APPAREL INTERNSHIP

AT

AQUARELLE INDIA PVT LTD

BANGALORE

SUBMITTED BY:
Abhishek Reddy
Yere Yaswanth Kumar
Priyal Kaka
Nutukurti Venkata Ramji
UG- TECHNOLOGY SEMESTER VII
(BATCH 2017-2021)

DEPARTMENT OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FASHION TECHNOLOGY
HYDERABAD
 SELF DECLARATION

This is to certify that this textile internship report has been made by
the following students who are members of the same group: Yere
Yaswanth Kumar, Nutukurthi Venkat Ramji, Priyal Kaka, Abhishek
Reddy. This project is a product of our own efforts and has been copied
from anywhere else. Apart from a few references and details which
have been mentioned in the references, and a little secondary
research, this project has been compiled after pain- staking first hand
research and experience. We take full responsibility for this project and
its authenticity.

Yere Yaswanth Kumar ___________________

Abhishek Reddy ___________________
Priyal Kaka ___________________
Nutukurti Venkat Ramji ___________________

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 ACKNOWLDGEMENT

The success and final outcome of this project required a lot of

guidance and assistance from many people and we are extremely
fortunate to have got this all along the completion of our project work.

We would like to express our gratitude to our mentors Priyadarshini

mam and Dr. Shakeel Iqbal for their useful comments, remarks and
engagement through the learning process of this Textile Internship.
We thank Mr. Ashok, for giving us an opportunity to pursue Apparel
internship in Aquarelle India, Mr. Varun Sanadhya in Aquarelle India for
providing all the support and guidance which helped us complete the
project on time. We are extremely grateful to all the people who
eagerly helped us understand and provided us with such support and
guidance though they had a busy schedule managing the company
affairs. We would like to thank our loved ones, who have supported
us throughout entire process, both by keeping us harmonious and
helping us putting pieces together. We will be grateful forever for their
love.

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INDEX

PART – 1
INTRODUCTION & OBJECTIVES
1.1 CIEL GROUP
1.1.1 CIEL GROUP PARTNERS
1.1.2 CIEL GROUP STRUCTURE
1.2 CIEL TEXTILE
1.3 AQUARELLE GROUP
1.3.1ONSOLIDATED FABRICS LIMITED
1.3.2 LAGUNA CLOTHING
1.3.3 AQUARELLE CASUAL
1.3.4 PASTEL BLUE
1.4 AQUARELLE INDIA PVT LTD UNIT-2(AIPL-2)
1.4.1 ORGANIZATION CHART

PART – 2
PROCESS FLOWCHART
2.1 PROCESS FLOWCHART
2.2 DEPARTMENT AT AQUARELLE INDIA PVT LTD

PART – 3
DEPARTMENT STUDY
3.1 MERCHANDISING DEPARTMENT
3.1.1 INTRODUCTION
3.1.2 PROCESS FLOW CHART
3.1.3 DETAILED WORKFLOW
3.2 SAMPLING DEPARTMENT

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 3.2.1 INTRODUCTION
3.2.2 PRE-PRODUCTION PROCESS/SAMPLING
3.3 PATTERN MAKING DEPARTMENT
3.3.1 PATTERN MAKING PROCESS
3.3.2 MARKER PLANNING
3.4 WAREHOUSE
3.4.1 INTRODUCTION
3.4.2 INSPECTION PROCESS
3.4.3 DETAILED PROCESS FLOW
3.5 COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN (CAD) DEPARTMENT
3.5.1 INTRODUCTION
3.5.2 STANDARD OPERATION PROCEDURE
3.5.3 CAD SOFTWARE
3.6 SPREADING AND CUTTING
3.6.1 INTRODUCTION
3.6.2 LAYOUT OF CUTTING ROOM
3.6.3 WORK FLOW OF CUTTING ROOM
3.6.4 DETAILED PROCESS FLOW
3.7 SEWING DEPARTMENT
3.7.1 INTRODUCTION
3.7.2 PROGRESSIVE BUNDLE SYSTEM
3.7.3 PROCESS FLOW
3.8 ASSEMBLY DEPARTMENT
3.8.1 UPS SYSTEM OF PRODUCTION
3.8.2 THE PROCESS FLOW IN THE ASSEMBLY LINE
3.8.3 THE MACHINES AND FOLDERS USED FOR EACH OF
THE OPERATIONS

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3.9 FINISHING AND PACKING DEPARTMENT
3.9.1 PROCESS FLOW CHART
3.9.2 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PROCESS
3.9.3 FLOW CHART OF PACKING
3.10 QUALITY ASSURANCE DEPARTMENT
3.10.1 INTRODUCTION
3.10.2 DEPARTMENT WISE QUALITY CHECKING POINTS
3.10.3CSO AUDIT
3.11 TRIM STORE
3.12 IE DEPARTMENT
3.13 MAINTENANCE DEPARTMENT
3.14 HR DEPARTMENT
3.15 EMBROIDERY SECTION
3.16 MISCELLANEOUS
3.16.1 SOFTWARE USED
3.16.2 DIFFERENT TOOLS AND TECHNIQUE USED IN THE
COMPANY

PART – 4
PROJECT

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 Part-1

Introduction & Objectives

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The apparel internship was done for 14 weeks in Aquarelle India Private Limited, Bannerghatta
Road, Bengaluru as a part of my curriculum. This report includes my learning outcome and the
summary of the projects undertaken during the course of the internship in this eminent
organisation.

Figure 1 Logo of Aquarelle India Private Limited

The main objectives for doing this internship include:

• To gain practical exposure
• Application of knowledge on real life projects and assignments.
Hence, this report is an elaboration of all the departments in the factory and the projects
undertaken.

1.1 Ciel Group

Aquarelle India Private Limited is part of Ciel Textiles group. Ciel is an investment group
based in Mauritius, listed on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius, operating five business clusters

Investment portfolio June 30 2018

5%

27%
22%

16%
30%

Healthcare Agro and Property Finance Hotels and Resorts Textiles

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 spread across Mauritius, Africa & Asia. It is operating since 1912. This group is employing
more than 35,000 people through its investee companies.
Figure 2 Investments of Ciel Group 2018

Figure 3 International Presence of Ciel group

1.1.1 Ciel Group Partners

Table 1 Ciel group partners
S No. Name of the Logo Description
partner
1. Adenia Partners A private equity fund investing
in Africa, investor in CIEL.

2. Dentressangle A holding enterprise and

Initiatives SAS European leader in transport and
logistics, investor in CIEL.

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3. Four Seasons The Canadian International
luxury, five-star hospitality
company which operates the
Four Seasons at Anahita,
Mauritius, a real estate
developed & owned by SUN.

4. Group Marc Owner of 40% of the Lucien

Ladreit De Barrière Hotel Group & holding
Lacharriere 20% of the Fitch Group, investor
in CIEL.

5. International A member of the World Bank

Finance Group & the largest global
Corporation development institution, which
invested in CIEL Healthcare &
co-invested with CIEL
Healthcare in Hygeia, Nigeria.

6. Shangri-La The Hong-Kong based company

that runs more than 100 luxury
hotels around the world; it
invested and manages their
legendary Touessrok Hotel
Resort & Spa in Mauritius.

7. Amethis Finance An investment fund, launched in

partnership with Edmond de
Rothschild Private Equity,
entirely dedicated to long-term
responsible financing in Africa,
which invested in CIEL Finance.

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8. FFP Invest FFP is a listed company
controlled by the Peugeot family
Group, investor in CIEL.

9. Fortis One of the largest Hospital

network in India which
partnered with CIEL Healthcare
to operate Fortis Clinique Darné
and Ex-Apollo Bramwell
Hospital in Mauritius & share
their management expertise for
their healthcare investments in
Uganda & Nigeria.

10. IFHA-II The Investment Fund for Health

in Africa, a private equity fund
and investor in CIEL Healthcare.

11. Proparco A French development finance

institution, investor in CIEL and
CIEL Healthcare.

12. Tereos The world’s 3rd largest sugar

producer co-investing with them
in Africa through Alteo.

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 1.1.2 Ciel Group Structure

CIEL TEXTILE CIEL HOTELS & CIEL

Woven CIEL AGRO & RESORTS HEALTHCARE
PROPERTY CIEL FINANCE
-Aquarelle Anahita Golf & Spa Ciel Healthcare
Clothing Alteo Resort Ciel Finance -Ciel Healthcare
-Consolidated Ciel Properties Sun -Bank One Africa
Fabrics Ebène Skies -Ambre -BNI Madagascar -The Medical &
-Laguna Clothing Ferney -IPRO Surgical Centre
-Four Seasons Resort (Fortis Clinique
-Pastel Blue -La Vallée De at Anahita -Mitco Darné & Wellkin
Fine Knits Ferney -Kanuhura -The Kibo Fund Hospital)
-Tropic Knits -La Pirogue Ciel Corporate -International
-Long Beach Services Medical Group (Img)
-CDL Knits
-Shangri-la's Le -Hygeia Nigeria
Knitwear
Touessro -Laboratoire
-Floreal Knitwear
-Sugar Beach International De Bio
-Ferney Spinning Analyse (Liba)
Mills

Figure 4 Ciel group Structure

1.2 Ciel Textile

CIEL owns 88.48% of CIEL Textile Limited, a company listed on the Development and
Enterprise Market of The Stock Exchange of Mauritius since 2006. CIEL Textile is a world-
class global player in textile and garments operations, spanned across Mauritius, Madagascar,
India and Bangladesh.
CIEL Textile has developed into a regional one-stop shop for textiles, with vertically
integrated business units, from yarn spinning to finish garments. The Group positions itself as
the best alternative to China with the objective to deliver unbeatable value to medium and
upmarket retailers.

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 19 Production Units
• 7 units in Mauritius
• 6 units in Madagascar
• 5 units in India
• 1 unit in Bangladesh
Over 20,000 employees
36M garments exported Annually
Fine Knits Cluster: 15 M garments
Woven Cluster: 16.5 M garments
Knitwear Cluster: 4.5M garments

Figure 5 Information about Ciel Textile

Figure 6 Organizational structure of Ciel Textile

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1.3 Aquarelle group
Aquarelle Group is an international woven shirt manufacturer supplying a homogeneous
upper/middle market segment through 11 production units in Mauritius, Madagascar and
India. With a vertically integrated weaving mill, Aquarelle Group also offers dyeing,
weaving, finishing and washing operations in-house. CEO of Aquarelle Group is Mr. Nagesh
Badida.
Companies:
• Consolidated Fabrics Limited (CFL): specialised in manufacturing of fabrics
• Laguna Clothing: specialised in the production of men’s shirts
• Aquarelle Casual: specialised in the production of casual shirts
• Pastel Blue: specialised in ladies’ shirts
Workforce: 11,000
Countries: Mauritius, Madagascar and India
Turnover: MUR 6.4BN for the year ended 30 June 2018.

Figure 7 Aquarelle group logos

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1.3.1 Consolidated Fabrics Limited:

Figure 8 About Consolidated Fabrics Limited

1.3.2 Laguna Clothing:

Set up in the year 2006, Laguna is a 50:50 joint venture company of Tessitura Monti,
Italy and Aquarelle Clothing, Mauritius. They manufacture shirts from India, Mauritius and
Madagascar for some of the leading brands in the world. While India benefits from a cluster
of high-end mills, Mauritius and Madagascar specialize in non-iron/post cure shirts.

Laguna India: 5,000,000 Shirts per year

Laguna Mauritius: 1,000,000 Shirts per year
Laguna Madagascar: 1,000,000 Shirts per year

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 Figure 9 About Laguna Clothing
1.3.3 Aquarelle Casual:

Figure 10 About Aquarelle Casual

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1.3.4 Pastel Blue:

Figure 11 About Pastel Blue

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1.4 Aquarelle India Private Limited Unit-2(AIPL-2)
Aquarelle India Private Limited has 4 factories in total in Bangalore. (AIPL-1, AIPL-2,
AIPL-6, AIPL-7. They have a Sampling unit (AIPL-3) and also warehouse (AIPL-4). The
AIPL-2, one of the production units of Aquarelle Casual, is located at No. 93/25/1 & 24;/2,
Kempanayakanhalli, Bannerughatta Dhakle, Jigani Hobli, Anekal Taluka, Bangalore-
560093.

Figure 12 Aquarelle India Private Limited plant entrance

1.4.1 Organizational chart

Figure 13 Organizational Structure of AIPL

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 Part-2

Process Flowchart

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 2.1 PROCESS FLOWCHART

Order receiving

Planning Sampling Material Sourcing

-Manpower FIT Sample
-Material Size set Sample
False Fabric and
-Machine trims inhouse
PP Sample Approval

PP Meeting Material
Inspection

Cutting True

Preparatory
Printing/
Embroidery
Sewing

False Repair/
Garment Inspection
Alteration

True
Washing

Finishing

False
Repair/
Garment Inspection
Alteration

True

Packing

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 Shipment Audit
False
True

Shipment Dispatch

Figure 15 Process Flowchart in Aquarelle India Private Limited

2.2 DEPARTMENTS AT AQUARELLE INDIA PRIVATE

LIMITED

• Merchandising department
• Sampling department
• Pattern making department
• Warehouse
• Computer aided design (CAD)
• Spreading and Cutting
• Sewing
• Finishing and Packaging
• Quality assurance
• Trims store
• IE department
• Maintenance department
• HR department
• Embroidery section
• Miscellaneous (Softwares used in the company)

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 Part-3

DEPARTMENT STUDY

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3.1 Merchandising department
3.1.1 INTRODUCTION
In garments sector, merchandising is an important department which negotiates marketing and
production department at the same time. To make smooth the merchandising activities every
merchandiser has to follow a process flow chart by which anyone can do his/her work very
smartly. The process flow chart for apparel / garments merchandising are presented in the
below.
3.1.2 PROCESS FLOW CHART
Order received from the Buyer with details
↓
Sample Development
↓
Price negotiation with the Buyer
↓
Confirmation of order and receive the order sheet
↓
Make buyer requirement sample (Fit, Proto etc) for approval
↓
Make requisition for bulk fabric
↓
Make requisition for accessories
↓
Swatch board making and approval
↓
Raw material collection and also receive it in factory
↓
Check and also listing
↓
Make P.P (pre-production Sample) with all actual
↓
Pre-production meeting
↓

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 Start bulk production
↓
Collect daily production and quality report
↓
Make online inspection by strong quality team
↓
Sample sent to third party testing centre
↓
Make final inspection for bulk production
↓
Shipment
↓
Send all documents to the Buyer
↓
Receive payment from Bank

3.1.3 DETAILED WORK FLOW

1. Order received from the Buyer with details: The very first work of a merchandiser is to
collect order from the buyer with the detail’s information (Art work, technical sheet).
2. Sample Development: Sample should be developed by following buyer’s instruction.
3. Price negotiation with the Buyer: In the meantime, Price should be negotiated with the
Buyer.
4. Confirmation of order and receive the order sheet: Here price have to fix and collect order
sheet from the Buyer.
5. Make Buyer requirement sample (Fit, Proto etc) for approval: Should be prepared proto or
fit sample for Buyer’s approval.
6. Make requisition for bulk fabric: In the meantime, make fabric requisition for bulk
production.
7. Make requisition for accessories: Make a requisition for the required accessories of that
order.
8. Swatch board making and approval: Should prepare swatch board of required accessories
for the Buyer’s approval.

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9. Raw material collection and also receive it in factory: All the requisite raw materials have to
collect and receive in factory at right time.
10. Check and also listing: Check all the in-hosed material with requisite sheet.
11. Make P.P (pre-production Sample) with all actual: By following Buyers instruction make
a P.P sample with all actual.
12. Pre-production meeting: Before going into the production, have to arrange preproduction
meeting for smooth production.
13. Start bulk production
14. Collect daily production and quality report: Regular production and quality report should
be collected here in regular basis.
15. Make online inspection by strong quality team: During bulk production, have to make
online inspection by strong quality team.
16. Sample sent to third party testing centre: For making a strong approval about the quality of
the product, have to send sample in third party testing centre.
17. Make final inspection for bulk production: After completing bulk production, make a final
inspection for the order.
18. Shipment: After making final inspection of the product, all the garments should send to the
Buyer.
19. Send all documents to the Buyer: All the documents about the order should send to the
buyer after sending the full order quantity for receiving payment.
20. Receive payment from Bank: Finally receive the payment from the Bank.

3.2 Sampling department

3.2.1 INTRODUCTION
Sampling department is the most vital department of the organization. It is the department that
develops the samples thus enabling the Product Development. This department prepares
samples on the basis of the requirements of the buyer. The sampling department here caters to
the need of all the other units of Aquarelle as it was centralized for all the units in Bangalore.
Sampling department is situated in Unit 3 of Aquarelle casual shirts.

Sampling is one of the main processes in garment manufacturing and it plays vital role in
attracting buyers and confirming the order, as the buyers generally places the order once

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satisfied with the quality and responsiveness of the sampling. It is the most crucial and most
important stage of fashion merchandising. Sampling department makes samples on the basis
of the specification and requirement by the buyer.
Before placing any order to the factory, the buyer wants to know whether the factory is capable
of producing the styles with the desired quality levels or not. The samples decide the ability of
exporters to deal with any given style of garment. The buyer accesses the capability of exporter
only with the help of samples. If the samples are of good quality naturally the buyers will be
willing to place the order to factory. Sampling also work as a bridge between the productions
and marketing department; hence it has the influence of both marketing as well as production
department.
The Sample room objectives:
To make a proper sample
To understand buyers’ requirement
To fulfil the buyer’s requirement
To utilize the skill operation with skilled operator
To combine the overall performance of an order
To give the confirmation to the buyer that the bulk production is going to be right
To get understanding completely to the operators and management as well about the
production and manufacturing
To confirm the measurement and fabric requirements
To make perfection in the consumption
To make the perfection in the pattern and marker

3.2.2 PRE-PRODUCTION PROCESS/SAMPLING

Pre-production is a process focuses on eliminating the high risks and smoothen both product
and process design. Before loading of orders for bulk procedures, the following procedures are
performed to prevent any problems further.
• Feasibility study
• BE (Bureau D’etude meeting)
• Internal Line Plan
• Pre-run and Preparatory plan
• Demining meeting

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 • Pre-run execution
• Changeover plan
• Preparatory execution
Pre-production meeting is the free discussion with all concerned departments to identify high
risks and raise doubts to get clarification. It provides platform to solve the problems related to
machine, material, production and quality. Pre- production is the major controlling tool for the
merchandiser, factory and buyer as well to process the order smoothly.

