Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd.

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. (ABFRL) emerged after the Consolidation of the branded
apparel businesses of Aditya Birla Group comprising AB&L's Madura Fashion division and
AB&L's subsidiaries Pantaloons Fashion and Retail (PFRL) and Madura Fashion & Lifestyle
(MFL) in May 2015. Post the consolidation, PFRL was renamed Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail
Ltd.

ABFRL brings together the learning and businesses of two renowned Indian fashion icons, viz.,
Madura Fashion & Lifestyle and Pantaloons.

Aditya Birla Fashion and Retail Ltd. is India’s largest pure play fashion and lifestyle company
with a strong bouquet of leading fashion brands and retail formats. The company has a network
of 2671 stores, approximately 16000 multi- brand outlets and 4300+ points of sales in
Department stores across the country. Ability to surpass industry growth anchored by a large
base, anticipated margin improvement from Pantaloons’ turnaround, an asset light model,
presence across all categories & price points in apparel and a massive unparalleled distribution
network reinforce our optimism in the company’s robust growth prospects. Moreover, it is best
poised, underpinned by sheer quality & size of Madura's 4 brands and presence in fastest
growing segments such as fast fashion through Pantaloons & Forever 21, amongst branded
apparel players to take advantage of the improving macroeconomic milieu.

Madura Fashion & Lifestyle

Madura Fashion & Lifestyle, a division of ABFRL, was the first player operating on a national
scale, dedicated to the core business of fashion retail in India. Originally known as Madura
Garments, MF&L was born in 1988 at the cusp of the unshackling of the Indian economy.
Fashion in those days was not what the consumer's aspirations merited. Madura became a partner
of the new Indian in this journey of self-discovery.

Figure 1 ABFRL accounts for 10% of India’s branded apparel market

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The custodian of several icons, including the top four fashion brands of India Louis Phillippe,
Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England each of which clocked MRP sales in the vicinity of
INR 1000 crore. It also includes India’s first fast-fashion youth brand. People; India’s largest
fully integrated fashion multi-brand outlet chain, Planet Fashion; India’s largest premium
international brand retailer, The Collective and the British fashion icon, Hackett London’s mono-
brand retail in India. ABFRL marked a new milestone in the branded apparel sector as its Van
Heusen Innerwear and Athleisure market.

Style up, the family store by Aditya birla fashion and retail Ltd is launched across tier III cities to
offer smart fashion at affordable prices.

ABFRL has acquired exclusive online and offline rights to market the global brand- “Forever
21” and its existing store network, in the fast fashion segment in India. To expand its
international portfolio, ABFRL entered into exclusive partnerships with two of UKs most
successful fashion brands, ‘Simon Carter’ and ‘Ted Baker’. In August 2017, ABFRL entered
into a multi store retail and e-commerce license agreement with American Eagle Outfitters Inc.
In 2018, ABFRL entered into a store License and Distribution Agreement with “polo ralph
lauren Asia Pasific Limited (“RLAPL”), which offers apparel and accessories for both men
and women under the brand name “Polo Ralph Lauren” and “Ralph Lauren”.

Pantaloons : India’s Favorite Family Fashion Destination, Pantaloons has emerged as a strong
brand in the fashion industry over the past two decades and is making fashion accessible across
the length and breadth of the country. Constantly innovating design, concept and products by
infusing the latest trend in fashion and clothing styles, pantaloons has a repertoire of lifestyle
bands to cater to every consumer’s needs across multiple occasions.

MADURA CLOTHING

Madura clothing (MC) is the manufacturing arm of MFL, governed by the group values, ethics
and code of conduct. It comprises of eight factories which are located in the outskirts of
Bangalore, on the border of the Tamil Nadu and is a critical entity in the supply chain of MFL.
The product range offered is Men and women Shirts, Trousers and Suits. The current capacity of
all eight factories stands at 18.48 million garments per year. The employee base of MC at present
is close to 1000.

It has 9 factories, 6 micro manufacturing units and 5 warehouses under its umbrella. The
factories are CCL, FCL, CML, AGL, EAL, HAL, EGL, LEA, OAL. The micro manufacturing
units are Bilteek, SLN, WE, DNK, NCA, NSV.

The warehouse are Farbic WH, E-Com WH, Attibele WH, WH PE, WH-Entoma. It has total
employee strength of over 1000(appx.) people, 91% of them being women with an average age
of 28years. It primarily manufactures shirts, Trousers and Suits for the Madura Fashion &
Lifestyle brands namely Louis Philippe, Van Heusen, Allen Solly and Peter England. It has state

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of the art manufacturing facility and aspires to manufacture premium quality garments as per
global benchmarks. Innovation is a way of life and all employees are encouraged to identify
opportunities to innovate and implement them to enhance process efficiency, enhance
productivity and provide customer delight.

Vision
“To become a premium Conglomerate with market leadership across businesses delivering
superior value to shareholders on a sustained basis”

MF&L wants to passionately satisfy Indian consumer needs in fashion, style and value, across
wearing occasions in Apparel and Accessories through strong brands and high-quality consumer
experience with the ultimate purpose of delivering superior value to all our stakeholders.

Mission
“To deliver Superior Value to our Customers, Shareholders, Employees and Society at large”

Values at MFL
The following are the values that MF&L stands for:

 Integrity: Acting and taking decision in a manner that is fair and honest. Following the
highest standards of professionalism and being recognized for doing so. Integrity for us
means not only financial and intellectual integrity, but encompasses all other forms as are
generally understood.
 Commitment: On the foundation of integrity, doing all this is needed to deliver value to
the stakeholders. In the process, being accountable for our own actions and decisions,
those of our team and those on the part of the organization for which we are responsible.
 Passion: An energetic, intuitive zeal that arises from emotional engagement with the
organization that makes work joyful and inspires each one to give his or her best. A
voluntary, spontaneous and relentless pursuit of goals and objectives with the highest
level of energy and enthusiasm.
 Seamlessness: Thinking and working together across functional groups, hierarchies,
businesses and geographies. Leveraging diverse competencies and perspectives to garner
the benefits of synergy while promoting organizational unity through sharing and
collaborative efforts.
 Speed: Responding to internal and external customers with a sense of urgency.
Continuously striving to finish before deadlines and choosing the best rhythm to optimize
organizational efficiencies.

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LIST OF FACTORIES

Name Abbreviations Address

Crafted clothing Limited CCL Anekel Main road, opp, spurthy

college, marsur, Bangalore
562106

Fashion crafted Limited FCL Anekel Main Road, Opp.

Spurthy Collage, Marsur,
Bangalore 562105

Classical menswear CML No-288/2,Dodda Begur,

Limited Banglore- 560092

Alpha Garments Limited AGL #10/1,Bytarayanapura,Yehlanka

Hobli,Jakkur village & post,
Banglore – 560092

English Apparel EAL No- 52/2, Bilvarada Halli,

Bannerghatta Road, Gottigere
Post, Anekal taluk, Bangalore –
560083

Haritha Apparel Limited HAL #43/1A, Basavanapura

village,Mayaganahalli Post,
KasabaHobli,Ramanagar Taluk
& District.

Little England Apparels LEA #569/1, Kurubarapalli,

Doddaubbanur Post,
Denkanikottai Taluk, Thally,
Tamil Nadu – 635118

Europa Garments Limited EGL Sai Shree Layout, Parappana

Agrahara, Bengaluru, Karnataka
– 560068

Mancheswar Apparels Ltd MAL IDCO Plot No. H2 to H6,

Mancheswar Industrial Estate,
Bhubaneswar, Odisha 751007.

MFL Brands and Retail Concept

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 Figure 2 Presence of MFL Brands across all segments

Figure 3 Pantaloons as a Fast Fashion Value Retailer

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Figure 3 ABFRL has steadily added brands to it’s /kitty aiding its presence across all product
segments

Figure 4 Embarking on growth phase after gradually building a fashion house

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 ODISHA APPAREL LIMITED
OAL is a garment manufacturing unit of MF&L which mainly deals in manufacturing semi
formal Men’s shirts for domestic orders for the brands Van Heusen and Peter England. The
production is of approx. 1.2 lac garments per month with almost 850 employees on a regular
basis. The factory is situated at Mancheswar Industrial Estate, Bhubaneswar. Garment
manufacturing range from order receiving to dispatching shipments of finished garments.

Basically garment manufacturing processes are categorized into three: Pre-Production Processes
(Sampling, Sourcing of raw materials, Approvals, PP Meeting), Production processes (Cutting,
Sewing and Finishing), and Post production processes (Pressing, Checking, Folding and Packing,
Shipment Inspection). The process flow chart (in the figure below) shows how materials are
moved from one process to another process describing how raw materials are transformed into
garments. Process flow chart made for the garment manufacturing processes varies depending on
manufacturing facility and product types.

Figure 6 ABFRL Bhubaneswar Factory

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 Figure7 Outline process flow at factory

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 Departmental Study:-

Odisha apparel Limited consists of the following processes/departments:

1. Planning
2. Stores
3. CAD
4. Cutting
5. Sewing
6. Finishing
7. Warehouse
8. Quality
9. Sampling
10. Advanced Training Centre (ATC)
11. Maintenance
12. Industrial Engineering
13. Operational Excellence
14. Human Resource
15. Information Technology
16. Finance
17. Health & Safety

These departments work in coordination with each other for the purpose of fulfilling the
objective of serving the stakeholders with quality products.

HEAD MANUFACTURING QUALITY

ASSURANCE

FACTORY
MANAGER

HUMAN INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTION

STORE CUTTING SEWING MAINTENANCE QUALITY
RESOURCE ENGINEERING PLANNING

Production Line Quality

9FABRIC SAMPLING
Manager Manager

TRIM CAD Floor Incharge

 Line
SPREADING
Supervisors

CUTTING

TICKETING &
BUNDLING
Figure 8 Hierarchy chart of the factory

Stores
Stores is divided into sections –

Stores

Fabric Trims

Departmental Linkages

 IE department - Fabric details like length (woven), diameter/width and GSM (knits) and trims
details like color, type size are sent to IE for consumption determination.
 PPC department - Fabric and trims received date, quantity and other details are sent to the PPC
for planning and scheduling.
 Quality department - Quality inspections are carried out and sent for verification and approvals.
 Merchandising department - Communication for the purpose of follow up of the fabric and
trims received and also receives the PO sheet.
 Sampling department - The fabric and trims for the purpose of sample piece stitching is
provided by the store. These fabrics are specially kept and checked to ensure quality.

