An effective fabric cut plan can be made by following
these tested techniques . The Information needed for
cut order planning is:
1. No of garments to cut (order quantity).
2. Cut pieces to be in what size ratio, Like S:M:L:XL =
1:2:2:1
Now we know that to cut the order quantity in the size
ratio specified we will lay the fabric and then cut it using
a marker (patterns printed on paper).
Consider that we have to cut 6 garments in the ratio
S1:M2:L2:XL1. We will make a marker in the required
size ratio, lay 1 ply and cut. So we will easily cut 6
garments, which is what we required (see the table
below)
Number Of Garments On No Of Garments
Lay
Plies Marker Cut
1 1 XS1:S2:M2:L1 XS1:S2:M2:L1
This was easy but in real world we will not cut just 6
garments, we will cut hundreds and even thousands, so
as the order quantity will increase number of plies will
increase too. What if instead of 6 garments we had to cut
12 in the same ratio. Answer is, we would simply lay 2
plies and cut instead of a single lay (refer to table below).
Number Of Garments On No of Garments
Lay
Plies Marker Cut
1 2 XS1:S2:M2:L1 XS2:S4:M4:L2
It is very clear from the above example that number of
plies will change depending on the order quantity but lay
height can’t be increased beyond a certain point,
therefore we have:
Constraint 1 – Maximum Number of Plies in a
lay (height of the lay)
Not only lay height the length of lay is also a constraint,
which will depend on the number of garments on a
marker.
Constraint 2 – Maximum Number of garments
on a marker (length of the lay)
These two constraints calls for planning. This logical
planning for cutting the total order quantity based on
constraints is called a fabric cut plan or cut order
planning.
“A logical division of an order quantity into individual lays (spreads) such that
desired number of garment pieces can be cut with minimum time and effort in real
environment is called a fabric Cut Plan or Cut order plan”.
To make things clearer let us make a cut plan with
constraints. Consider that we have to cut 9 garments in
the ratio XS1:S2:M3:L2:XL1 where knife can only cut
max of 4 plies at a time and max no. of garments that
can be put on a marker is 2.
This is how we can plan to cut the given order.
Lay Number Sizes Pieces Total pieces cut
No. of plies on cut in
marker the lay
Lay 1XS & 1
1 XS1:XL1 XS1:XL1
1 XL
Lay
2 1S & 1 L S2:L2 XS1:S2:L2:XL1
2
Lay
3 1M 3M XS1:S2:M3:L2:XL1
3
In the above example we were able to cut the required
number of garments without exceeding the max number
of garments on a marker and max number of plies in a
lay. Till this point it must be clear that what is cut plan
and what factors affect it. Moving on to how a fabric cut
plan is used
How is a Fabric Cut Plan used ?
Cut plan is used by the marker maker to make the
marker.
Cut plan is used by the spreader to lay the fabric.
How is a Fabric Cut Plan made ?
There can be hundreds of combination for a cut plan
therefore making a good plan can be quite a task.
If any specialised software is not used, cut plan is
generally made on an excel sheet where number of plies
and the sizes on each lay is specified. Formulae ensures
that the required number of pieces in every size keeps
updating after every entered value in plies and sizes.
Excel sheet should give clear indication on how many
pieces more are required for all the sizes by subtracting
number of pieces planned from total pieces required.
Required number of pieces will be used for planning
number of plies and size ratio for the next lay
The objective is to make the required number of pieces
(ie = planned pieces – ordered quantity) either to be
zero or near to zero.