Customer Order Enquiry

Order
Enquiry
Stage
60-120 days prior to
Feasibility study bulk

Order
Confirmation

Order
Confirmation
stage Bureau D’etude 45-60 days prior to
Meeting bulk

Order Internal Loading

Confirmation Plan/ Preparatory 30-45 days prior to
stage plan and Pre-run bulk
Plan

20-30 days prior to

De-Mining Meeting
bulk

12-15 days prior to

Pre-Run execution bulk

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 Style Launch
5 days prior to bulk
Order Meeting
Execution
stage
2-3 days prior to
Preparatory bulk

Change over
1 day prior to bulk
detailed plan

Bulk Production

Figure 16 Pre-Production Overview and Timeline

TYPES OF SAMPLES

1. PROTO SAMPLE It is the reflection of the first tech-pack received from the buyer. The
sample is sent to the buyer for the design approval. Proto sample is made in the base size.
Styling is important. The comments and second tech pack is sent back referring changes in the
sample.

2. FIT SAMPLE The comments are received regarding the shape, size and fullness. The sample
is checked for fit on body forms. It is made in exact fabric, though print maybe different, since
the drape and fit are to be checked.

3. SECOND FIT SAMPLE It is similar to the first fit sample made with a few changes
according to comments received from the buyer. Again a third or fourth fit sample may be
required to be made. After approval of fit sample, order is confirmed along with all the
specifications.

4. PRE-PRODUCTION/SEALER SAMPLE This sample is known as the bible of production.

It is done for the base size of any one colour and actual fabric and actual trims are used.

5. SIZE-SET SAMPLE The sample is made in actual fabric and trims in all sizes and is sent to
the buyer for approval.

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6. TOP OF PRODUCTION (TOP) SAMPLE It is the best sample from first of bulk production.

7. SALESMAN SAMPLE It is made for the buyer to find out the opinion of the store owners
whether the style would sell in the market or not, and the demand of that product.

Receive tech-pack from

customer for order enquiry

Feasibility study(are there any No

high risk areas or non
standard operations)

Yes

Yes
Can those high risks be
addressed and solved Prepare proposed method mock-ups
internally?

No

Prepare proposed solutions No

by means of Sample/mock to
customer and get required Style Not Feasible to proceed
approvals through
marketing. Is it approved?

Yes

Proto sample approval

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 Fit Sample

SMS/Sealer Sample

PPS sample(Keep of PPS)

Prepare High Risk Process/

operations checklist

Address high risks to the team

through B.E Meeting

Internal loading plan

-Preparatory Plan
-Pre-Run Plan
-De-mining schedule

De-mining meeting

Pre-Run

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 De-mining Points and Changeover
Preparation

Change over detailed plan

Style launch Meeting

No
Is Preparatory
Required?

Yes

Preparatory

Change Over

Any technical/ Yes

Feedback to the Technical,
Quality/ Process Pre-production and Work
deviation during Study team
changeover?

No

Preventive action for the

Bulk Production
deviation

Figure 17 Pre-Production Detailed Process Flow

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3.3 Pattern Making department
3.3.1 PATTERN MAKING PROCESS

The pattern maker in the sample room is given the tech pack for his pattern making process.
The pattern maker uses the Rich peace CAD system in his pattern making process. All the
details need to create the patterns is included in the tech pack and there is a sketch or a photo
of a garment where specifications are mentioned. He has to create these patterns according to
the buyer requested specifications.

3.3.2 MARKER PLANNING

The created pattern by the pattern maker is sent to the marker planner for marker drawing
process. The marker planner in the sample room has to prepare markers for costing and the
ordering only.

The pattern making or centralised CAD department is present in the warehouse. Everything
from pattern making to grading happens here and the software used is Richpeace.

The CAD department is responsible for regular updation of patterns if required and it is the
department which creates the most important bulk pattern for bulk production and gives it to
the factory.

3.4 Warehouse
3.4.1 INTRODUCTION
A warehouse is a planned space for the storage and handling of goods and material. In general,
warehouses are focal points for product and information flow between sources of supply and
beneficiaries. Aquarelle is having a centralised warehouse. Fabric rolls and trims are received
for and transported to all other units from here. It has two sections; one is for the fabric rolls
storage and another section is for trims and accessories storage. When the fabric rolls are
received, they are first inspected and then distributed to the respective units. There are 4
inspection machines for this purpose, in which 4-point system is being followed.

Meanwhile the bulk fabric and trims come in and the inspection takes place, trims and fabric
are stored in different racks. There are different racks for keeping the rolls which have been
inspected and for which the inspection is pending. There are mapping boards for locating the
fabric rolls as well as trims.

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The boards consist the following information

Colour code- Red for inspection rejected

Green for inspection passed

Orange for inspection pending

Rack number

Style

Colour

Quantity

Remarks

Figure 18 Warehouse Layout

3.4.2 INSPECTION PROCESS

Fabric is in-house after which swatches are cut and the according to specifications the fabric
goes for wash or non-wash programmes.

In the wash process, the fabric is cut into two equal parts after which one set is sent for
washing and shrinkage test and other set for CSV (centre to selvedge variation) is checked after
wash and report is prepared and sent to merchandiser for approval.

After the process the shade band is observed and analysed using the light box.

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 The centre to selvedge colour variation is analysed for the fabric in which fabric is divided
into five parts and arranged in an order and stitched together and colour variations are observed
using a grey scale and recorded.

The width measurement is then done.

After this process, inspection is done, the machine is run at 10-12 m.p.m speed and all the
rolls are inspected following the four point system.

The defects warp wise and weft wise are given penalty points as follows: -

Table 2 Four-point system

DEFECT LENGTH POINTS

Up to 3” 1
3-6’’ 2
6-9” 3
Above 9” 4

No. of Points x 3600

No. of Penalty Point = -----------------------------------------------------------
Quantity Inspected (in yards) x Width (in yards)

Stickers are placed at the defect points

The summary report is generated and decision to accept or reject, it is taken by the head of
RMQA
FOR TRIMS:
The trims like buttons, polybags, hand tags, labels and threads are analysed according to the
specification sheets.

3.4.3 DETAILED PROCESS FLOW

Receipt of trims consignment in materials department.
PO and packing list are collected from materials department.
Lab tests are done and trims card is sent to the merchandisers purchase officer for approval.

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 Inspection/counting is done
Samples are picked for inspection as per AQL rules and it is done as per rules.
The lab test report is checked and if doesn’t meet standards then the mill has to wait for
further instructions.
If it is passed then inspection is done and the report is prepared if it passes inspection, if
inspection fails then 100% inspection is done.
If that fails then the trim lot is rejected.

3.5 Computer Aided Design (CAD) department

3.5.1 INTRODUCTION
Computer Aided Design (CAD) becomes an essential tool for pattern making and related jobs
in garment industry. In apparel industry CAD Software is used for pattern making, Grading of
pattern, marker making and digitizing manual patterns.
In Aquarelle India, the CAD software used for Patterns making and manipulation is CAD
provided by company RICHPEACE.
Patterns are manually made at the sampling unit and are used to make sample garment and
when sample garments are approved then only the patterns are approved for the Bulk
production part. Also, they store the database of previous style patterns and many of the times
the only modify the patterns according to need to make patterns for new style.
3.5.2 STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE
When approved for Bulk production the patterns, the soft copy and the Hard copy i.e. the
printed ones Both are transferred from the sampling unit to the main production unit for Bulk
production.
Once patterns are in-house, the marker making department uses the Rich peace software to
make the markers. The markers can be from 2 way to 8 way depending on the style. This
software also generates the cut plan for different types of fabrics. Also, small settings can be
adjusted according to the requirements and to suite the available machinery in the company.
Example-In case of solid fabric the gap between patterns must be 5 mm and between checks
it should be 5-6 mm which all can be adjusted in the software.
In case of checks the fabric is cut by the CAD person and from the available rolls and the
repeat size is measured manually and then only according to the repeat size the patterns are
arranged in a spread.

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 The patterns are placed and aligned and marker is prepared sometimes automatically and
sometimes manually. The automatic prepared one has less efficiency and thus the spread must
be arranged manually to get a better efficiency which is done at the production unit of Aquarelle
by the concerned person.

After completion of marker the approval is taken from the concerned authority and the
marker is printed by the plotter present of the same company i.e. of Richpeace and the plotter
is Rich peace Magic Inkjet Plotter. For accuracy purpose the plotter is calibrated every Monday
and is checked and approved by a process auditor for any deflection from the standards. The
plotters use ink jet technology and is a four-header machine but here only two ink jet headers
were attached. One ink head last for around one month as said and must be refilled every month.
One head can be refilled only thrice and after that the head should be replaced by new one. The
machine prints 2 inches in one full horizontal go.

The features are-

Stable and high-speed printing, 140 ㎡/h maximum.

The unique font & back paper-feeding structure suitable for varieties of paper.

Original Hewlett Packard HP45 ink cartridges, low cost and easy to replace. Servo motor
system which could improve the printing precision.

Automatic alarm when paper jams or runs out.

Figure 19 Rich peace plotter

Table 3 Specifications of Rich peace plotter

SPEC/MODEL RPGP-MJ/4 320
Max. Plotting Width(mm) 3250
Max. Paper Width(mm) 3300

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 No. of Cartridges 2.4
Paper Feed System Automatic Feeding
Max. Paper weight(kg) 35
Max. Plotting Speed 72 square meters per hour (two cartridges),
140 square meters per hour (four cartridges)
Ink Box Type HP45 ink cartridge
Plot Precision(mm) 0.025
Paper(gm) 30-120
Interface USB, network cable (RJ-45)
Motor Type Servo motor
Data Format HPGL

3.5.3 CAD SOFTWARE:

In Aquarelle India, the CAD software used for Patterns making and manipulation is CAD
provided by company RICHPEACE.

This is very user-friendly software and has many tools present for pattern making. Few of the
most used tools are: -

Move and rotate command.

Transfer dart command

Grading tool.

Symmetry adjust tool

Notch placement and fixation

Status bar which tells whether the marker is ready or not.

Equal height grade

Efficiency of the spread.

Length of spread

Printing options

Repeat size setting and Duplication commands.

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3.6 Spreading and Cutting
3.6.1 INTRODUCTION

Cutting room is an extremely important section in the garment manufacturing process which
has a major impact on the profitability of the business. The importance of the efficient
management of the cutting room in garment manufacturing process is unmatched because:

Cutting room being the feeding point to the factory has massive impact on all the further
processes of garment manufacturing i.e. sewing, finishing etc.

Efficient and well-planned operations in cutting room ensure smooth flow of work to all
further processes and can definitely lift up the utilization of the available resources.

Cutting room controls the utilization of fabric which is the biggest contributor to the cost of
any garment. Even small wastage or saving of the fabric will have a huge effect on the margins
of the orders.

Cutting being the first operation of garment manufacturing lays the foundation of quality of
the garment to be made. Any imperfection in cutting process can result in non-conformance of
the quality standards of all further processes.

3.6.2 LAYOUT OF CUTTING ROOM

The Cutting floor at Aquarelle India includes the following departments:

The Fabric Storage Area

End bit Storage

The Spreading & Cutting Area

Relaying Area

The Bundling and Ticketing Area

End components storage

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3.6.3 WORK FLOW OF CUTTING ROOM

Fabric Store Department

Fabric Receipt

Spreading

Cutting

Numbering

Panel Inspection

Fusing

Bundling

Issue to Sewing
Department

Figure 20 Work flow of Cutting Room

3.6.4 DETAILED PROCESS FLOW

After the complete sampling and inspection processes, the fabric rolls come in from the
warehouse to the factory where it gets unloaded and stored in segregated form as per the shade

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variation and the shrinkage variation. Whenever the fabric roll is received it is checked for
stretchability, and if there any scope of it specified in FCR report then it is left for relaxation a
day prior to spreading. The marker planning and rearranging starts in the marker specified by
the warehouse, if any scope for increased efficiency of marker is found then necessary changes
are implemented.

ROLL RECEIVED

Factory planning sends the Cutting Requisition Slip to the warehouse via E-mail in order to
dispatch the fabric roll along with the FCR (Fabric Control Report) three days prior to PCD
(Plan Cut Date). At the same time, the cutting requisition slip is shared with central CAD so
that they can send CAD marker to CAD department of factory. Warehouse cross checks the
slip with the loading plan and sends the rolls to factory via factory daily vehicle along with DC
(Dispatch Challan) and list of loaded rolls with roll numbers, customer name and style number.
The vehicle is checked by the security with DC and roll list. Unloading is done by the cutting
spreaders (2-3) and one security who matches the roll number. The rolls are kept on storage
racks mentioning customer name and style number.

SPREADING

As per the lay report given, specific fabric rolls are taken up for spreading. Spreading involves
laying the fabric as per the given length in meters. Table planning is done at the starting and
process is executed as per the plan. Brown paper was laid and taped before spreading for all
fabrics in both types of spreading. This was to protect the fabric from rough spots on the table
surface. It also enabled the spread to be moved as required (due to low friction) and also it
prevented the lower plies from distortion by straight knife while cutting. Two operators could
carry out the work involved in manual spreading.

In manual spreading, one operator pulled the fabric from roll and then the two of them took
this fabric to the required length (of spread). On reaching the required length, they aligned the
edges and placed a weight on it. Both these operators return back and while balancing the fabric
and on reaching balance the fabric near the roll and in the end cut the fabric with scissors or
end cutter.

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The spreading process is followed by placement of the marker on the top ply. To secure the
marker on the lay, it was torn at different places and a tape was put there.

INFORMATION FLOW FOR SPREADING

Fabric is to be received from fabric store department along with following details:

Usable fabric width

Colour /shade code

Length of rolls

Spreading operator is to receive lay report consisting of following details:

• Purchase Order

• Style Number

• Lay Number

• Lay method –Face up / Face to face

• Fabric type –Shell/ Lining /Interlining / Fusing

• Colour / Shade

• Lot quantity

• Marker name

• Marker length

• Lay length

• Usable fabric width

• No of plies to be spread

• Consumption

FCR report is referred to decide which roll to be picked as per their shrinkage. The spreaders
first stick the paper and then spread the first lay 3 cm more than the decided lay. The marker is
kept and checked again, once approved, the layering is done. After, layering the Lay Sheet is

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updated by spreaders taking reference from FCR and Supervisor notebook. The lay sheet is
sent to the CAD room for bundle sheet.

• Roll reference number

• Fabric roll width

• Fabric usable width

• Fabric roll length

• Colour /shade code

• Usage in meters

• Balance quantity

QUALITY CONSIDERATIONS FOR SPREADING

There were check points for inspection of spreading quality for the QCs where they check
spreading defects such as leaning, uneven tension, and misalignment of plies, bowing,
skewness, & fabric defects.

Fabric where stripe or check matching has to be done is done along the lines of the thread
which are tied exactly perpendicular to the table length.

For napped fabrics like corduroy, twill weave, denim, velvet, some prints & plaid, the
spreaders were instructed to take extra care while spreading and were spread manually.

In case of fabric defects, the fabrics were sent marked with stickers in colors contrasting to
the fabric colour. If the defect was minor it was ignored. However, in case of major defect they
remove the flaw.

In case shade variation within the roll, part with the varied shade was removed.

In case of narrow width fabrics, if the defect was within the roll, they aligned the selvedge
of one side while the other end across the width was left as it was. For too many inconsistencies,
the QC in charge was informed & according to the severity of the problem, CAD marker of the
shorter width was ordered.

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CUTTING

After fabric is laid on the table, and marker spread on it as per required garment, marker is
spread on it and all garment parts were marked, to secure the marker on the lay, it was torn at
different places and a tape was put there. Rawsa44 cutting takes place on the same place then
it is shifted to numbering; relay parts are cut, finally parts checking takes place. Manual cutting
was done with a straight knife for all fabrics. For smaller parts like collars, pockets, collar
bands etc. blocks were cut which were then recut using a band knife. Two cutters were involved
in cutting a lay. Drill machine is used if marking like pocket marking on front or centre marking
on sleeve is required.

Operators themselves collected the waste bits of fabric in a bin in order to prevent the floor
from getting dirty and to create enough free movable space for the cutting knife. The cut parts
were tied & shifted to respective places, bigger parts sent to ticketing, smaller parts to band

knife and then they were sent for ticketing, if necessary, relaying and re-cutting was carried
out. These were later dispatched to the production floor upstairs through a lift specially meant
for carrying cut parts.

Information Flow for cutting:

Any order processing begins with the issue of a standard production file which contains the
following:

1. Order sheet

2. Bill of material

3. Size breakup ratio sheet

4. Product pack

5. Approved sample

6. Measurement spec sheet

7. Approved patterns – soft copy

8. Receipt of fabric:

Cutting Department receives fabric from fabric store department along with following details:

Fabric defect report on the basis of 4-point fabric inspection system,

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 Width of fabric for each roll,

Face side of fabric,

Shade band card,

Shrinkage report,

Colour fastness report and

Fabric roll report

MARKER PLANNING:

Cut order planning:

Cut order planning is the most critical and important process in the cutting section. Here, actual
order size is planned into no. of lays with the objective being to achieve the given BOM
consumption. While keeping cutting costs to a minimum. The process works in a contradicting
way. As one tries to increase the ply height by planning more no. of plies, the consumption
tends to increase. While planning with lower no. of plies, the consumption targets can be met,
but less no. of plies means more no. of lays to cut, which means that cutting costs are increased.
The planning must be balanced keeping in mind the no. of plies and cutting cost.

1. Cut order planning is performed in combination with roll management techniques. It is

mandatory that a person executing cut order planning is trained in marker management
techniques.

2. There are 4 constraints on which the cut plan needs to be done to achieve the dual objective
of optimum consumption and optimum cost

Fabric width

Shrinkage

Shade

Roll length

3. Nap of fabric is laid Face- up.

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4. Combination of sizes is worked out to achieve the best fit to achieve marker utilization so
that the consumption is primarily met. At the same time, efforts are made to maximize the ply
height to achieve optimum cutting cost.

