Garment production systems

Institute of Textiles and Clothing 16
The Fashion Supply Pipeline
1

2
Tailored clothing – structured or semi-
structured suits, coats, separates such as
sports jackets and dress slacks
Sportswear – casual pants, jeans
Active sportswear – athletic clothing, golf
wear, swimwear, tennis wear, etc.
Furnishings – dress shirts, casual shirts,
neck ties, hats and caps, accessories
Uniforms and work wear – overalls, work
shirt and trousers
Apparel Product Categories

Quick Response in Apparel Industry
39

Apparel Manufacturing organisation
4

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Operations in Apparel Manufacturing
Pattern – development, grading, lay planning
Stock-room – fabric and trimmings
Cutting – spreading, cutting and bundling
Sewing – prefabrication, assembly, finishing
Pressing – ironing, pressing, steaming
Inspection – initial, final and audit
Warehouse – packing, shipping

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Technology-enabled Manufacturing
Systems
Garment Production Systems
Straight Line System
Conventional Bundle System
Progressive Bundle System
Unit Production System
Modular Manufacturing System

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Very successful and popular mass production system in the
50’s but not so today
Production unit is single garment, assembled in sequence
and passes from operation to operation.
Layout planned and chutes are custom made with operator
seated behind/opposite the next one.
Work fed by gravity chutes or pushing along bench,
conveyor can be used.
All operations takes same time to complete. Each operator
make same amount of money determined by output at end
of the line.

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Advantages:
- Low level of work-in-progress is
accumulated.
Throughput time can be as little as the
labor content
- No back tracking of material ad less
material handling time
- Small space is required for each operator
- Shading control is extremely easy

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Disadvantages:
- Even a minor product change cannot be accommodated
- Quality problems easily accumulate.
- Machine breakdown can be critical and troublesome.
- specialisation and workplace engineering is difficult.
- Pre-production planning skill is essential.
- The line is paced by the slowest operation.
Applications:
- Production of simple garments e.g. underwear
- Production continues for lengthy periods, say 8 weeks or
more

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- A common system of mass production in the 60’s
- Production unit is a bundle of cut parts to be
assembled into certain number of garments.
Specific quantity of parts in the bundle is
determined by number of fabric plies and weight
of bundle.
- The operator receives bundle from central store,
unties bundle, perform the sewing, cuts ticket and
reties bundle.

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- She the returns bundle back to store where it
waits until the next operation and the process
repeats until the garment is completed.
- Operators of specialised skills are independently
working at own pace and paid by piece rates.

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Advantages:
- Absenteeism does not cause many problems.
- Pre-production planning is not critical.
- Operators are encouraged to work as fast as she can.
- The system rewards a high individual productivity.
- Uniform level of quality can be achieved.
Disadvantages:
- Very high level of WIP is required.
- A storage area is needed to hold WIP that is not easy to
control.
- Throughput time is lengthening to a month or more.
- Material handling time is spent substantially.

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Applications:
- Orders in low to medium volume.
- Conventional style of production with less managerial skills

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- Widely used system in the 70’s
- Engineered operations are laid out in sequence.
- Each operators does her bundle and passes it directly to
the next operators, as the garments are gradually
assembled as they flow sequentially in bundle form.
- If bundle truck/clump truck used, bundle tying is often not
required.
- Inter-process bundles are temporarily stored in
between neighboured operations.
- The amount of machinery for each operations is
determined by the output required.

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Advantages:
- The line is easier to balance and control.
- Uniform quality can be ensured by in-process control.
- Semi-skilled labour requires less training time and cost.
- Individual performances can be monitored by incentives.
Disadvantages:
- High investment on machine cost.
- Short run production is not adaptable.
- High level of WIP extends throughput time.
- Complicated management skill is required.

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Applications:
- Basic garments with little change.
- Lengthy production runs on the same style.

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- Major advance made in the 80’s when computers were used to
plan, control and direct the work flow through the system.
- The production unit is a single garment. All parts of a garment
unit is clamped by a carrier which automatically transports from
station to station along the overhead transportation system.
- The work stations are so designed that the components are
presented at the earliest position for handling. Many operations
can be performed without removing the work from the carrier.
- After sewing, disposal is automatic as the operator press a button
and the carrier progresses to the next operation according to a
pre-determined sequence.

