Category: Blogs

Benefits of ERP Software Solutions

We provided several benefits of using on-site software in our last blog to help convince you if you are still vacillating on whether to purchase business software for the first time, or purchase a more current system, including saved time and money. The benefits are much more widespread than saving time and money, though. Here are a few more benefits that come with investing in ERP software solutions for business:

• You have access to community support. If you run your business entirely on your own, you rely on partnerships or relationships with competitors for support or answers to questions. Purchasing apparel ERP or other types of business software opens up to you a whole host of training resources, support services and businesses in the same industry as yours when you have questions or problems. This support can be crucial to growth within your business and for problem solving when issues do arise.
• Your file system is streamlined. Having dozens of filing cabinets with physical records isn’t only an organizational nightmare, but it can also be disastrous if you need to find a file quickly and can’t. ERP business software keeps all of your information in one logical, streamlined place, allowing you to access to past jobs and records with incredible ease. This makes duplicating past jobs effortless, and can largely relieve the stress that comes with an audit if you do receive a notice of one. There should already be an infrastructure built in to your software for storing files — but make sure you customize it to directly meet your business needs.

Learn about 5 Reasons to Use Business Software.

In our last blog we gave you several tips for sparking innovation within your staff, including encouraging them to work together, investing in reliable software solutions for business like information services or print services that allow employees to give feedback and take surveys, and encouraging employees to engage in trial and error. Here are a few more tips to help you innovate within your company to initiate growth:

• With so much information available online today, people tend to get stuck in the it’s-been-done-before mentality, and don’t pursue any of their ideas. Make sure you help generate motion that breaks past this block. Even if another company has done something somewhat similar, you can still take an idea, make it your own, and turn it into something that is unique and worthwhile. The key to this tip is giving examples and encouraging any ideas with promise that they bring to you.

• Make sure you have a broad definition of innovation. True innovation isn’t limited to the quick, multi-million ideas, but spans the smaller ideas that help grow your company, generate smaller profits, and even those ideas that are simply steps to larger ideas and bigger deals. Make sure your employees don’t feel too much pressure to come up with truly earth-shattering ideas, but come to you with all of their ideas, no matter how small they seem.

• Finally, you need to listen to your employees, at all levels, when they want to speak to you. This involves setting up a system of leadership so employees in the warehouse have someone to bring their ideas and complaints to. Once you hear something, make sure you address it, or they won’t feel inclined to help you improve your company.

OnSite 7 was designed to simplify and consolidate many aspects of business, but beyond simplifying work between employees at their desks and on the online network, it was also designed to be used on the production floor.

Not only are you able to store many different production details and come back to them easily in the future, but you can also create production schedules and track different orders through the production process. Whether jobs demand dynamic schedules, or they have simpler scheduling needs, OnSite 7 was designed to help you create and track these schedules without pain or complication.

When the description says OnSite 7 was designed to simplify all areas of business, it really means all areas. Whether your employees are calling clients, logging information behind a desk, or working on a conveyor belt in your production facilities, OnSite 7 has specifically designed features to make their jobs easier and more efficient.

If you are having issues with your onsite software system from ShopWorx, or you want to know how to better utilize your software solutions for business, there are several business software support options that are available to you.

1. The first and one of the most comprehensive options is ShopWorx Central, a web-based resource center that you can access as a ShopWorx customer. This center is the main method through which we distribute training resources and updates to our customers, but it can also help support your company in other ways. Material is posted regularly to help you become better acquainted with your system and any updates that are made available, training material is available 24/7, and certain trouble-shooting documents are also downloadable.

2. Another great support option is our remote support software, which allows us to help you with your on-premises system from our headquarters, no matter where you are located. This is also the easiest way to fix any problems that have arisen within your system, as our technicians can log into your OnSite 7 system and find the issue, explain what has happened to you, and resolve it.

3. Finally, you can opt for phone support. With this option, you are limited to help between 8:30 am to 5:30 pm EDT, but you do get to speak to a real person and receive help fixing your system. To use this option, simply call 1-800-526-6702 to get started. Your call will be charged to your Technical Support Contract in 15-minute increments.

Design Management ERP Software

Among the many other things that business management software can do for your company is improved design management. This will lead to your customer having a better experience, your artist having a clearer schedule and better time-management, and an easier transition from designing to producing.

One of the greatest things that business management software does is consolidate and store all of your information for you. This means that when you want to access a particular design, you will find customer’s designs, details and specifications with production parameters that are related to that design, your artist’s work schedule and date for completion — and much more, all at the tip of your fingers.

When your design management improves, your customer satisfaction and customer service improve, as well, leading to better retention of customers and less stress among your staff members. There’s no reason you should be doing these tasks yourself — let the computer do them for you.

