
LEGISLATION

2.5 Calendar for planning activities

The entire year can be divided into 4 basic seasons. The duration, no of seasons and
the names of the season differ from customer to customer, however predominantly there are four seasons in a year as stated below.

Spring
Summer
Fall
Holiday

The shipping calendar months for each of the seasons work out to be as follows.

Spring shipping in the month of October, November & December and thus sale
of goods in January, February & March.
Summer - shipping in the month of January, February & March and thus sale of
goods in April, May & June.
Fall - shipping in the month of April, May & June and thus sale of goods in July,
August & September.
Holiday - shipping in the month of July, August & September and thus sale of
goods in October, November & December.

The development calendar starts approximately 45 60 days prior to the order

confirmation. The lead times vary from buyer to buyer depending upon the nature
of product being sourced. For Example a ladies fashion garment (with beading &
embroidery) will have a higher lead-time than a mens solid shirt.
The key activities performed during product development calendar are as below

Concept Visualization - Receive design indications from buyer. Indication on

trends, future fashion forecast, colors etc are received. The Product
development team also puts together a design collection by themselves based on
their experience and forecast.

Design Presentation - Design presentation is made to buyer. In this presentation

new sourced fabric, designs, colors, garment (for new styling) are presented to
buyer. Generally the garments presented are called as TAILORING SAMPLES.
The basis of selection of styles and fabric qualities / colors is based on an
indication of product required for a particular season.

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 Buyers pick up designs and style allocation is done. Meaning to say that all
designs picked up are now associated with a style.

Desk looms, prints, blankets, sample yardages and lab dips are developed
with the mill based on buyers advice. In most of the cases buyer sends
across a pitch sheet depicting the color combinations required.
Pitch Sheet this is a document which provides all information regarding the
print / design.
In case of a print this sheet provides the print size, repeat pattern,
and the colors being used for each individual design on the print. The
color can either be specified by Pantone color shade numbers or by small
fabric swatches.
In case of a yarn dyed fabric the pitch sheet details the design repeat
size and the colors being used in warp and weft.
The lab dips, desk looms, blankets, sample yardages are sent to buyer for
approval. This process may take 1 round or more based on the design & color
accuracy of the submissions.
Garment and fabric performance tests are also done as specified by buyer.
Standard setting of sample yardage is a very important procedure.
Whenever there is a new fabric being developed, the defect standards as
apparent on the sample yardage should be logged with the buyer. There are
certain characteristics of all fabric and certain defects that cannot be
avoided; such defects should be logged with buyer.

Development Spec Package - While the fabrics are being developed and
reviewed by buyer for approvals, simultaneously spec packages for the garment
styling are received from buyer. These spec packages have the garment sketch,
measurements, construction details, trim details and specific requirement (if
any).
The spec packages are forwarded to factories for development of samples.

Initially a rough proto is made on a substitute fabric (fabric with similar

count, construction and weight) to evaluate the fit, construction and
workmanship on the garment. These rough proto samples are generally
approved by the buying office quality auditors and are sent to customers
only when there is specific request for the same.
Once the rough proto sample is approved, a Proto sample is made on
actual fabric and trims.

The Proto sample is accompanied by a T&A and Costing

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T&A (Time and action calendar) - the T&A sent to buyer at this stage is a
general T&A developed for one season. Since each of the seasons has 3
months, this T&A states the delivery schedule considering 1st week of
each month, and hence is a general T&A for the season.

The costing advised has to be very accurate as this is the costing at which the
order is confirmed. Only in case of a drastic change in styling or fabric is the
costing revised at a later stage.

Line Building And Line Review this is the date on which the buyer decides on
all the styles that are to be selected for a season. On this date the buyer
reviews samples from all sourcing countries along with T&A and costing and the
final assortment for the season is planned. The final assortment has all details
style, fabric details, garment cost, delivery schedule, order quantity, sourcing
country and factory. This assortment sheet is sent out to all vendors to confirm
the orders.
Once the actual delivery dates and costing are confirmed with the buyer and
the vendor, a Fabric commitment / Purchase order is received from buyer.
FC (fabric commitment or Purchase order) is a legal document confirming the
order.

Handover To Production Merchandising on receipt of a fabric commitment the

style is handed over to the production merchandising team.

2.6 Fabric development procedure

Fabric development procedure is the key activity in the product development cycle.
The fabric development procedure involves the following steps.