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Advantages:
- Bundle handling and matching is completely
eliminated.
- Dramatic reductions in WIP and throughput time.
- Repairs tends to be lower and repair tracking is
easy.
- Working condition is improved.
- Computers automatically control the workflow and
balancing
- Many styles can be produced simultaneously on one
system.

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Disadvantages:
- High investment per work station (US$4-5k).
- Its fixed physical configuration takes up large
space.
- High maintenance cost and operating cost.
- Pre-production planning is essential.
- Frequent job changing for balancing is required
Applications:
- Fashioned garments with quick response.
- Orders with low to medium volume.

Used successfully in Japan, Europe and US since 90’s
Groups operators into teams or modules of 5-17 crossed trained
operators. The team work on one garment at a time with
operators standing at their work stations and rotate to different
machines as they work. It can assemble an entire garment or
sub-assembly of more complex product. Arrangement follows a
logical operation breakdown.
25The team inspects their own work, besides inspiring teamwork
and improving morale, it enhances quality and reduces worker
turnover.

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Layout is usually in a U-shape with more workplaces than
operators. Operators move between operations within module
whenever extra WIP exists.
Team paid as a group for work quantity and quality, or
a time basis instead of the traditional piecework system.
Time spent per garment is also little; e.g. T-shirt 3 mins,
Pull-on pants 6 mins., unstructured jacket 25 mins.,
lined blazer 40 mins., tailored coat 120 mins.

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Advantages:
- Lower level of WIP frees up capital tied up and
floor space.
- Fast throughput time enables quick response and
prompt delivery.
- Quality becomes a team responsibility and
monitored at source.
- Peer pressure encourages a team spirit and
discourages absenteeism.
- The system is highly flexible with style changes.

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Disadvantages:
- Training time and cost is increased.
- It requires considerable changes in management
philosophy.
- specialised equipment is poorly utilized.
- Operators cannot develop the rhythm and pace of high
performance.
- Individual effort is difficult to recognised within the group.
Applications:
- Fashioned garments with quick response.
- Orders with low volume and frequent changes.
- Company with mutual trust between management and
operators.

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Automation – Many technologically
advanced sewing machines, some
computerized, help to speedily and
accurately perform the various steps in
assembling a garment, e.g. machines that
complete complex operations like shirt
collars and tailored jacket pockets.

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Robotics in Garment Production
R & D stages, limited use.
The use of robotics has very much defied in
apparel production due to the limpness of
the material, however, it is slowly been
used in limited areas such as moving fabrics
in mills, vision systems and tactile sensing
system to locate fabric pieces, pick and
place.

• Garment production systems: An overview
The choice of best apparel production system will depend on
the product and policies of the company and on the capacities
of manpower, affirms.
Most of the production systems employed in clothing
factories are derived from the following manual or mechanical
systems. Each production system has its own specific
operational characteristics. This article discusses the features,
merits and demerits of different garment production systems.

Each system requires different types of:
· Management philosophy
· Material handling arrangement
· Floor layout
· Employee training
· Companies may combine the systems or use
only one depending on their need.

• Most of the production systems employed in
clothing factories are derived from the
following manual or mechanical systems. Each
production system has its own specific
operational characteristics. This lesson
discusses the features, merits and demerits of
different garment production systems.

• Any production system has four primary factors, which make
up the system.
• Processing Time + Transportation Time + Temporary Storage
Time + Inspection Time = Total Production Time.
• Processing time is sum total of working time of all operations
involved in manufacture of a garment. Transportation time
involves the time taken to transport semi-finished or finished
garments from one department to another or from one
operation/machine to another.

• Temporary storage time is time during which
the garment/bundle is idle as it waits for next
operation or for completion of certain parts.
Inspection time is time taken for inspecting
semi-finished garments for any defects during
manufacturing or inspecting fully finished
garments before packing.

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Reading List
1. Ready-to-wear apparel analysis, P. Brown/J. Rice,
Merril Prentice Hall.
2. Clothing Technology, Verlag Europa, Lehrmittel
Nourney, Vollmer GmbH & Co.
3. Introduction to Clothing Manufacture, Gerry Gooklin,
BSP.
4. Introduction to Clothing Production Management, HJ
Chuter, BSP
5. Computers in the Fashion Industry, P.Taylor,
Heinemann
6. Carr & Latham's Technology of Clothing Manufacture,
DJ Tyler, Blackwell Science.

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Garment production systems