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  Dispatch department - The gate inward of the fabric and trims coming into the factory and
outward of the fabric lot and trims going back to the mill from store is maintained by the
dispatch.
 Cutting/sewing department - The cutting/sewing department relies on the store for quality
clearance and issue of the fabric and trims for cutting and production.

Dispatc
h

PPC IE

FABRIC
STORE Sampli
Quality
ng

Merch
Cutting andisin
g

Figure 9 Departmental linkage of Store

Fabric stores –

Storage capacity 5 lakh meters

Safe load storage per level (bin) in meters 1500kgs

Average fabric weight per meters 0.20kgs

Fabric safe load storage per level (bin) in meters 7500metres

Fabric storage per level (bin) in meters 4000meters

Fabric average storage weight per level (bin) in kgs 800kgs

No. of operator 14

No. of racks 78

Fabric Stand 6

Bale opening table 3

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 Total no. of fabric suppliers 50

Green channel suppliers – 7

 Auro Textile
 Arvind Mills
 Luthai
 Ningho Sunrise Youngon
 Tessitura Monti India
 Oswald Hammerele
 Raymond Zamabaiti

Non-green channel supplier – 43

START

Receipt Of material with Supplier invoice

Check for the Invoice & PO P.O, Supplier name, Material

Not OK
Code, Ordered Quantity, Invoice
Qty, Delivery Address, Plant

OK

Not OK Check for DA

Return to Supplier
Swatch Cutting

Width Checking
Material Unloading

Sending the
Entry in MIS report
swatch
FDR (Fabric Discrepancy
Report) Design Approval
Preparation of goods inward & Register in
SAP system

FRA (Fabric Rejection Fabric

Bale Opening
Advice)

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 Bin card updating

Fabric - NON- GC
Received Qty, Visual Parameter,
Fabric/Trim Shade group, Laboratory,
s Design Approval from Brand
Trims
Fabric- GC
Not OK Inspection
Not accept Received Qty, Shade Group,
Width checks & design approval
Fabric shifting to from brand.
quarantine area
A Trim
RTS
OK Received Qty, Visual parameter
Testing
Accept/ with EC Lining, Button, Tape &Labels
Accept
Figure 10 material inward
B

Process mapping of stores department

1) Receipt of materials with supplier invoice

BCDS (Brand commercial Demand Supply Chain) is a generated brand wise 1 month
prior to cut plan from plan. It contains all the instructions about fabric and trims
availability, gold seal no., trims required in the garment, wash details, embroidery details
etc. BCDS creation starts from 6th of every month and the report are downloaded each
day. By 25th of month the report is shared to all the departments.
Work order and cut plan is generated based on BCDS. Cut plan contains detail how much
quantity can be cut from the fabric roll. An estimate is sent to merchandiser in order to
amend the order qty. or to order excess fabric to complete the order.
When the bale is received the invoice from the supplier is cross checked with the Daily
adherence report generated by the sourcing team.
The invoice contains Fabric roll no., Purchase Order, Fabric code, Supplier name,
Material Code, Ordered Quantity, Invoice Qty, Delivery Address and Plant name.
The DA is generated 1 month prior to receiving of the fabric. DA contains details of
fabric that is to be in-housed weekly.

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 If the bale received is not in DA file a mail is sent to the sourcing team to confirm about
the supply otherwise the bale is sent back to the supplier.
Design approval takes 1day.
Fabric for sampling – fabric is received for 1.5-2 months prior to BCDS is generated. 4-5
meters of fabric for sampling is received which issued from stores.
Trims are ordered 1 month prior to actual production. Trims are ordered based on
demand qty after the approval of the salesman sample. The predicted qty. is generally
higher so that the qty meets the production.

2) Material unloading
The details of the fabric rolls before being in-housed are entered into MIS.
Details include inward month, export/domestic, fabric code, inward date etc.
To control the inventory the invoice is checked with the DA and then rolls are passed in
the store.
The information is entered in SAP about vendor, quantity and purchase order and posted.
The security checks the fabric code, P.O, with original invoice and packing slip and then
bales are unloaded.

3) Bale opening and bin card updating

The bales from unloading section are taken to bale opening table.
Each bale is opened and its design no., supplier name, total quantity and total rolls are
updated in bin card.
Then roll no., Qty., width of each roll is updated in bin card.
From each bale 1.5 – 2.5 metre samples is cut. 20cm for shade checking, 50cm for
shrinkage test, 30 cm for CSV marker and rest for other test.

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 The length of sample is reduced from the actual length of the fabric and then updated in
the bin card.
The width of the fabric is measured from selvedge to selvedge.
The sample is sent for approval to check for the design of the fabric is same that has been
ordered, along with direction and face of the fabric.
The bale is packed in plastic roll and send for inspection.

4) Inspection
Before inspection the bale is first segregated into organic / non organic fabric and GC and
non GC bales.
Organic fabric is inspected in separate inspection table.
GC bale are green channel fabric that are already tested and does not require any further
testing except for shade matching. The sample from GC fabric is cut for shade checking
and for CAD department and the roll is sent to the racks.
Whereas, non GC fabrics goes through visual inspection and other testing procedures like
shade checking, shrinkage test, fabric tearing test, fabric strength and colour fastness
tests.
4 point system is followed for visual inspection of fabric AQL 4.0 system is followed for
inspection of trims.
The fabric that passes the entire test is stored in the racks to be issued to cutting
department.
For the fabric that doesn’t passes visual inspection FRA is raised which is sent to PDQA
department. PDQA department checks the result and gives the final decision whether to
accept the fabric or not.
FDR is raised if the length and width of the fabric is less and result is updated in SAP and
a printed format is sent to PDQA.
Both FRA and FDR are sent to PDQA department where the result is analyzed and the
decision is made whether to accept the roll or not.
The fabric is accepted if the production will delayed, new roll cannot be delivered by the
buyer soon or with excess allowance.

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 In this case the cost of the fabric is compromised by the vendor. In the case of rejection
the vendor directly contacts to the buyer for acceptance.
If the fabric is rejected then a RTS (return to supplier) is generated and it is send to
quarantine area from it is send back to the supplier.

A – Rejection of goods

LR, invoice & RTS

Preparation of Rejected material
Updating of quantity in Preparation of the Packing and documents submitted
rejected goods return placed in identified
SAP documents dispatching against LR to parking team for
note location
debit note

Figure 11 Flowchart for rejection of goods

1) Preparation of rejected goods return note

Fabric passes through inspection and testing procedures. If the testing fails that is no.
of defects is higher, then rejected goods return note is passed.
FRA is raised to sourcing team.
2) Updating of quantity in SAP
If fabric is rejected the information is updated in SAP that generates RTS.
RTS is received by the stores.
3) Rejected material placed in identified location
The whole quantity is packed and placed in separate location for return.
4) Packing and dispatching against LR
The supplier comes to the location and all the bales are dispatched after checking the
quantity, supplier name, fabric code, style code.
5) LR, invoice & RTS documents submitted to parking team for debit note
The required details are submitted to parking team about the return of the goods.
Parking team contacts with the supplier to communicate about amount to be debited.

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 B – Confirmation of goods

Submitting the
Updating in the Preparation of
Quantity RM shifting to Updating of MIS invoices to the
excel sheet for good receive note
confirmation location reports in excel parking team for
easy retrieval in SAP system
payment process

Figure 12 Flowchart for confirmation of goods

The roll is confirmed with invoice.

The bales received are checked and the quantity is updated in the bin card.
After confirmation the bales are inspected moved to the racks for storage.
The information of roll storage is entered in MIS to identify which roll has been kept in
which rack for easy identification and retrieval.
GRN is update in SAP that goods has been received and stored.
The invoices are sent to parking team. Parking team contacts with supplier for clearing
the payment process.

Inspection:

Visual Inspection
Shade variation
Shrinkage test

Inspection percentage –

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 Domestic fabric rolls: 50%
Export fabric rolls: 100%
Cotton fabric: 50%
Other fabric (viscose, tencil, dyed and printed fabric, linen): 100%

Inspection Quantity

Textile suppliers must inspect 100% before shipment.

MFL quality Inspector/garment manufacturing unit needs to audit fabrics as per the given
statistical sampling plan:

LOT size Sample size Approx % of

(No. Of rolls received) (No. Of rolls to be rolls
inspected)
2 to 8 2 25%

9 to 15 3 20%

16 to 25 5 20%

26 to 50 8 15%

51 to 90 13 15%

91 to 150 20 13%

151 to 280 32 10%

Four Point Inspection System

4point system is followed for textile inspection for MFL.

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 Grading system followed is given by American society for Testing and Materials
(ASTM) or American Apparel manufacturers Association (AAMA).

Basic grading rules for Four Point System are:

For single defect the penalty points cannot be more than 4 points.
For 1 meter of fabric the maximum no. of penalty points cannot be more than 4
regardless of the number of defects within that 1 meter.

Defects in both the warp and weft directions are assigned points using the following criteria:

Defect length Defect points to be allotted

Defects 3” or less 1 point

Defects>3” and up to 6” 2 point

Defects >6” and up to 9” 3 point

Defects >9” 4 point

Penalty point assessment:

The standards to be followed for inspection of all textiles are:

Fabric is inspected only one side that is face side as designated by mills unless MFL team
specifies prior to purchase of the fabric.
The fabric is inspected for spinning/ weaving/ processing defects & stains, holes etc.
A sticker of points is stuck on the place of defect so that defects can be visible while
spreading and demerit point scan be documented.

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 Any defect in a continuous manner constitutes a running defect. Any running defect will
be assigned four penalty points for each meter in which the defect occurs. Any roll
having a running defect more than three continuous meters will be rejected, regardless of
point count.
Knots and slub to be penalized as per the Sears fabric defect scale.

