Textile minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar has launched the Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system for the commercial activities of the National Handloom Development Corporation (NHDC) to boost domestic handloom industry in Varanasi.

NHDC has thus become the first PSU under the textiles ministry to have the ERP system, which will help improve productivity, increase efficiencies, decrease costs and streamline supply of raw material processes in the corporation.

All processes – such as indenting, purchase order generation and invoice generation – will be performed through the ERP system itself. Procurement, inventory management and demand forecasting will also improve, resulting in high quality customer service.

Mills will also be integrated in the system, in order to ensure that indenting and order confirmation are a part of the online ERP system. Weavers can access the status of the dispatch of the material from the mills such as the name of the transporter, freight, LR No etc., the release said.

Gangwar also laid foundation for the Integrated Textile Office Complex (ITOC) at Indian Institute of Handloom Technology (IIHT) there. The proposed office complex will house all offices in Varanasi under the ministry of textile which work for the welfare of weavers.

The Rs. 64 crore complex proposed building will provide a common platform to all stakeholders, including weavers, exporters and marketing agencies that will enable them to better reap the benefits of government schemes and with less effort, resulting in saving of time and money, thereby contributing to higher productivity, income and better livelihoods for weavers.