Garments Pre-Production Activity Check List

 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.

Pre-production check list:



The marketing mix: position

Fashion retailing is a dynamic and fluid business and strategy needs to reflect this: creating a competitive advantage in a market sector is an essential part of maintaining the necessary level of interest.

Identifying market position enables a company to determine its strategy and direction in order to present and maintain a strong recognizable brand image and identity to customers. Analysis of market position involves a lot of detail, such as cost control, infrastructure, cost of materials, economies of scale, management skills, availability of personnel and compatibility of manufacturing resources. A fashion retailing strategy should highlight the way in which the business may construct entry barriers to the competition. These can include high switching costs, gaining substantial benefit from economies of scale via sourcing policies; creating exclusive access to distribution channels to prevent others from using them; and the ability to clearly differentiate products. This is linked to the retailer’s ability to buy in bulk and volume and to work with suppliers effectively to create advantages.

Merchandising serves the following purposes

Direct communication with customer regarding day to day activities of business. 

Internal communication with different departments regarding daily activities. 





  • Keeping and maintaining strong relationship with customers.
  • Providing information to different department.
  • Handling different queries of customers.
  • Making samples on customer demand.
  • Generating more customers
  • Research & Development
  • Follow up of samples.
  • Samples approval.
  • Pricing / Costing
  • Targets achieving.
  • Order execution
  • Order booking


The Concept of Textile Merchandising

 Merchandising in textile is not synonymous with merchandising being practiced in consumer product companies. It is much broader in its scope, activities and responsibilities.


Retail Merchandise:

The term merchandising in retailing refers to the total process of stock planning, management and control. The merchandising needs a good numeric skill and ability to make trends, relationships and co-relationship within regular sales and stock. The responsibilities of merchandiser are changes from company to company, according to structure they adopt. The traditional merchandising role is integrated with the buying, which merchandising team has responsible for both the planning and stock allocation. The structure of traditional is shown in figure.



Now a day’s many retailer change the responsibilities of merchandising according to the company, some remove the distribution role and this responsibility is then given to the distribution team separately. By this the retailer can save the cost, more importantly the company can control of the entire process. We have seen many business retailers who applied different parameters to stock management can easily lose on their stock.

Textile Mills and Buying House: 

  • Merchandising can be termed as heart of making a product fail or pass.
  •  
  • Merchandising can be a difference between winning or losing a project/customer. 

  • Merchandising means finding new customers and markets. 

  • Merchandising means retaining the customers and extracting more orders from them.
  •  
  • Merchandising means making the customers delighted/satisfied on one hand and brining profits for the company on other. 

  • Merchandising means making communication bridge between the company and its customers. 

  • Merchandising means completion of project/order placed by the buyer as per its requirements in right time, quality and quantity.


Decoding Washing Labels: What Laundry Symbols on Clothes Really Mean?

 This group of UK washing symbols helps you decide if your clothing is safe to wash in your washing machine, and which setting, and what temperature you should use.


It is generally depicted as a bucket filled with water (except for the ‘Do not wring’ symbol). If the garment is machine washable, then you’ll either see dots or numbers inside the bucket symbol, representing the recommended maximum temperature: one dot means 30 °C (meaning that you have to wash your clothing in cold water), two dots 40 °C (warm water), and four dots 60 °C. In case you see one line drawn underneath the bucket, it means that your piece of clothing should be washed on a synthetic cycle, while two lines represent the gentle or wool wash cycle. If you find the hand wash symbol on your garment’s fabric care label, wash the item by hand at 40 °C or lower, or use your washing machine’s hand wash program.


Bleaching symbols on washing labels

Before you turn to your bottle of bleach to make your whites shine like they used to, it’s worth taking a look at your garment’s fabric care label to see if the clothing can handle bleaching agents.



Drying guidelines on clothing labels

In addition to washing and ironing, the laundry process also includes drying. To prevent your garment from shrinking or becoming misshapen when drying, you can find a number of helpful symbols on the fabric care label, informing you of the most surefire way to dry your clothes without causing any damage to the fabric.



