Why shoe makers need dedicated footwear ERP software
A footwear range is a matrix, not a list. One article may come in four colours and eight sizes, which is already thirty-two stock items before you consider width fittings or sole variants. Orders arrive as size sets or assortments, production is planned in pairs, materials are consumed in sq ft, metres and pieces, and finished goods are packed in cartons with a fixed size ratio. A general ERP that treats each size as an unrelated item makes this unmanageable, which is the problem footwear ERP software is designed to solve.
Footwear ERP software handles the article, colour and size matrix as one structure. A sales order for an assortment explodes into pairs per size, the BOM scales components such as soles and insoles by size, and stock reports show a size grid at a glance. DotOne, which we configure for shoe, sandal, slipper and chappal makers, uses this matrix everywhere: in planning, job work, packing, invoicing and dealer sales.
Footwear materials and their units
Footwear uses many materials in small quantities per pair, and each is bought in a different unit. Getting the consumption norms right is the basis for both costing and purchase planning.
- Upper materials: finished leather bought in sq ft by grade and thickness, and synthetics such as PU or PVC coated fabric, mesh and textiles bought in metres.
- Lining and reinforcement: lining leather or fabric, foam, toe puff and counter stiffener, consumed per pair by size.
- Soling: PU, PVC, TPR, EVA or rubber soles bought ready by size, or produced in-house from compound in kilograms.
- Insoles and socks: board, EVA and printed sock linings, often sized and branded.
- Components and trims: eyelets, buckles, velcro, zips, laces, thread, labels and ornaments in pieces, metres or cones.
- Chemicals: adhesives, primers, solvents, finishes and polish in litres or kilograms.
- Packing: shoe boxes by size range, tissue, cartons, stickers and MRP labels.
We set consumption per pair for each component, with size-wise variation for soles, insoles and leather. The BOM management setup supports size-graded consumption so that a size 10 is not costed as if it were a size 6.
From cutting to packing: the shoe production flow
We map each department as a stage with pair counts moving forward and rejections recorded where they happen.
Cutting or clicking
Leather and synthetic are cut by hand knife, clicking press or die. The ERP issues material against a cutting ticket and records pairs cut. For leather, actual sq ft used against the standard shows cutting yield, which varies with hide quality and the skill of the cutter.
Skiving, printing and stitching
Cut components are skived, printed or embossed where needed, then stitched into uppers. Stitching is often done by in-house lines or by outside karigars and fabricators, so the ERP tracks bundles of cut components issued and uppers received.
Lasting and sole attaching
Uppers are lasted on lasts of the correct size and attached to soles by cementing, stitching or direct injection moulding. Last availability by size can be tracked as a constraint for planning.
Finishing, inspection and packing
Finished pairs are cleaned, inspected and packed into boxes and cartons by size set. Mismatched pairs, shade variation and defects are recorded before goods enter finished stock.
Controlling upper stitching and job work
In many footwear clusters, a large share of upper stitching and some finishing is outsourced to small workshops. Material goes out in bundles of cut components and comes back as stitched uppers, sometimes days later and sometimes short. Without a system, the owner relies on a notebook and trust.
In the ERP we implement, each karigar or fabricator is a job work location. Cut bundles are issued with a challan listing article, colour, size and pairs. Received uppers are matched against the issue, and any shortage, rejection or rework is recorded with a reason. Job work rates per pair are set by article and operation, so the karigar bill is calculated from accepted pairs instead of being typed in. The ledger shows at any time how many pairs of each article are lying with each fabricator and for how long.
Planning by size and season
Footwear demand is seasonal: school shoes peak before term, sandals and slippers before summer, and festive ranges before the wedding and festival season. New articles are launched every season and old ones are discontinued. Planning has to account for size curves and last availability, not just total pairs.
The ERP aggregates open orders and forecasts by article, colour and size, nets them against finished stock and WIP, and produces cutting plans and material requirements. Soles and other bought components are planned by size, which avoids the common situation where pairs are stuck because one sole size is short. For more on planning methods, see production planning software.
Cost per pair and margin by article
Small changes in leather yield, sole price or karigar rate move the cost per pair noticeably, and footwear margins depend on getting it right. DotOne builds cost per pair from actual material consumption, job work rates, in-house labour, overheads and packing, with rejection loss included.
Rejection is part of this picture. Common footwear defects include bond failure between upper and sole, stitching faults, colour or shade mismatch between left and right shoes, wrinkles from poor lasting and sole flash. When these are recorded with a reason code at the stage where they are found, the cost of rework and rejected pairs can be assigned to the article, the department or the fabricator responsible, instead of being absorbed into a general wastage figure that nobody owns.
Management can compare cost against wholesale price, distributor price and MRP for each article. Articles that sell well but earn little become visible, and new articles can be costed from their sample BOM before they are launched. Sample development itself can be tracked as a project, with sample pairs, revisions and approval status recorded against the buyer.
Dealer sales, MRP labels and dispatch
Most domestic footwear moves through distributors and wholesalers to retailers, along with company outlets and online marketplaces. Dealers order by article and size set, and expect quick confirmation of what is available. The ERP lets sales staff place orders from the mobile ERP app against live size-wise stock, applies dealer price lists and schemes, and checks credit before dispatch.
Packing slips list cartons by article and size ratio, and box labels show article, colour, size, MRP and the declarations required for packaged goods, with barcodes generated from the item master. GST on footwear can depend on the value per pair, so tax rules are configured on the item and price rather than left to the billing clerk. E-invoice and e-way bill are produced from the same dispatch document, and the dispatch and logistics module tracks transporter and delivery.
What is the best ERP for footwear manufacturers?
Look for depth in the matrix and in job work rather than a long module list. When you see a demo, ask the vendor to enter one of your real assortment orders and follow it through. A suitable system should:
- Show stock and orders as an article by colour by size grid.
- Support size-graded BOMs for soles, insoles and leather.
- Track cut bundles and stitched uppers at each karigar with pair counts.
- Calculate job work bills from accepted pairs and agreed rates.
- Pack size-set cartons and print MRP and barcode labels.
- Give dealer-wise orders, schemes and outstanding on mobile.
If you manufacture as well as retail, ask how stock in shops is handled alongside factory stock. Our guide on choosing ERP software lists further questions to ask.
