Pre-production

Processes
By
Prof. Lipsa Mohapatra
Asst. Prof., FMS Department,
NIFT, Bhubaneswar
 Pre-Production Planning
• Precision in planning equates to on-time shipments, the best use of labor, and assurances
that appropriate supplies and equipment are available for each order (Ray, 2014).
• Apparel production is time sensitive as its PLC is mostly for a season.
• The tasks performed by the PPTeam
• Job or task scheduling: This requires preparation of time and action calendar for each order from order
receiving to shipment.
• Material resource planning (inventory): Preparation of a materials requirement sheet according to sample
product and buyer specification sheet is necessary. Consumption of material (e.g. fabric, thread, button,
and twill tape) is calculated and cost of each material is estimated.
• Patterns and markers: Once pattern making, grading, and markers of each style are
finalized, one can easily calculate the yield of fabric needed for production and in turn
can order the fabric. While ordering fabric one must ask the fabric
supplier/manufacturer about the turnaround of the fabric and any additional time
needed for dyeing or washing the fabric.
• Facility location: Where a company has multiple factories (facilities) for production
and factories are set for a specific product, the planner must identify which facility
will be most suitable for new orders. Help to manage capacity shortage
• Estimating quantity and costs of production: The planner estimates daily production
(units) according to the styles’ work content. With the estimated production figure,
production runs, and manpower involved, the planner also estimates production cost
per piece.
• Capacity planning: The PPC departments play a major role during order booking.
They decide (suggest) how much order they should accept according to their
production capacity, that is, allocating of total capacity or deciding how much capacity
to be used for an order out of the total factory capacity.
• Line planning: A detailed line planning with daily production targets for the
production line is prepared. In most cases line planning is made after discussions
with the production team and industrial engineers.
• Cost control: Garment manufacturers cannot afford to lose time or materials in the
production process. Raw material prices rise consistently, and poor planning can lead
to missed opportunities and higher costs. With styles changing rapidly and vendors
making increasingly smaller orders to keep up with changing trends, the planning
phase of each production piece must be as accurate as possible.
• Reduce loss: About 60-70% of the cost of a garment is in the fabric. As such, it is
vital that one orders appropriately and tracks the cutting room processes to keep
errors to a minimum. Effective production planning relies on the ability to order the
appropriate amount of fabric for a run and to realize no more than a 2-3% rate of
error in cutting. That means that the number of garment components produced
should equal 97-98% of the garment components cut (Ray, 2014).
• Deliver timely shipments: Early delivery can be as harmful to the company’s
future as late delivery, because buyers then must accommodate early deliveries
with additional storage capacity. Ideally, the planning should allow for exact
delivery when the customer demands. At the same time, there must be
sufficient labor and raw material delivery in the exact proportions to meet the
deadlines without having to pay extra for overtime.
• Follow-up daily: Once the plans are set for a garment run and delivery
deadlines, one must institute strict follow-up procedures to ensure that the plan
is followed correctly. If the cutting room, for example, falls behind in its
production schedule, then the sewing and finishing lines must wait, leading to
backlogs and missed delivery deadlines for shipment. To avoid this, one must
have a daily oversight of each step and keep the rest of the line updated with
any delays so that plans can be adjusted to pick up the slack.
 SPREADI CUTTING
NG DEPTT
DEPTT FINISHIN
ORDER G DEPTT.
ANALYSIS
DEPTT.
SHIPPING
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PRODCTI-
ON
DEPTT.
MERCHA
NDISER

BUYER

MERCHA
NDISING
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ACCESSO DEPTT.
RIES Q.A.
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 ROLE OF A MERCHANDISER
1. The role of merchandiser is to plan, coordinate and execute an order
program within the framework of cost, quality, delivery and service.
2. He has to revise his knowledge from time-to-time to know current market
trends.
3. Merchandiser is one who uses his Creativity, assertiveness, intuitiveness
and excellent communication skills to get his team and get his work done.
4. Once all the fabrics and trims are in-house, and before the actual
beginning of the production process of the garment, a PRE
PRODUCTION MEETING (PPM) is held to discuss all the aspects of the
production process.
 ROLE OF A MERCHANDISER
In PPM