5. Once the plan is ready, the numbering sequence generator is utilized to predetermine the ply
numbering sequence.

6. For each lay, specific fabric roll are allotted and the basis for allotting depends on one or a
combination of the following factors:

Width

Shrinkage

Share

Roll length

Fabric utilization

7. The generated cut plan is thoroughly checked by the authorized personal and forwarded for
marker procedure

8. Cutting department makes a marker plan after receiving following details:

Pattern detail from cad department

Fabric width detail from fabric store department

Fabric consumption from merchandising department

QUALITY REPORTS GENERATED:

Lay inspection report

Interlining report

Fusing audit report

Panel inspection report

Bundling inspection report

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QUALITY CONSIDERATIONS FOR CUTTING:

The QC compared the hard pattern to marker paper to ensure the accuracy of the marker.
The tolerance for this was nil.

The cut parts from top ply & the bottom ply were matched in order to see whether they had
been cut properly. The bottom ply sometimes got distorted due to constrained movement of the
knife. In such cases the plies were later cut with hand shears. There was also a check for ragged
or uneven cutting. The QC instructed the cutter to correct it there & then.

The notch location was supposed to be checked by placing patterns over top ply. The
tolerance for this was +/- 1/8 of inch.

MACHINERY SPECIFICATIONS

1) Straight Knife

Table 4 Specifications of Straight Knife Cutting machine

Specs/Model Blue streak II

Make Eastman Machine Co.

Blade Length 8’’

Width 1.25’’

Current 4.2A

Volts 220V

Cycle 50/s

R.P.M. 2850(strokes/min)

Motor Phase-1

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2) Band Knife

Table 5 Specifications of Band Knife Cutting machine

Specs/Model EC-700N EC-900N

Make Eastman Machine Co. Eastman Machine Co.

Blade size 3500*10*0.45 mm 3960*10*0.45 mm

Arm Length 700 mm 900 mm

Cutting Capacity 180 mm 180 mm

Table Size 1500*1800 mm 1500*2100 mm

Motor AC 220V 750W AC 220V 750W

3) Driller 4) Spreading table

Table 6 Specifications of Driller Table 7 Spreading tables

Specs/Model F974 Length Number

Make Eastman Machine Co.

Blade length 8’’

Width 1.25’’

Current 4.2A

Volts 220V

Cycle 50/s

R.P.M. 2850(strokes/min)

Motor Phase-1

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5) Fusing machine

Table 8 Specifications of Fusing machine

Specs/Model 331.00

Make Macpi

Temperature 165⁰C
Calibration

Belt Pressure Even

Balance

Fusing Time 20 sec

Set/Dwell time

Pull Bond Test 2.2kgs

Glue Line 154⁰C

Temperature

The cutting department is responsible for cutting the lay as per the cutting plan (marker)
generated by the “Planning Department”. After cutting the panels are fused according to the
requirement.

PANEL CHECKING: 3-Panel checking is done: Front, Back and Sleeve. The checking of
panel is done on the basis of weaving defect. In case of defective part, it is replaced with similar
shade and shrinkage from end bit storage. The decision is taken by supervisor; in critical cases
QAs’ (Quality Auditor) advice is also taken. This section provides the framework for the
processes involved in cutting section and the production management practices that are
incorporated in the cutting area. Cutting processes are regarded as the most critical process in
the garment manufacturing process. The theory behind this is that here the raw material (fabric
is given a form in the form of cut panels. This means that utmost care must be taken in each
and every process because after cutting most of the times the wrong doing cannot be rectified.

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BUNDLING AND TICKETING

Immediately after cutting, bundle sheets are generated for each lay specifying number of
components in each bundle. First numbering is done on all pieces of one lay and after that,
according to the shade groups bundle is prepared. In bundle sheets it is specified in which lay
specific plies of which size are of which particular shade, for example, in one lay, when bundle
sheet is generated, in that style 1M, 2L and 1XL is present then it specifies number of plies
913-935 of size M are in D shade group respectively and in which bundle it will go. Styles
numbered are those on whose shell fabric ink is easily visible. For collar and cuff ticketing is
necessarily done. The numbering is done in two ways, ink or stickers.

The type of method to be used depends upon various factors. Some of them are listed below:

1. If the fabric is light coloured, butterfly is cut with the pattern and ink method is used.

2. In light coloured fabric, parts like collar and cuff, butterfly cannot be attached as parts
involve turn and then stitch, so, stickers are used.

3. Some fabrics with more absorption results cannot be inked and there is a possibility of
smudging of ink.

If the fabric is multi-coloured, inks cannot be used as it would not be clearly visible at the time
of matching. Next step after numbering and bundling, barcodes are generated, for all the
operations to be done on that bundle and enclosed in a pocket and sent to the Kanban
supermarket to be sent to the lines after panel inspection.

FOR STRIPED OR CHECKS FABRICS

Firstly, block cutting is done with the help of pins also known as relaying.

Then the scissor open process is done following the feature line which is the common line
in the centre of the collar and cuff.

After this step the ready cutting is done which is done using the band knife.

Inspection is done after which number sealing is done.

The process ends with bundling after which the parts reach the Supermarket.

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Cutting is also a direct interface for the pattern department by way of making markers. A lot of
effort is involved in making sure that the markers are provided in the required manner to
eliminate the chances of mistakes. Effort goes into making sure that every single details of the
style is considered while marker making. That is why cutting plays a vital role in having a
correct pattern. Cutting costs form a bulk of manufacturing costs.

From cutting department bundles are taken to Kanban super market with the help of feeding
helpers and are put in bins along with process card to each bin. Then bundles are taken to
different lines with the help of feeding helpers as per requirement.

3.7 Sewing department

3.7.1 INTRODUCTION

After receiving the garment components from cutting section, all the garment parts are joined
and sewn as sequentially. All the components are sewn as per buyer’s requirement. Sewing
section is the most important department of a garment manufacturing industry. Sewing
machines of different types are arranged in vertical lines to assemble the garments. Sequence
of machines depends on the sequence of assembling operations.

There are 5 lines for sub-assembly (Front, Back, Collar, Sleeve and Cuff) and 5 assemblies.

3.7.2 PROGRESSIVE BUNDLE SYSTEM

The progressive bundle system (PBS): Sewing operations are laid out in sequence. Each
operator receives a bundle, does his work, reties the bundle and passes it to the next operator.
One operator usually performs the same operation. The garments are gradually assembled as
they move through successive sub-assembly and then all parts are sent to the matching
section. Machines and operations are organized into sections according to basic functions,
which produce subcomponents. Within each section, work is balanced according to the time
required for each sub-function. The amount of machinery for each operation is determined by
the output required. This system is the most widely used system in the garment industry
today. It is used in shirt factories, jeans factories, jacket factories, etc. In Aquarelle, they use
the progressive bundle system in the sub-assembly lines.

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Advantages:

This production system may allow better utilization of specialized garments production
machines, as output from one special purpose automated garments machine may be able to
supply several garments machine operators for the next operation. Small bundles of garments
allow faster throughput unless there are bottlenecks and extensive waiting between operations.

Disadvantages:

Slow processing, absenteeism, and equipment failure may cause major bottlenecks within the
system. Large quantities of work in process are often characteristic of this type of garment
production system. This may lead to longer throughput time, poor quality concealed by bundles
of garments, large inventory, extra handling, and difficulty in controlling inventory of garments
industry.

3.7.3 PROCESS FLOW

Bundles from the cutting department are received and stored in the Kanban racks. These racks
contain bundles for processing of all the cut parts. The parts are loaded into the lines based on
the planning.

Front Operations

1. Left hem of the front placket KANSAI multi needle chain stitch machines. Machines are
grouped together and different styles run on these machines at a time.

Work Aids used:

Automatic trimmer at the end of every piece and automatic piece collection system with the
help of stackers.

Folder for putting fusing, placket cut piece, front panel in one go.

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2. Right hem of the front placket SNLS (Single needle lock stitch) machines are used with
UBT.

Work Aids used:

Folders used for hemming the right placket. It helps in equal feeding of fabric into the
machine saving time in handling the piece by operator.

Automatic stackers for collecting the pieces processed.

3. Button Hole Operation in left placket.

All button hole machines are grouped together. Different styles run on these machines at a time.
These machines are placed modular layout so that only one operator can manage working on
two machines at the same time.

4. Label Attaching.

The processed front placket bundle first goes for label attachment operation. Labels are
attached on the side seam left front piece. The number of labels to be attached depends upon
the buyer’s requirement.

These bundles also contain front yoke pieces which then goes for ironing operation.

Ironing of yoke hem is done using aluminium templates.

After this, the bundle goes for pairing/matching operation where the left and right pieces are
matched or paired together according to the serial number mentioned on the piece.

After matching, yoke is attached to the front panels. Attachment is done for the both left and
right pieces in pairs.

Bundle is passed for yoke top stitch.

5. Pocket Flap Formation.

Bundle then passes for flap run stitch. Fusing is also attached with the main piece during this
run stitch. Automatized run stitch machine is used.

Work aids: acrylic template/profile is used for setting the piece in place.

Bundle goes to flap trimming machine where extra edges are trimmed and then goes for flap
turning operation.

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 Then, bundle goes for flap top stitch operation

6. Flap Overlock Operation (Open Edge Overlock).

Then the bundle goes for attachment of backing on the edges where the pocket is going to
be attached (marked on the back side of the fabric).

Bundle goes for flap and pocket placement marking operation. Marking is done on the main
side of the fabric.

Work aids: cardboard template fixed on the centre of the table for marking left and right front
pockets.

Bundle goes for flap attachment operation. Pocket pieces are received separately from the
cutting department.

7. Pocket Formation Process.

Pocket is first ironed using acrylic template which is in the shape of the pocket on the ironing
machine.

Then these pockets are put in the respective bundles and go for pocket hemming.

Then, for pocket attachment operation.

8. Pocket Top Stitch.

9. Stay Stitch on Flap.

10. Bar tack operation on both flap and pocket ends and then end line inspection.

Back Operations

The bundles of back parts are brought to the Kanban storage area from the cutting section,
where these bundles are arranged serially in separate bins for back. After this, the bundles are
moved progressively from operation to operation in the lines. Bundle sheets are provided to
the operators to keep a timely record of the bundles. the process flow of back are, firstly the
size and brand label are attach to the back then yoke panels attach to the back .there are non-
standard back operation for some different style based on buyers requirement, like pleat, loop,
dart, full length pleat, shoulder dart and back dart.

1. Set Label.

2. Prepare Pleat and Dart

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3. Set Yoke.

4. Top Stitch Yoke.

5. End Line Inspection.

Work aids:

Paper Template Used for Ironing Back Pleat- An in-house developed paper template is used
by the ironers to heat set the back pleat during ironing. The template is inserted in the pleat and
the back piece is hence ironed after which the template is removed and the gets set

Folder for Back Pleat- Back pieces are fed in a folder which prepares the back pleat

Folder for Back Loop Preparation- Strips for back loop are fed through a in-house developed
folder which prepares the seam for the loop after which the operator cuts the loops according
to the side.

NON-STANDARD COMPONENTS OF BACK OPERATIONS:

• Pleat

• Loop

• Dart

• Full length pleat

• Sided pleat

• Shoulder dart and back dart

• Zig zag stitch

• Top stitch

Sleeve Operations

1. Bind and tack sleeve

Work aids:

Stacker for holding the bundle

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 Folder for binding operation. Operator feeds the sleeve and cut fabric piece into the folder
and the seam is formed.

Then the operator moves the bundle forward for the placket attachment operation

2. Sleeve placket

Plackets are ironed/set either manually or with the help of a machine.

1st type of machine (NGAI SHING): Sets the placket itself once the operator feeds the cut
pieces. Both left and right cut parts are fed together. It uses vacuum suction system and a laser
light kept at 90 degrees for reference for placing the cut parts. The processed pieces can be
collected at the end of every bundle.

3. Set sleeve placket

Work aids: separate shelves for keeping the left and right sleeves

4. Pleat formation

5. Sleeve placket button hole formation

6. Sleeve placket bar tack

7. End line inspection.

Collar Operations

1. Collar run stitch.

Work aids:

Acrylic Template- For collar run stitch operation, an in-house developed acrylic template is
used. Also, instead of the pressure foot, rollers are attached for easy movement of the flapped
acrylic sheet.

2. Trim collar.

3.Collar Pressing and Turning.

Work aids:

Collar/Cuff Turning and Pressing Machine- With the help of this machine the operator is able
to trim, turn and press two collar/cuff pieces at a time. Machine has vastly reduced manpower
and increased productivity.

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4. Collar top stitch.

Automated Machine Used for Collar Top Stitch: The machine is automated in such a way
so as to stop automatically at the turning points in a collar. This helps in reducing skip stitches
and defects and also increases productivity and operator time.

5. Luna Trim operation.

Work aids:

Luna Trim Machine- A machine known as Luna Trim is used to trim the collar base after
the top stitch operation. This is done to prevent fraying of the collar base as the machine has a
zig-zag knife.

6. Collar stay stitch

7. Neck band hemming

8. Neck band trimming

9. Insert collar, pick and turn.

Work aids:

Foam Template and Folder for Insert Collar Operation- For insert collar operation (attaching
collar with neckband) a foam template is placed at both the neckband curves for proper
alignment of the stitch after which the piece is fed in the folder for guided stitching.

Neck band/cuff turning- For neckband/cuff turning clamp like work aid is used which eases
the turning of neckband/cuff and also improves productivity.

10. Trim Base.

11. Collar Marking.

12. End Line Inspection.

NON-STANDARD COMPONENTS OF COLLAR OPERATIONS:

• Collar label attach

• Button hole

• Button hole loop

• Button hole patch

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• Collar tape

• Hem band tape

• Chain stitch

• Saddle stitch

• Neckband patch

• Zig-zag stitch

Cuff Operations

1. Hem Cuff.

2. Run Cuff.

Work aids:

Acrylic Template- For collar and cuff run stitch operations an in-house developed acrylic
template is used. Also, instead of the pressure foot, rollers are attached for easy movement of
the flapped acrylic sheet.

3. Trim Cuff.

4. Turn Cuff.

Collar/Cuff Turning and Pressing Machine: With the help of this machine the operator is
able to trim, turn and press two collar/cuff pieces at a time. Machine has vastly reduced
manpower and increased productivity.

NECK BAND/CUFF TURNING- For neckband/cuff turning clamp like work aid is used
which eases the turning of neckband/cuff and also improves productivity.

5. Press Cuff.

6. Cuff Top Stitch.

7. End Line Inspection.

NON-STANDARD COMPONENTS OF CUFF OPERATIONS:

• Chain stitch

• Saddle stitch

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• Cuff tape

• Hem patch

2nd type of machine: It uses conveyor belt system. The operator feeds the cut pieces to the
two folders attached to the machine. The pieces pass in between the hot belts which sets it in
the shape in which it was fed through the folders and then pieces are collected after the process.

3.8 Assembly department

This is the department in which all the cut parts from sub assembly are finally assembled into
a garment. The Assembly floor in Aquarelle has about 9 assembly lines and the production
system followed here is the UPS or unit production system.

This is the department in which all the cut parts from sub assembly are finally assembled into
a garment. There are 5 assembly lines in Unit-2 and the production system followed here is the
UPS or unit production system.

3.8.1 UPS SYSTEM OF PRODUCTION

In Unit production system, garment components are clamped in a hanger and the hanger moves
on an overhead rail. On the hanger, components of a single piece are clapped. So, this is also
one kind of single-piece-flow system.

The essential features of this type of system are:

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

2. The garment components are manually or automatically transported from workstation to

work station according to a pre-determined sequence.

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

THE COMPLETE PROCESS

Firstly, the bundles with components are transported to the assembly areas, the medium
being the matching centre.

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 The bundles are placed on the feeding table, where the feeder helper will arrange the parts
of the bundle and place them onto the hanger with five divisions i.e. five parts which are front,
back, collar, cuff and sleeve.

The feeder helper notes the bundle completed or started by putting a sticker onto the
production slip or bundle sheet, so that it becomes easy to track production.

The hanger moves on according to the operation in the U shaped layout.

In this production system it becomes easier to track the bottleneck and hourly production
can be derived easily.

ADVANTAGES OF UPS SYSTEM:

Bundle handling completely eliminated.

The time involved in the pick-up and disposal is reduced to minimum.

Output is recorded quite easily, eliminates the operator to register the work.

The systems balance the work between stations.

Up to 40 styles can be produced simultaneously on one system.

Easier pickup and drop after each operation and resulted quick response time.

Throughput time and WIP is reduced to a certain extent between the operations.

DISADVANTAGES OF THE UPS SYSTEM:

Considerations for installing a UPS include costs of buying equipment, cost of installing,
specialized training for the production system, and prevention of downtime.

Proper planning has to done on how to use it and the operators should have enough training
given to use it.

Line balancing becomes a tough job and an efficient supervisor is needed to handle it.

A bottleneck operation can pose a problem as it increases WIP and also halts production.

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MATCHING SECTION: Before the actual process flow starts in the assembly line, the
bundles have to be brought from the matching centre, this is the area where all the parts from
are kept .In the matching centre the pigeon hole rack system concept is followed in which
bundles are kept with a numbering system, with which it becomes easier to detect which
bundles are being taken out and which bundle is coming in .Regular reports are made of these
data.

3.8.2 THE PROCESS FLOW IN THE ASSEMBLY LINE

The first process after feeding is shoulder attachment of front and back.

After this process shoulder topstitch operation is done, whether it is done or not depends on
the buyer’s specification.

The operation which commences is the collar attachment operation.

The operation after this process is the Collar finishing operation and comes in the CTQ or
critical to quality category.

The sleeve is attached.

Topstitch of the armhole is done.

After this operation, the side seam is attached using the FOA or feed of arm machine.

The trimming placket tail is done and marking for cuff is done

The bottom hem operation is performed

The cuffs are attached.

Cuff edge stitch is done.

The inspection is done finally and the defects are reported and are reworked on.

3.8.3 THE MACHINES AND FOLDERS USED FOR EACH OF THE OPERATIONS:

Shoulder attaches and topstitch folder and guides used:

It is either done manually without using a folder, but using a guide, which is known as the T
guide which makes sure that the stitch line is being followed or deviated from.

The folder can also be used which is fabricated to form the bound seam.

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 This folder used is a multipurpose folder which helps in attachment as well as topstitch of
the shoulder

Machine used–SNLS Sleeve attach, folders used

The folder used is fabricated in such a way that it reduces puckering of fabric controls the
feeding in a better manner. Machine used - DNCS or SNCS

Side seam, folders and guides used

There is a folder fabricated in such a way that lap fell seam can be formed easily and it also
has a pneumatic air supply system to push away extra threads inside in case a lot of fraying is
there. Machine used- Feed of arm machine.