A square with a circle inside means that the item can be safely tumble dried, while the number of dots inside the tumble dry symbol indicates what temperature setting to use: one dot stands for low heat, two dots for medium, and three for high heat setting. No dot means that you can tumble dry your clothes on any heat. If you see a bar below the dryer symbol, then use the ‘Permanent Press’ setting, while two bars mean that you have to use the ‘Delicate’ setting. If the symbol is crossed over, do not tumble dry your garment, but let it dry naturally instead. A square with three vertical lines inside represents drip drying, a single horizontal line in the middle indicates flat drying, and a drooping line means hang to dry.



Ironing symbols on fabric labels

Ironing symbols depict an iron with dots inside representing the maximum temperature that you should use to iron the garment.




Dry cleaning symbols on fabric labels

Some garments are better off being handled by a professional: that’s when dry cleaning comes into the picture. The below symbols are intended to help you decide if your piece of clothing should be dry cleaned, and to tell the dry-cleaner what solvent to use.



Additional dry cleaning instructions

When dealing with your most delicate pieces of clothing, your dry-cleaner appreciates every help they get.
That’s why fabric manufacturers include many dry cleaning symbols on clothing labels, represented by the combination of a circle and a straight line.







Types of Garments Accessories & List of Accessories

Basically in the garments three types of accessories we are using. We are elaborating about garments accessories in details for easy understanding.    

1. Basic accessories;
2. Decorative Accessories;
3. Finishing Accessories;


Basic accessories:

  1. Thread
  2. Zipper
  3. Interlining
  4. Button for example: Snap button, Plastic button, .Metal button.
  5. Label: Main label , Size Label, Wash care label
  6. Motif: Leather, Plastic, Batch Metal
  7. Pocketing fabric
  8. Lining
  9. Velcro
  10. Elastic
  11. Cord
  12. Ribbon
  13. Toggles
  14. Rivet
  15. Collar bone.


Decorative Accessories:

  1. Elastic tape
  2. Buttonhole tape
  3. Piping
  4. Moiré ribbon
  5. Seaming tape
  6. Welted tape
  7. Ribbed tape
  8. Velvet ribbon
  9. Bias binding
  10. Stamped tape
  11. Taffeta ribbon
  12. Galloon
  13. Fringes
  14. Cords
  15. Tassels
  16. Rosettes
  17. Soutache
  18. Pompons

Finishing Accessories:

  1. Hang tag
  2. Price tag
  3. Plastic/ poly bag
  4. Tissue paper
  5. Carton
  6. Scotch tape
  7. PP belt
  8. Tag pin
  9. Plastic clip
  10. Stiker
  11. Butterfly
  12. Collar insert
  13. Back board
  14. Necks insert 

Logistics and outsourcing in the supply chain

 CPFR Models 

Quick response in logistics and SCM ensures product innovation in the market: the logistics supplier can deliver the vision of designers and buyers, reduce and minimize disturbances in the chain and coordinate and consolidate goods, which is especially important when launching new products and ranges. Data collection and the appropriate and relevant technology must be in place for this to work properly. One such example is a Collaborative Planning Forecasting and Replenishment (CPFR) model of supply. CPFR is ‘a business practice which reduces inventory costs whilst improving product availability across the chain. Trading partners share forecast and results data over the Internet. CPFR data analyses data and alerts planners and merchandisers at each company to exceptional situations that may affect delivery or sales performance’ (Hines, 2005). Trading partners collaborate to resolve these exceptions in the chain in order to maintain stock and availability. CPFR models have been replicated and adapted for use by many large, international fashion retailers in order to make suppliers responsible for stock management. Good stock management is crucial to success in the fashion industry.


Future of technology 

Some large, international retailers are investing in new technological models of supply, including retail exchanges and e-tail logistics, such as the global net exchange (GNX) and the worldwide retail exchange (WWRE) developed by Walmart. Technology helps fashion retailers with sales information that can be transferred and acted upon quickly. These include the following: EDI (electronic data information) packages for sharing data between supply chain partners; EPOS – electronic point-of sale data collection from stores; and SBO, which is sales-based ordering technology (orders placed to replenish sold stock). Other technology used in SCM includes electronic tagging radio frequency identification tags. Walmart piloted a study in the USA and UK fashion retailer Marks & Spencer has trialed its use on high-value items such as suits and leather jackets. The tags can be used to achieve good visibility in the chain; retailers such as Benetton, Gap and Esprit use the tags to track stock movement in the supply chain. They can be used during transportation and warehousing so logistics teams can identify stock, size and color without unpacking boxes and by scanning stock that is packaged. It cannot be emphasized enough that good relationships and outsourcing are fundamental to the future success of SCM in the fashion business and improvements in technology may be used to enhance these relationships. The focus is on fashion retailers in the future to provide better value and to create greater responsiveness via partnerships.