The points discussed in PPM by the merchandiser are:

Style Pattern
Fabric lots Trims
Cut planning History of the sample
Packaging factors
Also includes documentation for the same.
 ROLE OF A MERCHANDISER
In Sampling Department
• Merchandiser is the one who is responsible for sourcing
of all the raw materials for the production of samples.
• All the comments or a change demanded by the buyer is
a merchandiser’s responsibility to get it done from the
sampling department.
• He is the coordinator between the sampling department
and the buyer.
 ROLE OF A MERCHANDISER
In Fabric Department
• The merchandiser has to co-ordinate with the fabric department so
as to source the fabric well in time.
• If the fabric fails to pass the quality standards than it is send back
to its manufacturer.
• Merchandiser has to get approval of various fabric lots from the
buyer.
• He also has to get approval of the “strike off” or the “desk looms”
from the buyer .
 ROLE OF A MERCHANDISER
In Trims & Accessories Department

• Here also the merchandiser has to see that all trims should be
received on time.
• He also has to get approval of all the trims from the buyer before
sending them for production use.
 ROLE OF A MERCHANDISER
In Production Planning

Solving shortage problem: The merchandiser should verify quality of

the goods prior to execution of the order.
Communicating with associated people and buyer:
• It is essential to communicate with the buyers regarding the order.
• In many cases, merchandisers have to provide order status to the
buyers.
• Also, merchandiser has to communicate with the people that are in-
house, vendors, contractors and job-workers. Only through the right
communication can one meet deadline for the concerned orders.
PRODUCTION PLANNING
&
SCHEDULING
 PRODUCT
DIFFERENTIATION

PROCESS
FLOW
 SAMPLING PROCESS REQUIRED BY A BUYER
FROM THEIR VENDOR

Initialization of order
• Buyer’s enquiry, sends a tech pack, first approach by the buyer
• Costing is done
• Prices are quoted to the buyer and his conformance is awaited
• After negotiation, buyer conforms the order
• Buyer sends an order sheet, which contains details such as order quantity,
color sizes, break up etc.
• Tech pack is send to the vendor for sourcing of swatches
• Purchase of fabric and trims which requires a purchase order containing type of
fabric, trims quantity etc.
• Performa invoice is received from the supplier having delivery of required
quantity and date of delivery
 Design pack/ Tech Pack / Spec Sheet

A design pack will be sent to the supplier  Size specification or block reference
which will include the following: or Measurement sheet
 Design sketch  Construction Sheet
 Fabric quality  Patterns- when available
 Colour standards  Sample of the trim
 Trims/accessories Sheet  Embroidery/ trim artwork
 Construction details  Cutting directions
 Sample yardage- when available
 Measurement sheet contains:-

• Measurement
• Style number
• Department name
• Floor set, month, year
• Country of development/origin (COO)
• Fabric details- width, content, description, color, reference pattern number.
Sampling Process
• Proto Sample - fit and fabric detailing is not considered.
• FIT sample - made with actual measurements, tested on Dress form for to verify garment fit and fall
• Salesman Sample/Photo shoot Sample - displayed for assessing customer's feedback, made with
actual fabric and trims and accessories
• Size set Sample - to check fit of the garment in different sizes, made in jump sizes like S, L, XXL
• Pre-production Sample - PP sample is made in actual production line, so that operators know what
are they going to make. This sample is made with actual fabric, trims and accessories and made by
sewing line tailors.  PP sample must be approved by buyer or buying house merchants (technical
persons) prior to proceeding actual production.
In production stage factory need to submit few more samples that includes

• Top of Production Sample - Once production is online, few pieces is taken out in the middle of the
production. Production pieces are sent to buyer as TOP sample
• Shipment Sample - 2-3 finished and packed pieces with all packing details are kept for future
reference. Shipment sample is kept by factory merchants and buyer's merchant.
 Proto-samples

Reviewed for
a) Cost
b) Quality
c) Technical details
d) Look and feel
e) Capacity planning for vendor