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Sourcing of new fabric designs / prints and qualities based on the

indications for the season. The product development team does this activity.
The team studies forecast, trends, and indications as received from buyer
to develop a design range for presentation to buyer.
The prints and designs as selected by buyer are then sent to mill, to
accommodate the changes requested (if any). The details are sent to mill in
the form of a Pitch Sheet which has the design artwork and the color
details.
The mill submits lab dips (for solid fabrics), desk looms for prints and yarn
dyed fabrics along with sample yardage.
Lab dips and desk looms are required for approval on color and design.
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Sample yardage is required to log with the customer any potential problems
that are foreseen in bulk production of the fabric. The sample yardage is
also used for testing purpose and for making the PROTO samples for line
review.

While developing the lab dips, desk looms, sample yardage the product
development team has to work closely with the mill and set up a T&A to
follow up the activities with the mill.
The lab dips and desk looms and sample yardage as submitted by mill are
reviewed by the product development team for color matching, print
registration, design layout and repeat and hand feel before sending the
same to buyer for approval. This is a very critical activity as a lot of time is
lost is achieving the desired color & print or design pattern as required by
the buyer and hence requires active follow up and monitoring.
Testing of fabric is also a very important activity. The product development
team should make sure that the fabric adheres to all the testing
requirements as laid down by the buyer. In case the fabric does not adhere
some of the testing requirements, this should be made apparent to the
buyer. While doing so the product development team should make sure that
similar substitutes or options which pass the testing standards are
presented to buyer so that there is a choice available for selection of fabric
/ design etc.
All limitations with regards to fabric quality print and color should also be
conveyed to buyer along with options. This enables buyers to take a rational
decision while doing the Line Building and Line Review for the season.

2.7 Vendor - Buyer Interaction

During the product development cycle the interaction between vendor and buyer is
a very important since lot of information regarding the design, color, fabric quality,
garment styling, T&A and costing are exchanged. This information is very crucial as
it is the basis on which fabric and style developments are done.
Hence the communication should be crisp and precise. It is observed that
communication in the form of charts and formats is easy to understand and record
rather that lengthy e-mails or telephonic-conversations.
Some tools that can be effectively used to communicate information are as follows

Development track report

Lab dip / desk loom submission forms
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Time & Action calendar

Cost sheets

Development track report this report provides a detail on style, fabric, sample
yardage / lab dip/ desk loom exit and approval due dates, trim and sample status,
Costing advised and remarks. The remarks column should list down the fabric and
sample limitations if any.
A Development Track Report is available in the Annexure. This report covers all the
above stated details however; the report may differ from buyer to buyer
considering the information that the buyer wishes to review.
Weekly updates of this report should be sent to buyer to communicate the status
instead of lengthy e-mails.
Lab dip / desk loom submission form this is a form which should be used while
sending out the lab dips / desk looms for approval. This Form is available in the
Annexure.
This form has details of Buyer, Season, Design name, Fabric details (count,
construction, GSM, cuttable width, fabric price, submission date, approval due date,
comments column (to be filled by the colorist who has reviewed the color / design)
Colorist a colorist is a person who is trained to review colors under different light
sources. To become a colorist, one has to pass a Munsel Test.

Product Costing
Product costing is a very important activity and utmost care should be taken while
advising the costs to the buyer. The costs advised should be very accurate so as to
fit into buyer targets also should provide the vendor with adequate profit
realizations.
A sample cost sheet is available in the Annexure, which presents the components
that should be taken care while costing a product.
CM cost this should be calculated based on operating costs / SAM (Standard
Allowed Minutes). SAM of garments are derived by Industrial Engineering
department

2.8 Performance monitoring tools

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Performance of the product development department / team should be monitored

on the following parameters.

Design selection Efficiency (for a season) total new designs selected

expressed as percentage of total new designs developed.
Design development lead time (for a season) lead time taken for strike
offs / desk looms development
Lead-time performance number of designs developed ON TIME expressed
as percentage of total number of designs developed.