http://planningandmerchandising.blogspot.com/

http://planningandmerchandising.blogspot.com/

http://planningandmerchandising.blogspot.com/


ELECTRONIC TAGGING 

 UK retailer Marks & Spencer has trialed the use of electronic tagging radio frequency identification tags on high-value items such as suits and leather jackets.

Garment specifications: sampling

Performance testing

All products developed must pass performance testing requirements. It is usually the responsibility of the supplier to ensure that all products meet, or exceed, the standards required by the retailer. Before finalizing or signing an agreement, it is important that suppliers understand and agree the quality-standard requirements of the retailer. It is normal practice to have both fabric and garments tested before the product is delivered; typically, the testing is done at a third-party testing facility such as Intertek or ITS. At times, the buyers and design team will designate the testing lab. Sometimes the retailer (or buyer) will submit the garments for testing; however, often the buyer will require that the supplier submits the fabric and garments directly to the testing laboratory and then provide them with copies of the test results. Final bulk testing is completed before bulk production of garments commences. Accurate records must be kept by the manufacturer and the retailer in case of any faults or customer complaints. Many retailers also undertake surprise testing on garments after they arrive into the stores. This technique is used to discourage suppliers from submitting garments in bulk that do not match up to the quality approved for 
final production.




‘Successful fashion design in commercial terms is based upon providing what customers want frequently before they realize it. In fashion retailing successful design equals sales. If a garment design sells well, the basic shape will be “milked” and reworked in a variety of fabrics and colors and prints.’


Specialist fabrics 

Some garments will require additional testing, such as items that claim to be flame retardant, water resistant, anti-bacterial and so on. So-called ‘smart’ fabrics are used for sport and other performance activities, which need to be fit for purpose; Teflon-coated, breathable and water-repellent fabrics require rigorous testing before use. Even simple products, such as a T-shirt jersey, for example, require certain dye stuffs to withstand washing and to limit the shrinkage of fabric. Children’s apparel requires additional product safety testing.


GARMENT SAMPLING 

By the time it reaches the mass production stage, each garment style will have been technically engineered in order to be as cost-effective and aesthetically pleasing as possible, reflecting the original model and ideas of the designer.
 

Definition of Fabric Defects

Slack End - The result of a loose or broken end puckering as it is gradually woven into a fabric.


Crease Line - A mark left in a fabric a crease has been removed. It may be caused by mechanical damage to the fibers at the fold, by variation in treatment due to the construction along the fold or by disturbance of the fabric structure.


Coarse Pick - A pick of filling whose diameter is noticeably greater than that normal to the fabric.


Knot - A place where two ends of yarn have been tied together.



Color Fly - Fibers of a different color appearing in a yarn or fabric as contamination.


End Out - A line, running warp-way through part or all of piece, caused by the absence of a warp thread.


Hang Thread - A thread left hanging on the face of a fabric. The most common cause is the failure of a weaver to clip the excess yarn after repairing a broken end and/or the cloth inspector’s failure to remove the excess yarn.



Double Pick - Two picks in a single shed where only one is called for by the design of the fabric.


Burl Mark - A distortion resulting from some Superfluous material such as a thick slub, waste or wild yarn being removed with a burling tool.

Broken End - Where a warp yarn has ruptured and been repaired often characterized by the broken and being woven into the fabric.

Miss pick - Where the weave design is broken by the absence of a pick of filling.



Coarse End - An end whose diameter is noticeably greater than that normal to the fabric.



Jerk In - An extra piece of filling yarn jerked by the shuttle into the fabric along with a regular pick of filling. On conventional looms, they generally are confined to the battery side, the most common cause being the failure of the thread-holding mechanism to hold the filling from the out-going bobbin long enough for the temple thread cutter to cut the yarn after a filling.



Thick Place - A place across the width containing more picks or heavier filling than that normal to the fabric.



Thin Place - A place across the width containing less picks or lighter filling than that normal to the fabric.