Time line :
1st Proto : Sent for order confirmation
2nd Proto : Sent for changes if any
 Fabric approvals

• Lab dips : For color

Timeline : As soon as order confirmed/ Before confirmation

• Quality swatch : For fabric quality reference Count, Construction, finish, width
Timeline : As soon as order confirmed/ Before confirmation

• Strikeoff / Knitdowns : Prints, yarn dyes for design, repeat , colors (a sample for
checking a stripe pattern like a sweater)

Timeline : 1 week for prints

2 weeks for yarn dyes
 Fabric approvals

• Desk looms/ Bit looms : For yarn dyes, Pattern, design, colors, weave
approvals, 1-2 mtr fabric having 24” width for comparing with original
fabric
Timeline : 1- 2 weeks

• Bulk yardage : For actual quality, color, hand feel etc. from bulk fabric
received
Timeline : Bulk fabric in-house

• Testing- strength, color fastness, pill resistance, etc. from bulk fabric
received
Test reports : 1 wk to 10 days
 Garment approvals
• Prototype
• Fit sample: For fit and styling
Timeline : 1 week of order receipt
Approval : One week of sending sample

• Preproduction sample : For actual fabric, fit, trims, styling

Timeline : One week before production
Approval : One week of sending sample

• Testing : For FPT (Fabric package testing) or GPT (Garment package test)
Timeline : One week before production

• Production/ Shipment sample

Timeline : From 1st batch of packed garments
 GPT ?
• Dimensional stability in Laundering 3 cycles or Dry cleaning 1 cycle
• Appearance after Laundering 3 cycles or Dry cleaning 1 cycle 
• Color fastness to Laundering or Dry cleaning 
• Seam strength 
• Tension test on components , etc.
A very few tests are done under GPT. As most of the performance tests are covered in
FPT. Test requirement may vary based on fabric types, trims used, and fibre content
etc.
 Trims

• Trim approvals
Timeline : Within 15-20 days of order received
Approvals/ comments : Within 1 week of sending samples
• Trim references
From bulk trims received
The grade verification samples approved will be used
as a Black seal and the supplier can proceed to Gold
Seal.
• The Gold Seal sample is a pre-production sample and is submitted before bulk
production has commenced. The sample must be made on the same equipment
that bulk production should be produced on and must represent bulk production
sample. It is required and must be in correct
• Fabric
• Color
• Trims/accessories/prints
• Labeling/packaging – see country-specific packaging and
presentation requirements
• Free gift items, if applicable, should be attached
• Labeling
• Bulk
 Production/shipment

Production/shipment samples are to be submitted when requested.

Production samples must be correct for the following:

 Bulk fabric
 Color
 Trims/accessories/prints
 Labeling/packaging – see country specific packaging and presentation requirements
 Free gift items, if applicable, should be attached
 Sample tag to be completed and attached.
 
 Inspections
Requirement :
a) Status of the product
b) Acceptance
c) Adherence to quality norms
Done at
d) Receipt of 1st pieces
e) During manufacturing
f) Final shipment.
 Inspections

• Visual : For fabric defects, color variations, visual discrepancies

• Technical : For measurements, parameters followed
• Testing : Shrinkage, color fastness, stability etc
Can be
a) 100% Inspections
b) Sample/random inspections
 Inspections

• Kinds of Inspections
a) Flaw based - Major, Minor flaws
b) 4 point systems
c) 10 point based system
 Product Control
Supplier performance assessments
 Supplier performance is constantly reviewed and documented in the form of
an assessment summary. Supplier performance is assessed based on Buying,
Merchandising and Quality Control.

Production Quality Inspection:

 It is the supplier’s responsibility to ensure that the product is manufactured
based on the approved Gold Seal Standard. Suppliers must have an internal
audit system in place on all stages of production.
 The Internal Quality Control Team should be independent and have complete
authority to stop production if they find non-compliance.
 For Example: WALMART uses AQL 2.5 for Major defects and AQL 4.0 for
Minor. For Critical defects, they adopt a Zero Acceptance Level.