Pre-production process is planning that is done prior to the bulk
garment production. That includes samples development and
approvals, sourcing and testing raw materials, garment costing, pattern
making, and process planning. Efficient production can’t be reached
without the pre-production processes.
In garment manufacturing a typical pre-production process is divided
into five steps:
1. Cost of a garment – including every expense
2. Pattern making, grading
3. Sourcing raw materials
4. Process planning
5. Pre- production sample
Production process: In the production stage, the main activity is
sewing. Production is a well-organized process that includes various
steps. These are laying, marking, cutting, stitching, checking, finishing,
pressing, and packaging. This is the process of transforming raw
materials into final goods. Garment Manufacturing Process.
Post: Post Production Process
all the finished garments are inspected for defects. This is the first
quality control inspection for the finished garments.
Pressing/Finishing: the garments are pressed and a few final
touches are added such as thread loose cutting.
Final Inspection: the garments go through one final round of
quality control to weed out any defective garments.
Packing: the finished garments are sorted according to size and
design and packaged for shipping. Once the garments are
packaged, they’re sent to dispatch where they will be shipped to
their final destination.
Man hour: A man-hour is the average amount of work that one person
can do in an hour. Man-hours are used to estimate how long jobs take,
or how many people are needed to do a job in a particular time.
It is calculated by multiplying number of workers with the number of
hours they have worked.
Ex: 10 workers work for 8 hours each a day. They have worked for 8 x
10 = 80 man –hour.
Clock minute or man minute are synonym, Man-hour converted into
minutes is called clock minute.
Clock minute= Number of operator X working hour x 60(in minutes)
Input –hour: Number of operators in a production line multiplied by
working hours gives input-hours.
Input hour=Number of operators X working hours.
Out-hours: It is the volume of production in pcs multiplied by standard
time & then divided by 3600 standard time is expressed in seconds.
output hours = (Number of garments X standard time in sec) ÷ 3600
Cycle time: also known as Observed Time. Cycle time is the duration of
time from the starting point of a task to the starting of the next task.
This time is captured by the observation of a person’s work by
stopwatch.
Cycle time=Machine Time + Material handling time.
Basic Time: Also expressed as Normal time. Here, no allowances are
included. Basic time of a job is determined by multiplying rating factor
to the observed time (cycle time).
Basic time = (Observed time X Performance Rating)/100
Or
Basic Time = (Standard Time - Allowances)
Standard time: Formally, standard Time is the time which is measured
under the specific conditions as well as considering defined level of
performance.
Practically nobody can work continuously without taking rest. And,
during work there can be issues like- needle breakage. So, to measure
standard time, some additional time is added due to different types of
allowance and non-avoidable issues.
Standard Time = Basic Time + Allowances
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Production planning steps:
1. Task Scheduling: The job schedule contains everything from
receiving order to shipments, list of tasks to be processed. Against
each task the start and dead line of it is mentioned, and name of
the responsible person.
2. Material Resource Planning (Inventory): Material requirement
sheet is prepared, consumption of material is calculated and cost
of each material is estimated.
3. Loading production: Planner defines which style to be loaded to
the production line and how much quantity to be loaded.
4. Process selection & planning: According to the buyer’s
requirement, processes are selected for the orders for different
styles.
5. Facility location: When a company has multiple factories
(facilities) for production and factories are set for specific product,
planner needs to identify which facility will be most suitable for
new orders.
6. Estimating quantity and costs of production: Planner estimates
daily production (units) according to the styles of work, and
manpower involvement production cost.
7. Capacity planning: Allocating of total capacity or deciding how
much capacity to be used for an order out of total factory
capacity.
8. Line planning: It is the daily production target for the production
line, made after discussing with production team and Industrial
engineers.
9. Follow up and execution: PPC department keeps close look
whether everything is progressing according the plan. Chasing
other department heads on daily basis to keep plan on track and
update order wise completed tasks on the Time & action
Calendar. If something is going to be late, they expedite and
create an alarm about the delay.
Pre-Production Processes in Garment Manufacturing
The processes that are done prior to start of bulk garment production
are known as pre-production process.
1. The first step is meeting with buyers. The buyer chooses and fixes
the designs
2. Initial samples of the new styles with available fabrics and trims
are developed according to the buyer’s requirements.
3. Fabric sample, bit loom, print and embroidery artwork are
developed as per the buyer’s requirement.
4. Cost sheet with detailed cost break up are prepared. It is a critical
stage. If the cost is very high then manufacturer may lose the
order and on other hand if factory keep their cost low, they will
not earn profit from the order.
5. Pattern making, correction & grading - First fit pattern is
developed and then re-developed, adding comments and
rectification on a fit sample. After fit approval pattern maker does
the grading for size set samples only for the specified sizes.
6. Fit sample, size set sample are developed sent to the buyer for
review and correction is done accordingly.
7. Approval of fabric swatches, print colors, embroidery design, bead
works.
8. Production, Material & line planning - To start production and
ship the order on time planning is must. Planning is needed for
material sourcing, production capacity, line planning. Scheduling
of jobs and responsibility is defined at this stage.
9. Raw material like- fabrics, all kind of trims and accessories are
sourced.
10. Fabrics and raw materials are tested for bulk production in
testing labs.
11. Approved sample is studied for operation break down, work
content, critical operation and line setting & to find best ways for
producing the garment most efficiently in the production stage.
12. Pre-production meeting is the final stage before starting the
production. It is an opportunity for all relevant parties to come
together, review and confirm details, and ensure that the
production process runs smoothly.