Penalty point calculation

All textiles are evaluated on square/meter consumption. The formula used to determine the point
count level of a roll of fabric is as follows:

Individual roll points (index)

Roll points/100m2 = Total penalty points*100*100

Inspected meter*fabric full width (cms)

Shipment Points (average index)

Shipment Points / 100m2 = Total points counted for all rolls inspected*100*100

Total meters inspected*Fabric full width (cms)

Visual inspection

 No. of length inspection table – 1

 No. of inspection machine – 3
 Machine name – Ramsons checkmate
 Capacity – 10000 metres/table/day

Acceptance Criteria

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 MFL – fabric quality have been classified into three groups to allow flexibility in point
counts. If the penalty for individual rolls exceeds the stated requirement for the different
classified groups then the roll is rejected.
If the shipment penalty point count exceeds the specified point count level or if the total
number of meters graded in second quality is more than 10% of the total inspection
quantity for all criteria, the entire shipment fails.
Single points should not exceed 50% of the total defect points in fail rolls/lots.

Fabric group Fabric type (Points/100 sq.meter)

Roll Shipment/Average

Group-I Denim 24 20

Group-II All shirt, Bottom weight & 30 24

Women’s wear category

(poplin, gingham, oxford, twill,

jacquard, Seersucker, dobby,
velvet, stretch, Coated fabrics,
blends, T/R, PV, Woven
synthetics filaments, Worsted
spun) & knits

Group-III All type of silk (including Indian 50 40

& Dupion), linen& linen blends,
Muslin, Khadi, Handloom&
Power loom

Performance criteria

Length:

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 Length of each roll is verified and compared to the length stated on the roll ticket.
The actual measured length is recorded on the Fabric Inspection Report.
In case there is a length variation of more than 1% in the ticketed length and the observed
length, then 100% check for length should be done.
Any roll below 3 meters is graded as second quality (except Corduroy/silk where up to 20
meter roll length allowed) & may not be shipped.
Splices/joins in a roll are not allowed. Any roll containing a splice, will be graded as
second quality and may not be shipped.

Width:

The width of each roll is measured at least three times: at the beginning, middle and end
of the roll.
In case there is variation in width at any of these points, then width is observed every 10
meters & minimum cuttable and overall width within the roll is recorded in Fabric
Inspection report.
The overall width is the selvedge to selvedge measurement.
Cuttable width is width excluding the fabric selvedge and/or stenter pin marks, unprinted,
uncoated, otherwise untreated surface portions of the fabric.

Bow & Skew:

Penalty points for bowness and skewness assigned for fabrics are

Maximum Bow/Skew tolerances

Fabric type Solids Prints/Yarn dyed/Visible Weft

Woven 3% 2%

Knit 5% 2%

Skew measurement practices

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 To measure the degree of skew, a straight line at weft direction. Pull out the weft one by
one until one of the yarn can be pulled out completely. Fold the fabric and align the
lowest point and highest point to measure e the degree of the skew.
All 100% cotton twill, indigo dyed goods are intentionally skewed a maximum 8% + 3%
(of width) in the direction of the twill line which is intended to cancel out the natural
tendency of cotton twills to twist in garments after washing, such as pant leg seams.
The actual amount is to be determined by the mill, before finishing, by testing a pair of
simulated pant legs.
The mills determines whether or not intentional skewing is required for sateen’s, 2*1
twills and twill less than 6.5 oz/sq. yard weight.
Textile that meets the above tolerances in rigid form is graded as first quality.
If the textile undergoes wet processing resulting in a skew movement of 3% or greater,
than textile is considered as second quality.

Pattern repeat size:

When inspecting yarn dyed or printed textiles with repeating patterns, the inspector must
measure the repeat on the approved first bulk production standard.
During the inspection of each roll, pattern repeats is verified in the warp and weft
direction at the beginning, middle and end of each roll.

Neps and slubs:

When inspecting linen fabrics the following guidelines are needed to be followed

Neps – any nep thicker than 1 mm not acceptable

Slub – any slub longer than 1.25” not acceptable

Other conditions that can cause the rejection of a shipment

Off shade fabric

Holes & drop stitches
Narrow fabric or excessive width variation
Loose or wavy fabric
Hand feel not to standard

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 Uneven dyeing or streaky appearance that is non characteristics to the fabric
Objectionable odor
Appearance not to be standard

Shade evaluation

Light source for shade evaluation

All shade evaluation like matching and sorting must be conducted in a light box. Light source
requirements for MFL are follows:

Primary light source: D 65 (Day light)

Secondary light source: TL 84 (to be used to check for flaring), Superdry
UV light – dyed fabric

Shade Grouping

The textile mills are required to sort and group each roll of the shipment into shade
groupings (example: Group A, B, C) with a minimum of five hundred meters per shade
grouping.
For this, supplier must cut a swatch (4” * 4”) from the beginning or end of each roll
inspected & mount on a card. Identify each swatch by the roll no. of the fabric by writing
roll no. at its back.
Each shade group is measured against the “Approved Reference Standard Sample”
provided by MFL.
Rolls within one shade group must not show any visual differences in shade when sewn
together in one garment.
The tolerance for each shade group must not exceed rating as given by AATCC Gray
Scale:

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 Shade group criteria Acceptable standard
Within shade group rating 4.5

Between shade group rating 4.0

Against approved reference sample 4.5

Tonal Variation within & between rolls Not acceptable

Rating is given according to the grey scale

Maximum of 3 shade groups are allowed per color subject to minimum of 25% of the
total quantity in each shade lot for minimum size of 500 meters. In large deliveries
(example: 10,000m in one color in denim) higher number of groups may be necessary.
Total yardage of each shade is noted on the Fabric Inspection Report.

Procedure for assessing shade variation

If a garment is manufactured and shade variation exists between panels or at seams in

that garment, then the garment cannot be merchandised for it full retail value.
This shading originates from two sources: shading within the fabric before cutting or
mixing of panels from different rolls prior to sewing.
The objective of this procedure is to prevent fabric that has side - to - center or side - to -
side shading from being spread and cut into garments.
Side - to - side shading and side to center can be assessed by cutting a 4-inch full width
swatches parallel to the fabric’s filling. These swatches should be cut from the top of the
roll.

Center to Selvedge (CSV) & Selvedge to Selvedge (SSV) shade variation assessment

A 20 cm full width fabric swatch is taken and folded at center widthwise so that both
selvedges meet and the face of the fabric is inside.
The above folded sample is stitched approximately 20 cm away or at 1/3 rd of the fold
sample width from the selvedge. A seam is sewn 3/4” from the edge.
The fabric loop is cut after stitching. Two equal length pieces are there connected at
seam.
The top two piece of the same bit should be joined from reverse side in such a way that
the stitch should go inside and rendering a clean look on the face side.

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 For bottom piece the same is repeated. 4 distinct panels are ready for CSV & SSV
review.

Shade continuity

Shade continuity card is must for regular core fabrics & repeat orders.
Textile mills are required to maintain 4” * 4” inch swatch card from each production lot
& mount on shade continuity card.
Each shade group is identified by writing the shade group & shipment lot no. on the back
of swatch with inedible ink
MFL Brand/Sourcing team shall provide “Apparel reference sample” to check &
maintain Shade continuity & consistency. If no Reference Sample is available for shade
comparison, all roll must be compared to the swatch cut from the first roll inspected to
assess shade continuity from roll to roll within shipment.
Every 6 month the approved sample needs to be review & revised by Product team.
Mills need to put expiry date sticker on every approved reference sample to change it on
stipulated frequency.

Shade variation: CSV, SSV & End to End

Textile mills & garment manufacturers assess the shade variation for followings:

Side to center (CSV): check the stitch sample in sequence 1, 2, 4 & 3.

Side to side (SSV): check variation from back side between 1 & 4.
End to end variation/ running shade variation: a 10cm strip is cut from the start of the roll
& use these strip for identification of running shade variation at three different places.
Need to take corrective actions before dispatch if variation exists.
CSV, SSV or End to End shade variation are acceptable up to AATCC Gray Scale4.0 &
Shade rating below 4.0 is considered second quality.

26
Shade matching

Machine name- Texlab (Tex-Con)

No. of operator – 1
No. of tables require – 1
Fabric sample size – 20 cm

Shrinkage test

In MFL all the fabrics whether GC or non GC is passed through shrinkage test.
During the opening of the bail a sample of 50cm full width is cut from the roll.
A temple of 25cm * 25cm is used to mark on the fabric sample.
These samples are send for washing as per stated by the buyer. Even if it is a non wash
fabric the sample still passes through washing (normal) to avoid customer complaints.
The washing done is same required at finishing stage.
After washing the sample is received and the temple mark is again checked.
If the length is reduced from 25cm it is written in the report and sent to the store. The
shrinkage percentage up to 2-3% is accepted.
Shrinkage percentage is added to length of the fabric to be issued to the cutting
department.

Shrinkage test

No. of table require – 1

No. of operator – 1
Fabric sample requires – 50 cm

27
 Temple of 25x25 cm is used

FDR (Fabric Discrepancy Report)

FDR is raised if the length and width of the fabric is less than 1%. 1% is the tolerance
limit for shortage.
FRA is raised in SAP and printed copy is sent to PDQA team.
FDR is sent to PDQA department for the checking of the fabric and report. PDQA team
revises the report and gives the final decision whether to accept or reject the fabric.
It decides based on the urgency of the fabric. If the order is very urgent or the supplier
will not be able to provide another lot sooner, then the fabric is accepted with excess
consumption or at discounted rate.
For FDR enclosure maximum of 5 days are required. If the FDR report is not received
within 5 days then the lot is accepted and is preceded for payment.

FDR consists following details:

P.O no.
Supplier no.
Invoice no. and date
Date of receipt of fabric
Width discrepancy – invoice width, actual width received, roll no., qty in the roll.
Qty discrepancy – total qty received, actual qty received, total no. of rolls.
Enclosures are done with attachment of inspection report, invoice and packing slip.

