Can it handle dye lots properly?

Yes. Dye lot is a first-class part of the inventory record, not a note field. Stock, available-to-sell and allocation are all calculated per lot, and an order that would span two lots is flagged for shade approval before anything is cut.

What happens to short ends and remnants?

The allocation engine will not leave a dead-end remnant. It either consumes a roll entirely or leaves an end long enough to sell. Short ends already on the rack are reported with the capital tied up in them.

We buy in metres and sell in yards. Does that work?

Yes. Receiving accepts metres or yards, stock is stored in one consistent unit underneath, and each customer can be invoiced in their own unit. The line amount is identical either way.

For fabric distributors

Software for fabric distributors

You sell yards cut from particular rolls inside a particular dye lot. Every general inventory system in the world thinks you sell units off a shelf. That mismatch is why the trade still runs on spreadsheets.

Why generic inventory software fails a fabric house

A distributor does not sell 100 units of a SKU. They sell 180 yards of style 1050, cut from specific rolls, all inside dye lot CJ-2401. Fill that order across two lots and the shade breaks across the finished garment — the buyer rejects the shipment and you eat the freight both ways.

QuickBooks, NetSuite and Fishbowl have no concept of a roll, a dye lot, or a remnant. You can force fabric into them, but the moment a cutter takes 40 yards off a 112-yard roll, the system no longer describes what is on your rack.

What changes when the system understands fabric

Stock is tracked roll by roll and lot by lot. Receiving from the mill increases it; a packing list decreases it; a memo swatch is recorded rather than silently disappearing.

When an order comes in, the system chooses which rolls to cut — staying inside the buyer’s tolerance, keeping the order in one dye lot where possible, and refusing to leave a short end too small to sell.

Available-to-sell is calculated per dye lot, so a salesperson quoting 300 yards knows whether it can actually ship from one lot before they promise it.

The paperwork stops being typed twice

A packing list carries style, colour, lot, box, pieces and quantity. When it ships, one click turns one or several packing lists into a single invoice — freight, credit-card surcharge and sales tax calculated, nothing re-keyed.

Short shipments open a backorder automatically, so the yardage you still owe never lives only in someone’s memory.

Questions

Can it handle dye lots properly?: Yes. Dye lot is a first-class part of the inventory record, not a note field. Stock, available-to-sell and allocation are all calculated per lot, and an order that would span two lots is flagged for shade approval before anything is cut.
What happens to short ends and remnants?: The allocation engine will not leave a dead-end remnant. It either consumes a roll entirely or leaves an end long enough to sell. Short ends already on the rack are reported with the capital tied up in them.
We buy in metres and sell in yards. Does that work?: Yes. Receiving accepts metres or yards, stock is stored in one consistent unit underneath, and each customer can be invoiced in their own unit. The line amount is identical either way.