Bottom hem, folders and guides used

There is a folder used known as the swing hemmer, it is useful so that operation is not stopped
at the joint area. The pneumatic air supply is operation as used in this well. Also there is a
normal folder used to avoid raw edge formation. Machine used -SNLS

Cuff attach, folders and guides used

There is a guide used in the cuff setting known as the cuff setter, it helps the cuff to stay in
place, in order to prevent down stitch. Machine used- SNLS MACHINE.

After this, processes there is end line inspection done, the defects per hour are noted and written
down in a report with help of the tally system and garments with defects are sent back and
reworked upon. The other work aids used are DST or double side tapes used to make sure stitch
line is followed.

From the assembly, the garments are sent for washing out in the form of bundles. Then the
garments are sent back to the factory as per planned schedule. A report indicating the number
pieces that come in after washing is received. After washing, these garments are taken to the
finishing department according to the Daily planning of the finishing department.

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3.9 Finishing and Packaging department
3.9.1 PROCESS FLOW CHART

Button
Washing Placket ironing Button attach
marking

Button up Ironing Thread suction Trim & exam

Ironing Touch Final Measurement

Tagging
up inspection checking

Cartoning /
Barrier audit Bagging Folding
packaging

Figure 21 Process Flow chart of Finishing department

3.9.2 DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PROCESSES

1. Washing
The garment pieces are kept for washing which is outsourced, after assembly the
garments load for washing according to loading plan given by planning department.
The security guard counts the garment pieces before loading and after coming from the
washing.
2. Placket ironing
From washing, theses garments come in a bundle of 25 pieces, placket ironing is done
to remove creasing which is due to washing for marking; it may misplace the button
marking right after washing.
3. Button marking

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 Button is marked manually, the pattern is placed in the table, and the operator places
the garment on the pattern then marks the points with the white pencil. Marking is done
on plackets, collar, and sleeve placket.
4. Button attachment
The button is attached on the front placket, collar, cuff, sleeve placket. Extra button is
done as per the requirement from buyer side. There are automatic button machines for
button attaching on front placket, cuff, and collar and for extra button semi automatic
button machines are there. After completing of buttons attachment the pieces further
pass for button hole on collar.
5. Trim & exam
The operator trims the unwanted threads and check for the defects. There are
checkpoints followed sequences:
1. Full collar check including button hole and button
2. Yoke check, shoulder stitch checking.
3. Centre front placket, Button hole, Pocket checked.
4. Bottom hemming checked.
5. Left side seam and cuff bottom hem. 6. Sleeve placket Binding and sleeve check 7.
Armhole stitch checking 8. Back check 9. Redo with the shirt inside out.
6. The defected piece segregates in different coloured racks:
1. Blue is for washing defects;
2. Red is for sewing defect;
3. Black denotes darning defect;
4. Green is referring to pass pieces.
All defected pieces which can be mended send to alteration section and after mending
the mended pieces send back to the respective line. And the pass pieces are send to the
next workstation.
7. Alteration section
All the defected pieces collected from the respective lines, then taking a note of defects
name, number of defect occurrence, which all are mended, and how many pieces
rejected of a particular style. This data entry is done manually.
8. Thread suction
After trim and examine, the pieces further send for thread suction machine. The
machine sucks all the loose threads.

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 9. Ironing
From ironing section, the pieces are moved in single lots. The operator irons the shirts
and hangs on the stand.
10. Button up
Hanger stands placed in between the ironing machines and one or two operator stand
near to hanger stand and button up the shirt, the operator further move for touch up.
Each line has one operator for button up operation.
11. Final inspection
The shirt is inspected on the critical areas of the garment. If any defect found, an arrow
sticker put on that defected area and back to the alteration section.
12. Measurement checking
After final inspection, the measurement of shirt is checked with respect to sleeve, front
and chest. And if it is not match it is kept in the defected pile.
13. Tagging
The operator attaches the tag on the garment. Specification of tag is provided by buyers.
14. Folding
Folding is done with help of templates of a shirt. Clips, collar band and specific folding
instruction depending upon the buyers requirement and if not given, the standard
process of the company is used.
15. Bagging
Once the folding is done, pieces kept in the polybags and the types of polybags depend
upon the buyer’s requirement.
16. Barrier audit
After completing bagging, the inspection in charge select some random pieces and then
proper inspection is done. After auditing they cartoning the box size wise.
17. Cartoning
After barrier audit done, the final audit is done from the buyers side in which they pick
the carton randomly and inspect. after all of these processes each pieces scan and
packed.

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3.9.3 FLOW CHART OF PACKAGING
Make shipping mark according to P/O, Spread sheet
↓
Approve from buyer
↓
Carton measurement confirm from Q.C dept
↓
Sample make (carton)
↓
Re-approved from buyer
↓
Ensure net and gross weight
↓
Go to bulk production
↓
Complete the carton with garment

Process flow of packaging

Cartoning ordered from warehouse
↓
Separate cartooning is done for auditing
↓
Segregation according to lot wise
↓
Scanning the pieces
↓
Weight check the carton
↓
Bar code genreated and indication required
↓
cartoning
↓
Shipment

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3.10 Quality Assurance department
3.10.1 INTRODUCTION

The quality assurance section is assigned to maintain consistency for uniform quality of the
material in process & various stages of garment manufacturing. In the garment industry quality
control is practiced right from the initial stage of sourcing raw materials to the stage of final
finished garment.

Process Flow Chart of Quality Assurance

Department Accessories check

Fabric inspection

Shade segregation

Shrinkage test

Size set check

Marker check

Spreading quality assurance

Cutting quality assurance

Hard pattern check

Pre-production meeting

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 ↓

General instruction

Inspector layout

In process audit

Two-time process check

Two-time machine check

Two-time accessories check

Weekly in process summary

100% in line process check

Sewing final check

Hourly final audit with measurement

Finishing 100% check

Button pulls check

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 Hourly final audit

Broken needle check

Accessories compliance

Every final audit

Pre-final inspection

Ready for final inspection

Shipment

3.10.2 DEPARTMENT WISE QUALITY CHECK POINTS

Fabric Store- In the fabric store, fabric is being checked before issuing it to cutting department.
In general, not all the fabric is checked. Usually 10% of fabrics are checked for good fabric
suppliers. For power loom fabric and printed fabric 100% checking is done. Fabrics are checked
in flat table, flat table with light box or on fabric checking machine. 4-point system for fabric
inspection is used to measure the quality level of the incoming fabric.

Trim & accessories- Trims quality is also very important for having a quality garment. Trims
inspection is done randomly against the given standards, like colour matching. But for trims
and accessories quantity checking is essential.

Cutting Room- It is said that cutting is the heart of production. If cutting is done well then
chances of occurring defects in the following processes comes down. In cutting room, check
points are – i) marker checking ii) Cut part audit iii) Bundle checking.

Sewing Department- Checkpoints in the sewing departments are as following: -

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• Inline inspection: In assembly line generally check pints are kept for the critical operations.
In these checkpoints, 100% checking is done for partially stitched garments and defect free
pieces are forwarded to the next process. This type of checking is used for high value garment.
• Roaming inspection: In this case checkers roam around the line and randomly check pieces
at each operation.

• End of line inspection or table checking: A checker checks completely stitched garment at
the end of the line. 100% checking is done here,

• Audit of the checked pieces: Very few manufacturers follow this audit procedure but it is very
essential checkpoint to assure that only 100% inspected garment are sent to finishing from
sewing department. And all defective pieces are repaired before sending to finishing.

Finishing Department- Check points in finishing department consists:-

• Initial finishing inspection: checking done prior to pressing of the garment at finishing room
is known as initial finishing.

• Final finishing Inspection: After pressing garments are again checked and passed for tagging
and packing.

• Internal final audit: After garments are packed up to certain quantity, quality control team, do
audit of packed garments. This process is carried out to ensure that before handing over
shipment to buyer QC. If the completed work is being checked at each process and defective
pieces are corrected before handing to the next process than at the end of production there is
very little chance to have a defective at final inspection stage.

3.10.3 CSO Audit:

Once the bagging is done and pieces are readily loaded to be cartooned, the CSO (Customer
Satisfaction Officer) picks 3-4 samples from each trolley and checks the garment. This is the
done as buyer raised requirement. If in case, a piece has some defects, it is rejected and the
entire lot is checked again.

FUNCTIONS OF CSO:

He does the inspection process from cut to pack.

He goes through the Fabric process report and garment process report and passes it after
which bulk cutting takes place.

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 The CSO is the person to review the techpack and production file and see if there is a
deviation from it.

He reviews the trim card and finally trims are issued.

He is an active participant in the pre-production meetings and inspects the first bundle of
garments during actual production process.

He also inspects washing of pieces, firstly 50 pieces are sent for washing and it is checked
if there is change in measurement or not, if shade variation is present ,if these are not present
then bulk washing can be done.

Before the packing process he makes sure whether all tags and labels are according to the
country wise approval

After this the packing list is prepared and internal auditing of cartons starts

Initially 500 pieces are inspected out of which if 25 pieces are okay then the carton is passed.

In this inspection the following checkpoints are: -

Polybags

Labels

Number of tags attached.

Quality parameters.

Tissue paper used for packing Defects are checked.

If one defect is present then the lot is passed, if more than one defect is present it is reworked
upon. There is a needle detector present to check if any needle piece is stuck to the garment.

3.11 Trims store

3.11.1 PROCESS FLOW
The working of the Trims department is shown as below:
Receipt of the BOM from the Merchandising department

Checks as per the purchase order or the bill of material

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Quality checks (If the produced is rejected during the quality check than it is sent back to the
suppliers)

Quality verification is made as per the Invoice

Assigned received material to the concerned purchase order or the orders

Moved to the concerned location in the store

When the cutting slips as per the cutting or planning department instruction, the kits are
prepared for issue as per BOM/ cut quantity.

Make the necessary entries the materials are issued in books/ system

In any rework/ rejection or approval

Issue extra material

3.12 IE department
The industrial engineering department is the driving force of any apparel industry and they are
responsible for all the activities of the factory. There is one head IE, who has the responsibility
of handling all the units, one factory head IE, under him 4 assistant IEs are there.

The operation of this department starts from the receipt of the order from the buyer. Once the
customers place the order, the merchandise department forwards the order to the industrial
engineering department for the processing.

The main functions of the IE department are: -

Calculate SAM of the garment.

Calculate the work measurement of each order.

To advice production department on garment SAM and line layout.

To calculate line efficiency and operator’s efficiency

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 To ensure regular grade change of the operators.

Doing the time and method study.

Proper line balancing.

Check for work aids and compliances

Preparation of the incentive scheme.

The respective line IEs should update the respective quality sheet of the operators which
contains a graphical representation of percentage efficiency and right first time.

3.13 Maintenance department

MAINTENANCE
TEAM

Maintenance
head

Maintenance
incharge

Head mechanic

Senior Senior
electrician mechanic

electrician mechanic

Asst. electrician DEO

Figure 22 Organisation chart of Maintenance department

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There are total 11 members
5 mechanics
3 electricians
1 data entry person
1 maintenance in-charge person

Type of maintenance followed:

Preventive maintenance: It is a daily maintenance (cleaning, inspection, oiling and re-

tightening), design to retain the healthy condition of equipment and prevent failure through the
prevention of deterioration, periodic inspection or equipment condition diagnosis, to measure
deterioration. It is thus further divided into periodic maintenance and predictive maintenance.
Just like human life is extended by preventive medicine, the equipment service life can be
prolonged by doing preventive maintenance.

At Aquarelle, preventive maintenance is followed by maintaining a preventive maintenance

board.

● Firstly, there is a preventive maintenance board present which has coins of different colours
which constitute the machines and their condition at the time (The machines have an ID number
to differentiate).

● The blue coins constitute the machines that need servicing on that particular day

●The orange coins constitute the maintenance planned for 2-3 days

●The red coins constitute the breakdown machines and green coins constitute the machines
which are functional in a proper condition.

Advantages:

✓ This kind of system or visual check makes it easy to find the status of the machines at any
time.

✓ It helps the maintenance engineer to see the status and take the right measures at the right
time

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✓ There are separate checklists for each department and maintenance mostly is done on a daily
basis and a maintenance book of rules also which makes it easy to implement then maintenance
process and saves time too.

Tools board/shadow board:

● The various tools required like spanners, hammers and other maintenance equipment are
placed on the board in particular, separate positions with their names.

● In case anyone takes the tool and does not return it on time there is a tracking system to get
it back, in which there is a photo of the person who has issued it along with his phone number
alongside plus there is a token system too with numbers which the concerned operator/person
has to return after placing the tools back in place.

Table 8 Work aids used in the factory

Attachment Operation

COLLAR RUN-STITCH
OPERATION
The pieces of a Collar are placed in the
folder.
There are pins in the folder where the
Collar Folder pieces are matched while placing.

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 NECKBAND HEMMING
The folder makes a lapped seam with the
main fabric onto the lining.

Seam folder

COLLAR INSERT OPERATION

The folder is used to stitch the front band
and the collar points in the right
measurement.

Collar band and Collar points

SEWING PLAIN SEAMS

The folder is mostly used when stitching
plain seam.
It is also used while doing top stitch of
any garment part which needs to be kept
in straight alignment.
Alignment folder

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 CUFF POINTS INSIDE-OUT
The folder presses the corners to outside
so that a stiff and pointy corner can be
achieved.

Inside-Out

CUFF RUN-STITCH OPERATION

Similar to Collar Run-stitch, the pieces of
a cuff are placed in the folder.

Cuff Folder

BACK YOKE STITCH

The folder helps in making a lapped seam
in the Back yoke with a three-piece yoke.

Lapped seam folder

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 SLEEVE PLACKET SEW
The small strip of a two-piece placket is
sewn with the help of this folder.
The folder folds the strip and stitches it
onto the sleeve slit.

Miter placket strip sew

POCKET FLAP STENCIL

The fabric is placed below the stencil.
The stencil is fixed in the machine.
The machine stitches the pieces of the
flap together thereby cutting the extra
edges of the flap.

Pocket flap folder/stencil

POCKET POSITION MARKING

The pattern is fixed with a hinge where it
can be flipped in both the directions.
Used for marking the position of the
pocket.

Pocket marking pattern

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 STITCHING IN A STRAIGHT LINE
Used in a lot of operation like, shoulder
attach, top-stitch, plain seam stitch etc.
The iron attachment helps keeping the
fabric in a straight line which makes it
easy to stitch in one direction.
Keeps fabric in line

SLEEVE ATTACH
The folder makes a French seam with the
armhole and the sleeve.

French seam

SIDE SEAM OPERATION

A super-imposed seam is stitched with
this folder.

Side seam Finish

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 HEM OF A SHIRT
The folder makes a double fold hem on a
shirt.

Double fold hem

PLACKET ATTACH OPERATION

The folder stitches a conventional placket
onto the front of the shirt.

Placket attach

VISUAL REPRESENTATION OF MACHINES:

● There is a board which shows all the machines and their importance

● There are 1rst priority machines –Particular machines of the lines

● These machines are of most importance and their replacements are costlier and maintenance
has to be given top priority

● Then there are 2nd priority machines-Overall machines in factory

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● These are standby machines used in emergencies

● Then there are the 3rd priority machines which are basic machines in which replacement is
easier and cheaper because of their easy availability. This board gives the maintenance
department a clear picture of which machines need to be given most importance and
maintenance and at what frequency/intervals FABRIC WISE MACHINE SETTING BOARD
● This consists of a heavy-duty folder, a medium duty folder and a light duty folder.

SPARE PARTS MANAGEMENT

FOLDER BOARD- Folders are kept in a sequence with their sizes and names. There are coins,
if there is a blue coin it means that the folder is being used in another unit. If it is a Yellow coin
it means that it is used in the line only. Through this colour coding system tracking becomes
all the simpler.

● It takes precisely 10-12 seconds to reach out a spare as they are placed in a proper sequence.
● There are different bins to maintain spare part inventory and they are labelled properly.

● There is an issue log book to be filled after issuing and the data about this is entered into an
excel sheet.

● There is a master cupboard index also present with a code for each rack or cupboard

● The 5s system is in place for spare parts inventory

TRAINING FOR MAINTENANCE:

●The operator/mechanic has a test to complete in which his basic knowledge will be tested like
setting of basic machinery; thread tension etc, feed setting and setting of machine according to
the fabric.

●There is generation of a summary score sheet of the test depending on which the level of
training is given.

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3.14 HR department
CODE OF BUSINESS CONDUCT
The Board of Aquarelle India has adopted a code of conduct, which sets out
the expectations placed on Directors, executive officers, employees and
associated business partners in the business dealings. This code of conduct
applies to all manufacturing units, sub- contractors and suppliers associated with
Aquarelle India Pvt. Ltd.

LEGAL COMPLIANCE:
At Aquarelle, their business and labor practices conform to the requirements of
applicable national and local laws and regulations. The company expects their
business partners to comply with all applicable laws and regulations in terms of
working conditions, Health & safety, environment and other related practices
based on the nature of business.

WORKING CONDTIONS:
The normal working hours are restricted only to the legal limit of not more than
9 hours in a day and 48 hours in a week. The employees are given a weekly
holiday i.e. one day off in seven days. The work hours including overtime shall
not be more than 60 hours in a week except in case of short-term business
demand. In case of short-term business demand, the employees shall be allowed
to work overtime on voluntary basis, within the legal limit with overtime
compensation at premium rate.
The employees are paid wages in accordance with the notification of the state
government under Minimum Wages Act, and as par the prevailing industry
practices. The employees are entitled for all other statutory benefits such as
social security benefits, annual leave, N&F Holidays, Gratuity etc.

PROHIBITION OF DISCRIMINATION:
At Aquarelle, the employees are solely employed, remunerated, promoted, and
provided access to training based on qualification, experience and performance
irrespective of their gender, religion, age, race, caste, color, origin, disability,
social background, and political affiliation.

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ANTI-FORCED LABOUR:
The company does not engage in or support any form of practices that leads to
forced, involuntary, prison or bonded labor. The use of corporal punishment,
mental or physical coercion and verbal abuse is forbidden. The employees are
free to leave the work place at the end of the shift, and that the overtime work is
voluntary.

FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION AND THE RIGHT TO COLLECTIVE BARGAINING:

The company recognizes the rights of employees to form association of their
choice or participate in collective bargaining. Collective bargaining shall be the
principal means of bargaining on the terms and conditions of the working
conditions.

