Fashion merchandising: time and

action calendar
Introduction:

Time and Action (TNA) calendar is one of the most important

tools for managing a project. In garment manufacturing each
order is not less than a project to a merchant because from
order receiving to completion of an order it involves a number
of tasks of various timelines and utilization of various
resources. Like number of processes, lot of people are also
involved to accomplish an order. Similarly each order is
unique in terms of process and time demand. So, a detailed
plan with well-defined responsibility is must in order to
complete each order to get completed on time.A time and
action calendar defines the ideal date/time period within
which the major activities of an order should occur against a
scheduled delivery window.

TNA in Garment Industry

Time and Action Calendar or TNA, a popular tool used in

apparel manufacturing industry is a technique for tracking
and following up of important milestones in preproduction
processes to ensure timely delivery within stipulated delivery
date. Garment pre-production and merchandising functions
are characterized by people in an organization doing multiple
activities. While some of the activities are dependent and
follow each other, a few others are independent. Every
garment company takes enormous care during the planning
of an order. Every little detail is interwoven into the planning
system. Making a TNA Calendar is not just entering activity
names and duration in tabular forms; it is also about
scientifically working-out the activity duration, logically
determining the preceding and succeeding activities.Time
and action calendar consist of the short term and long term
plans so carefully laid out.

A time and action calendar is a most effective communication

tool that proves it to be useful to this task. The chart consists
of time frames listed for every action planned (major ones)
and these actions need to be earned out on time. The
purpose of TNA is to cross check at frequent intervals, say,
once a week, whether the planning is being executed
satisfactorily. The more frequent the checks, the easier it is
to correct deviations. TNA is especially useful when a buyer
wants to know the status of execution of an order.

Structure of TNA
Normally merchandisers prepare a plan of

the order in a spreadsheet by listing down the key processes
in first column and planned date of action for each process
in the next column. This planning sheet is popularly known
as time and action calendar (TNA). Once TNA calendar is
made, then it can be easy for merchandiser list down their
daily ‘to do list’ and taking it one by one. As per TNA schedule
processes can be executed on timely basis to track whether
an order is on track or it will get delayed.

In order to make TNA below mentioned information must be

available

– Process flow of an order with the list of task which need to

be performed

– Production capacity of cutting, sewing, washing and

finishing

– For sewing – batch wise and product wise capacity

(production per day per batch)
– Lead time of activities, e.g. raw material lead time,
sampling lead time, etc.

– Shipment date or planned ex-factory date

Normally TNA does not depend on fabric used in

merchandise like woven or knits. TNA is largely depends on
the particular process flow of an order, machine requirement
and available production capacity. In TNA planned cutting
date (PCD) and ex-factory date these are the two most
critical dates.

Sample TNA for formal shirt manufacturing order:

The TNA derived by assuming the order of 10000 pieces of

formal shirts, made out of 100% cotton, plain woven solid
dyed fabric, with embroidery logo on it. The order is for SS
2013, delivery date 1stMarch 2013, shipment at New York-
USA.
*All dates given are assuming Sunday as weekly holiday.

Importance of TNA

The importance of TNA can be summarized.

1 It helps to streamline the pre-production activities.

2 Easy understanding of order processing.
3 Clear understanding of timelines given by buyer.
4 It gives the clear idea about the minor or sub activities that
need to perform during order processing at different
level.
5 TNA gives the idea about the status of running order
andtalks about delay or deviation, if any
6 TNA gives the dates at which raw material need to be
sourced, in a way it helps to optimise the inventory.
7 TNA also reduces the risk of delivery delay.
Factors need to be considered while preparing TNA:

1 Production capacity of plant

2 Style type of merchandise
3 Festivals of manufacturing country
4 Holidays
5 Shipment details
6 Festivals of country from where raw material is imported
7 Logistics facilities
8 Lead time estimated by buyer
9 Style complications
10 Fabric and trims manufacturing complications
11 Buffer required from each department
12 Political stability of the country
13 Flexibility of freight forwarder
14 Response time from buyer at different stages
15 Lead times of various activities like L/C payment,
 custom clearance, etc
16 Cut off dates for shipments
Importance of key activities in TNA

1. Sampling:

Sampling is the most crucial task and hence need to plan in

TNA very carefully, some sampling stages are very important
so any deviation or delay in that will affect the whole TNA.