FRA (fabric rejection advice)

FRA is raised if the fabric does not pass any inspection or test.
FRA is raised in sap and is sent to PDQA team in a printed form.
PDQA team gives final decision on whether to accept r reject the fabric.
Fabric is accepted with excess quantity or at discounted rate if it does affect the
production and quality of output.

28
 FRA consists of:

Material no.
Invoice no. and date
Vendor code name
Inspected lot, accepted lot, rejected lot, on hold, not checked
Note below with reason for lot rejection.

Trims

The trims and accessories are received in bulk at the fabric store where physical accounting of
the stock is done. Visual quality inspection is carried out for the 100% of the stock. Inspection
consists of checking the physical properties like color, shape, size and design. This inspection

Figure;13 Flowchart of inward of trims

Issue to
Trims sewing/
Received Storage cutting

Physical Receival of Inward &

Check consumption outward
from IE stock
record

takes around 48-36 hours to complete. An inspection report is sent to the quality, IE and PPC

departments. The inspected stock is brought to the accessory store for storage. Four level racks
are used for storage purposes with the name of buyer on them to store the trims respectively. A
trim chart is also maintained style wise for tracking their receivables. The accessory store issues
trims as per indent. The rejected stock is returned to the vendor as then sourcing is not in-house.
In-ward/out-ward, issues are maintained on a daily basis.

29
 The department first receives a PO copy from the merchants, which the merchants would
have sent it to any one among the three above mentioned supplier types. As soon as the
accessory department comes to know about the date on which they will receive that
particular material they make a note of it in their database that they will be receiving that
material and this is termed as PRE GRN.
Once the material reaches the stores on the prescribed day and date the concerned person
verifies the materials against invoice/ Delivery Challan (DC) and packing list which they
would have received from the merchant as already stated.
After it is confirmed that the received materials are according to the documents, they
carry out a quality inspection and this inspection is carried out irrespective to the type of
the buyer. The company carries this inspection as per AQL standard.

Total no of racks – 65(packaging materials)

465(sewing trims)

Capacity of total racks – 5lakh pcs

Trims are procured from companies’ like-

Coats.
Guterman (threads)
Jam exports (water soluble threads)
Bhanu International
Bombay Rayon Fashion Ltd.
Jindal Polybuttons
Vaibhav Button Udyog
United Precision Plastics
YKK India Pvt Ltd.
Supertex Labels Pvt Ltd.

The arrangement of racks is classified into two categories: -

30
 Sewing trims
Thread

Trims inspection policy

Inspection of trims is done either based upon statistical sampling or 100% inspection.

Supplier – 100% inspection before dispatch

Madura fashion & lifestyle – Statistical audit as per sampling plan unless otherwise
requested. Entire lot will be rejected/ accepted based on inspection plan.
Sampling plan for inspection

All trims and closer are audited for defects at garmenting unit warehouse by the quality
inspector.
In statistical sampling method, selection of sample is done based on single sampling plan,
normal inspection as per MIL-STD -105D standard. Samples need to select on random
basis.
Trims are inspected at AQL 4.0 & sample size for audit is selected on the basis of
lot/batch size from the relevant AQL table.

Sampling chart

Acceptable Quality levels - Single sampling plan, Normal inspection

1.0 1.5 2.5 4.0 6.5
Lot/Batch Sample
A
Size size Re Ac Re Ac Re Ac Re Ac Re
c

2 to 8 2 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1

9 to15 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1

16 to 25 5 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 2

31
 26 to 50 8 0 1 0 1 0 1 1 2 1 2

51 to 90 13 0 1 0 1 1 2 1 2 2 3

91 to150 20 0 1 1 2 1 2 2 3 3 4

151 to 280 32 1 2 1 2 2 3 3 4 5 6

281 to 500 50 1 2 2 3 3 4 5 6 7 8

501 to 1200 80 2 3 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 11

1201 to
125 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 11 14 15
3200

3201 to
200 5 6 7 8 10 11 14 15 21 22
10000

10001 to
315 7 8 10 11 14 15 21 22 21 22
35000

35001 to
500 10 11 14 15 14 15 21 22 21 22
150000

150001 to
800 14 15 21 22 21 22 21 22 21 22
500000

500001 &
1250 21 22 21 22 21 22 21 22 21 22
above

Acceptance criteria

Trims acceptance/rejection depends upon lot size & no. samples passed/fails by using AQL 4.0

Inspection procedure

Like fabric trims & support material are also inspected for defects. Trims are checked for visual
defects, good strength, colour fastness & durability etc. trims and closures differ in inspection
procedure from each other due to their character and type.

Quality checkpoints

32
Sewing / Embroidery threads:

Matching with the specification – Colour, size, shade etc.

Construction: Ticket size, no. of ply, TPI, twist balance etc.
Sew ability: At least three sewing thread package from lot should be used for 100meter
of sewing under normal condition.
Imperfection: Free from knots & slub
Finishing & lubricating should be consistent
Winding of sewing thread on package should be uniform
Breakage – free from any breakage

Buttons:

Matching with specification- Color, Size, and Design etc.

Uniformity in dimension, thickness and as per Approved standard.
Color or shade of buttons should be within a certain visual tolerance.
Clean sew holes, free from flash.
Holes proper position in relation to the edge of the button.
Surface polish/ Enamel or coating removal.
Chipping
Damage, cracks, scratches if any
Should attach firmly & withstand the maximum pull to endure on the garment
Secure and safe – No raw edges.

Labels:

Dimension- Length & width as per standard

Type/ Shape/ Width of the item
Color, Wording, Placement as per approved standard.
Clarity of text
Text must be readable & durable after laundering
Printing mistake
Spelling error

33
 Weaving defect
Free from Raw edges, finishing (as near to skin)

Interlining/Fusing: (4x4) (6x1)- Racks

Interlining has 3 basic colors- white, off-white, and charcoal.

Type of interlining used are fusible, non-fusible and microdots etc.
This unit uses 100% interlining in production of its products.
To store the interlining there are 16 racks with the total capacity of 4000 pcs per day.

Carton:

All invoices of corrugated box need to be visually inspected as per AQL sampling plan
mentioned in the trims manual.
Sizes of the corrugated boxes are measured as (length*width*height) where the height is
the vertical dimension of the box when the opening is facing upwards, on their linear
dimensions.
Tolerance Standard- +/- 2 cm in all dimensions (L*W*H) is acceptable.
Cartons are classified in three types depending upon the no of plies which are 3, 5, and 7.
The buyer, garment weight and the shipment destination plays a major role in deciding
the type of cartons used.
For export orders only 5 and 7 ply cartons are used.
Jacadi brand use only 7 ply carton.
Monoprix brand uses elastic attached to their cartons for hanger packing.
All other brands use soft packing.

34
 Issue of material

Start

Download of production order through BOM through SAP

Checking for fabric availability Checking for material availability

Arrange for the PO &
Follow up for

Issue 10cm fabric to CAD for Update the trims status to PPC
marker consumption

Getting the cut

Inform Sourcing
Receipt of CAD quantity details from
to delete WO
cutting

Amendment of Production Trims picking & checking

Preparation of cutting Issue of trims to production

Issue of fabric to cutting as per PPC plan

Updating issue quantity to SAP

Figure 14 Flowchart for issue of material End

35
Process mapping for issue of fabric:

1) Download BOM and production order through SAP

The store department download the BOM and production order through the SAP.
Compile the BOM, production order, Inspection report and design approval
List of fabric roll number and other information attached to the BOM.
2) Checking for availability
Store department confirm whether the fabric is available or not and if fabric is available
then 10 cm sample is send to CAD department for marker making and Consumption
calculation.
If fabric is not available then Store department inform sourcing department or inform
other unit regarding unavailability of fabric.
If fabric is available is other unit then store department raise STO (Stock transfer order)
If fabric is also not available in other unit then sourcing department source the fabric.
3) Issue fabric sample to CAD
If fabric sample is available then store department issue 10cm fabric sample to the CAD
department for marker making and consumption calculation
They again measure the width of different fabric roll and minimum width is recorded and
they report to the CAD department.
Fabric consumption is calculated as per the ratio and order quantity
BOM fabric consumption is given using That the fabric consumption is calculated.
4) Receipt of fabric consumption
After Calculating consumption, an excel sheet is prepared containing marker ratio and
total fabric consumption calculation including 1% wastage
Excel sheet is sent to Store department, according to Consumption they release the fabric
from store.
5) Amendment in production order
After inspection if there is shortage of fabric then store department amend the production
order according to the availability of the fabric.
6) Preparation of cutting order
After deciding the final production order, cut order is prepared by store department
according to the availability of fabric in store.

36
7) Issue of fabric to Cutting department
Fabric roll is picked by the operator as they receive the production order and BOM
After getting actual consumption of fabric and inspection report they compile all the data
and make a complete report and send it.
After cut order plan is prepared the store department release the complete fabric roll
Security person checks all the required information and then release it form store.
Stores department issue extra fabric to cutting department for any emergency situation. If
order quantity is
Less than 25pcs – Not accepted
From 25 to 190 – according to the sizes in work order.
From 191 to 500 – 3% fabric
From 501 to 1000 – 2% fabric
Above 1000 – 1% extra fabric.
8) Updating the issued quantity in SAP
After Fabric is released it is update in SAP by Store Department so that other department
can check the progress.

Process mapping for issue of trims

1) Download BOM and Production Order through SAP

The store department download the BOM and production order through the SAP.
Compile the BOM, production order and Inspection report.
List of trims required is Production is recorded.
2) Checking Availability of trims
Worker checks the availability of trims in the store.
If it is not available then store department inform sourcing department to arrange for the
purchase order and follow up for delivery of trims.
If trims are available then they update the trim status to PPC.

37
3) Getting the cut quantity details from cutting
Cut order was prepared by PPC.
Stores gets actual quantity from cutting department then stores release that much amount
of trims and accessories.
4) Trims picking and checking
Trims and accessories were picked as per the BOM and Production Order.
Trims and accessories quantity were checked before sending it to the sewing department.
5) Issue trims to production
After picking and checking trims and accessories it is directly sent to respective sewing
floors.