PREVENTION OF HARASSEMENT OR ABUSE:

At Aquarelle, they promote a productive work environment and not to tolerate
verbal or physical abuse/conduct by any employee that harasses, disturb or
interfere with another’s work performance or that creates an intimidating,
offensive or hostile environment.

PROHIBITION OF CHILD LABOUR:

Child labour is forbidden as defined under national and local laws. The
minimum age for employment for all levels of employment categories, is 18
years and above. In the event that children are found to be working in any of the
facilities in the supply chain or associated business partners; policies and
procedures for remediation of children shall be established and documented by
the company. Furthermore, the company shall provide adequate support to
enable such children to attend and remain in school until no longer a child.

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HEALTH AND SAFETY:
A clear set of operating procedures and regulations are established and followed
on occupational health and safety, especially the provisions on machinery safety,
chemical safety, fire safety, workplace safety, usage of personal protective
equipment, and emergency action procedures. Systems to detect, avoid or
respond to potential threats to health and safety of all personnel have been
established.

ENVIRONMENT:
They are committed to implement and maintain a structured Environmental
Management System based on continual improvement and regular review in
order to ensure that it remains relevant to the company’s operations; comply
with environmental regulations and set an example to the community and to other
business.

SECURITY:
The company is committed to provide a safe environment for their employees,
visitors, customers, and vendors. They have developed, enhanced and
maintained effective security measures to ensure safety of property and lives,
and to ensure safe delivery of the goods to their customers.

CUSTOM COMPLIANCE:
At Aquarelle, they have established and maintain a stringent program to comply
with customs laws in terms of illegal transshipment of merchandise. The
company ensures compliance with all applicable customs laws and regulations.

RECRUITMENT

HR Policy:
The Recruitment policy at Aquarelle, aims to acquire the talents and expertise to achieve
the business objectives and goals of the company. The objective of the Recruitment
policy is to source the right people in the organization to fill the required position through
internal and external resources and to acquire capabilities required to perform various

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functions associated with the present or expected future roles.
Manpower Planning:
❖ Departmental head (HOD) plans the number of Manpower required for the
particular position and in particular department.
❖ The Manpower requirement or Headcount budget for the manufacturing units
is planned or decided by the Factory Manager in consultation with the Head
of department, and is approved by Head of Operation.
❖ The planned Manpower statement i.e. Headcount Budget and statement of
Man-Machine Ratio (MMR) is approved by the Director.
❖ For L1 to L4 (HO Staff), the HOD submits the requisition (MR) to the HRD
either email request or Indent.
❖ For replacement HOD approval is mandatory. For new position, Director
Approval is mandatory.

Recruitment process:
Recruitment process begins with the HRD receiving requisition (MR) for
recruitment from different departments of the company vide prescribed form or
email request also. The Manpower requisition (MR) contains:
- Position vacant,
- No. of vacant position,
- Brief Job description,
- Required skill and expertise,
- Required qualifications etc.,

Induction training:
Induction training program shall be organized for the purpose of making
the new entrants familiar with the company’s operational processes,
organizational structure, and hierarchy of reporting.
❖ For L1 & L2, the Head of HR and HOD are responsible to conduct
the induction program,
❖ For L3 & L4, the HR Manager and Welfare Officer are responsible to

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 organize and conduct the induction program.
❖ It is mandatory for the new employees to attend the induction
training program.

Employment of Trainee or Apprentice:

Definition:
A trainee or apprentice is a fresher or raw candidate who is willing to get the
skill training on tailoring or any other skill program relevant to manufacturing of
garments for a stipulated period as may be defined in the training Scheme.
Training period:
Minimum of 18 days, and
A maximum up to 6 months

Legal Requirements:
✓ To engage the trainees or apprentices, the license or
Registration certificate shall be obtained from the
Department of Directorate of Employment & training,
Govt. of Karnataka.
✓ The HRD shall maintain the registers of engagement of
trainees in prescribed form.
✓ HRD will submit the half yearly returns / periodic
returns in prescribed form to the Department of
Directorate of employment & training on or before the
stipulated date.
TRANSFER
The company encourages employees to take advantage of
opportunities of career growth, and that the transfer from one
position to another is a part of this process.

ATTENDANCE ADMINISTRATION
Recording of attendance:
There are bio-metric time attendance machines installed in all the manufacturing
units, warehouses and corporate Office. The employees of all categories record

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their daily attendance by registering their finger print in the Bio-metric Machine.

Working hours, Weekly off, and Overtime:

The period of hours of work for all categories of employment shall be of 8:30
hours including 30 minutes of rest intervals. The company has declared weekly
holiday i.e. on every Sunday. The employees of L4, who work on Sunday, shall
be provided with substitute holiday or compensatory holiday in accordance with
the provisions of the Factories Act, 1948. Hours worked beyond the timings of
normal working hours, on any working day are treated as Overtime hours (L4).
The grace period is of 20 minutes from the scheduled out-time.
The factory management ensures not to demand overtime work and it is
absolutely voluntary. In cases where overtime work is needed in order to meet
short-term business demand, the same is in accordance with the provisions of
Factories Act, 1948. The Overtime hours are always paid at 200% of normal rate
of wage.

NATIONAL & FESTIVAL HOLIDAYS:

The company declares a total of 10 days (excluding Sundays) of National and

festival Holidays for the calendar year which includes a holiday on 26th January,

15th August, 2nd October, 1st day of May and 1st day of November, and five
festival holidays in consultation with the employees and/or the works committee
members.

OVERTIME POLICY & PROCEDURES:

To provide general guidelines and operating procedures to ensure compliance
with the overtime provisions under the Factories Act 1948, and Karnataka
Factories Rules 1969. It is the policy of the company to plan, organize, and
schedule its operation or activities so that work may be accomplished within the
normal working hours, and overtime work is limited to that which is absolutely
necessary or only in case of short-term business demand. The company ensures

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to comply with the provisions of the local law in terms of overtime work.
Further, the company ensures that the overtime work is voluntary and the
employees are free to leave the work place at the end of the shift.

SALARY, ALLOWANCES, AND OTHER STATUTORY BENEFITS

The company ensures competitive, fair and balanced compensation package for its employees
that motivates the employees to continue the employment with outstanding performance. The
main objective is to ensure fair and equitable structure of compensation to attract talented
personnel, and to meet prevailing salary in similar concerns, cost of leaving in the area and the
general economic environment.

ANNUAL REVISION INCREMENT:

Increment Period:
1st of April – for all categories of employment.
Increments are normally effective from 1st of April every year. However, the
management reserves the right to decide the effective month of increment.

UP-GRADATION OR PROMOTION:
In case of promotion or up-gradation, the HOD will recommend the hike in
salary/wages, and it will be approved by Head of Operation or MD.

PAY SCALE ANALYSIS AND BENCHMARKING:

Pay Scale Benchmarking: In the beginning of each financial year, a survey on
current pay scale & pay components in the similar categories of industry located
in & around Bangalore is conducted for the purposes to ensure that the employees
are being compensated as per prevailing salary/wage rate. (Refer to Annexure-
II).
Payroll analysis: Payroll analysis is being conducted at the time of disbursement
of the salary/wages to find out whether the employees have been fairly
compensated for the work performed in terms of wage, Overtime wage,
incentive and any other allowances.

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Social Security Schemes: The Employees are covered under Employees
Provident Fund Scheme, and the employer’s contribution is limited to INR
1800/- for L3 & L4 categories of employment.

Attendance Bonus:
Eligibility:
✓ Employee who falls under L4
✓ Who are Fully Present for the month.

Production Incentives:
The company has the procedures in place to encourage the employees and to
promote the work culture in terms of quality product and productivity through
incentive upon achieving quality product beyond the target.
✓ Types of production incentives can be:
o Individual performance incentive
o Group performance incentive

LEAVE ADMINISTRATION

Earned leave:
The employee who has completed the probationary period shall be entitled for
earned leave with salary/wages for a number of days of leave calculated at the
rate of one day for every twenty days of work performed during the previous
calendar year.

Casual Leave (CL):

The employees of L1, L2 & L3 & HO Staff L1 to L4, shall be entitled for casual
leave immediately after completion of his probationary period of three months.
Sick Leave (SL):
The employees, who are not covered under the Employees state insurance
scheme, shall be entitled for sick leave. The maximum number of sick leaves
allowed is 10 days during the calendar year. The employees are entitled for sick
leave from the day of employment.

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Maternity Benefits & Maternity leave:
The woman employee who is not covered under ESI, and has worked for not
less than 80 days in the company is eligible to claim the benefit.
The benefit consists of payment of “Twenty-Six Weeks” (Minimum of Twelve
Weeks of maternity benefit from the date of child birth) paid holidays, and in
case of miscarriage, the employee shall be entitled for “eight weeks” paid
holidays, and the payment shall be made after reporting for duty. A medical
bonus of Rs. 2500/- shall also be paid to eligible woman employee.
Paternity Leave:
The employees of L2, HO Staff L1 to L4, who are not covered under the ESI,
and have completed one year of service, shall be entitled for Paternity Leave. The
employees shall be entitled for 7 days of paternity leave. To avail this leave, the
employees shall produce the Medical certificate immediately after resuming the
duty.
Note: Saturday leave will be considered as ½ day leave, applicable only to
those employees whose work location is HO. Not applicable to factory staffs.

MEDICAL FACILITY & COMPENSATION ON MINOR/FATAL

ACCIDENT AS PER EMPLOYEES COMPENSATION ACT, AND
WELFARE POLICY OF THE COMPANY
The company ensures that the employees are secured and covered with the health
and accident insurance. All the employees have been provided with the health
and accident insurance policy.
Health Checkup camps & Wellness Programs: The Company has developed the
annual calendar for conducting wellness & Health checkup camps for its
employees periodically. The Medical Health checks up camps are being
organized in association with the Employees state insurance organization and/or
NGO or any of the govt. recognized Hospitals.
PROMOTION
The company ensures that the high potential employees are
recognized and rewarded for their efficiency and
performance. The objectives of this policy is to

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 ❖ Provide internal talent with growth opportunities.
❖ Preference to internal talent rather than external talent.

Recognition and Rewards

The objectives of the Reward and Recognition Policy are to encourage
achievement and conduct of best performers, and to recognize and promote
performer’s contributions that support individual, team, department and the
company’s goals and objectives.

The company has developed various awards and incentive system for the
purposes to encourage the employees for their better performance. The
following “Awards and Incentive programs” are in place.
❖ Incentive plan
❖ Best Operators Awards
❖ Best Employees Awards

SEPARATION & FULL AND FINAL SETTLEMENT

Termination policy:
The company ensures that the termination of employment must be fair and justifiable and the
employee will be compensated with all applicable compensation & benefits. The company does
not encourage involuntary termination of employment except in case of serious & habitual
misconduct evidenced & reported during the enquiry. Though reasons for employee
termination are numerous, the facility ensures to follow procedures to minimize the employee
distress and comply with anti-discrimination and benefits laws.

SOP: PAYMENT OF GRATUITY

Entitlement: Gratuity shall be paid to the employee on the
termination of his/her employment after he/she has
rendered continuous service for not less than five years on
his resignation, retirement, superannuation, death or
disablement or based on the norms set by the government

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from time to time.
EPF & FILING OF CLAIM FORM OF
PROVIDENT FUND
All employees are covered under the Employees Provident Fund and Miscellaneous Provisions
Act, 1952 and shall contribute 12% of Basic & DA per month subject to which contribution
shall be paid under this scheme i.e. a maximum of Rs. 15000(of Basic and DA), or as fixed
under the said Act from time to time. The Company shall make the equal contributions.
Contributions to the Fund commence with effect from the date of joining of the employees.

RETIREMENT POLICY
Every employee will retire from the services of the company on attaining the age of
superannuation i.e. 60 years, as per the date of birth recorded in the company’s records.

✓ The employee shall be engaged on annual contract basis

either on fixed monthly professional fee or any other way
of consultancy fee as may be offered & mutually agreed by.
✓ In case the employee engaged on contract basis after the
retirement, he/she will not be entitled for any other benefits
either statutory or non-statutory benefits which are
applicable for the regular employees.

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3.15 Embroidery section

The artwork is first specified by the merchant and sent to the company. The design is then
developed in the Wilcom software. Then using a pen-drive the design is loaded on the machine.
They have 12 Borodan machines and 12 SWF Korea machines. Maximum of 9 colours are
possible on these machines.

3.16 Miscellaneous
3.16.1 SOFTWARES USED
a) VAS Software:
This is a database used by Aquarelle which gives details about the following:-

This software has various phases.

PHASE 1-Video data analysis and SMV calculation.

PHASE 2-OB generation and Thread CU calculation.

PHASE 3- Skill matrix

Focussed training on the use of VAS.

SMV of each operation is derived.

CU i.e. the thread calculation for each garment is derived using appropriate formulae.

Also, the needle and bobbin ratios for each operation are given in the software

The operation breakdown format is there in the software according to Aquarelle standards.
Video data analysis is done to find out elapsed time for each operation.

The operation bulletin with SME is derived and given to merchandiser for costing.

The target for the operations is also calculated based on SMV of standard operations.

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 The software also contains the skill matrix of each operator. There are a few interesting
features like the Double screen and four screen options in order to compare two operations and
their SMVs.

Figure 21 VAS Interface

b) DDBMS (Digital Database Management System):

The DDBMS is the most innovative part of Aquarelle India. It is an in-house software
developed by the company itself. The DDBMS is used to keep track of the hourly production
in the shop floor.

Process of DDBMS:
Enter the no. of machinist present

Choose the styles to be cut/sewed

Bundle sheet is generated

SMV stickers are generated

The bundles are scanned every hour

Unmatched bundles are noted

Efficiency of each operator, line and section is known

At the end of the day, WIP report is generated

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Working:

1. Barcode- A barcode consists of the Style name, Fit size of the style, Operation name, Bundle
Quantity, Bundle number and SMV of the operation.

2. Working hour sheet- Each operator has a sheet of paper on which the hours are mentioned
and there are numbered blocks on the sheet. The operators stick the barcode stickers on the
sheet as they complete a bundle.

3. Barcode reader- Device which scans the barcode and sends the information to DDBM. The
operators stick the barcode stickers after completion of each bundle. At the end of every hour,
the line in-charge goes to every operator and scans the stickers of that particular hour. The
bundle quantity gives the number of pieces an operator has done.
This data gives us the:

a) Operator efficiency
b) Number of pieces an operator has done

Next, the line in-charge goes to the End-Line Inspection operator and by scanning the sheet of
the inspector, the difference between the number of pieces rightly produced and the re-worked
pieces is obtained.

When the scanning of all the lines is completed, the line in-charge scans the sheet of matching
centre. The data of matching centre gives us:

1. Section-wise Production.
The display of all the Sections:

Figure 22 DDBMS Interface

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The DDBMS looks like this. The topmost row contains the following headings:

Bundle Sheet Generator, Finishing Barcode, Master Entry, Efficiency, Production, DownTime,
Quality, Incentive, Dashboard, Help and Logout.

These headings have sub-sections wherein the user can look into the data of different
departments.

Figure 23 Master entry

Figure 24 Bundle Sheet

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Bundle Sheet Generator looks like this.

All the parameters are entered and then based on the No. of Plies, No. of Pieces and Order
Quantity the sheet is generated for Cutting, Spreading and Sewing section. The final bundle
sheet looks like in the figure 23.

The bundles are numbered and the quantity of a bundle depends on the Cut plan and the number
of sizes in the lay that is cut.

Figure 25 Master entry section in DDBMS

Master Entry consists of a number of sub-sections.

1. No. of operators required are given by the information entered in the Operator Entry.

2. Operator ID can be retrieved from the second section.

3. The entry for sub-assembly is done in the Assembly Subline.

4. The Daily Manpower entry section contains the daily entry of manpower and machinists
according to the style to be run.

5. The Daily Target Entry is calculated under this section. Etc.

In any garment industry, it is very important to have the data of daily efficiency of operators
and the industry as a whole. At Aquarelle, they have the live efficiency tracking.

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In the Efficiency section we can calculate the efficiency of individual operator, Section,
Machinists and the Weekly and Monthly Efficiency trend.

Figure 26 Operator Efficiency Report

Next, they have the Production section wherein one can find the number of pieces produced in
each style, the cutting and sewing reports of the style, the production of each section and line
and what has been the weekly and monthly production trend.

Figure 27 Section wise hourly production

This is how the Section-wise Production look like.
The bundles are scanned in the Matching centre and based on that the number of produced
pieces are found in each line (B1, B2, B3) and section.
There are coloured boxes as we can see. These colours have a meaning:
Red: signifies that the hourly production is >50% of the set target.
Yellow: signifies that the target is near to 80%.
Green: signifies that the target has been achieved around 95%.

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Orange: signifies over-production i.e.; more than the set target.

Figure 28 Quality section in DDBMS

DDBMS also helps in keeping track of the Quality. Under the quality section, we find Data
Master, Bundle Approval Report, Sewing Inspection, End of Line, Checker Audit, Summary
Audit, Quality Dashboard, RFT% Report. These reports help in keeping track of the quality of
production.

Figure 29 DHU report in DDBMS

Figure 30 Reports section in DDBMS

The Reports section consists of Unmatched Bundles, WIP and Factory Recovery Report.

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The Unmatched Bundle Report shows the bundles that moved from the Cutting section but did
not reach the Matching centre due to some reason.

The WIP report is the report we get at the end of the day. The report has the work in progress
which consists of the WIP of all the sections from Bundling to Washing Out.

Figure 31 WIP report

BUNDLE SHEET GENERATION:
The bundle sheet operator transfers the style and order details from VAS to DDBM without or
without allowance.

In the DDBM under the BUNDLE SHHET GENERATOR module, for the 1st lay of the style
select NEW and enter the details of the style. In the right hand side there is four columns here
the operator add the lay sheet details of the style.

Figure 32 VAS software

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 Figure 33 Bundle sheet generation in DDBMS

In the below picture size wise plies are entered according to the shade and roll number. After
saving it cannot be edited.

Figure 34 New entry in DDBMS

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Then bundle sheet is generated by entering the required data in the side and it is then exported
excel sheet, printed, Then the barcode is printed. The washing barcode is saved and printed.
This barcode is removed after the garment is finished.

