Practical Garment Production Process – A Case Study

CAD Department

The CAD department receives tech-packs from the sampling department for pattern development. The patterns are developed as per the spec sheet with style details. Patterns developed manually are digitized using a digitizer. The pattern prepared on CAD is plotted on plotting paper by a Rich Piece Plotter. The plotted patterns are cut out manually and pasted on cardboard. These patterns are used for quality checking, referencing, sampling purposes, and cutting. After pattern development marker making is done on Optitex software importing pattern pieces as per the tech packs. The marker consists of detail such as size sets, length of the marker, width, efficiency with marker plan. Cut Order Plan is prepared as per the marker details.

The IE department calculates the marker efficiency. The final marker plan is prepared and sent to the cutting section with the sealed patterns. The CAD keeps the previously made patterns for future referencing in a stack.

 

 

Outcome

Plan of marker plays an important role in bulk production of garments, as it helps in reducing fabric wastage and calculating the requirement of fabric to be used for completing the whole order. The main role of the CAD department starts at time bulk production with rearrangement of pieces for marker printing.

The planning of the marker is done as per the fabric, with is shade variation, type of fabric.

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Cutting Department

Fabrics Cutting

1. Checks Fabric
2. Solid fabric
3. Stripes
4. Prints (Directional, Non-Directional)
5. Knitted
6. Pocketing
7. Fusing
8. Canvas

 

Fabric Spreading

Fabric spreading is a method where piles of fabric are spread a specific length and width wise according to the garment marker measurement. Fabric spreading is a very important task to maintain the proper shape of fabric before cutting garments

First, the fabric rolls are opened and spread on a cutting table layer by layer. This process is done. The length of the layer is decided based on the market size and marker length. Multiple numbers of fabric layers are spread on the table and all the fabric layers are cut together. Depending on the fabric thickness number of plies in a layer is decided. Normally the height of the lay is kept according to the cutting blade.

For the fabric spreading process, they use the manual method. The manual method is totally hand spreading method therefore this process is quite slow.

Before fabric spreading few perpetrations is essential. For the smooth and proper spreading process in garments below factors must be considered during fabric spreading-

Fabric Length and Width

During fabric spreading, length and width should equal marker length and width. This measurement must be uniform before fabric cutting. Otherwise, fabric wastage may be increased or defective garment components may be produced.

Fabric Tension

The tension in the fabric lay should be uniform. If the tension is higher the smaller size of the component may be produced than the actual size. On the other hand, if the fabric layer is loose then it may create problems during fabric cutting and larger size components may be produced than the actual size.

Fabric Splicing

Another important factor of fabric spreading is fabric splicing. Splicing should be accurate during fabric spreading. Excess splicing may increase faulty area and short splicing may produce the faulty component. The lay of the fabric should be maintained according to the fabric construction and splicing methods.

Static Electricity

Generally, man-made fibres are may increase the charge of electricity, which is the main reason for producing static electricity in the fabric spreading process. Static electricity should be removed by earthing or using special oil between two layers of fabric.

Fabric Ply Direction

The direction of the fabric ply should be corrected. Fabric ply direction depends on the type of fabric, Shape of the pattern and construction of the fabric. Therefore, ply direction must be checked before laying the ply on the cutting table. Otherwise, they may create problems during the sewing section in garments.

Ply Number

Ply number is another important factor for fabric spreading. Ply numbers should be counted during fabric spreading. The higher ply number may increase vibration between the cutting knife and fabric layer and a low number of ply may reduce the fabric spreading productivity.

Stripe and Check Matching

Stripe and check should be matched with every ply of fabric. Therefore stripe and check matching are done very carefully during the fabric spreading process in garments. Otherwise, that will be created problems during the sewing section in garments.

Fabric Faults removing

There are different types of fabric faults are found in the fabric inspection section. They are such as a hole, missing end, broken end, thick end, Reedy fabric, broken pattern, double pick, slub, snarl, thick and thin places, temple marks, etc. Before fabric spreading, those faults must be identified and also remove from the fabric.

Spreading

The manual spreading process for the production in Banswara. Manual spreading is used for all kinds of fabrics, including those with complex structures and intricate patterns. In large-scale production, manual cutting is often used for working with intricately patterned fabrics. The cost of technical equipment is low compared with automated spreading, but the productivity is poor.

During manual spreading two workers move the fabric plies over the spreading table, ensuring the correct placement of each ply. As they do so, they look for faults in the fabric and make the decision to leave them or cut them out. They also count the plies required and cut the fabric at the end of the spread. If the fabric has an intricate pattern, they ensure the pattern matches all the fabric plies in the spread.