Proto sample: The submission of proto sample totally

depends upon buyers enquiry date.Any delay in proto
submission or approval will affect order conformation date,
which will subsequently affect the submission of fabric
development and fit sample, as without proto approval it’s
impossible to proceed further. In sample TNA it is shown that
the planned proto submission date is 09-06-2012 and
planned approval date is 27-06-2012, i.e. 15 working days
are kept for proto sample approval.
Fit sample: After approval of proto sample manufacturer
starts working on fit sample, that needs to submit exactly at
planned date. Any delay in fit sample submission will cause
the delay in P.O., size set sample submission. Fit sample
must submit within 45 days of proto approval as to get the
sample of bulk fabric it takes 20-25 working days to get in-
house; hence after approval of proto sample i.e. on 27-06-
2012, the planned fit sample submission date is 27-07-2012.
Sometimes fabric suppliers are nominated by buyer or buyer
will supply the fabric in either case it may not take more time.
Hence, in time and action calendar approximate 1 month gap
is shown between proto sample approval and fit sample
submission. Buyer must give the comments on fit sample
within 7 days. Any delay from buyer side will directly affect
the further process. To make fit sample process to complete
within time period, the planned approval date for fit is 22-08-
2012 i.e. 21 days or 3 weeks is kept deliberately between
first fit submission and approval, in order to accommodate
failures and re submissions of fit sample.

AD/Photo shoot/Salesman sample: These samples are

generally submitted parallel with fit sample. The same period
is allotted to salesman sample i.e. 21 working days in TNA.
These samples mainly used for advertising or for visual
merchandising or by sales man to collect the order from
retailers; hence from buyer’s perspective, timely submission
of these samples is very important. Order size mainly
depends on this sample and any delay or quality issue in
sample can reduce the order size. Sometimes buyer may ask
more number of samples e.g. 100 pieces, in that case
merchandiser must keep in mind the capacity of sampling
room, time required to complete the demand of buyer, style
complexity and buyers submission date while making the
TNA.
Size-set sample: This stage of sampling is most important,
without size set approval bulk fabric for production should not
be cut in order to accommodate any changes by the buyer in
the bulk production. So, any delay in size set sample will
directly affect PCD and subsequently affect the shipment
date. Size set sample need to submit with actual bulk fabric,
hence for timely submission of size set sample merchandiser
should make sure that all bulk fabric should be in-house well
in advance of size set submission date. To avoid the delay,
as soon as bulk trims and fabrics are get in-house within 3
days size-set sample can be produced and submitted to
buyer for approval. As per TNA, in table no. 2, planned
submission date of the size-set sample is on 08-10-2012 and
expected approval is on 25-10-2012 i.e.15 working days are
kept for completion of size set sample approval process.

GPT sample: Before submission of PP sample it is very

necessary that Garment Performance Test should be
cleared from buyer. This sample sent to either third party
inspection or in-house testing lab. While preparing the TNA
merchandiser must keep in mind that test results should get
approved from buyer well in advance of PP meeting. For
approval of GPT 20 days are kept in TNA to deal with any
delay in the process. Further, to avoid the delay in
submission of PP sample and PCD, GPT is happening along
with Size-set sample i.e. from 08-10-2012 to 30-10-2012.

Pilot-run: Before going for actual production pilot run is

carried out, in order to see the complications in actual
production and to give the sufficient time for learning curve
of operator on sewing floor. In TNA preparation one day is
kept for pilot run for smoother and uninterrupted production.
As soon as first few lots are cut, make sure that they will
immediately send for embroidery. Hence cut panels are
available on time for pilot run. In sample TNA PCD is on 31-
10-2012 while pilot run is planned on 03-11-2012, i.e. one
day gap is kept for embroidery of cut panels for pilot
run. Pilot run can be conducted before or after PP Meeting.

Pre-production (PP) meeting and sample: Preproduction

meeting is very necessary part of any export order
processing; hence merchandiser keeps one day only
conducting PP meeting, in order to discuss the expected
difficulties during production. Any delay in this meeting or if
more obstacles are there to solve in production will directly
affect the PCD and ultimately results in shipment delay.

PP sample need to submit within 10 days after approval of

size-set and GPT samples. As without approval of PP
sample production should not start.To maintain the PCD
merchandiser should be very careful while preparation of
TNA for PP sample. PP sample is normally pooled out from
pilot-run, hence submission date for PP sample is 03-11-
2012 and approval date is 12-11-2012 i.e. 6 working days
gap is kept for PP sample.

Top of production sample: As soon as production starts

and first few pieces are come out of line TOP sample need
to submit to buyer. It’s very crucial stage where
merchandiser must keep in mind that by any reason TOP
sample get rejected then production end date is going to be
delayed. This can straight way affects the shipment date. In
sample TNA, it is shown that sample is submitted on 17-11-
2012 and planned approval date is 21-11-2-12.