Figure 35 Bundle sheet

Figure 36 Data Filter Option

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 Figure 37 Washing Barcode Generation

Figure 38 Barcode being used

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 1. EXPORT OB TO DDBM
FROM
VAS
NEW – To enter new order & lay
sheet details
LAY NUMBER – to enter from
2. BUNDLE SHEET ENTRIES
second lay of existing order

3. BUNDLE SHEET
GENERATOR

3.1 BUNDLE SHEET – Check &

Save

3.2 BARCODE SHEET – Check,

Save & Print

3.3 WASHING BARCODE – Save

& Print

Figure 39 Flowchart showing the Bundle sheet and barcode generation

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 c) WFX (World Fashion Exchange):
When a new style order is accepted by the company, it’s BOM is generated at the Head Office.
A weekly Micro loading Plan is uploaded weekly on the company’s server which contains the
future styles assigned factory-wise.

The ERP Activities of Unit 2 for processinf new orders are as follows:

1. Orders assigned to Unit 2 in the Micro Loading Plan are entered. Production
Definition (PD) is assigned to Every Style. It is an abbreviation made up of the
processes that will be followed during production. E.g. CSWF, CSF, CPWF, CEWF
etc. where C stands for cutting, S stands for sewing, W stands for washing, P stands
for printing, E stands for embroidery and F stands for finishing.

Figure 40 WFX Interface

The fabric and trim consumption details are linked here
.

Figure 41 Display of fabric and trim consumption details

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 Figure 42 Display of Planned vs Actual Consumption of fabric

2. Factory Production Order (FPO) format is filled. It contains the basic details of the
order. All items to be used in production of the style are linked to the garment.

Figure 43 Factory Production Order Format

3. The Factory Production Process order is filled when the file of the style is received
from the sampling. Using this material requisition requests are sent and inter-
departmental material transfer activities are tracked.

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 Figure 44 Factory Production Process Order

Figure 45 Factory Production Process Order List

ERP is also used to track material movement between its factories, warehouse and other sub-
contractors. Four types of movement notes generated during transactions are:

a) GDI: Goods Dispatch Instruction (E.g. Generated by the factory requesting warehouse
to send a particular amount of fabric)

Figure 46 Goods Dispatch Instruction

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 b) GDN: Goods Dispatch Note (E.g. Generated by the warehouse notifying the factory
specifying amount of fabric has been dispatched)

Figure 47 Goods Dispatch Note

c) GIN: Goods Inward Note (E.g. Generated by the factory confirming a particular amount
of fabric sent by the warehouse has been received)

Figure 48 Goods Inward Note

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 d) GRN: Goods Receipt Note (E.g. Generated by the factory stating a particular amount
of garment has been sent to the washing contractor for processing)

Figure 49 Goods Receipt Note

3.16.2 DIFFERENT TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES USED IN THE COMPANY

a) Kanban:
The Kanban System starts from cutting department. It has eight racks in which fabric rolls
are kept. Requisition request for fabric rolls is sent to Warehouse at least 3 days in advance.
Bundles of Cut part are stored in racks present between the cutting and sub-assembly
department. There are 18 racks, each of six levels containing 3 boxes on each level. Each
rack contains only one type of cut parts. All parts of one style are stored in racks kept side
by side. The next Kanban is called matching where all the stitched cut parts are suppled
from respective sub-assembly lines. When all bundles from sub-assembly of the same
number reach matching Kanban, they are re-bundled into one big bundle that is supplied to
assembly lines. Stitched garments from assembly are kept in the Washing Out Kanban. At
the end of the day, all garments are sent to washing from this Kanban. After three days, the

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 garments return and are kept in the Washing in Kanban. Here they are bundled into 25
pieces and sent to button attach section as per demand. Finished and packed garments are
kept in boxes at the end of finishing line. These are later packed size-wise for buyer audit.
After clearance of buyer audit, garments are repacked, sealed and kept in Packaging
Kanban till shipment.

b) Kaizen:

Kaizen is based on the philosophical belief that everything can be improved: Some
organizations look at a process and see that it's running fine; Organizations that follow
the principle of Kaizen see a process that can be improved. This means that nothing is
ever seen as a status quo – there are continuous efforts to improve which result in small,
often imperceptible, changes over time. These incremental changes add up to
substantial changes over the longer term, without having to go through any radical
innovation. It can be a much gentler and employee-friendly way to institute the changes
that must occur as a business grows and adapts to its changing environment.

Understanding the Approach

Because Kaizen is more a philosophy than a specific tool, its approach is found in many
different process improvement methods ranging from Total Quality Management
(TQM), to the use of employee suggestion boxes. Under kaizen, all employees are
responsible for identifying the gaps and inefficiencies and everyone, at every level in
the organization, suggests where improvement can take place.
Kaizen aims for improvements in productivity, effectiveness, safety, and waste
reduction, and those who follow the approach often find a whole lot more in return:
Less waste – inventory is used more efficiently as are employee skills.
People are more satisfied – they have a direct impact on the way things are done.
Improved commitment – team members have more of a stake in their job and are
more inclined to commit to doing a good job.
Improved retention – satisfied and engaged people are more likely to stay.
Improved competitiveness – increases in efficiency tend to contribute to lower costs
and higher quality products.
Improved consumer satisfaction – coming from higher quality products with fewer
faults.

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 Improved problem solving – looking at processes from a solutions perspective allows
employees to solve problems continuously.
Improved teams – working together to solve problems helps build and strengthen
existing teams. Another Japanese term associated with kaizen is muda, which means
waste. Kaizen is aimed at decreasing waste through eliminating overproduction,
improving quality, being more efficient, having less idle time, and reducing
unnecessary activities. All these translate to money savings and turn potential losses
into profits.
The step by step approach under Kaizen is: -
• Problem identification
• Team formation
• Root cause analysis
• Target setting
• Finding solutions
• Implementation
• Measurement
• Horizontal deployment

c) 5S:
One of the most powerful Lean Manufacturing Tools and a cornerstone of any
successful implementation is that of 5S.
The five steps are: -
SEITSUKE –This means to sustain the organization by proper training and
discipline.
SEIKETSU-Standardizing all the processes and workplace.
SEISO-Shining i.e. cleaning the workplace.
SEITON-Sorting and organizing.
SEIRI-Sorting and clearing.
5S is a simple tool for organizing your workplace in a clean, efficient and safe manner
to enhance your productivity, visual management and to ensure the introduction of
standardized working. Most of the other definitions of 5S and descriptions that I see
here on the internet concentrate heavily on the aesthetics and the efficiency gains that
you achieve through implementing 5S and neglect the real aim of 5S; the need to

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 introduce standard operational practices to ensure efficient, repeatable, safe ways of
working.

In addition to standardised working which provides you with a stable foundation to build all of
your other improvements through implementing Lean Tools, you also provide a highly visual
workplace. One of the most important factors of 5S is that it makes problem immediately
obvious. 5S is a team run process and should be conducted by the people who work within the
area in which the principles of 5S are being applied, it is not a tool that can be applied by an
outsider onto an area without the knowledge and cooperation of the people within it.

5S management at AQUARELLE:

SORT-Unwanted and wanted items

SET IN ORDER

SHINE-Cleaning done two times i.e. 12:25 and at 5:25 pm

STANDARDISE-The use of hand gloves and eye guards and other aids

SUSTAIN-Regular Auditing

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGY

In order for 5S to be successful, the important factor is commitment, participation and

involvement of everyone and most importantly support from the top management. 5S activities
should be carried on in the following steps:-

Visit 5S model companies for continual improvement.

Train everyone adequately on 5S practices.

Promote the 5S campaign

Plan systematic approach following the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle.

Practice performance measurement and reward system

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 Figure 50 5S implementation in the factory

d) TOTAL PRODUCTIVE MAINTENANCE:

Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) is a lean manufacturing tool that seeks to improve the
reliability and efficiencies of our equipment and machines by utilizing everyone in the
organization to tackle what are known as the six big losses measured through the performance
indicator known as OEE or Overall Equipment Effectiveness;

1. Breakdowns

2. Setup and Adjustment losses

3. Idling and minor stoppages

4. Reduced Speed

5. Defects and rework

6. Start-up losses

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TPM is not just about implementing preventive maintenance or predictive maintenance to
prevent machines from breaking down, it is a team approach to also improve our startups, our
running efficiencies, and our product quality. It seeks to continually improve our processes and
equipment by constantly improving OEE (Overall equipment effectiveness) which is a
performance metric for TPM gained through measuring the six big losses.

This Article will look at how to go about implementing a TPM Program to ensure that you
maximise your OEE and build a firm foundation upon which to build any Lean Manufacturing
initiative. Without reliable machines and processes any other improvement initiative within
lean is unlikely to find success.

Just like any other lean tool, TPM needs to be adapted and changed to the particular needs of
your organisation, the use of an expert to help with your implementation program is highly
recommended to help you avoid some of the more obvious stumbling points within your
program.

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 Part-4

PROJECT

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 TOPIC: Product Traceability and
Real time Information

OBJECTIVE: TO FIND THE BEST COST EFFICENT SOLUTION FOR

LIVE TRACKING OF GARMENTS

METHODOLOGY: TO STUDY THE EXISTING METHODS OF

TRACKING AND BRAINSTROM

WHAT IS A BARCODE?

Barcodes are those thin black lines on a label accompanying a product in a store, and
the person manning the check-out counter scans it. This displays the product
information and price.

Barcodes are machine-readable information present on a surface that one can scan
using special scanners. Barcodes are also called “Universal Product Codes” (UPCs),
and they help in faster check-out, managing inventory, keeping track of items, etc.

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Purpose of Barcodes

• When purchasing items from any store, you will notice a label with thin,
black lines across it, along with a variation of different numbers on the
packaging. This label is scanned by a cashier, and the item’s description
and price automatically display on the cashier’s computer screen.

• This barcode is used to read data and information based upon the
symbology which includes the widths of those small black lines. The
barcode has many uses, although most of us think of them as simply a
way to price items in the grocery or department store. Barcodes are
becoming more and more common in just about every facet of consumer
life.

• For example, car rental companies now identify their rental vehicles by
using a barcode. Your luggage gets assigned a barcode when you check it
into the airport in order to assure more accuracy when it comes to
keeping track of it.

• Even driver’s licenses have barcodes on them in most states. Medicine

prescriptions, library books, and tracking different shipments are also
other ways that a barcode can be used. Any business selling goods likely
uses barcoding to price and keep track of their inventory.

Barcode Definition
• So, what exactly is a barcode? The technical definition for a barcode is a
machine-readable form of information on a scan able, visual surface.
They are also often known as UPC codes.

• The barcode is read by using a special scanner that reads the information
directly off of it. The information is then transmitted into a database
where it can be logged and tracked.

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 • Merchandisers and other companies must pay an annual fee to an
organization called the UCC, or Uniform Code Council, who then
generates special barcodes specific to that particular company.

• Each number on a barcode has a special meaning, and often these

numbers are added, multiplied, and divided in some formula that gives
them each their own special identity. Barcodes are very useful for
maintaining accurate information about inventory, pricing, and other
important business-related data.

Meaning of Barcodes
• Different companies’ barcodes use a different amount of number and bar
combinations. Some of the larger manufacturers will have a longer
number, but this goes much deeper than how many numbers are listed.
Every single number on a barcode has a meaning. For example, if the
barcode number starts with a 0, then it is what’s known as a standard
UPC number. If the number begins with a 1, then it is what’s called a
“random-weight item”, meaning the price of the item will depend on its
weight.

• This is typically applied to such things as meats, fruits, or vegetables. If

an item starts with the number 3, it is a pharmaceutical. There are several
other variations of these numbers, and each one represents a different
product type. If a coupon is used that has a barcode, information goes
through a system that links that coupon and its value to the item
previously scanned, and then the amount is automatically deducted.

• A complex computerized system reads every single barcode that is

scanned, but these barcodes are system-specific depending on what
company they belong to. There are ways the average consumer can
“decode” a barcode if they know what to look for and are familiar with
the variations of numbers.

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 WHAT IS BARCODE SOFTWARE?

A barcode software deals with various functions with regard to barcodes, e.g.,
printing high-quality and accurate barcodes. Businesses use such software to design,
create, print, barcode levels of different size.

Barcode software is used in different industries, and it can process static, serialized,
and other data residing in databases. Wasp barcode software is an example.

WHAT IS BARCODE SCANNING SOFTWARE?

Businesses use barcode scanning software to scan barcodes and capture information
for further processing. Such software sends the contents of barcodes to the relevant
computer systems of the company.

Barcode scanning systems are quite advanced now, therefore, most barcode scanners
operate in plug-and-play mode. Organizations operating them don’t need to install
any software separately since it comes bundled with the scanner.

WHY DOES BARCODE SCANNING SOFTWARE MATTER?

Barcodes and barcode scanning software have made a big difference to the world
of business, and their advantages are as follows:

• The check-out process in stores was slow and manual, however, barcodes
have changed that.
• Barcodes and barcode scanners have reduced human errors.
• Employees need less training, thanks to barcodes and barcode scanning
software.
• Businesses can use labels with barcodes on almost anything, e.g.,
merchandise, envelopes, packages. This improves the business processes
in nearly all functions.
• Above factors result in improved operations, therefore, businesses reduce
their costs significantly.
• Barcodes also help in complying with regulations. Heavily regulated
industries like pharma or shipping have stringent labeling requirements,
and barcodes make it easy to meet these.

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 WHAT FEATURES SHOULD AN ENTERPRISE BARCODE SCANNING
SOFTWARE HAVE?

▪ Rapid scanning of barcodes;

▪ Real-time validation of barcode scans;

▪ Data collection with forms, images, and GPS;

▪ Offline barcode scanning;
▪ Overall management of barcode scanning;

▪ Managing user permissions for barcode scanning;

▪ Secure scanning of barcodes;
▪ “Near-field communication” (NFC) features;

▪ Validation of data against relevant databases;

▪ Barcode generation.

THE VARIABLES FOR COST ESTIMATION:

The cost estimation will depend on several factors, e.g., the number of features,
geography, local labor market, tools, platforms, etc. In this article, I will describe the
variables for cost estimation, so that you can plug in your exact requirements and
arrive at a cost estimate.

The variables are as follows:

▪ The cost of manpower: This is the labor cost for the software development
team. I will estimate the person-months you need, subsequently, you need to
apply the labor rate to arrive at the manpower cost.

▪ The IT infrastructure cost: I will explain how you can get a pricing plan from a
cloud services provider, and you need to determine the pricing tier you need.

▪ Tools cost: This could include “Software Development Kits” (SDKs),

“Application Programming Interfaces” (APIs), project management tools, and
any other relevant tools. I will show how you can get the pricing plans,
following which, you need to choose the pricing tier.

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▪ Administrative costs: This could include hiring costs, travel, etc. These costs
depend on your geography, labor market, etc.

ESTIMATING A PROJECT TO BUILD ENTERPRISE BARCODE

SCANNING SOFTWARE

The manpower cost

A project to build enterprise barcode scanning software has specific and well-
defined requirements. The software will have wide usage in various core business
functions, therefore, it’s a highly important software.

Let’s now estimate how many person-months each phase will require. I will also
explain the percentage split across different roles, and these roles are as follows:

▪ Business analysts (BAs);

▪ UI designers;
▪ A software architect;

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▪ Developers, including Android and iOS programmers;

▪ Testers;

▪ DevOps engineers;

▪ A project manager (PM).

▪ Requirements gathering and analysis;

▪ Design;
▪ Development;

▪ Testing;
▪ Deployment;

As for the maintenance phase, I will show the estimate for post-deployment support
and warranty support only, since long-term maintenance typically requires separate
long-term annuity contracts. You can get to know more about these phases in “What
is software development life cycle and what you plan for?”

(A) REQUIREMENTS GATHERING AND ANALYSIS

The estimate is 4 person-months, with the following distribution by roles:

▪ PM: 25%;
▪ Software architect: 25%;

▪ BAs: 50%.

(B) DESIGN
The estimate is 30-40 person-months, with the following distribution by roles:

▪ PM: 10%;
▪ Software architect: 10%;

▪ BAs: 20%;

▪ Development/UI-design leads: 40%;

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▪ Test leads: 15%;

▪ DevOps engineers: 5%.

(C) DEVELOPMENT
The estimate for this phase is 84-140 person-months, and I recommend the
following distribution by roles:

▪ PM: 7%;

▪ Software architect: 7%;

▪ UI designers: 21%;
▪ Developers: 65%.

(D) TESTING
I estimate 36-48 person-months for this phase, and I suggest that you distribute this
effort as follows:

▪ PM: 7%;

▪ Software architect: 8%;

▪ UI designers and developers: 30%;
▪ Testers: 50%;
▪ DevOps engineers: 5%.

(E) DEPLOYMENT
A significant part of this phase can proceed along with the preceding phases since
the DevOps engineers need to establish an effective “Continuous Integration” (CI)
environment. The actual deployment will follow the testing phase.

I estimate 6 person-months for this phase, with the following distribution by roles:

▪ PM: 5%;

▪ Software architect: 10%;

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▪ DevOps engineers: 85%.

(F) MAINTENANCE
I assume 3 months of post-deployment and warranty support, and I estimate 30
person-months for this phase. The distribution of effort by roles should be the
following:

▪ PM: 10%;

▪ Software architect: 10%;

▪ Developers and designers: 40%;

▪ Testers: 35%;

▪ DevOps engineers: 5%.

Barcode Prices
Barcodes range in price depending on what kind of barcode you would like and
how many different barcodes you require. If you require the barcode images to
be created only (i.e. you already have a barcode number), then the price starts at
$20 USD for one and drops to $10 USD each for four or more.

Retail barcode packages range in price depending on the quantity of barcodes

you require. One barcode package starts at $39 USD (the price per barcode
reduces if you purchase multiple barcodes at the same time).

Barcode Verification can be purchased for $59 USD per barcode needing to be
verified – in this case you need to send us a copy of your product packaging
with the barcode on it.

Barcode registration is included with our barcode packages, but can be

purchased for other barcodes. This is a service we offer to increase the internet
profile of your product and ensure that your product information appears when
your barcode is scanned by cellphone app scanners
Pros and Cons of using barcode technology

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Before we jump into the pros and cons, it’s important to note that there’s
nothing wrong with using barcode technology. It’s still totally viable and will be
for many years to come. The following bullet points are here to provide the
information you need to make a decision that is specific to business.

