Calendar Plan for a denim shirt (with embroidery) Order confirmation date: 1st March 2013 Delivery date:

31st July 2013 Order quantity: 1,00,000 pieces Calendar Planning

In Apparel Manufacturing, Production capacity is one of the most important criteria used for vendor selection by the buyers. It is because; the production time of an order is directly proportional to vendors production capacity. So it is very important that marketing and planning personnel should aware about the production capacity of their production units. Capacity of a factory is primarily expressed in terms of total machines factory have. Secondly, how much pieces the factory produces on daily for the specific products? In general, total numbers of machines in a factory mostly remains same for a period. But factory may produce various types of product during the season. According to the product (style) category, machine requirement may change and daily average production in each style may vary. So to be specific during booking orders, planner should know exactly how much capacity he or she needed to procure the order in a given time period. A factorys capacity is presented in total minutes or hours or in pieces (production per day). The method used to calculate capacity has been explained in the following. To calculate Daily production capacity (in pieces) one needs following information. THE PLANNING PROCESS IN CLOTHING MANUFACTURE The basic process includes the following stages: 1. Receive the order 2. Plan to check if there is available capacity in sewing to achieve the delivery date required 3. Plan to check the available capacity in non-sewing areas (cut, embroidery; print, wash and pack) 4. Plan to check sufficient lead time to order and receive fabric, trims, approve sample, carry out lab tests 5. Confirm delivery date to customer and reserve capacity 6. Communicate plan to all departments

7. Monitor progress against plan 8. Re-plan as required and return to Point 5. 1. Calculation of factory capacity (in hours): The factory has 150 machines and it runs for 8 hours a day. Total number of machines = 150 Shift hours per day = 8 hours So total factory capacity (in hours) = 150*8 hours = 1200 hours 2. Calculation of Product SAM (Standard Allowed Minute): Supposing our shirt whose SAM is 33.53. Suppose average line efficiency is 50%. 3. Calculation of production capacity (in pieces): Once we have above the above information, we can use the following formula to calculate production capacity. Production capacity (in pieces) = (Capacity in hours*60/product SAM)*line efficiency Suppose the factory has 5 sewing lines and each line has 30 machines. Total 150 machines and working shift is 8 hours per day. Total factory capacity per day is 1200 hours (150machines * 8 hours). If factory is producing only one style (Shirt) of SAM 33.53 minutes and used all 150 machines daily production capacity at 80% = (1200*60/33.53)*80% Pieces = (1200*60*80) / (33.53*100) Pieces = 1717.86 Pieces = 1718 Pieces The term Capacity refers to the production capacity available or the potential daily output of the company. Production capacity can be expressed in number of units per day. So time taken to complete 1,00,000 pieces assuming 6 days working in a week, No. of days taken to stitch 1,00,000 pieces = 1,00,000/1718 = 58.20 days If there are 6 days working in a week, the no. of weeks required = 58.20*7/6 = 67.90 days = 9.7 weeks = 10 weeks [Note: Production will vary according to the line efficiency and during learning curve or in the initial days when style is loaded to the line]

Production (capacity) planning is normally done based on sewing capacity. Having knowledge of the capacity in other processes (internal or external) is also very important. Otherwise planner may fail and will not be able to meet the dead line. Other departments such as Cutting room capacity, Finishing room capacity, Washing Capacity and capacity of the value added jobs. The production planning department (PPC) computes the available capacity annually and advises the marketing and merchandising department to fill the same. Apart from efficiency of the work force, planning also takes into consideration, the changes in products. For example a shirt may be of different styles such as long sleeved, short sleeved, two pockets, single pockets, without pockets, formal collar, casual collar, collar with or without fusing, with or without front placket, with or without back yoke or with saddle stitch or decorative stitch on the shoulder. There may be many more variations. Similarly, other garments such as womens shirts, skirts, pants, jeans, dresses also have tremendous variation. Based on the design, its construction and complexity and finally the fabric, the daily productivity and thereby the capacity is estimated for a month but changes are incorporated the very next day! Such are the exigencies of the industry. Resource Planning A planner has to consider the resources available to accomplish the planned production. These may be in the form of raw materials, manpower and finances. Based on the available capacity and orders booked by the marketing and merchandising department, the raw material schedule is prepared by the planner. Each confirmed order received has to be planned and produced for it to be delivered on time. Based on the capacity allocated to a product, resources required are communicated to the product management team, which works closely with different agencies such as raw material suppliers, finance and commercial department to make these available to the production department. The production plan is based on customer demand and market conditions. While the capacity may be insufficient sometimes, it is also possible that capacity will be underutilized on some occasions. Gaps in the plan due to underutilization increase production costs. Hence, it is the responsibility of a planner to alert whenever such breaks or gaps occur in the plan. He or she can only plan the extent of the visible horizon, which, is a season in the garment industry and starts to implement the initial decisions. Often due to uncertainties in either demand or raw materials, revision in the plan becomes necessary.