Design selection efficiency (%)

= Total new designs selected in the season X 100

Total designs developed

Lead Time efficiency (%)

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No of designs developed on time X 100

Total designs developed

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4.3.3. Time and Action Calendar

A Time and Action Calendar, or T&A in short, is something that captures several
work steps, the deadlines for completing the work steps and the actual time when
the steps were completed. Hence it is a tool for monitoring all work steps within
the order cycle time. Since the T&A also captures the actual date of completion of
work steps, it is also used to calculate the delays in work steps and analyze their
subsequent effects. The work steps are mentioned in the sequence in which they
are expected to be completed.
In short, the T&A captures 2 main concerns of buyers, merchandisers in buying
offices and manufacturers:

Are we on time?
Are all work steps happening the way they should?

4.3.3.1. Building a Time & Action Calendar

Some of the key points that one should analyzed before building a Time and Action
calendar as below. These points are very critical, as they will ascertain the
effectiveness of the T&A.

Identifying critical path there are multiple steps involved in execution of an

order, from order receipt to the final shipment. It is essential that out of these
multiple steps, the critical path be identified. The activities within the critical
path are crucial in the sense that a delay in any of the critical activities will
delay the whole process (perhaps missing the delivery date). On the other hand
a delay in non-critical activities may not impact the delivery.

Identifying activities that can be overlapped it is important to know the

activities, which can be, performed parallel to each other (overlapped). A very
simple example is Fabric and Trim sourcing. These two activities can be
preformed in parallel to each other. The important thing here is to ascertain
the activity, which takes the longer time, as this now becomes the critical path.

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Networking - it is often assumed that T&A is like a linear chain, however the
actual calendar is a network with diverging and converging tasks. This means
that one task can trigger multiple parallel tasks and completion of multiple tasks
can lead to one task. Hence it is important to chart out the network of activities
to be able to determine the critical path and the critical activities.

Setting due dates for the activities it is a common practice to set the duration
of each activity in number of days. There is a problem area here:Firstly, it is often not clarified whether those days are working days or
calendar days.
Secondly, apart from the weekend there are numerous other holidays, which do
not get accounted.
Hence it is prudent to create ones own calendar with holidays built-in and then
generate realistic due dates in time & action calendar.

Case 4
Let us now analyze the above points by means of an example. Some of the critical
activities involved in execution of an order are taken into consideration in this
example. Also the time and action calendar has been worked backwards from the
delivery date and lead time for each of these activities has been assumed as per
the chart given below:

Activity
A

Description
Delivery date

Duration

Production start

30 days prior to
delivery date

C
D

Fabric in-house
date
Trim in-house date

Fabric Order date

Trim order date

Fit approval date

5 days prior to
Production start
5 days prior to
Production start
60 days prior to
Fabric in-house
45 days prior to
trim in-house
20 days prior to
Production start

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Dependency
Determined by
buyer
Order qty,
production
capacity per day &
factory capacity.
Production start
date
Production start
date
Fabric lead time &
approval
Trim lead time &
approval
Production start
date

Fitting start

Order
confirmation

30 days prior to fit

approval
2 days prior to
fabric order date

Fit approval date

Let us now give dates to the above activities to be able to visualize the Time &
Action calendar and draw the critical path.
A 30th Dec 2009
B 30th Nov 2009
C 25th Nov 2009
D 25th Nov 2009
E 25th Sep 2009
F 10th Oct 2009
G 10th Nov 2009
H 10th Oct 2009
I 23rd Sep 2009

The above illustration clearly defines the critical path and also enables us to
ascertain the activities, which can be performed in parallel. The below analysis can
be done from the illustration.
Activity E falls in the critical path since fabric lead-time is the largest.
Activity F & H can start simultaneously but are not in the critical path. This
does not mean that they are not important OR with out completion of these
activities (represented by D & G) the goods can be produced, BUT it only means
that a small delay in these activities will not impact the delivery date.
NOTE in case activities D & G are delayed beyond C, the delivery date will be
impacted.
As per the above example all activities D, C & G need to be completed in order
to proceed to B.
Similar to the above example a detailed Time & Action calendar can be developed
which includes all activities that are preformed during the entire order cycle. As
explained above, it is important to ascertain the critical path (especially when the
T&A has numerous activities).

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Also, by creating a critical path chart we are able to know the dependency between
activities. A copy of T&A calendar is available in the Annexure.