Spreading speed and quality is dependent on the properties of a fabric and the skills and experience of the workers. There is no need for special equipment in manual spreading. All kinds of fabric may be laid but the process is both highly skilled and time-consuming.

At the beginning of the spreading process, an underlay paper ply is laid on the table to ensure easy transfer of the spread along with the table during the cutting process. The fabric spreading process is carried out by one worker at each side of the spreading table who moves the fabric ply to the beginning of a spread. The end of the fabric ply is placed precisely at the beginning of the spread and secured. Returning to the initial position (the place where the fabric roll is fixed) one worker aligns the laid down fabric ply with the edge of the table and the previously spread fabric plies with a permitted variant of +/-0.5 cm. The second worker smoothes the surface of the ply ensures an even tension in the fabric and prevents creases or folds from appearing during the spreading process. Thus the spreading process is repeated.

Characteristics

The spreading process is carried out on a spreading table with a smooth surface. The fabric feeder is fixed on a rod (at the end of the spreading table). A lay end cutter is used to cut the laid fabric plies; it is fixed on the spreading table adjacent to the fabric feeder. The fabric roll is fixed on a feeder axis before the spreading process is started. According to the spreading mode to be performed, the fabric roll is fixed with its face side up or down. The spreading process is performed in sequential steps.

 

• Marking the spread data
• Spreading the fabric plies
• Fixing a marker on top of the spread

Marking

The marker, which is printed on paper, is placed on the top ply of the lay. It is fixed in the required position and the following spread data are marked on both sides of the table: the beginning and end of a spread, splice marks (places in the spread where the fabric may be cut and laid double to deal with flaws without damaging the cut components) and size change places.

Disadvantage

The spreading speed and quality are largely dependent on the skills and experience of the workers performing the process. Spreading operators have a heavy load during the working day and fatigue may influence both spreading speed and quality. Two operators are involved.

 

Table 7.2- Cutting Details

Cutting Tools

Types of knife used:

1. Straight Knife
2. Band Knife
3. CNC machine

Straight knife

• Blue Streak II
• The blade is changed in 1 or 1.5 days
• The blade has a cutting capacity of 7000.
• Average Cutting capacity/day -6000 pcs
• No of Tables present: 4
• Rate/pc-36 Paisa.
• Used for cutting big pieces.
• Price of machine:70-80 k
• Price of blade:53 Rs

 

Table 7.3- Specifications

Band Knife

• EASTMAN ,EC,700 N
• The blade is changed in 7-9 days.
• Average cutting capacity/machine: 2500
• Rate: 19 paisa/pcs
• Price of machine: 1.5 lakhs
• Price of blade: 400 Rs

Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) Fabric Cutting Machine

• This method provides the most accurate possible at high speed.
• Marker is fed in the system with the help of floppy disk, hard disk, CD, and DVD.
• Nylon bristles are present which support the fabric lays and are flexible enough to permit penetration and movement of Knife
• The bristles allow the passage of air through the table and create a vacuum.

 

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IE Department

The IE department has to work with many other departments as this department gives the entire idea of the garment construction and the thread and trims consumption criteria, operators skill level categorization, and other related aspects hence they play a vital role in determining the cost of producing a single piece of the garment and they also calculate the cost of the factory for that particular style of garment.

The IE department does the time study to take out the SAM of each machine and manual operation. This is done in order to take out the standard allowed minutes needed to carry out each operation and hence the whole operation to make the garment.

 

Roles and responsibilities of I.E Department:

• WIP Report
• Incentives
• Gum sheet
• Barcode/stickers
• Time study/ capacity report
• Machine layout
• Style-wise efficiency report
• Production report input & output
• Skill matrix
• Wages-piece rate
• Line setup.
• Capacity – Work-Study
• Line Capacity
• Operator Capacity
• Operator training
• Skill Matrix of individual operators.
• Thread consumption.
• Manpower requirement details
• Man-machine Ratio

 

1. WIP Report: The main role of the I.E. department is to maintain daily WIP reports. The manufacturing system which is used in Banswara is Progressive Bundle System which requires more WIP and continuous feeding to all operators.
2. Gum Sheet: Gum sheets are maintained for each operator. Each operator is given a gum sheet in which the writer can fill in the number of bundles and pieces that he/she completed during that particular hour. This helps in bundle tracking, WIP and efficiency estimation of the particular operator.
3. Barcode/Sticker: Barcode/sticker is prepared by the IED taking into consideration the SAM and the operation concerned. It consists of target production that the operator must achieve in order to get the incentive. It is then affixed on each machine which thus acts as a motivating factor for the operator to earn incentives by achieving better efficiency.