Figure 15 Store department

38
Planning Department:
Planning department has a vital role to play in the approval of the order and helps the merchants
to determine the costing of a particular style and they also tell the merchants if the company is
capable of producing the particular style in the given span of time and also helps them to know
the capacity of the production floor.

On receiving the orders, from the merchants they start to decide the date for having the PP (Pre-
Production) meeting with the departments which are directly involved and they are, planning,
production and the finishing departments. Then the department will allocate the style to the unit
whichever has the capacity of completing the obtained project based on the line openings and
also buyer’s specifications and the skill of labour required for it.

The planning department then calculates and plans the PCD (Plan Cut Date), Order Quantity,
Sample, order breakup, operation bulletin, etc. with respect to the particular unit in which that
particular order has been placed with.

The planning department takes the approval or sits and conducts a meeting with other
departments to come to end up giving a proper planning and scheduling dates for the particular
style this will take about 10 – 15 days from the merchandiser approves the order that has to be
followed.

Firstly, they take inputs from IED (Industrial Engineering Department) on production related
information based on the garment details which includes, SAM value of the garment, number of
components in the garment, type of seams, length of stitches involved in the garment, types of
machines required to finish the garment, any specialized machine is required or not for the
manufacturing of the garment, difficulties involved during stitching of the garment if it is of a
complicated style and structure, the skill level required for the various operations of the garment
and the ratio of the operators with respect to their skill levels required for manufacturing the
particular garment for all the operations all together. Then they finally come to a conclusion
about planning entire style.Secondly, they confirm the details given to the concerned units in
other words they confirm the PCD, Order quantity, sample and other similar information from
them in consultation with the GM and FM.

39
Thirdly, they confirm this consultation if it is the final decision and then they also get a
confirmation from the embroidery, washing and finishing departments if the slots for the dates
on which they have planned for those particular styles is available and then after confirmation
they fix the particular dates on which the style has to reach the embroidery, washing and
finishing departments.

Then the planning department will follow up with the factory till the order is completely being
executed and the entire order quantity is being shipped.

40
CAD Department:
CAD is a Computer Aided Design which is used to create a design and manipulating it. The term
which is used for both designing a product and for controlling manufacturing processes. Apparel
manufacturing companies has its own CAD department for varied style garments. CAD can be
done either manually or with the use of some software or in computerized way.

CAD department consists of pattern masters who generate pattern according to the buyer’s tech-
packs. They prepare the patterns and also grade it to the required sizes taking into account the
characteristics of the fabric. They also play an important role in costing by calculating the fabric
consumptions. They prepare markers that are to be used for fabric cutting by placing the patterns
in a spatial arrangement which is economical as well as conforming to the requirements of the
garment design.

CAD department is responsible for the following functions:

 Determining cutting average for costing

 Making the most efficient marker
 Development and alteration of patterns
 Development of size set pattern by grading
 Embroidery graphics making
 Digitizing the pattern

Effects of CAD on garment design and preassembly:

 The block images are stored in computer.

 Grading technique is replaced by expert system.
Process of size chart formulation:

 First the body measurements are obtained.

 Then they statistically analyse the measurements.
 Then they add ease allowances.
 Formulate the size chart.
 Fitting trials are done to test the size chart.

41
 Figure 16 Flowchart of CAD

42
 Figure 17 Gerber autocutter

Industrial Engineering Department

This department consists of industrial and textile engineers. They are the most important factors
in conversation of a design into actual product with respect to bulk. They check the production
friendliness and feasibility of a garment or a design. Planning of daily and hourly targets is also
an important part of their responsibility.

Roles of IE department
 Preparation of O.B (operation bulletin) is done which helps in production and costing.
 Calculation of thread consumption (using formulas). This helps in ordering of raw
materials.
 Making Machine Layout (sequence): Every style that needs to be produced undergoes
different operations at different times to get the right look that is required by the buyer.
Hence, after making the operation bulletin, the IE department helps in setting up lines in
such a way that the work goes on smoothly and in the right sequence to avoid clutter and
confusion.
 Capacity and method study: this study is done to optimize the resource usage and
increase and maintain the rate of production. This also helps in doing innovation in the

43
 methods and implementation of new technologies. The idle operator and machine time is
calculated to find the efficiency.
 Making skill matrix: data about the operators and the operations they know. This helps in
allocation of critical operations to the rightly skilled operators.
 The use of technology is a main responsibility of the IED.
 Training of new operators: Making WIP (work in progress) reports.
 SMV (standard minute value) and efficiency (at 100%) calculation: this is done by doing
a detailed study of the operations required and the machines to be used and they calculate
the no. of minutes required for the production of a single garment and its value. Then the
efficiency of the workers and machines is calculated and used to estimate the time
required to produce the garment.
 Sewing line balancing is done to remove and avoid bottle necks. Operations that take
longer time tend to disturb the overall production. Hence, operators are assigned to these
jobs to ensure smooth flow of work from operator to operator and minimize idle time.

Cutting Department
Planning-

Production Daily realese Receipt of daily issue

scheduling plan plan

Stores
Daily release Receipt of material
Raw
plan with work order
material and
work order
Receipt of marker and
Marker making and Marker and
cut plan
cut plan generation cut plan

Spreading
Table pin

Cutting
Prepare table
plan
44
 Numbering

Relay ready cutting

Panel Inspection

Re- cutting Result

Fusing

Figure 17 Flowchart of cutting department Bundling

Load out parts to Bundling

sewingDEPARTMENT
PROCESS MAPPING OF CUTTING audit

1) Production planning
 Planning department makes a daily plan of cutting based on order and delivery date.
Priority is given to export orders.
 Planning is done 3-4 days prior to cutting in order have a lead time of at least 1-2 days
before issuing to cutting department.
 Daily releases plan is made for L3 orders for cutting department.
2) Raw material and work orders
 Based on the order and according to date the planning department sends the report to
stores for the issue of materials to cutting department.
 Lead time for issue of material is 1day.
 Before cutting starts all the fabric rolls for the particular order is send to cutting
department based on the fabric consumption send by the CAD department.
 Then the fabric rolls are loaded for spreading.
3) Marker making and cut plan generation
 The cad department sends the marker to cutting department prior to cutting.
 The marker includes all sizes to be cut to complete the order.
 CAD department releases a plan that contain fabric consumption, length of the marker,
size ratio, no of plies in a lay, no. of pieces to be cut from each lay.
4) Cut plan and table plan

45
  Cut plan is made according to the qty to be loaded and produced by sewing lines. If the
sewing line has to produce 500 pieces then the cutting of additional 500 needs to be done
1 day before loading.
 Cut plan is generate by CAD department for qty to be cut plan sheet contains work order
no. type of sleeve.
5) Spreading
 The fabric rolls from the racks are loaded on roll trolley and taken to spreading table.
 The fabric rolls are loaded on the spreading table fixed.
 The operation manually spread the fabric on the table. They carry the fabric to the other
end till the required length.
 Then the fabric is spread smoothly one above the other matching the edged and then are
cut either using an electric cutter or with scissors and then torn the fabrics are torn.
 While spreading the check fabric it is pinned to match the checks for larger checks.
 Generally fabric splicing is not followed. If any panel has a defect it is send for recut.
 After spreading the no. of plies are counted and written. The maximum lay height can be
2.5”.
 The marker is placed on the fabric and send for cutting.
 For check fabric- If the bow and skew% is less then 2% then fabric is pinned and
matched and the fabric is considered to be of good quality. If bow and skew% is high
then the fabric is not pinned.
 Check fabric are generally torn at the end to ensure the checks falls in a straight line.
 Trim fabric : for trim fabric spreading is done at once for all fabric and then divided
according to work order and requirement. For dividing, the length and width of pattern is
checked. Then width of fabric is measured. No. of patterns that can fit is calculated. For
each size marker is prepared. Sizes are clubbed in order to get more efficiency.
 Fusing is cut in bias mostly for check fabric for the stretch.
 For spreading work order report containing details of fabric code, style code and gold
seal no., work order qty, ratio, cutting order qty., fabric qty. issued, swatch of fabric after
wash; trim fabric details- swatch of the trim fabric, qty. issued, marker length.
a) Spreading mode
The fabric is spread nap one way face one way because it is manually spread,
small quantity, easy to spread, more efficient and quality is maintained.
Two types of spreading is done

 Flat spread- All the plies are spread at same length.

 Stepped spread- Fabric is spread in steps having different lengths.
b) Lay plan – The lay plan is whole garment lay with all the pieces of garment. The
fabric is spread in open width.
c) Types of lay
 Multiple ply – number fabric stacked on one top of other.
 Stepped ply – multiple lays are of different length are spread for better
fabric utilization and reduce wastage.

46
 d) Quality parameters followed for spreading are :
 Every ply should be evenly spread without any wrinkles and folds.
 For check fabric it should be pinned and matched to avoid faults during
sewing.
 The edge of each ply should be equal in length and width.
 Spreading should be correct.
 Make sure for each lay marker is spread above it.

Figure 19 Spreading
6) Cutting
 After spreading the fabric is sent for cutting.
 Straight knife are used for cutting. Each table has 2 straight knives with two operators.
 The cutting operators checks the marker and match the grain line of marker at several
points with the grain of fabric by testing the paper. This is done in order to make sure
that the grain does not changes otherwise garment made will be defective.
 For check fabric the lay cut in blocks and sent for relaying and check matching. This
process is followed for the check fabric.
 For solid and printed fabric the fabric is cut directly according to the pattern and sent for
numbering. It does not require any relaying or matching.
 Small parts are cut using auto cutter.
 The cut parts are send for numbering.
 Check fabric after being relayed. Pinned and matched after sent for recut to band knife
machine.
 The cut parts are recut to exact pattern. And send for fusing or panel inspection.