Barcode advantages

• Barcode systems can be easy to implement in small scale retail

environments
• Barcodes can be easily printed in house on cheap materials, such as paper
or plastic
• It’s much cheaper to use a barcode system, as opposed to RFID
technology
• The accuracy of barcodes is generally thought to be better than RFID
• Barcodes are a universal technology and can be read from basically any
scanner

Barcode disadvantages

• The key disadvantage for barcodes is that they require a line of sight in
order to be read.
• Barcode scanners usually have to be within 15 feet of the barcode in
order to read its data.
• Barcodes are typically printed on paper or plastic, which makes them
easy to damage. A damaged barcode can’t be read by a scanner.
• Items must be scanned individually if you’re using barcode technology.
• Barcodes can be easily counterfeited or replicated.
• Only the type of item will be contained on a barcode, whereas RFID
provides a code for every individual item.
• Barcodes contain only basic information relating to the product.
• Barcodes are read only and information cannot be updated or added.

WHY BARCODE SYSTEM IN APPAREL INDUSTRY?

• For a common person, a barcode is nothing but horizontally placed,

intermittent series of thin and thick black lines with random numbers
stacked underneath them. It is hard to not notice them as they are
ubiquitous these days.

• From daily use grocery items to appliances and almost every product that
one might come across, will bear these printed codes. A barcode is a

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 reference number that is used to look for the information about a
particular item. These graphical representations actually make it possible
for companies and retail stores to improve their efficiency.

• This is a result of an accurate and fast method of entering data that leads
to better inventory management. In the current business scenario, bar-
coding is vital to each and every industry from supermarkets to online
global markets. In order to further accentuate the importance of having a
bar-coded inventory merged with your retail POS system.

Ease in Learning for Employees: Managing the pricing, discounts, offers and
inventory is very complex manual procedures. Barcode scanners make it easy for
the employees. So, the training time for the employees can be considerably
reduced.
Reduction in Human Errors: Manual errors are very common in the apparel
industry due to the nature of the item available in multiple sizes, shades, prices.
Barcode system removes any chances of human errors resulting in better
inventory management.
Better Control of the Inventory: Improper tracking of the inventory often leads
to overheads in the apparel business. Barcode allow precise tracking of the
inventory.
Happy Customers: Barcode systems also help enhances customer satisfaction
since it helps to decrease the check-out time which can prove critical during peak
shopping seasons.
Makes the decision-making process easy and efficient: With barcode system
implemented in your business, you get data quickly and accurately. When you
have the right data in hand, decision making can be done easily and efficiently.
This helps in saving time, efforts, and money.

How collecting & analysing data through barcode actually works?

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There’s so much data to manage, process, and analyse that it becomes difficult to
do it manually. Manually collecting data takes a lot of time, effort, and energy.
However, choosing an ERP system is not enough. Your system might still expose
inefficiencies. facing problems like:

• Increased inventory overstock issues

• Poor customer service
• Imbalanced incoming and outgoing records
• Increased office expenses
• Manual errors in inventory stocking and dispatching
• Barcode technology is the proven solution for many of your
manufacturing, inventory, and distribution woes. It is currently the most
used and accessible method to track the “stuff” in your warehouse.

• A barcode can transform your business from being inefficient and slow to
productive and streamlined when integrated with an ERP system like
Dynamics ERP.

• How does this integration of barcode and ERP work?

• Barcode scanning gives you a real-time or a near-real-time view of all

your goods – assets, WIP products, inventory, etc. This helps ERP system
to give you up-to-date and clear business insights about the availability,
location, and status of your goods. Implementing an ERP software for
these functions without integrating it with a barcode scanning technology
gives you just a fraction of potential benefits.

• Here are some reasons why integrating barcode scanner to your ERP is
beneficial

1) Improved inventory tracking

• This goes without saying that inventory tracking becomes easy with
barcode scanning. Accurate inventory scanning during receiving, storing,
using, and dispatching gives you a better and real-time information about
your inventory. But when integrated with an ERP like Dynamics
AX or NAV, you can optimize the use and placement of the tracked
inventory. This data can then be used for production planning, demand
forecasting, and much more.

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 2) Enhanced accuracy

• Human errors are prone to happen during data collection. Plus, manual
tracking is too much of a hassle. Barcode scanner and ERP together can
improve efficiency and accuracy of data collection by removing those
potential errors. With barcode scanning, the workers can do a better,
faster job due to reduced data entry and lower misprints.

3) Reduced Costs

• Barcode scanning is an investment that you will cherish for long. With
less manual work and thus, efficient workers, you can save a substantial
amount of efforts and time. As the tracking and data gathering becomes
automated, much of the labor is saved. You get a better view of your
inventory, so you can better manage your inventory. That reduces both
inventory and holding costs and can eliminate the need for safety stock.

4) Improved Customer Satisfaction

• A barcode system connected to the ERP solution improves customer

satisfaction and response times by warranting timely, accurate shipments.
Barcodes make the workers efficient by easing their jobs, so they can
focus on more important tasks like customer service.

5) Well Informed Employees

• With the integration of barcode scanner and ERP, your employees have
all the information they need on their mobile phones. This allows them to
share the information on-the-go and view the needed information related
to the product, shipment, inventory, etc. in real-time. When they are
provided with all the information wherever and whenever they need, their
productivity will increase too.

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BARCODE SCANNNER BARCODES

• Barcodes are attached to the pieces and after assembling every hour
barcodes are scanned and information is sent and analyzed in the central
database monitored by the higher officials.

• Only after every hour info is sent and analyzed. Before the final garment
reaches the barcode scanner the barcode can be lost and may also false
information can be sent to database if codes are not scanned properly or
lost.

• Barcodes scanners cost a lost and we also need many barcode scanners in
a manufacturing unit so the cost is high and also preparing of barcodes
and attaching it to garments is a big task and needs many trained
employees which may go in vain.

• Cost of barcode scanners are mentioned below:

Hand free Rs 2600/Piece Rs 11500/Piece

Handheld Rs 1549/Piece Rs 15850/Piece

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RFID Technology for the Garment
Factory Management – An Overview
The success and growth of an apparel manufacturing business depend on how
well cross-department production information is delivered, handled and executed
in real-time. What is required is a reliable platform to fulfil all these aspects of
the business.

RFID (Radio-frequency identification) technology is the call of the hour to

improve the operational flow in such a complex environment of apparel
production business. It collects and analyses production data during the entire
production workflow on a real-time basis. This specifically deals with common
production problems encountered on the shop floor.

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 A bundle with an RFID tag

• If I talk about production, an RFID system not only obtain information

about production quantities in real-time basis but also system tracks the
efficiency of each line, tracks the performance of each sewing machine
and each worker. Most importantly it detects the source of the problem in
real-time. It shows who is working in which bundle, fast resolution of
bottlenecks and rapid tracing of quality issues to their source.

• RFID technology is becoming a popular tool for factory management in

the apparel industry. Although this service is offered by many solution
providers in various areas, the functions of those systems are quite similar
to each other. Main components of the system are RFID software,
computer, data cable, RFID card, RFID scanner, RFID reader and
terminal to display information to the operator.

• In a real-time RFID system, data is captured through scanning of RFID

cards (tags) at operator terminals (workstation). Generally, four types of
tags are used in the line which can be an employee card, bundle card,
supervisor card or a job card.

Employee card
Employee cards are issued to operators and checkers. The operator uses an
employee card to sign on at his/her workstation. If an operator does not scan the

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employee card system keeps her absent for the day. One more important thing,
without scanning the employee card operator would not be able to scan bundle
cards at his/her terminal.

Bundle card
Bundle cards carry a unique number (bundle no.) that is made in computer to
represent the bundles such as garment size, no. of pieces consists in bundle etc.
Bundle cards are attached to each bundle as similar to bundle tickets. When
operators work on the bundle, they scan bundle card to the terminal. One or
multiple cards are issued against each bundle depending on the production
system.

For example, when a garment is made on sections (preparatory sections) and

assembled at the end for each sub-bundle duplicate cards are issued. In some
RFID systems, bundle card is inserted to the slot of the terminal while operator
sews garment instead of scanning.

Job card
Job cards used to assign jobs at the terminals (workstation). Job cards are also
used for special purposes. Normally, each terminal (work stations) is pre-set with
the operation/job that would be performed by the operator. There may be
possibility that operator had to do multiple jobs. In that situation, operators use
job card to change the operation in the terminal. Jobs cards are labelled with job
(operation) name and number. The operator scans the job card of the job that will
be performed by the operator.

Supervisor card or maintenance card

This system has an option to record off-standard work and lost time. To
authenticate those lost time approvals by supervisors or assigned person is
needed. Also, when machine breakdown is reported by the operator and the issue
is solved by the maintenance, they scan their card to stop the lost time request.

The workflow of an RFID production tracking system

The process flow of the system has been explained in the following:

Data preparation: Data preparation consists of tasks such as a listing of

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operations for the style Assigning of SAM for each operation. Listing of
employees, supervisors Listing of machine type and class. Create bundles for
each cut (lay).

Assigning job/operation to the terminal: In the line, each operator would

perform the specific job. Prior to start work on the workstation, operation is
assigned to the terminal (workstation). Assigning of job can be done by using job
cards or entering the job number manually to the terminal.

Issuing card: According to the bundling done by the cutting department, RFID
cards are scanned by RFID scanner to assign bundle number to the cards.
Assigned cards are issued to the cutting department. These cards refer to the
bundle numbers created on the computer. Bundle numbers includes information
such as quantity of garment, size, color etc. Bundle cards are then attached to the
bundles.

Scanning of cards at terminals: Each operator scans bundle cards (at RFID
reader that fixed on their work station) and starts working on bundles. When an
operator finishes the bundle, he/she ties the RFID card with bundle and keeps
aside or moves to the next operator. Once an operator scans the card, information
related to that particular bundle will be stored and displayed to the computer.

Viewing reports:

• System records all transactions made by operators and supervisors. The

system analyses the records and display reports on the pre-set format.
Modification of digital information can be possible by the administrator.

• For example, the system gives reports of the individual operator’s

efficiency, earning, SAH. Now how the system calculates efficiency? To
calculate someone’s efficiency system needs two types of information –
how many minutes an operator has produced during the day and secondly
how many minutes an operator spent or present (sign in) at his work. First
information is calculated through total bundle scanned (total pieces) and
multiplying the pieces by SAM of each piece (for the operation). Second
information is captured from employee card scanning data – at what time

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 they sign in at the terminal and at what time they sign off from the
terminal.

• RFID system captures all the information through RFID scanners and
stores them in the database. Whatever report one needs can be displayed
retrieving data from the data source.

Purpose of the RFID system for apparel

• The primary objective of an RFID based real-time production tracking
system is capturing real-time data and viewing the report in real-time.

• Improving process visibility and transparency. Accuracy in production

data.

• Data capturing and getting data automatically through scanning RFID

tags in the workstation. Once you have captured data from the desired
activity in the pre-defined parameters, you can play with the data and
build reports and KPIs as you need.

RFID System Workflow in garment manufacturing

• There are many technical terms and data designed based on capturing
data and storing data in different database tables to retrieve the report for
various purposes. I am not going to bore you by explaining technical
things here.

• Instead, I will show how this system works and what kind of information
you need to enter into the system before you can scan the RFID tags.

• You need to install the operator’s device (called as sewing operator

terminal) at the workstation. Connect the device through wiring and
networking cable. It can be a wireless device. Installation of the device is

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 decided according to how you want to capture production data and
workflow of garment components in a production line.

• I mean, you can install a separate terminal for each employee, you can
install one terminal for a group of employees who are doing the same
operation in the same place. And the group is working on the same
bundle.

• After installing all the hardware components, you need to set up data in
the system. Create a master for employees, line and sections. Add plant
details, work shift detail.

• Add masters for jobs – you need to create a database for a list of tasks
(operations) you do for making your apparel products. You have a code
number for each job (sewing and non-sewing activities in the
manufacturing related to processing style).

• Add operations and style – for a new style you need to create operation
adding operation SAM, sequencing of operations in a style, connecting
the style with a production line. Marking operations will be the starting
point of the style and components. This is like an OB you make in an
Excel sheet.

• Entering data for order, lay and bundle listing – In practice, apparel
manufacturers lay the fabric on the cutting table and cut the fabric as per
marker plan. In a lay, you cut multiple layers of fabric plies and multiple
markers. You maintain the record of orders – number of lays for
completing whole order size-wise and color-wise cut quantity in each
marker. Finally cutting department makes bundles with few garment
pieces (10-20 pieces per bundle).

• In the production line, operators get bundles and the work on it and move
the completed bundle to the next operator. In the database you need to
create bundles – maintaining the same order of data hierarchy – one
Order – multiple lays (cut) in one order – multiple bundles (size and

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 colour wise) in one lay – a few garments in each bundle. Combined
bundle quantity should be the total order qty.

• Assignment of RFID tag against each bundle – after making the list of
bundles, you need to assign an RFID tag for each bundle. You can make
more than one bundle tag for a bundle. By making multiple tags for the
same bundle, operators can work on the same bundle parallelly. For the
identification of bundle (style, order number, garment colour size), the
label is attached to each bundle.

• Attaching tags to bundle – You attach a tag to each bundle before loading
it to the employee. The RFID tag can be attached to a bundle in the
cutting section or you can attach to the bundle in the feeding area. Here I
would like to add bundle /piece can be loaded in various ways in the line.

• moving bundle throughout the line

• moving a single piece throughout the line
• feeding bundle in preparatory section but move a single piece in the
assembly section
• loading bundle to all operation but want to count pieces one by one
• loading different bundle components at different places at the same time -
parallel loading.
• All these kind of bundle movements can be adopted by RFID tags
assignment and operator terminal profile.

• Operator terminal – Set up operator terminal with the operation code and
make ready for scanning tags. Operators login to the system by entering
their employee code into their terminals. Once they login to a terminal, all
kinds of transactions processed into the terminal, are recorded against the
employee.

• Scanning RFID tag for production counting – Before an operator starts

working on a bundle, they scan RFID to the sewing terminal. Once
garment bundles reach to the operators, they scan the RFID tag to their
terminal. System capture all the transactions performed at the operator’s
device. The system captures their transaction and bundle qty as
production quantity.

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 • Other kinds of transactions – Other than scanning bundle tags there many
other different transaction operators can do as per there need and data
required by the factory. Like, the operator can split the bundle, they can
log-out from one workstation and work another workstation by login to
another terminal. If they work multiple operations, they can change the
operation in the terminal. In case an operator gets the whole lay and do
the continuous work, scanning of individual bundles can be avoided, by
using bulk operation function.

• The operator sees their production, earning and performance in the

terminal. The operator can send an off-standard request to line supervisor
by entering off-standard code in her terminal. A supervisor can approve
the off-standard code required on the terminal or from the computer

The basic requirement for installing an RFID system

• You need hardware and software for installing the RFID system. The
software and hardware are normally supplied by the supplier. Other than
these components, you need the following
• IT Team - IT team needed for networking, server maintenance.
• Computer, Server, internet (intranet), printer and database
• Industrial engineer for Data preparation and report viewing. In the
system, you need to enter style data with operation SAM. You know,
only an industrial engineer can establish garment SAM and operation
SAM. In a factory, IE is responsible for operation SAM. Sequencing of
the sewing operations in style also needed. Without an IE team,
installation of the RFID system, would not be possible.
• Training of sewing operators – Sewing operators need to be trained on
how to use the terminal. Supervisor and line leader need to be trained for
basic troubleshooting on the floor.

Benefits of RFID System in production tracking

• When you have an RFID based real-time production tracking system, you
will have a database. You have the flexibility of making reports in many
ways as you want. Factories that have a strong IT team and having
knowledge of programming and making a report from SQL database, can
easily make a useful report for the management and factory.

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 • Customized production reports can be made in Crystal report, Excel-
based reports using SQL queries.

• With this system, the data recorder and line supervisor cannot give you
inaccurate production data. As operators get an RFID tag for the garment
she stitched.

• Manual data collection and report making can be eliminated by installing

a real-time production tracking system. All production data, lost time data
and quality data will be captured from the operator’s device and the
system will process those data and report will be made automatically in
the pre-fined report templates.

• Improved visibility and transparency. You can view production data from
a remotely having internet connection. Managers can review data for all
sections and lines. They can compare performance between the line. Can
track order status, WIP.

Some of the common reports factories views include

• Hourly production report

• Line wise employee attendance and absenteeism
• Previous day's employee wise production, operation wise production
• Today's line efficiency and previous day's line efficiency
• WIP report
• Individual operator's efficiency and skill history

• With the real-time production tracking system, you can introduce an

incentive scheme for sewing operators. You know the incentive scheme is
the main driving force for productivity improvement in the shop floor.
For designing an incentive scheme, you need production and efficiency
for individual employees.

• With the real-time production tracking system, you will have all the basic
data you need for an incentive scheme and calculating the employees'

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 bonus amount. Operator incentives can be designed in various ways – like
individual performance, group performance, a combination of group and
individual performance.

• You can eliminate the bar-code system on the production floor, in case
you are already having such a system.

• Your operators don’t need to writing production quantity in a piece of

paper.

• You can integrate other modules in the production tracking systems - like
real-time Quality control system, machine maintenance module.

• RFID tags are reused until the tag get damaged. Even one tag can be used
for more than 10 years. So, no expenses in RFID tag.

• A time-saving tool for industrial engineers. In a garment factory, IEs

spend a lot of time in daily report preparation and data analysis. Data
preparation can be eliminated by introducing the RFID system.

• Improving productivity – All applications and software commit that it

will increase the factory’s productivity. But how? A system can only
provide data – you need to take action to get the benefit

• Lost-time data – by capturing lost time data, you can find major reasons
for efficiency losses in production. After getting lost-time data, if you act
and reduce lost-time, your productivity will improve.

Limitations and challenges of an RFID system in apparel

• Each factory is unique, and different garment factories view daily
production reports in different formats. The inbuilt reports in a real-time
production tracking system are limited. In case the factory wants
additional report matching with their existing excel reports, suppliers can
develop the customized report with/without additional charges.

• The involvement of the line supervisors, line leaders and sewing

operators is essential for a successful implementation. Sometimes
questions come – why operators should spend time on scanning RFID

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 and follow the new system if they are getting any benefits from this
system (in the salaried environment).

• real-time production tracking systems is used as standalone software and

not integrated with the ERP and payroll systems. Engineers become the
lead for the system installation and maintaining the system. When an IE
leaves the factory, factory face issues in maintaining the system.

