When the industry under purview amounts to a massive 20 per cent of the total industrial production of the country and accounts for one third of the total exports of the country,the significance of technological advancement and innovations in the said marketplace becomes all the more important. In the sewn garment industry, the importance of ensuring production of the garment with the least amount of fabric wastage calls for an extremely efficient technology implementation which can help in saving every possible mm of the fabric.
In recent times, the awareness about the environment and saving it from any kind of waste has heightened greatly. While over 1 per cent of the global waste comprises of fabric, of which over 75 per cent is left untreated, the responsibility of industrial representatives acting responsibly towards their environment is not only recommended, but necessary as on date.
Cut order planning helps augment the fabric utilisation and consumption and increases the efficiency of the fabric cutting room. Methods apparel consultancy, with their experience of many years in the fabric industry, has designed specific software which can help the sewn garment industry identify and realize the potential of saving more fabric and increasing their organisation’s profit line.
Thorough examination of all aspects of the business, analysis of areas of weakness, coupled with a report containing recommendations along with solutions and final formulation of a plan of action, are all key areas where Method Apparel Consultancy has had a vast experience of. The organisation has helped achieve heightened efficiency levels in many garment organisations.
Poor markers and inefficient cut order planning amounts to around 7.5 per cent of the fabric loss in any cutting room. Taking decision upon the most efficient markers from the market for a given set of quantities can certainly help make cutting rooms up to 20 per cent more productive in addition to which they can also help save about 1 to 5 per cent of fabric issued.
As good practices of the cutting floor, measuring roll lengths and width upon their factory can also be achieved through reducing plies of the fabric. Reduces number of plies leads to reduced number of overall end loss of the fabric. Calculating maximum number of the pieces allowed in one marker can help analyse the minimum number of plies that you can work with to deliver a particular order.
Benefits of grouping fabric on the floor are also worth noting. Upon determining the lengths and width of the roll, segregation or grouping of the fabric roll as per their shade, shrinkage or width must be done. These differences prove to be highly crucial pertaining the quality of end product and can occur from roll to roll.
For the grouping, you may check for the shade variation. This practice can be followed within a roll as well as from roll to roll. Visual observations can be carried out under standardised conditions and quality tests of shade using standard samples can also be done.
To check the shrinkage templates effectively, a sample area can be cut from the main fabric which can be marked for dimensions, followed by a wash and then checked again for dimensional changes. This practice helps in increased utilisation of fabric, helps your products adhere to the highest quality standards and eventually helps reduce rejection percentage.
A necessary record of the floor data effectively helps in controlling the material usage in the cutting room. Keeping a record of the on floor data becomes important and can be done with vigilance of a supervisor. The supervisor can help in finding and recording data including lay details, markerdetails, allowances (edge and splice allowances), remnant lengths and their processing, defect alteration (before and after cutting), cutting instructions.
arrival is a necessary pre-requisite. This helps analyse the fabric received versus the fabric ordered. Checking the actual yardage of the fabric before laying it almost eliminates the chances of fabric falling short at the later stage.
Also, what can be done to utilize the remaining fabric if generally goes into end bit loss post cutting? Smaller markers can be taken out from them if we store these end bits wisely. This instead will help use the remaining fabric to the maximum. This can be done by selecting usable bits keeping in mind the smallest marker.
This practice can help maximise the utilisation of end bits while minimising the wastage due to usage of small bits. The rest of the fabric can be saved in roll form and be used for different orders. Fabric Reconciliation is another major area which helps give the management account of each and every inch of fabric bought, issued and consumed. The reconciliation reports summarise the fabric usage. This is done by covering and analyzing quantities of the fabric bought, fabric issued, layer, supplier shortages if any, amount unusable after the cutting, end bits and offcuts. Apart from this, reconciliation reports also assist in calculation of profit and loss on each order over the cost of consumption.
The fabric reconciliation report also helps in evaluating shortages in rolls and quality of fabric. It plays a major part in analysing fabric performance against individual orders leading to a better output of the organisation. Minimising the losses within your garment Maintaining of the data can be done by developing proper formats for recording, by maintaining worksheets and by using smart phone applications for recording data. This will help the supervisor in having a better know-how of the work progress at all times. The data compiling will help him keep a check on which work is overdue and needs attention. It will also lead to an easy access to reports and real-time performance
Aforementioned are some simple cutting room practices and examples which, if taken care of, can prove beneficial in optimising fabric usage, saving time, cost and increasing productivity of the cutting floor. And an efficient cutting floor will automatically translate into increased profitability of the organisation overall.