47
 Figure 20 Cutting
Machine Used:

 Straight knife – 10;2 at each table

 Band knife – 8
a) Quality parameters for cutting
 Knife should be sharpened for uniform cutting.
 The lay height should not be excess or low.
 The operator should skilled and knows how to operate the machine.
 While cutting the edges should be cut clearly.
 Cutting should be uniform. Should not cut inside the pattern.
 PPE should be used to avoid accidents.
7) Numbering
 The cut parts are sent to the numbering section.
 All the parts are numbered to avoid missing of parts and mixing of sizes.
 Numbering is done differentials sizes from each other.
 Numbering machine is used for numbering.
 In data sheet numbering for each part is already given, the operator has to follow the
sheet and accordingly number the parts.
 Numbering helps to identify qty of pieces that has been cut of each size.
 Numbering is done the back side or edge of the panel.

48
 Figure 21 Numbering & Ticketing
a) Method of numbering of plies
 For numbering a sequence is followed.
 According to the lay qty numbering is done. If the lay has 100pcs then the
numbering will start from 1to 100 and next part from 101 to 200 and in this it
continue further.
b) Quality parameters for numbering
 The numbering should be done on the back side or edge of the panel to avoid
marks of stickers.
 The number should be calibrated whenever a roll finishes.
 The efficiency should be high to reduce WIP.

8) Panel inspection
 After numbering the panels are inspected to check if any defect is occurring in any of the
panel.
 Is any defect occurs it is send foe recut.
 The panel is recut and numbered same as before.
 Each and every panel is inspected for high quality.

49
  A report is generated part recut requisition slip from the batch in which the sizes are
written down which consists any panel that needs to be replaced. Its no. is written down
under which category (front, back, yoke, sleeve, cuff, and collar) it occurred. Then that is
sent for recut.
9) Fusing
 After panel checking the parts are sent for fusing.
 Mostly cuff, collar and plackets require fusing.
 Fusing is carried out in fusing machine.
 For checks fabric the fusing is carefully placed matching the checks.

Figure 22 Fusing machine

Fusing test

Before parts are fused in bulk, a test is conducted to check the fusing feasibility parameters for
checking feasibility are:

 Machine temperature
 Pressure
 Time
 Fuse the temperature
 Thermal shrinkage%

50
  Strike through
 Bond strength
a) Machine temperature, pressure and time
For different codes of interlining different machine temperature, pressure and time are already
fixed.

Lining code Machine Pressure(kg) Time(sec)

temperature(°C)
4013 110-130 1-2 12-15
3216 155-175 3-4 15-21
3250 155-175 3-4 15-21
6611 155-175 3-4 15-21

b) Fuse line temperature

 Fuse line temperature is checked using a thermos paper.
 Thermal paper has a temperature scale and temperature zones which faces the body
fabric while placement between lining and interlining.
 Before lining thermal paper is placed between the body fabric and interlining and
then fused.
 After fusing it is cut along one side of the thermos paper.
 Heat causes the individuals temperature zones to turn black. The blackened zones
indicate the exact fuse line temperature.
c) Thermal shrinkage
 To measure thermal shrinkage % measure the length of interlining before fusing.
 Then place it on the fabric and fuse it in the fusing machine.
 After fusing again the measurement of the interlining is measured. The difference in
the length gives the shrinkage length and thus shrinkage % is calculated.
d) Bond strength
 To check the bond strength of interlining with the fabric a peel bond strength tester
is used. It is device which measures the amount of force required peeling the
interlining.
 An interlining sample of 17cm* 5cm is placed on the body fabric and fused in the
fusing machine.
 After fusing, the fabric is inserted in the strength tester and turned.
 Then the interlining is period off with force. This is measured is the machine.

51
  If the force is less than 14N then the interlining does not pass the test and vice versa.
e) Strike through
 When heat and pressure is applied for joining the fabric and interlining, then
sometimes resin is passes through the upper part of the fabric.
 To avoid strike through temperature and pressure should be controlled.
10) Bundling and bundling audit
 The cut part after fusing is bundled.
 A ticket is placed along with bundle which contains style no. fabric code, cut part
name, order no., total no. of parts.
 After bundling the bundles are checked and loaded in the fabric carrier to be issued
to the respected lines.
 The bundle sheet contains a sequence in which the parts have to be bundled.
Generally 1 bundle contains of 30 parts. If a lay consist of 30 or less than 30 pcs it
will make 1 bundle. If the lay consist of more than 30 pcs then the parts are divided
in such a way that each bundle consists of 30 or less than 30 pcs. If there are two
shades in the roll then the second roll is bundled first.

Spreading and cutting:

 Spreading & cutting Table – 6 by straight knife

 Pin table -
 Band Knife cutting machine – 7
 Fabric inspection Machine – 3
 Embroidery machine – 1
 Re- cutting table – 1
 Numbering area – 2
 Re- cutting table – 1
 Bundling area – 2
 Panel checking area – 2
 Gerber auto cutter – 1

52
Cutting machines

Machine Machine Name Model No. No. of machines

Straight Knife Eastman Blue steak 673402 10

II

Band Knife Eastman - 1 Tex Knife 492 7

Die cutting ATOM Nagai Shing 2

Auto cutter Gerber cutter GT-XL 1

End cutter Eastman EC-3 10

Fusing Machines:

Machine Name Model no. No. of machines

Veit Kannegeiser multistar EX1000 2

Kannengeiser X40 1

SMS instruction HP 400cs 1

FX DIAMOND FX1000 1

Other Machines:

Machines Machine name No. of Machines

Hole drilling NGAI Shing development 1

limited

Numbering machines BLITZ textiles 2235 24

Sewing department:

Start

Receive L3 Order

53
 Allocation of Operators & line balancing

Cut parts & trims received

Stitching

Warehouse

Figure 23 Flow chart of sewing department

Sewing

Total no. of stitching line - 12

Total manpower –
Average production – 110000units/month.
Only deals in shirts manufacturing.

Planning

L3 Plan

Cutting

Cut parts
54
IE Sewing Warehouse

Operators allocation
Line balancing
Operation bulleting

Stores

Trims & accessories

1. Receive L3 plan
Planning department give L3 plan to sewing department which includes daily sewing
plan line wise.
L3 plan is prepared for each and every line as per the capacity of line.
Planning department prepare L3 plan priority wise
Priority is given to that style whose shipment date is nearer or to the export order.
2. Allocation of operators and line balancing
After recievingL3 plan from planning department IE department allocates the
operator for each line.
Operators are allocated as per the style in the line. IE department analyze the style
and then only allocate operators to meet stated efficiency.
IE department allocates floater and helper as the requirement in the line to balance the
line
Line balancing and line efficiency is also done by IE.
3. Cut parts & trims received
All the trims required in a style come to sewing line 2 days before.
Cut parts come on the same day and loaded to line directly.

4. Style loading
After receiving trims and cut part the style is loaded for bulk production as per the L3
plan.
As per the operation bulleting provided by the IE department the style is loaded.

5. Stitching

55
 After loading style to the line bulk production start.
As per the operation breakdown, the individual operation is carried out such as collar
stitch, collar finish, pocket attach etc.
After stitching components they are assembled.
After assembling the button hole and button attach is done.
After stitching is done it is sent for final inspection
If there is requirement for in-line inspection, in- line inspection is also carried out.
Stitching is done as per the L3 plan to meet the delivery date.

6. Inspection
After stitching is done, garment is inspected as per the MFL quality standard.
Danger 6 chart and Critical point is provided to the operator for inspecting the fabric.
Thread trimming, Label checking Pocket checking is done at the time of inspection.
Critical point in the garment is also checked such as Collar, collar stand, bottom
hemming, Cuff and other critical points.
After stitching inspection(6 Danger) is carried out in which
o Main label, brand label And collar stand
o Pocket
o Bottom
o L/S Cuff and S/S hem tack at side seam
o Button hole and button
o Collar Band
Critical point in the garment
o Bottom hemming
o Collar finishing
o Front placket attach
o Collar attach
o Sleeve attach
o Side seam FOA
o Cuff attach with pleats
7. Finishing
After inspecting the fabric, if wash is required then it is directly sent for washing
If washing is not required then it is directly sent to finishing department.
Final checking, measurement checking and button checking is done
After all checking 100% audit is carried out before packing garment.

8. Warehouse
After finishing, packing in carton, carton is sent to warehouse for shipment.
After packing every piece is updated in MIS for record purpose.
From warehouse all cartons were shipped to buyer.

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Preparatory process:

Preparation of OB

M/C Readiness
Achieve Target
Status

Allocation of
After capacity Study Manpower Based on
Capacity

Training of new
Clearing bottleneck operator for special
machine

Identification of Before capacity

bottleneck Study

Layout preparation

Figure 24 Preparatory process

Preparation of OB

Operation bulletin is prepared before style change which include machine required,
SAM, No. of operation, criticality of operation and expected efficiency.

M/C readiness status

If any special machine or different machine is required in line of new style then floor
IE request maintenance department to bring machine 15days before style change.
Allocation of manpower

Depending on the style the IE allocate manpower as per the requirement and worker
efficiency

Training of Operator for special Machine

If any special machine is required then IE inform advanced training center for
training those operator for that particular machine. So that operator can able to
operate that machine.
Before capacity study

57
 Before loading the style to the line IE had the time study so that he/she can prepare
the layout and identify the bottleneck operation.

Layout preparation

Before the style load to line IE prepare the line layout for that particular style.

Identification of bottleneck

After line layout IE have to identify the bottleneck operation in the line so that he/she
can do method modification, operator allocation, use folder, etc.

Clearing Bottleneck

After identifying bottleneck operation IE look for alternative solution to clear that
bottleneck like use of folder, use of different operator.

After Capacity study

After one day of production IE again do the Capacity study to identify the any gap in
the line.

There are 5 sections in sewing –

Collar section – 13 operation

Cuff section – 3 operation
Sleeve section – 4 operation
Front section – 7 operation
Back section- 2 operation

Operation breakdown of sewing operation:

Sleeve preparation Collar preparation Front

Sleeve guard and tacking Collar run Pocket Gathering

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Neckband hem
Sleeve box
 Front tacking

Pocket ironing

Pocket hem
Sleeve box mark

Pocket attach

Checking

Button placket

Front pairing & trim

Pick ready
Checking

Pick shape turn & Band top stitch

Collar ready trim

Collar iron

Collar marking

Cuff preparation Checking Back

Cuff run Label attach

Cuff hem Yoke attach & top

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Cuff turn Checking

 Cuff iron

Cuff marking

Cuff checking

Figure 25 Parts Flowchart

Assembly

After preparing the different components for basic shirt, all the parts are assembled to complete
shirt.