• During the implementations, factories develop many custom reports. But

after a few months, they used to view and track only a few reports.

• Most of the factories do not have a database team (IT team having
knowledge of SQL DB and report preparation from SQL database) for
developing reports internally. In such a situation, factories can’t utilize
the data they captured.
COSTS INVOLVED IN THE INSTALATION OF RFID TAGS
1. Equipment Costs
In a typical manufacturing setting, RFID readers are needed at all entries and
exits, as well as in common material storage areas. If a tagged item is placed in
an area where readers are not present, the item cannot be located. The location
could possibly be inferred by the last seen entry/exit event or by manually
“hunting” for the tag using a handheld reader. The use of handheld inventory
“guns” is especially common in Aerospace RFID.

The equipment needed for active RFID is significantly less expensive (roughly
10 times less) than the equipment for passive RFID, as the reader equipment isn't
as powerful or technologically sophisticated

A standard Bluetooth-based active RFID system can have varying levels of

accuracy. The AirFinder system uses a hybrid approach, where location beacons
are placed in areas to aid in the accuracy that can be achieved over standard active
RFID alone.

2. Installation Costs
Passive RFID installation must be done by an expert who is well versed in tuning
the equipment, directing the antennas, running the necessary connectivity tests,

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and configuring settings and networking details. The readers are generally
connected via a LAN network to a central server, which is typically on site and
processes all of the RFID data.

Specialized antennas are used for passive RFID and must be installed and
calibrated to ensure appropriate performance. For these reasons, the installation
costs of passive RFID are significant.

On the other hand, many active RFID systems like AirFinder can be installed by
a member of your IT team in as little as one day, making the process simpler and
much less cost-prohibitive. Generally, the exact placement of an active reader is
not important; you can position it wherever it’s most convenient, negating the
cost of having to rework your facility. However, ultra-wideband active RFID
systems have installation costs that can exceed even those of passive RFID.

The ongoing maintenance costs associated with both systems are about the same.
These costs mainly address issues with equipment that gets unplugged or goes
offline for some other reason. Because passive RFID systems have larger
standalone antennas, they are more prone to damage in busy industrial settings,
so your facility may require some modification to accommodate the hardware.

3. Tag Costs
One of the primary benefits of passive RFID is the low cost of tags, which usually
run for much less than a dollar. One exception is if you need to tag a metal object,
in which case the tags will be slightly more expensive because regular passive
RFID tags won't perform appropriately. There are other highly specialized RFID
tags for laundry or autoclaves that can run even higher.

Tags are one of the few items that cost more for active RFID. While RF
beaconing-style active RFID tags are still less expensive than the tags used for
alternative technologies like Wi-Fi and ultra-wideband, you can expect to pay up
to (or more than) 100 times as much for an active RFID tag as for a passive RFID
tag.

In addition, active RFID tags can be coupled with wide-area technology like
cellular and GPS to provide seamless indoor/outdoor locating and tracking, so
they may very well be worth the additional cost for your application.

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Another cost factor for active tags is the cost of maintaining the batteries. Some
systems have disposable tags, while others make it possible to replace batteries.
Either way, the battery life cycle costs and associated labor must be considered
when calculating the overall system costs for an active RTLS system.

4. Software Costs
Passive and active RFID readings are useless without asset management
software—and this kind of software can run you a pretty penny. You can learn
more about the capabilities to look for in real-time location system (RTLS)
software.

Generally, the complexity and specialization of the software drive the cost. A
basic tag reading software could be an open-source project, whereas an integrated
RFID to ERP enterprise application could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars
to maintain.

Many active RTLS systems like AirFinder use a cloud SaaS model, where the
software is bundled together with the costs of other parts of the system.

5. Ongoing License Costs

While active RFID licensing costs are typically bundled with the software,
passive RFID technologies often require ongoing licensing costs that go toward
support and software upgrades. These can be quite expensive, so be sure to
account for this cost before you select a passive RFID technology.

These license charges are especially common for Wi-Fi-based RTLS systems
where the location technology is an add-on to existing Wi-Fi access points. Cisco
Meraki is an example of a Wi-Fi-based active RTLS system that has an ongoing
license fee.

6. Maintenance Costs
As mentioned above, passive readers are more complex than active readers due
to their extensive cabling, antennas, etc. And because the passive readers are

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fairly large, they’re at a greater risk of being snagged or bumped, which could
lead to costly maintenance issues over time.

Active RFID systems are less complex, but their tags do include batteries. This
means the tags will need to be maintained anywhere from a few months to every
few years, depending on their life expectancy.

Training is another aspect of the ongoing system maintenance that some

customers don’t consider. For an RTLS system deployment to be successful, all
staff need to be trained initially and on an ongoing basis to fully realize the return
on investment for such a system.

7. Integrator Costs
If you choose to purchase an active or passive RFID solution from an integrator,
you’ll likely pay a premium over what you would pay if you were to go directly
to the technology solution provider. That said, integrators often have teams of
experts available to help you select the best technology to fit your problem, which
could make the additional expense worth it.

Some RTLS technology companies provide their own installation, design, and
support services for their equipment. AirFinder often bundles these services into
its ongoing system costs.

It would be wrong to say that active or passive RFID RTLS systems are more
appropriate for a customer based solely on cost considerations. Often, both
systems can cost nearly the same when you consider all of the aspects discussed
above. You need to strike a balance between system capabilities, location
accuracy, number of tags, and ongoing maintenance and support to make the most
of your investment.

Large enterprises—or companies with complex use cases—may choose

standalone asset tracking software to run a number of tracking and sensing
solutions. But many organizations looking for tracking technology are more
interested in purchasing a full-stack RTLS solution. If you choose an end-to-end
solution, you won’t have to deal with the hassle of integrating the hardware and
software.

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Conclusion
I understand it is not possible to understand and visualize the whole process of
the RFID system and its use in a garment unit by reading. I have explained only
major activities with brief notes and without any example. My objective of
sharing this is to make you aware of how the RFID system works in an apparel
manufacturing unit.

The technical things and actual working method can be learned when you install
such a system in your factory. There are a few companies who provide real-time
production tracking solutions, most of them use RFID technology for data
capturing. The working method and data preparation may vary from one product
to another.

For tracking the real-time shop floor production data, RFID systems are good
options for the garment factories. The benefits of this system are enormous if you
can fully utilize the product.

INSTALLING TABS AT A WORKPLACE:

TABS INSTALLED IN A WORKPLACE TO COLLECT DATA

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 • Unlike barcode scanning using scanners and RFID and using tabs to
collect and analyze data in the centralized database is simple but
sophisticated and a costly one.

• Barcode scanning requires scanning of barcodes every hour to update the

data which requires some labor and hard work in return of nothing to the
company or the worker. And also, the barcodes may get damaged or lost
and false info may get updated.

• Where as RFID is mostly used in bigger industries where RFID tags gets
scanned to update data this also requires a good base to develop this
model and requires a lot of training to the employees and labors to get
this model started. This requires a large investment in return for nothing.
It is an investment just to collect data easily.

• SO, Usage of digital tabs is a better method to collect and analyze data
easily by each and every worker and employee.

• In this method tabs are placed at a work place and the info is updated
about the processes done by the employees all by themselves in the
database which is opened in the tabs.

• No scanning of barcode by the scanner or using RFID it’s just putting the
info by the employees using tabs. So, there is a need for training of to
update info using tabs for the employees.

• The process of popularizing intelligent manufacturing (using tabs) has

been gradually implemented. More and more intelligent manufacturing
demonstration bases have been generated, which has also brought models
to many domestic manufacturing enterprises.

• Problems such as unclear production schedule of traditional garment

manufacturing, unstable efficiency caused by unbalanced production line,
long overtime time of workers, poor quality rate, unclear order production
schedule, and difficulty to confirm production delivery date have been
effectively solved in intelligent clothing manufacturing.

• The touch display device (Tabs) is an effective embodiment of intelligent

clothing manufacturing

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 • As an important core of intelligent clothing manufacturing, touch display
equipment is widely used in cutting machine tools, fabric detection,
production line boards, sewing workbench, and many other scenes.

• For example, in the production process of sewing workbench, the touch

display equipment is installed, and the corresponding production
information will be displayed on the flat panel display screen on the
worker's seat, to ensure that one person, one garment, one single flow, real-
time information transmission, to ensure that the workers accurately define
the product requirements and avoid the waste of raw materials.

• Touch Think product application features:

• In the transformation of the production line, the user chooses the Touch
Think 10.1-inch 4th-GEN industrial Android all-in-one tablet PC,
mostly in the use scenarios of the embedded cabinet, sewing workbench,
etc.

• The thickness of the front panel is 10mm, round arc frame design offering
a good touching experience for users. Ultra-thin ultra-narrow frame, small
size with a large vision angle, beautiful and safe, not easy to scratch.

• All the hardware parts of the whole tablet PC are made by one-piece die
casting, which has a strong sense of industrial science and technology.
Fully meet the users' demand and offer perfect cost performance.

• Front panel is designed with industrial-grade IP65 dust-proof and water-

proof, satisfy the indoor application, the built-in waterproof strip, which
can meet the requirements of multiple dust use scenarios in a clothing
manufacturing workshop.

• Capacitive touch screen mode is suitably used in such environments, ten-

point touch technology with fast response, and optimizes the operation
interface, easy to use.

• Default with Android 6.0 operating system, also supports other versions,
and the SDK software development kit can be provided to meet the needs
of users' APP and easy for connection of mobile terminals.

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 • The CPU configuration adopts All winner A64 Cortex-A53 quad-core 64-
bit, main frequency is up to 1.5GHz, the mainboard is industrial grade
quality and with good anti-vibration.

• All Touch Think industrial tablet PCs have past 48-hour aging test, they
have stable performance and supports the automatic reset function, which
can guarantee the production line to run without fault for 7 * 24h.

• Support a variety of installation methods, such as embedded, desktop,

VESA 75, VESA 100, wall-mounted, and other types, to meet the needs of
a variety of production line scenarios.

• It supports Ethernet / WiFi, 3G / 4G network connection, and has rich

interface functions. DC port adopts an anti-falling design, which is more
durable in the workshop environment.

Benefits

• Through the use of touch display equipment in each clothing

manufacturing scene, the data of the whole production process from cutting
machine to delivery can be grasped in real-time.

• At the same time, it can return to MES production management system and
manage the real-time production progress, production balance, product
quality, flow direction of semi-finished products, factory efficiency,
worker efficiency, IE operation data, IE data analysis, etc. through data
analysis, it not only shortens the auxiliary processing time of clothing
manufacturing, greatly improves production efficiency, reduces the
defective rate and raw material waste, but also reduces the area of semi-
finished products, ensures the quality of products, and reap the dividends
of intelligent clothing manufacturing.

• Data can be checked at regular intervals

• Quotas can be pre-set in advance to avoid any mismatch within
panels
• By programming logical checks in advance, any logical errors in
data can be avoided
• Since data will be directly inputted by the interviewer in the
program, it removes possibility of errors during data punching
• Closed ended data can be made available within 36 hours of
fieldwork completion in comparison to 48-60 hours currently

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 • Supplementation of interviews with audio recordings, photos, and
videos
• Get geolocation of the interviews
• Set quotas within the systems – better quota controls
• Modification of surveys at any time – even just before use or while
a study is ongoing

COST:

INDUSTRIAL TAB

Minimum price: 19,999 rupees

For example, there is need to establish 400 tabs at the work stations

19,999 x 400 = 79,99,600 (80 lakhs approximately)

• And also, to maintain and train employees is a need.

• So, using tabs is a best method compared to barcode scanning and RFID
to collect and analyze data in the centralized database but also, it is very
costly method requires a huge one-time investment.

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 OUR PROPOSAL

• Barcode scanning is used in many industries till today compared to RFID

and using tabs because these other 2 methods are very costly in terms of
money to implement.

• So, barcode scanning is perfectly implemented in industry now a days but

there comes disadvantages also using this method and also for perfection
there is a need to used Tabs but money and investment matters to do that.

• After brainstorming for different low cost and perfect method we can up
with an idea which we can say a mixture of barcode and tab method I’m
going to explain the best method which can be implemented in the
manufacturing units as a best process to collect and analyze data.

• We came up with an idea of QR code scanning which can also be called

as Quick response scanning where QR scanners are used but not the
normal ones. we changed and programmed the old QR scanners because
there is need of security, location tracking, continuous input of
information of the work done by the worker.

QR Code scanning (Quick Response Scanning):

HOW QR CODE SCANNING IS USUALLY DONE

• A QR code can be generated for the ERP software co ordinating with the
IT department. Where on scanning the code with the device we produced
the home page on the touch screen display that is placed on the machine

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 to view the info we are updating and also signals the worker to do their
work accordingly.

• So, what we are going to do is we are providing the QR codes to the

bundles that are being sent to the workstations. Here, the QR code
attached to the bundle info is updated in the server.

• So, The QR code scanner is made in such a way that AT42QT1012 finger
print sensor, push button key board module, GPS module, WIFI sensor
are connected to the adriuno board where this whole thing is connected to
the barcode scanner.

• So, one the worker scans the QR code he also needs to provide his finger
print for which we had placed finger print sensor then only the QR code
link will open in the display monitor which is connected to the QR code
scanner.

• Through the finger print of a worker we can know which worker received
the bundle with specific QR which is already updated in the dashboards
and also all the worker finger prints are already updated in the database.

• Properly planned and maintained this method is the best way where one
industry can collect the data but there is need to provide some training to
the workers for the successful flow of this method.

A QR SCANNER

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 PROCESS:

• First of all, we are going to generate a QR code for the ERP

software.

• Then we are going to provide the QR codes for the bundles and
update the info of the bundles in the database.

• Once the bundles after cutting QR is attached to them where the

info about them is updated and sent it to the workers of different
sections.

• There the workers scan the QR’s with the modified version of the
QR code scanners and they should provide their finger prints then
the page is opened in the touch screen display LED placed in the
work stations which is connected to the QR code scanners.

• The New QR code scanner which is placed in the workstations to

update the data of the work comes with GPS module and finger
print sensor.

• Numbers are given to the QR scanners which are placed in the

workstations and through GPS module in the QR scanners we
know which QR scanner is placed in which workstation.

• So, the details of QR codes numbers and their GPS details is also
updated in the database so we will know which scanner scanned
which QR code attached to the bundle at which workstation and
also which employee updated the data through his finger print

• If an employee is facing issues or doesn’t have any prior

knowledge about QR code scanning can be trained which cannot be
a burden on the industry.

• We will start giving these modified QR scanners to different workstations

in the industry based upon the machinery and workstations starting from
Cutting section.

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 • Follows to loading sections where this modified QR scanner replaces his
work manually entering the data.

• Then for example where 300 workstations are there we are going to
establish 100 modified QR scanners in the industry.

• Cutting, sewing, assembly, loading, unloading, finishing, packing gets

these modified QR scanners where location tracking is easy and precise
data is put into the data base immediately after finishing one”s work.

• Once the QR scanning and finger print scanning is done employee details
and work station details are updated and when the work is done we can
confirm by pressing the green tick option that is displayed in the display
monitor.

• So, the cost for 100 modified QR scanners is given below.

STANDS TO PLACE THE MODIFIED QR CODE DEVICE

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 PROCESS FLOW OF QR SCAN

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 SENSORS USED TO MODIFY THE QR SCANNER

Fingerprint sensor:
• It uses to scan the employee fingerprint to confirm his identity.

• The basic principle of working of fingerprint sensors lies mainly behind

the process in which the sensors scans the fingerprint and generates a
pattern and stores it in the system as two dimensional, or three-
dimensional data, so when a user places his thumb on the device. The
system will create a pattern and compare it with the stored data.

• There are mainly three types of sensors

1. Optical fingerprint sensor it’s the purest form of sensor out there. The devices
emit light on the finger after placed on it, and then capture the data into 2d image
and save it in the system.
2. Capacitive fingerprint sensor it depends upon the series of capacitor plates
to obtain a fingerprint. For these capacitors, the fingerprint acts like hold and
valleys. With the help of electricity stored in the capacitor, it maps out the areas
of the fingerprint and thus saves it in the system.
3. Ultrasonic fingerprint sensor it emits Ultrasonic waves to map out the areas
of print in three dimensions and saves it as 3d image. And they are thus making
it the most accurate of all. It is so precise that it can also capture the skin pores of
an individual.

AT42QT1012 TOUCH SENSOR BREAKOUT (capacitive

sensor)
Cost: 400rs

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Charger cable:

USB Cable
Cost: 25rs

Display monitor: It displays the data were given by employee.

3.5inch TFT LCD Touch Screen Display Shield

Cost: 750rs

• This monitor is connected to the modified barcode scanner using USB cable.
• Note: All the cost are taken after discount on purchasing of 400 pieces

Total cost:

1. Capacitive fingerprint sensor – 500rs

2. Display monitor – 2000rs
3. USB cable – 100rs
4. NORMAL QR SCANNER – 2850rs
5. Other charges – 200
6. Making charges – 1000rs (inclusive programing)
Total cost: 6,650 per piece
• For 100 pieces: 100 x 6,650 = 6,65,000/- rupees

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 BENEFITS

• Data can be checked at regular intervals

• Quotas can be pre-set in advance to avoid any mismatch within

panels

• By programming logical checks in advance, any logical errors in

data can be avoided

• Since data will be directly inputted by the interviewer in the

program, it removes possibility of errors during data punching

• Closed ended data can be made available within 36 hours of

fieldwork completion in comparison to 48-60 hours currently

• Supplementation of interviews with audio recordings, photos, and

videos

• Get geolocation of the interviews

• Set quotas within the systems – better quota controls

• Modification of surveys at any time – even just before use or while

a study is ongoing

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 CONCLUSION

• By making the modified version of barcode scanner like POS machine to

scan the QR code to feed the data by employee by confirming his identity
through finger print scanner.

• location can be easily known whenever the employee scans the QR code
and it automatically saves the location. Also, if the bundle is lost and
found or misplaced by scanning the QR code we can know

• Also, usage of the modified QR scanners system tracks the efficiency of

each line, tracks the performance of each sewing machine and each
worker. Most importantly it detects the source of the problem in real-
time. It shows who is working in which bundle, fast resolution of
bottlenecks and rapid tracing of quality issues to their source.

• So, through this we can understand that with proper modifications, time,
training, with the help of IT department we can successfully use our
solution to replace barcodes, tabs, RFID.

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