4.3.3.2. Types of T&A Planning

Broadly speaking, there can be 2 ways in which a T&A can be planned
Backward planning this is the most common approach. Here the delivery date
is fixed (as specified by the customer) and all other activities are backward
planned from the delivery date. By doing so we can ascertain the date by which
order confirmation is required, to be able to meet the required delivery date.
Hence, by planning the T&A in this manner, we ascertain the deadline date for
completion of each activity so as to make the shipment on time.
Forward planning in this case the entire time line is forward planned from the
date of receipt of the order.
Let us go back to the earlier example to understand the difference between the
two methods of planning.
Backward planning
A 30th Dec 2009
B 30th Nov 2009
C 25th Nov 2009
D 25th Nov 2009
E 25th Sep 2009
F 10th Oct 2009
G 10th Nov 2009
H 10th Oct 2009
I 23rd Sep 2009

Forward planning
A 30th Dec 2009
B 30th Nov 2009
C 25th Nov 2009
D 10th Nov 2009
E 25th Sep 2009
F 25th Sep 2009
G 23rd Oct 2009
H 23rd Sep 2009
I 23rd Sep 2009

As you can see from the above, there is no difference in the critical path of the
T&A. However dates for some other activities have changed. In all the highlighted
cases the activities have got advanced in the forward planning as compared to
backward planning.

The backward plan provides the last date / deadline date by which the task
needs to be completed in order to be able to maintain delivery.
Hence the backward plan help monitoring the order, as the user is always aware
of the deadlines that are to be met. The task could be started earlier and could
be completed earlier, as long as it is completed before the deadline date the
delivery is intact.
This method of monitoring the order serves a very handy tool especially if there
are large no of orders to be executed, since it is more important to know the
deadline dates which will impact the order delivery.

4.3.3.3. Use of software to create a Time & Action calendar

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More and more companies are using moving towards use of software in order
management. Here are some of the features and benefits that good software
should offer.

Consistent fundamental principals the software should be based on logic and

mathematics that does not change from person to person and is constant in its
functioning. This eliminates the possibility of individual variations and errors.
Automatic analysis if timelines in case of several activities being delayed the
software should automatically calculate the total delay and should also be able
to throw an alert on the activities that will be impacted due to these delays.
Hence the software should be able to highlight the potential future delays &
problems well in advance so that adequate action can be taken rather that
firefighting once the delay has already occurred.
Automated messaging and reminders of activities to the people involved in
the order the software should automatically fire off reminders and warnings
about specific activities to the concerned people. Not only that, based on rules
that are defined in advance the reminders should start getting generated
earlier that the actual due date of the activity. Say for example; the reminder
should start getting generated 3 days prior to the due date of the activity. Also
once the due date for an activity has passed and the task has not been
completed (which means it is delayed) the software should be equipped enough
to send out messages to concerned superiors, thereby ensuring pressure o
complete the task.
Clearly defined responsibilities the software should be programmed in a
manner that the responsibility of each activity is clearly defined right from the
start. This rules out any ambiguity of who is to do the task and hence the entire
process becomes much more transparent.
Real time information and reporting working on software would mean access
to real time information for all people involved. This means that, at any given
point of time the software would enable the concerned people to know the exact
situation of the order. Further since the software captures all that data that is
fed, in terms of the actual dates on which the activities are preformed, the
system should be able to generate numerous reports such as - % of on time
shipments, % of delayed activities, order status (qty, PO no , shipment dates
etc). All these reports can be generated for multiple vendors / factories thus
enabling comparison between them.
Easy access since most of such systems are being designed either to be
internet-based or internet compatible, it is possible to log in from any location
and updated status as well as keep track of the events in the orders that one is
working with.
Improved effectiveness and higher productivity due to its automated
reminders, clearly defined responsibilities, the software should improve the
effectiveness and productivity of people using it. Easy access to information also
reduces the time that is wasted otherwise in getting the information.

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A copy of a software-generated T&A is available in the Annexure.

4.3.3.4. Challenges in Implementation of software

In the adoption of a computer aided T&A tool, the weakest link is human. No
matter how well the system is programmed to respond to alerts etc, it is the people
who feed in information into it and use the information produced by it.
In case the people using the software lack commitment to update the system or
lack understanding of how to use the information that system is generating, the
effectiveness of the system is lost.
Hence, before implementation of a system the management should have clarity of
how it has to be implemented and what can be done with it. Implementation of
software may require a change in the work culture, and the management should be
aware of the same before going ahead with it.
Another weak link is processes. It is often observed that most organizations do
not have a well laid down process for execution of orders. Even two people catering
to the same customer may be working in their own ways.
Hence standardization of processes is very important before implementation of
software.

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