Woven sack and FIBC plants run long chains of processes: tape extrusion, weaving, coating, lamination, printing, cutting and stitching. An ERP implementation succeeds when it follows that chain closely. Here is a sequence that works.
1. Map the process as it really runs
Walk the floor from the resin store to the dispatch bay and write down every step, every split and every place material is weighed or counted. Note where waste is created and where regrind comes back. This map becomes the process route in the ERP, and it shows where data will be captured.
2. Agree on what you will measure
Decide the numbers that matter before configuring anything: denier and output per tape line, loom efficiency, fabric GSM and roll weight, bags per operator, wastage by stage, cost per kilogram and per bag. If a number isn't agreed now, nobody will capture it later.
3. Clean up your masters
Set up items, recipes, bag designs, machines, looms and customers with consistent codes. For FIBC, each design should carry its dimensions, fabric, loops, liner and safe working load. Messy masters are the most common reason for slow go-lives.
4. Number your rolls and bales
Introduce roll numbers at the loom and bale labels at packing, with barcodes if possible. Once every roll has an identity, stock, traceability and wastage tracking follow naturally.
5. Capture data at the source
Connect weighbridges and scales for receipts, rolls and bales. Give supervisors mobile entry for output and stoppages. The less that is written on paper and typed in later, the more accurate the system will be.
6. Train in two layers
Train master users first, so each department has someone who understands the whole flow, then train end users on the screens they will use every day. Practise with your own data, not demo data.
7. Go live in stages
Start with stores and purchase, then production, then quality and dispatch, with finance alongside. Run the old and new records side by side for a short period, compare the numbers, and switch over once they match.
Mistakes to avoid
- Configuring the software before the process map is agreed.
- Leaving wastage and regrind out of scope. They are where the money is.
- Treating training as a single session.
- Skipping opening stock counts for rolls and bales.
Who should be on the project team
An ERP project in a woven sack or FIBC plant needs a small team that knows the plant well: a project owner from management who can make decisions, one key user each from stores, production, quality, dispatch and accounts, and a supervisor from the shop floor who will tell you honestly what operators will and will not do. Give them time for the project; it cannot be done only in the evenings.
Data to prepare before go-live
- Item masters for resins, fillers, masterbatches, fabrics, webbing, thread, liners and finished bags
- Recipes for each tape quality, with filler and masterbatch percentages
- Machine lists: tape lines, looms, coating and lamination lines, stitching lines
- FIBC designs with dimensions, loops, liners, SWL and safety factor
- Customers, suppliers, price lists and tax details
- Opening stock counted roll by roll and bale by bale
Measuring success after go-live
Decide how you will know the project worked. Good measures are the time to answer "how much fabric of this GSM do we have?", the gap between physical and system stock at the next count, the share of production entered on the same shift, and whether wastage and loom efficiency are reviewed every morning. Review these after the first month and again after three months, and fix the steps that are still done on paper.
Keep improving
Go-live is the start, not the end. Once the basics run smoothly, add machine data capture, barcode labels at the looms and stitching lines, and dashboards for the morning meeting. Each step removes more manual work and makes the numbers more reliable.
See the step-by-step woven sack and FIBC process flows to compare them with your own plant.
