Key Functionality Your Wardrobe Management System MUST Have
Category: Uniform Management
Published: 12/05/2022
What is a Wardrobe Management System?
A wardrobe management system is a web-based system, designed specifically to reduce the time and resources associated with the procurement and distribution of staff uniforms, PPE and workwear. An efficient system will give management and administrators full control over products, staff allowances, orders and access to powerful reporting tools.
Below are some of the key features that you should be looking for in your wardrobe management system.
Key functionality
Set and manage allowances
Allocate pre-set allowances for each product for your staff’s uniform items. This enables them to order a pre-determined no. of garments within a set period (usually annually), or within a set value. Each order that they place within their allowance will be automatically approved and emailed direct to the supplier(s) for fulfilment.
By allowing staff to do this, the organisations that we work with tell us this has vastly reduced the time taken to organise and process orders. It is all taken care of and tracked automatically by the system.
Manage budgets and targets
The increase in efficiency doesn’t just reduce admin time though, it also reduces the number of people involved in the process and makes getting new garments quicker and easier for their staff. Inevitable human errors are vastly reduced too.
Savings are made in the following areas:
Reduce costs:
• Eliminate over-ordering
• Less personnel involved
• Order and plan stock economically
Time savings are made across the whole process including:
• Placing orders (staff order direct from web-based eCommerce store).
• Line managers checking, logging and moderating orders.
• Passing approved orders to a supplier and tracking progress.
• Finding and assessing overspend or underspend.
• Tracking usage and identifying those potentially over-ordering.
Suppliers receive clear, timely correspondence and can adjust their own fulfilment process. This enables them to meet and exceed their own Service Level Agreements (SLAs) including delivery time performance.
Ability to connect with vital systems
Your wardrobe management system (and its associated database) should sit on proven, industry standard technology, e.g. MS SQL Server or MySQL. This increases your system's potential for further development and provides tried and trusted security. Integration with the other systems that your business relies upon will be more straightforward as a result.
This is just one of the more practical reasons why our own Smart Red Wardrobe Management System has been adopted and trusted by businesses and suppliers around the world. Read more about Smart Red’s technology and API integration.
The types of systems you can integrate with to share and manage data:
• ERP systems – integration makes it easy for you to manage products and wardrobes.
• Inventory systems – share up to date stock information.
• Delivery apps and systems – to provide accurate notifications and tracking info.
• Directory services - e.g. Active Directory, enabling staff to use existing, internal login details to access and place orders.
• CRM integration - manage your customer data all in one place.
The above is not a comprehensive list by any means. Suffice to say that if your Wardrobe System has the potential to integrate with others, then it can make the administration process very simple for you. It can also make the adoption of a ‘new’ system seem much more familiar because you will be able to manage much of it from within the platforms you already know.
Extensive Reporting
When we developed Smart Red, we knew that reporting was one key area that would make a huge difference to our clients. While the system is running, there is powerful ‘under the bonnet’ functionality that carefully collects and organises key data in real-time. This means that we can provide customised reports for our clients that organise and present the data that matters most to them. As time progresses, this data can be used to run powerful reports that assist them with planning budgets and forecasting future ordering. Reporting tools can also provide key information around general usage, such as garment lifespan, staff overordering and item tracking.
Get In Touch
If you are looking for a partner who can provide a Wardrobe Management System that’s tailored to suit your processes and systems, then get in touch. Smart Red’s versatility provides innovative solutions for businesses and suppliers around the world and our team is known for high-quality customer service and ongoing user support. You will also be pleasantly surprised by our rates!
So, what are you waiting for? Contact us now and let’s start the discussion.