OnSite 7 Gives You More Options to Simplify Your Business

Unlike traditional accounting software and other business software, OnSite 7 gives you many more options to simplify your business even further. With more options to make business simple, you are able to accommodate more orders as accurately as possible, and to calculate things like price and quantity with greater precision.

For example, instead of just being able to calculate price based on the number of products in an order, you can also calculate the price of an order based on how many colors are used, or the stitch count in the fabric. This allows you to price things more accurately and precisely, and to save both you and the customers money, in the long run. OnSite 7 also gives more options for vendor pricing, since you are able to download the latest pricing for many different brands and products. If the pricing isn’t already on our website, we will prepare it for you for free, if you email us an Excel document.

Business Software Trends of 2013

More software solutions for businesses, like sign business software and Apparel ERP, were purchased in 2013 than in any previous years. Here are a few statistics about how companies make their decisions and how business software is most commonly used:

• Almost 70 percent of the companies who purchased business software in 2013 used a committee of three or more people to research and select software. These committees looked at a range of software options and tested and demoed their top selections for a period of several months before choosing one. We recommend using this method when you are deciding which program to purchase, as the business software you select will be one of the biggest business decisions you make.

• This means almost 30% of all businesses didn’t research the software they selected, and many purchased the first one they found. While this method has worked out for a small percentage of these buyers, research shows a much larger number were unhappy with their purchase.

• 70% of businesses asked their peers and colleagues for recommendations as to which software they should buy, and research shows that people view personal recommendations as one of the most trustworthy methods of review. If you are in the market for software, we recommend you assemble a committee to research your options and ask your colleagues, partners and competitors what software solutions they use most often and how well they think these programs work. Planning is important when making such a big decision, so make sure you give yourself enough time to select a system you can trust for years to come.

With this year drawing to a close and another year beginning soon, now is the perfect time to start looking into training opportunities. Whether you want to help further train your staff, or you have brought new people on board, it’s always a good idea to check in and be sure that your employees are using your software solutions for business to their fullest capabilities. Your sign business software and print estimating software can’t help your business grow if your company isn’t using it correctly or fully.

One of our most popular staff development training options is the On Premises training, whereby we send one or two trained ShopWorks professionals to you, and they train you and your employees in the needs and areas where you specifically could use some help.

This option is best tailored to specific clients, and as a result, typically yields some of the highest results in growth and proper use of the systems.

Before arriving at your facilities, our trainers research your company and speak to you about putting together a training program that can be reasonably completed in the allotted amount of time, and which is tailored to touch on the issues and areas where you think your company can most benefit. Instead of attending a seminar on a topic, our qualified trainers allow you to strengthen your weakest areas, all around, and to grow with your system in a very dynamic way.

The costs are $700 per day, per trainer, and sessions are usually scheduled to last between two and five days. Call for help scheduling your on-premises training, today.

Logo Design Trends

Branding experts recommend you give your logo and brand a facelift every year or two to make sure you are staying current with trends and customers. This year has seen simplified, minimalistic logos with a few key trends and themes. Here are a few of our favorite trends for logos in 2013:

• Many logos feature the “you are here” teardrop symbol. This design is minimalist, but is universally recognizable, thanks to modern technology. Several examples of these logos are Photofound and Brandforma.

• Another popular symbol is the wave, whether it’s used for water companies or others. Using a wave will give your design clean, aesthetically pleasing lines and will allow your logo to have movement without having many small elements. Several examples are Magicaliquid and Rhombus, Inc.

• Crosses are common this year, as well, where two items like sporting implements, paddles or gardening tools are crossed to form an X. These look simple, yet very official, and help elevate your logo. Examples include Asgard Farm Products and Dona Encrenca.

• A final trend for this year is the molecule design. These logos tend to be particularly minimalistic, most often being composed entirely of small circles and connecting lines. They look clean, official and scientific. Examples include Stanovov, Dessein and Centar Communication Agency.

Whether you redesign your logo every year, or every fifth year, it is important to store all of your old logo and branding information and images in your On Site software. This way, you can easily access your retro logos for future presentations, throwbacks, and more. If you don’t have On Site, make sure you have similarly reliable software solutions for business where you can store your designs.

OnSite 7 is business software, which means that it accomplishes many of the same tasks that traditional accounting software does, but it also does much more. Instead of only managing your accounting tasks, business software also consolidates your information, calculates price, makes designing artwork and managing art much easier, schedules production, tracks products, and much more.

One of the major differences is that OnSite allows you and your employees to enter different sizes for single line items, unlike traditional accounting software, which only allows one size. You are able to define the matrix and turn it on or off for each order as it applies, and you are also able to calculate prices based on the quantity of products, the stitch count or the number of ink colors used. In general, you have more options in all aspects of management, which avoid time-consuming trouble shooting or hand calculation.