60 Shoulder attach Cuff attaching

 Figure 26 Assembly line Flowchart

Zone-1:-

Specialization – Basic shirt with basic collar sleeve and panels

Capacity - 2880 pcs/day
Line Capacity – 720pcs/ day
Floor efficiency – 70%
Operator efficiency – 75 %
Lines -4
No. of operator – 153
No. of tailors – 115
No. of marking operator – 12
No. of checker – 17(8 in assembly and 9 in parts)
No. of loading operator – 5
No. of trainer - 4
No. of line inspection table - 9
Ironing table – 4(8 irons)
No of ironing operators - 8
Zone-1 Finishing: -

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 Inspection table – 6
Shirt folding table – 6
Packing table – 8
Thread sucking machine – 2
Ironing table – 10
No of operators- 46
Zone-2 :-

Specialization – Basic shirt with basic collar sleeve and panels

Capacity - 2100 pcs/day
Lines -4
Line 5 & 6 Capacity – 600pcs/ day
Line 7 & 8 capacity – 450pcs/day
Floor efficiency – 70%
Operator efficiency – 75 %
No. of operator – 153
No. of tailors – 115
No. of marking operator – 12
No. of checker – 17(8 in assembly and 9 in parts)
No. of loading operator – 5
No. of trainer - 4
No. of line inspection table - 9
Ironing table – 4(8 irons)
No of ironing operators - 8

Zone-2 Finishing: -

Inspection table – 6
Shirt folding table – 6
Packing table – 8
Thread sucking machine – 2
Ironing table – 10
No of operators- 46

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 Figure 27 Assembly line

Figure 28. Zone 1 parts Section

63
Quality

Inspection is carried out at the end of every line which includes

 Raw edges after stitching
 Skip stitch
 Broken stitch
 Size jump
 Wrong placement of labels
 Nose issue of collar and cuff
 Piping
 Line matching
 High-low
After stitching inspection (6 Danger) is carried out in which

Main label, brand label And collar stand

Pocket
Bottom
Cuff and hem tack at side seam
Button hole and button
Collar Band

Critical point in the garment

Bottom hemming
Collar finishing
Front placket attach
Collar attach
Sleeve attach
Side seam FOA
Cuff attach with pleats

Zero Dhaga Concept

Zero Dhaga concept means avoiding all untrimmed

thread from garment in finishing stage. Thread from All
zones is removed before packing it.70-80% of un-
trimmed threads is in Collar, cuff and bottom. Un-
trimmed thread in garment after sewing are-

Un-trimmed thread at collar attach with band

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 Un-trimmed thread at sleeve placket Figure 29 Danger 6
Uncut tread at cuff edge
Un-trimmed thread at label attach on front placket
Un-trimmed thread at bottom hem edge both side
Un-trimmed thread at bottom hem gusset
Un-trimmed thread at pocket attach
Uncut thread at collar neck band area

Flag concept
Four different flag used by quality to tackle quality related issue in minimum time. These flags
help quality people to understand the reason and cause of quality related problem. These flags
are

Blue flag (Critical to product) - Blue flags is used where the operation is critical to
product. These operations are considered as critical and quality people take care of these
operation. These operations are –
 Band Set
 FOA
 Bottom hem
 Cuff attach
 Collar finishing.
Yellow flag-C (Change in Operator) - Yellow flag with C notation is used when the
operator is change or shifted to different line. This will help quality people to identify the
change in operator and if there is bottle neck or any quality related issue then they can
easily understand the reason.
Green Flag(New operator)- if any new operator is there is the line then green flag is used
so that quality people can easily identified the new operator and provide assistance if any
required.
Red flag (Critical to Quality)–Red flag is used only when there is defect rate is high. Red
flag indicates the quality people regarding quality related issue so that they can rectify it,
train operator and if the no. of defect is high then they analyses the reason behind the
defect.

65
Garment Defect zone

COLOUR DISCRIPTION
ZONE - A
ZONE – B
ZONE- C

Figure 30 Garment defect zone

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Quality Dashboard

An excel sheet is used to maintain the quality parameter records on monthly basis which will
help quality team to analyses overall parameter. Quality dashboard include 18quality parameters
which are

DHU % - DHU stand for Defect per hundred units which calculated for defects occurs in
total production. Target DHU% is 4. Formula for calculating DHU% is
 DHU = Defect/Production * 100
Finishing DHU – In finishing DHU, defect coming in finishing is calculated and target is
10.
AQL index – AQL stands for Acceptance quality level, in AQL index different sample
size is inspected as per the index to accept or reject any garment. Target of AQL index is
2.
Factory RFT –
Second’s % - second’s means garment is rejected due to stitching, washing and cutting
defects. Target for seconds is 1. there are 3 type of seconds which are
 Manufacturing seconds – these are the rejected due to manufacturing defects
 Washing Seconds- these are rejected due to washing defects
 Cutting seconds – these are rejected due to cutting defect like wrong cut or defects
in panel.
Manufacturing defects – Defect which occurs due to stitching is considered as
manufacturing defects. Only 0.3% manufacturing defect is acceptable.
Fabric defects – Defects which occurs in fabric like spinning defects, weaving defects or
any other defects. Only 0.5% fabric defect is acceptable.
Thirds – The garment after stitching is inspected if any defect which in not acceptable
and affect brands value if sold then those garment is considered as thirds and disposed to
quarantine box. Only 0.05% thirds is accepted.
Scrap – If any part of garment like sleeve is damage and cannot be used then those parts
are considered as a scrap. Only 0.9% scrap is accepted.
Customer Complaint – Sigma level is measured which is inversely proportional to
customer complaint. Only 5.36 sigma level is accepted.
VPQI - VPQI stands for Vendor performance quality index which is use to calculate the
performance index of vendor. Formula used is –
 VPQI = Defect % +Failure % + AQL index
 Maximum point of defect % is 50, Failure % is 32 and for AQL index is 20
Firewall and Internal audit

In internal auditing 75% of total production is inspected and if any defects are found then
the garment is rejected whereas in Firewall auditing 25% of total production is inspected
and same as internal auditing if any defect is found in garment then the garment is
rejected.
Internal auditors are selected through MFL after giving exams. If they are selected then
only they can become internal auditors whereas firewall auditors are selected by PDQA
team for firewall auditing.

67
 Figure 31 Auditing

Finishing

In finishing department, the procedure followed in almost same for the both export order and
domestic order. There are few more extra finishing steps in export order like buck pressing,
button checking etc.

Figure 32 Finishing

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Finishing Department Activity

Garment receive from sewing

Trimming & checking

Yes
Defect Stitching Alteration

Thread sucking
Weaving Alteration
Pressing

Final checking Stain Removing

Button checking

Measurement checking

Final auditing

Placing collar support

Folding

Packing

Presentation

Cartoning

Inspection

Result

Fail

Re-Cartoning Dispatch

Figure 33 Flowchart Finishing department

69
Process mapping of Finishing

1) Garment receive from sewing

After sewing garment was directly sent to the finishing department.
If washing is required then after inspecting it was sent for washing and after
washing it was sent to finishing department
2) Trimming & checking is done
Trimming and critical points are checked again in garment.
Numbering sticker is removed after inspecting it.
3) Defect
If any defect found while inspecting it was sent for re-work or alteration
If stitching defect is there then garment is sent for alteration or re-work.
If there is stain defect then garment is sent for stain removal
If there are any weaving defects then garment is sent for inspection or it is
considered as seconds.
4) Thread sucking
After alteration and rework fabric is sent for extra thread removal with the help of
blower.
5) Pressing
Full garment press in done.
In LBRD order full garment is ironing is done
In export order buck pressing is also done which is not done in LBRD order.
6) Final checking
Trimming of threads is there is any extra threads
Checking of all critical point.
7) Button checking
No. of buttons is checked
Attachment of button is checked.
Trimming of extra thread from button.
8) Measurement checking
Measurement of garment with standard size.
Measurement is done for
o Chest
o Waist
o Bottom
o Sleeve length
o Centre back length
o Shoulder

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 9) Final auditing
After all checking the garment is inspected for the last time.
100% inspection is carried out
10) Folding and packing
Collar support is placed initially then shirt is folded. Butter paper and back
support is used for folding the shirt.
After folding tags were attached and bar code sticker is attached to brand tags
then shirt is packed in polythene and sent for presentation checking.
Folding and packing material used in packing are –
 Butterfly
 Collar support
 Butter paper
 Back support
 U-clips
 Brand Tags
 Barcodes
 Polythene

11) Carton packaging

After packing the garment carton packaging is done in order to dispatch it.
Carton packaging is done size wise and color wise.

12) Inspection, re-carton packaging and Dispatch

After carton packaging domestic order is inspected and every carton details is
entered in SAP.
No. of pcs, sizes in carton in entered in SAP for recording purpose.
After entering details in SAP cartons sent to Warehouse.

