So what's the advantage of using a Datatex system?

Well, for most companies in the textile and apparel sector there are two alternatives to a Datatex system and both of them, in our opinion, have serious drawbacks.

And what are they?

One is to use a system that has been built for you by a software house or recycled from a similar system they developed for another textile customer. Many textile and apparel companies have gone down that road. If the software house is any good, you certainly get a system which meets your needs pretty closely - at first.

The problems come when you want to update the software as your business grows or conditions change - not to mention if you want to move to a new platform to take advantage of new technology. Over time the cost of maintaining and upgrading the system can get seriously out of hand.

With a Datatex solution all those costs are shared across the entire customer base - making it much better value for each individual user.

In addition, our product development skills ensure that each new release is optimized and integrated in a way that no recycled solution can be - even if it claims to be a complete software 'package'.

What's the other alternative?

The other way is to use a standard ERP application – either customizing it for the textile and apparel sector or using the add-ons that are available.

Both approaches have their problems.

The textile and apparel industry has a number of unique features that set it apart from other manufacturing sectors. Customizing a general ERP solution for textile use is therefore an extremely demanding and difficult task. Often the people doing the customization don't have specific expertise for the textile sector and this limits the usefulness of the solution.

Using add-ons can give you a solution with a better fit to the needs of your business. The problems arise when you want to upgrade the basic ERP package - the add-ons have to be rewritten too. You are basically having to manage two software packages – with the same kind of inflated maintenance costs we mentioned earlier.

So what's the answer?

A Datatex solution brings you the best of both worlds - you get a dedicated platform whose functions have grown up over 20 years purely as a result of feedback from people in the industry using it, day after day. Every significant step in the textile and apparel supply chain is fully catered for in a Datatex solution.

At the same time, we take care that the solutions remain in step with the latest developments in technology. Our current software uses advanced Web standards like Java 2 EE and XML to let users take advantages of the latest advances in supply-chain integration and IT technology.

And the costs of all that development are shared out across the whole user base. This means that the total cost of ownership of a Datatex solution in the medium to long term is well below that of an ad hoc system or a general ERP package.