In this guide 6 sections
Make the vendor run your workflow, not a demo. Can it track dealer and export orders by item? Can it issue leather, willow and thread to workshops, work out piece rate wages, and give staff Punjabi or Hindi screens? If any answer is vague, keep looking.
Can it follow an order from dealer to dispatch?
Sports goods orders arrive as lists: so many cricket balls in one grade, a few dozen bats, football panels, gloves in assorted sizes. Have the vendor enter one such order live.
Next, change the order twice as the dealer would, and add an export buyer who wants carton marks and a packing list. The software should keep the first version and every change, with dates.
Check partial dispatch too. Orders leave in several consignments, and you need to see what is still owed on each line.
- Order lines by item, grade and size
- Revisions kept with date and who changed them
- Partial dispatch against an order line
- Export papers: packing list, invoice, carton marks
How does it handle raw material issued to workshops?
A bat maker issues willow clefts, handles, grips and stickers to a workshop. A ball maker issues leather, lining and thread. Ask how the software records an issue and what comes back as finished pieces.
The useful number is the gap. Leather issued, balls received, offcuts returned, rejects counted. If the vendor cannot show that gap per workshop, you will not see where material goes missing.
Ask also about seasoning willow and stock that sits for months. Batches must keep their receipt date.
Will it work out piece rate wages by workshop and item?
Stitchers and finishers are paid per piece, and the rate differs by item and sometimes by grade. Ask to see a wage sheet built from received pieces, not typed in at month end.
Rejects need a rule. Some are paid in part, some not at all, some get reworked. The software should let you set this per item.
Ask for the sheet printed in a form the workshop head can read and sign. If the wage sheet is not trusted on the floor, the software will be used for show only.
- Rate card by item and grade, with effective dates
- Pieces received less rejects, by worker or workshop
- Advances against wages and their recovery
- Printable sheet for signature
Can the workshop staff actually use it?
Your storekeeper and workshop heads may be more at ease in Punjabi or Hindi than English. Ask to see the screens they would use, not the owner’s dashboard.
Watch someone from the floor enter an issue slip. If it takes ten clicks or a long form, entries will drift to the end of the day or be skipped.
Ask about a phone or tablet in the store room. A shared desktop at the owner’s desk is not where the work happens.
What to confirm before you sign
Ask who supports you in Jalandhar or by phone in your language, how your old Excel and Tally data comes in, and what you own if you leave.
Request a trial with one real month of orders from one product line. Bats or balls alone is enough.
Print the checklist below, take it to two vendors, and mark each answer yes, partly or no before you talk about price.
Vendor questions checklist for a sports goods workshop
Five blocks fill this single page checklist: order tracking, material issue, piece rate wages, language and devices, and support and data. Each row holds a question, a column for yes, partly or no, a column for what the vendor showed live, and a notes column. A final row records the trial month agreed.
Open a blank worksheet to printQuestions owners ask
Do we need separate software for export orders?
Not necessarily. The same order system should carry export lines with packing list, carton marks and invoice, provided it can hold the extra fields your buyers ask for.
Is Tally enough for a sports goods workshop?
Tally covers accounts well. Order tracking, material issue to workshops and piece rate wages by item usually need something beyond it.
How do we check a vendor’s claims?
Give them a real order and a real wage sheet from last month. Ask them to enter both while you watch, and compare the result with your own.
Should hand tool and sports goods lines share one system?
They can, if items, grades and rate cards are set up per line. Keep the raw material lists separate so issue records stay clear.