APPAREL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

             The production process involves myriad steps and depends on the talent and skill of many individuals. It is a team effort.

             Apparel making is not conductive precision mass production. Frequent style changes and varying degrees of fabric work ability force continual adjustment in the manufacturing process standardized equipment is difficult to design and implement and production is there fore dependent on skilled workers.

An apparel production system is an integration of material handling, production processes, personnel and equipment that direct work flow and generates finished product.

       Three types of production systems that are commonly used to mass produce apparel or are:

1. 1.    MAKE THROUGH SYSTEM,
2. 2.    MODULAR PRODUCTION SYSTEM,
3. 3.    ASSEMBLY LINE SYSTEM.

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.

1.    Make through system :-

    It is the traditional method of manufacture in which an operator makes right through one garment at a time. That is one operator will do all the stages of the sewing operations of one garment and after completing it he will go for the next garment

The advantages of the make through system are:

·         Quick throughput time

·         Easy to supervisor.

The disadvantages of the make through systems are:

·         low productivity

·         high labor cost

·         only very experienced operator can be used

·         it is a system only suitable in couture and sample making

2. Modular system :-

     "An organized group of individuals working together in a co-operative manner to accomplish a common purpose"

   “A group of people who working together to accomplish individual goals effectively and efficiently while simultaneously accomplishing goals of the team or organisation"

   “A team is a small number of people with complimentary skills who are committed to common purpose, set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable".

Working in modular system:

·         The line layout is U -shaped with garments progressing around the line.

·         Each operator is cross trained on a different portion of line (i.e. continuous operation) depending on skills and operation complexity. Ideally all the operators are cross trained on all the operations.

·         Thus operators work to predominantly predetermined adjacent tasks.

·         Each operator is assigned at least one operation.

·         Operatives work on standing workstations.

·         The first and last operations are uniquely assigned to the first and last operator respectively

·         Work In Progress (WIP) is kept to a minimum.

3.    Assembly Line System :-

Each operator is assigned to one operation only,

·         Bundles of garment components are moved sequentially from operation to operation

·         Bundles consist of garment parts needed to complete a specific operation or garment component.

·         Some companies work with varied bundle sizes others with standard bundle sizes

·         Bundles are assembled in cutting room where cut parts are matched.

·         Bundle tickets consist of a master list of operations and corresponding coupons for each operation.

·         Each bundle receives a ticket that identifies style#, size , shade and list of operations  (is some cases)

·         Bundles are assembled is cutting room where cut parts are matched

·         Bundle receives a ticket that identifies style#, size, shade and list of operations.

               There are two variations of the assembly line system being followed in the industries namely

·         Progressive Bundle systems and

·         Unit production system.

a. Progressive Bundle system: -

·         Machines and operations are organized into sections according to basic functions, which produce sub components.

·         Within each sections works is balanced according to time required for each sub-functions.

·         The disadvantages of progressive bundle system are:

·         Machine investment costs are high.

·         The system is not very adaptable for short-run production and frequent style changes, as these require rearrangement of the workstation.

·         It involves high handling costs for bundle handling and transportation.

·         It requires a high level of work in progress and therefore a high capital commitment.

·         It requires a high level of management skills to arrange the workflow and decide on the number of operators for each operation.

·         Individual performance can be monitored and incentives offered.

·         The advantages of the progressive bundle systems are:

·         High productivity

·         A high level of labour utilization can be achieved

·         Training time and costs can be reduced

·         Semi-skilled labour can be used.

b .Unit Production systems (UPS) :-

Similar to a relay race, each production operator has a task and passes that garment on to the next person. Normally there is only one garment between operations.

     As a mechanical system this has been in use for many years, but a major advance was made in 1983 when computers were first used to plan, control and direct the flow of work through the system.

  The essential features of this system are:

1.    The unit of production is single garment and not bundles.

2.    The garment components are automatically transported from work station to work station according to pre-determined sequence.

3.    The work station are so constructed that the components are presented as close as possible to the operator's left and in order to reduce the amount of movement required to grasp and position and component to be sewn.

All the components for one garment are loaded into a carrier at a work station specially designed for this purpose. The carrier itself is divided into sections, with each section having a quick - release retaining clamp which prevents the components from falling out during movement through the system. When a batch of garments has been loaded into carriers they are fed past a mechanical or electronic device which records the number of the carrier and addresses it to its first destination.

COMPARISION OF VARIOUS APPAREL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

Comparative analysis of various production systems is presented in table 1, in terms of various common inputs required. Points 1 to 5 indicate relative significance of the input such that 1 indicates "Very difficult or complex" or "too much" and 5 indicates "very easy or simple" or "very less"

INPUTS	MTS	ALS	PBS	UPS
Investment cost	5	3	3	1
Operator skill	1	3	3	2
Supervision	5	3	2	1
Style change	4	2	3	4
Flexibility	4	2	4	5
Repair control	2	3	4	5
Quality control	2	5	4	5
Balancing	5	2	3	1
Throughput time	5	4	2	4
Labour cost	1	3	4	3
Output /sq. meter	1	3	4	3

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