Apparel production operations

An example of a garment assembly page of a tech-pack is shown in Figure 2.7. This page includes the sequence of assembly operations along with the stitch count (stitches per inch), seam and stitch notations, machine type for each operation, and any special instmctions assisting the apparel production. The component sketch area shows the components that are available for assembly. 

It would be therefore legal to treat footwear and apparel products with APEOs in certain areas of the world and sell them in Europe. Nevertheless, individual processors must imderstand the laws that operate in the region where they produce and sell, and as APEOs are restricted by some AFIRM members RSLs, failure to meet those requirements may result in product rejection. 

However, when considering the sustainabUity of apparel retail, the most important aspect of the business model to consider is associated with how the retailer sources products. This activity has the most direct impact on the ability of the retailer to be sustainable. The retailer s products and supply chain are the most significant source of the environmental and social impacts. Up to two-thirds of a retailer s carbon footprint and up to 90% of its water footprint is created by its products and supply chain (WRAP, 2011). And as a retailer s supply chain may have more than 20 times more workers in it than in its retail operation, and often in countries where social issues may be significant, the supply chain is a major source of social and ethical challenges for the retailer. Therefore, the sourcing model for products and suppliers is a critical consideration in the development of a sustainability strategy. 

In the apparel industry, the factory manager determines departmental due time windows, rather than precise due time, of different production orders so as to ensure smoothness of downstream operations and on-time dehvery of final products. Such due time windows represent the managerial preference regarding different values of production order completion time. 

In the apparel industry, production orders tend to split into smaller orders with different product features in response to growing requests for product customization. In order to shorten product time-to-market, apparel manufacturers work hard in the direction of just-in-time production. In the apparel manufacturing process, the effectiveness of fabric-cutting schedule planning extensively influences downstream assembly operations, and thus, in turn, is critical to the overall system performance. However, the demand from downstream operation... 

In the apparel industry, the assembly process involves a set of workstations in which a specific task is processed in a pre-defined sequence. Before production, in order to achieve a balanced line, the sewing line supervisors assign one or mote sewing operatives to each task based on the standard time required to complete the task. However, industrial experience shows that it is difficult to achieve a perfectly balanced line because the production rate of each workstation is different. Imbalance occurs due to various factors, including fluctuation in operative efficiency, frequent change of product style, order size, prior experience and some unexpected factors, such as absenteeism, machine breakdown, and so oa Line balancing control is required to smooth away the bottlenecks. 

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