Fabric for a style planned for production may not arrive in time for inspection, and cutting or approval from the customer is not received. In such instances, the planner has no alternative but to revise the plan and schedule another style for production instead. Among all the resources, the manufacturing department or the production department plays a vital role. A merchandiser and the sourcing manager may make all the raw material available for the production department to commence its activity. However, production in the garment industry heavily depends on the efficiency of each individual on the production floor. Various machines available increase the efficiency of the operators but they cannot substitute for them. The making of the full-sleeved mens shirt involves 66 operations and requires 62 machines. The resources available to the planner are 45 machines and 40 operators. He or she will therefore plan production with the available resources perhaps by combining some of the operations and modifying some so that they can be performed in the cutting room. Tools like RSDB will also enable the planner to assess the work involved when the merchandiser gives a sample to him initially and calculate the time it takes for production. Based on the time taken for a garment, the planner estimates the total time required for production. This will enable planning the material requirement date and setting a time schedule for other pre-production activities. Fabric details- Denim Denim (which gets its name from the French for "from Nmes" (de Nmes)) is a rugged cotton twill textile, in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This twill weaving produces the familiar diagonal ribbing of the fabric, which distinguishes denim from cotton duck. It is characteristic of any indigo denim that only the warp threads are dyed, whereas the weft threads remain plain white. As a result of the warpfaced twill weaving, one side of the fabric shows the blue warp threads, the other side shows the white weft threads. This is why jeans are white on the inside and what makes denim's fading characteristics unique compared to every other fabric. Types of Denim Dry Denim- Dry or raw denim, as opposed to washed denim, is a denim fabric that is not washed after being dyed during its production. Over time, denim will generally fade, which is often considered desirable. During the process of wear, it is typical to see fading on areas that generally receive the most stress, which includes the upper thighs (whiskers), the ankles (stacks) and behind the knees (honey combs). After being crafted into an article of

clothing, most denim is washed to make it softer and to reduce or eliminate shrinkage, which could cause an item to not fit after the owner washes it. In addition to being washed, non-dry denim is sometimes artificially "distressed" to produce a worn look. Selvedge Denim - Selvedge denim (alternative spelling: selvage denim) is a type of denim which forms a clean natural edge that does not unravel. It is commonly presented in the unwashed or raw state. Typically, the selvedge edges will be located along the out-seam of the trousers, making it visible when cuffs are worn. Stretch Denim- Stretch denim usually incorporates an elastic component (such as elastane) into the fabric to allow a degree of give in garments. Only a small percentage is required within the fabric (approximately 3%) to allow a significant stretch capacity of around 15 percent. Cool Denim- Denim fabric dyeing is divided into two categories; indigo dyeing and sulfur dyeing. Indigo dyeing produces traditional blue colors or shades similar to blue colors. Sulfur dyeing (also called color denim) is used to create specialty black colors and other colors like pink, grey, rust, mustard, green, and also improve the quality.

Timely action Time and Action Plan refers to simple managerial tools that can be used to complete a certain task within the defined time frame. Simply put, it is a list to things that must be done, along with the time by which it should be done, to complete a certain task. In the garment industry, Time and Action Plan, also referred to as TnA, is mostly used for manufacturer exporters who need to submit a TnA for each export order that they receive. However, TnA can be used for various tasks that need to be done. This article will deal with the application of TnA in the production cycle. For garment exporters, TnA is generally a reverse calculation, wherein the date of the shipment is taken as a zero day, and then all the actions that are required to be done to execute the order are listed and the time taken to complete the job is indicated next to it. The date for execution of the job is calculated in an inverse manner and also indicated next to that activity. A typical TnA for an export order, which needs to be shipped on say October 1, 2012 may look like this.

Activity

Sample received buyer Approval of 1st Prototype Sample (Style Ref) Approval of 2nd prototype sample Finalization on price of samples given by the buyer Fit Sample approval

No. of days Start Date (Lead Time) package 2 days 01-Marchfrom 2013 8 days 8 days 5 days 5 days 03-March2013 11-March2013 19-March2013 24-March2013 29-March2013 7-April-2013 9-April-2013 14-April2013 22-April2013 21-June2013 27-June2013 4-July-2013 9-July-2013 11-July-2013 16-July-2013

Completion Date 02-March2013 10-March2013 18-March2013 23-March2013 28-March2013 6-April2013 8-April2013 13-April2013 21-April2013 20-June2013 26-June2013 3-July-2013 8-July-2013 10-July2013 15-July2013 18-July2013

Remarks

The garment is a Shirt.

Salesman 9 days Samples(With actual fabric/trims) Purchase order for 1 day fabric Receipt of Fabric 5 days Cutting 8 days

It has been assumed that same fabric has been sourced for making samples PO has been issued. Here the fabric reqd. for 100000 pcs. Has been ordered. Cutting will be in lots of pieces, after the 1st lot is cut, it is sent for sewing Stitching will complete in lots Embroidery will complete in lots Last lot sent for washing Last lot sent for finishing

Stitching Embroidery Washing Finishing

60 days 6 days 7 days 5 days

Approval by the 2 days buyer Initial Inspection 5 days Packing 3 days

Final Inspection

20-July2013 Here, we are considering these times for the final lot, the previous lots will take the same time but they have been completed as soon as one lot had completed sewing ORDER CONFIRMATION- LEAD TIME FOR PRODUCTION: 55 days lead time Pre-Production 2 days 21-July-2013 22-JulySamples 2013 Buffer Days 2 days 23-July-2013 24-July2013 Shipment 7 days 25-July-2013 31-July2013 Shirt Sample

2 days

19-July-2013

Stage-wise production status The next process is to have a report wherein the status of each process for various colors in the same style are listed with actual quantities and actual date when the task was carried out. This is illustrated with the help of the following report: For the control mechanism to work, it is necessary to record the expected values of various events right till the completion of the manufacturing cycle, and then the actual values can just be compared with the expected. This will greatly reduce the burden of the top management of the medium sizes owner-driven companies, where almost all decisions are referred to the owners. A proper application to implement control is necessary to achieve the above, as against the more common method of control through manual workings on MS Word or excel statements. Implementing such applications will mean better use of the computers in the organization, and also better control over various production activities, leading to timely deliveries, customer satisfaction, and improved business, with reduced dependency on human factor.