71
Warehouse

Collect all packing material A

from store

Rescreen
Receipt of finished goods
from finishing section Final Inspection

NOT OK
Verify for style no., size, color,
and qty against PO
OK

Arrange shirt color wise and

qty against PO Create delivery through
SAP

Store shirt with an

identification status
Dispatch to customer

Mark the necessary

informationon outer carton

Pack as per the requirement

GRN entry through SAP

Figure 34 Flowchart Warehouse

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Process mapping of warehouse department
1) Collecting all packing material
Warehouse department get all the packing material from the stores before they
receive the finish goods from finishing department
Different packing material is required for different buyer as per the buyer
specification.
2) Finish goods from finishing
After finishing, finish goods were sent for packing.
Initial packing is done after finishing in the sewing department then it is sent to
central warehouse.
3) Verification of information against PO
Style no., Sizes, colour, and quantity are verified before final packing. To ensure
right finished good is packed.
4) Arrangement
After verification is done, finished goods were packed size wise or quantity wise
as per the customer specification.
5) Store shirt with identification status
At the time of packing the good they enter the detail of packed shirt in SAP using
the barcode in shirt.
These data will help in tracking record of finished and packed goods.
6) Information on Carton
All the necessary information is marked on the outer carton
For export order buyer gives the packing slip and sticker for carton country wise
For LBRD order Sticker and packing slip is generate through SAP and printed in
warehouse only.
Packing slip contains information like Carton no., Delivery no., Style, Qty,
Location etc.
7) Pack per customer requirement
Packing is done as per the customer need.
Packing is done both colour wise and size wise.
Different carton is packed as per the specification of buyer
Packing carton differ from buyer to buyer. Different buyer need different packing
as per there need.
8) GRN entry through SAP
After packing goods GRN entry is done before dispatching it
GRN entry is done through the SAP.
All the information regarding packing like style, sizes, qty were entered in it for
record keeping and future tracking.

73
 Delivery Location

Code Location Priority

3110 Export 1

3107 Trade 2

3109 DS 3

3116 Trade BnS 4

3113 EBO 5

3114 PF 6

3007 B2B 7

3117 B2C 8

74
Maintenance Department

Apart from having quality system and the best practices,’ machine maintenance’ is also very
important in order to get ‘quality’ products. Unacceptable quality of products often results ill-
maintained machines. Breakdown and preventive maintenance is primarily aimed toward
reduced downtime and increased life respectively. Proper machine maintenance is also necessary
to avoid casualties at the floor.

The functions of preventive maintenance include:

 Care of the fittings

 Adjusting settings
 Oil changing
 Graph maintenance
 Outward/inward reports
 Needle weekly reports.
 Machine configuration chart
 History card
 Needle log cards.

Types of maintenance
1) Unplanned maintenance -Maintenance department gives more focus on the unplanned
breakdowns and emergency. These problems occur untimely and are unavoidable. The
maintenance department trains the mechanics for these circumstances.

2) Planned maintenance -Planned maintenance is a proactive approach to maintenance. The

maintenance activities are planned to take place on regular basis.

Every machine has checkpoints both critical and normal which should be checked on regular
basis in order to keep the machines healthy. The main aim of planned maintenance is to keep the
machines running safely as long as possible, without having any unplanned breakdowns.

3) Predictive maintenance- This type of maintenance is followed to save time and cost. The
maintenance time is predicted when it should be performed and a schedule is prepared for it.
Preventive maintenance is generally done for DG, compressor etc.

75
Predictive maintenance is of two types:

a) Condition based maintenance in this type of maintenance three things are important to check
condition of asset look, listen feel. CBM is carried out whenever the certain parts of machine are
not working properly like vibration, rusting, oil leakages etc. these parts are repaired or replaced
to avoid complete breakdown of machine.

b) Time based maintenance in this type of maintenance time is the important criteria. Some of
the parts of the machine have an average life in which it can function effectively. After that time
period the parts are replaced even if it’s still working properly.

4) Corrective maintenance -Corrective maintenance is performed to identify the problem and

rectify a fault so that the failed equipment is restored to its normal working condition.

5) Preventive maintenance -

Qualification according to functionality:

a) Sewing- if there is any problem or breakdown regarding sewing machines. Each mechanic is
trained for specific machines.

b) Cutting- if there is any problem in cutting machines like straight knife, band knife, auto cutter
etc.

c) Pressing- is there is problem in pressing machines like iron or fusing machine.

d) Utility- if there is any problem in utilities like boiler, generator etc. which are required to run
the industry.

e)Store if there is any problem in inspection machines, hydraulic machine, shade match cabinet
etc.

Classification according to criticality and availability:

a) Normal normal machines are like SNLS machines which require less attention while
breakdown.

b) Semi-special semi special are button attach machine, button hole, DNLS.

c) Special special machines are feed off the arm, blower etc.

d) Critical critical machines are like auto cutter, fusing machine etc.

ABC analysis- critical machines are coded A. special and semi-special machines are coded B.
normal machines are coded C.

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*The maintenance department takes 3 days to correct the abnormality if it’s a major one. For
minor problems they may take several hours to 1 day to correct the issue.

*Maintenance is carried on daily basis by the operator called autonomous maintenance.

* Maintenance is reviewed two times bimonthly and half yearly.

* Each machine has a job card. Job card is filled with the problem and date of occurrence.

Breakdown-If the problem occurs for then 15 min then it is considered a breakdown and if
breakdown continues for more than 30 min then RCA (Root Cause Analysis) is done.

A code is generated for identification machine. Code 3.3370377 which indicates S for functional
category (sewing (S). cutting (C), pressing (P), utility (U), stores (RD)); SS for criticality
(normal (N), semi-special (SS), special (S), critical (C); 70377 is a serial number for different
machines.

Asset capitalization:

a) Every year a budget is prepared for the installation of new machines.

b) This budget and capex (capital expenditure) is sent for approval.

c)Then PO is raised.

d) After machines are bought it is installed in the required are.

e) This information is entered in SAP.

Every machine has a checkpoint list for monthly review and yearly review. Every machine is
checked based on this list to check condition of the machine.

E Pulse- it is a maintenance management system software.

The following information is stored:

a) Work order

b) Inventory

c) Schedule menu

d) Capital asset

e) Human resource

77
6) Autonomous maintenance- Autonomous maintenance means self-maintenance where
operator themselves take care of the machines. They are given authority of the machine to know
the machine better and increase its life.

It is a systematic process of doing preventive and improvement work.

Small maintenance work like dusting, oiling, screw tightening is done by the operators.

Autonomous maintenance results in lesser breakdown.

It involves all the operators and makes them more responsible for the cleanliness and effective
running of the machine.

7 steps to self-maintenance

1) Initial cleaning- removal of dust, dirt to avoid any breakdown and to highlight any faults that
may occur within the machine; to prolong the life of the machine.

2) Counter measures- to take necessary actions to prevent the problems like skip stitches, loose
stitch, PCB failures etc. To identify the reason of dirt and remove the cause.

3) Establish cleaning and inspection standards- based on different machines several cleaning and
inspection standards are set for the operators. Maintenance steps are defined in the standards that
operator needs to follow. These are basic maintenance requirement of the operator to keep the
machine running in optimum condition.

4) Perform general equipment inspection general equipment inspection is performed like

checking oil leakages, nut bolt tightening, threading, machine tension etc.

5) Perform general process inspection the steps taken for maintenance is revised and improved
continually.

6) Systemize self-maintenance autonomous maintenance is carried out on daily basis and a time
is scheduled for maintenance at a particular time.

7) Practice full self-maintenance- self-maintenance becomes a daily practice by the operators.

Skill training- Mechanics are trained for specific machines. For training equipment
manufacturers are called to give training on the machine functions. For example, CB repairing
training is given by mechanics from brothers.

SMPs (standard maintenance procedure) are formed to give internal training to the mechanics

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5s- 5s is the base of TPM which is followed in the entire unit. 55 are sort, set in order, shine,
standardize, sustain. Sort is to sort things according to importance. Set in order means to divide
them in different categories, need and frequent use. Shine to keep the working place clean.
Standardize means to follow maintenance in a systematic manner. Sustain means to involve all
the employees for self-maintenance.

Quality maintenance- how to maintain parts while maintaining its quality and increase their life.
Life enhancement for spare parts is a project done by maintenance department for analysing the
problems and changing the parts and to improving the design to reduce breakdown.

A3 analysis -it is a more than root cause analysis. This method is more effective as not only the
problem is analysed but the probable solutions are found and the same is implemented to reduce
the cost and breakdown.

Major breakdowns

a) Hand wheel jammed due to entanglement of thread

b) Electrical issues like reversing phase which causes the machine to run in reverse direction.

c) Problem due to characteristics of fabric.

d)Proper lubrication not clone.

e) Improper threading and thread breakage due to improper machine tension.

f) Motor failure

g) PCB failure.

h) Part failure

MAP (Maintenance Audit Protocol)- it is an assessment process. MAP consists of 6 categories on basis of
which assessment is done. 6 categories are:

a) Organization culture open communication about maintenance to all the departments.

b) Maintenance objective and targets objectives and targets of maintenance is to avoid unplanned
failures and breakdowns.

c) Maintenance Management System- CMMS (Computerised Maintenance Management System) is

used to store information about maintenance management from the all the departments.

d) Maintenance work management

e) Lubrication Management- to keep a schedule for lubrication of all the machines regularly. To keep a
check that lubrication is done at regular intervals.

79
 f) Document control and engineering report.

Post maintenance checklist for sewing machines:

a) Check and remove all spares and tools.

b) Check proper lubrication is done.

c)Ensure oil and grease stains are removed.

d) Check and clear all the damage.

e) Check open loose wire (open/loose wire, earthling and voltage).

f) Switch on the machine and check the motor direction as required.

g) Set all the parameters as per operation to meet quality requirements.

h) Do the trial run on waste fabric and handover the machine to the operator.

i)Observe the production for some time and ensure quality is achieved.

CONCLUSION
During the period of 14 weeks of our Apparel Internship in the ABFRL, BBSR, we learned many
things from office’s paper work, follow ups, merchandising to factory’s production process,
movement of materials from departments and sampling, and also along the way we got the
opportunity to visit other factories as well which had their own specialization and we got to take a
glance at their working culture. In this internship module we have learnt lot of things. We have
gone through several departments and at the end of the internship we come to know about minute
details of apparel industry and how it works. We learnt manufacturing and planning process of the
industry. Under this internship schedule, all the qualified appointed people helped and guided us
in understanding and learning different aspects of the industry.

In the period we got the opportunity to carry out an project on SIX SIGMA in the factory which
gave us lot of experience about how factory works according to its needs and every factory has
their own needs. And also the factory benefitted with the project.

80
Plant layout

Figure 35 Plant layout

81
 Figure 35 Store layout

82
 Figure 35 Warehouse layout

83
 Figure 35 Sewing department layout

84
 Figure 36 Cutting Deprtment

85