2. Fabric and trim sourcing:

Fabric and trim sourcing is very time consuming process

which includes desk loom and lab-dip approvals, trim and art
work approval, FPT approval. The fabric sourcing itself will
take lead time of 30-60 days depending upon type of fabric.
For yarn dyed fabric it takes approx. 45 day, for piece dyed
fabric it take approx. 30 days and for fibre dyed fabric it takes
approx. 55-60 days. In sample TNA, it is assumed that fabric
used is solid dyed hence 30 days lead time is considered
while preparing the TNA, trims also takes the approximate
30-45 days depending upon from where trims are getting
sourced. Hence while designing the TNA for sourcing the
following activities need to keep in mind.
Fabric approvals: With approval of proto sample,
merchandiser needs to submit lab-dip for colour
conformation. Lab-dip approval itself is a long process, as
development of shade and submission itself will take 10-15
working days for one attempt, hence for after 15 days of proto
approval Lab dip is submitted. Hence while preparing the
TNA merchandiser must keep in mind that, complexity of
shade, buyer’s specification etc. any delay in lab-dip
submission will end up with fabric production delay, which
will results in delay in; Size-set sample submission. Hence to
avoid the delay in TNA 30 working days buffer is kept from
submission date i.e. 14-07-2012 to planned approval date
i.e.20-08-2012.
Trims and art work: Trims and their art work are other
important factors of sourcing department after fabric. Timely
approval of trims is very necessary. Trim production and
shipment is also time consuming process, especially if it is
imported, hence while preparing the TNA 25 working days
buffer is kept between submission date i.e.14-07-2012and
approval date13-08-2012.

Fabric Performance Test (FPT): Before fit sample

submission date FPT report must be approved by buyer, as
fit sample submitted in similar fabric. As without approval of
FPT fabric supplier can’t ship the fabric to garment
manufacturer. Any delay in FPT submission in will cause in
fit sample submission and may show impact on fabric in-
house date which will subsequently affect the size-set
submission date.

3. Production

The most crucial part of any TNA is actual production. While

preparing the TNA for production following activities need to
consider.
Planned Cut Date: The most important date for both
sourcing and merchandising department. Most of the time,
TNA is prepared by keeping PCD in mind. To achieve the
PCD on time sourcing department plays important role, as
lead time of trims and fabric production and availability for
garment production is controlled by this department. While
preparing the TNA expected lead time and sufficient buffer
should keep for sourcing.

As there is embroidery included on cut panels, hence after

cutting the cut panels need to send for embroidery.
Considering that embroidery is in-house then 6 working days
after PCD to complete the embroidery need to be consider in
TNA. If embroidery is outsourced then accordingly more
number of days can be included in TNA.
In some
merchandise, washing, printing is required hence
merchandiser need to take care of the lead time requirement
for the same including necessary buffer.
Productions start and end date: These two dates are
purely depends upon shipment date and production
capacity. As soon as PCD is achieved the production should
start immediately after pilot run and approval of PP Sample.
Any deviation in this date will subsequently affect the TOP
sample submission date and shipment date. Number of days
required for production is decided by capacity allocated to
that particular merchandise or number of days of available
for actual shipment. For mentioned sample TNA, following
assumptions were made while calculating the number of
days required completing the production.

Assumptions:
No. of pieces= 10000
SAM of garment= 28.5

min
No. of M/c= 50
Efficiency = 45%
The calculation for
production days can be shown as:

So, if 25 working days needs for production, then production

will start on 15-11-2012 and it will end on 15-12-2012, if only
one sewing line of 50 machines is allocated for 10000 pieces.

Finishing and packing: As finishing and packing is equally

important, hence as soon as first lot comes out of production,
finishing and packing get started. This can be started parallel
along with production. In sample TNA, 17-11-2012 is a
starting date of finishing and packing, while 18-12-2012 is
end date. 3 days buffer is kept deliberately between
production date and finishing packing completion date to
avoid any consequences.

Apart from these main activities, following constraints

merchandiser should keep in mind while preparing the TNA
for production.

8 Actual shipment date

9 Efficiency of production line
10 Style complications
11 Operators skills
12 Start-up loss
13 Learning curve of line
14 Finishing and packing capacity
15 Availability of alternate operators for absenteeism
Any delay in production will directly leads to shipment delay
hence for actual production proper buffer should be allocated
in TNA.

Critical Path method for TNA preparation:

Fashion merchandising is a much complicated network of

linier and non-linier activities to perform. Activities performed
are interdependent and need of synchronization between
succeeding and preceding activities to make a non-linear
process network. The longest chain of activities considering
task dependencies is called critical path. It is a common
practice industry to list activities from order receipt to delivery
in linear sequence and assigning time duration to each
activity by backward planning, which is wrong as the
activities are never linear since there are lot of parallel
activities. Therefore, the sequence of activities should be
drawn either as PERT network or Gantt chart format.
Even though most of the users are aware of the term ‘critical
path method’ (CPM), CPM may be elaborated as ‘critical’
means ‘possibility of non-conformance is higher’ as per
previous experience; some even link ‘critical’ with cost
involving that activity. Everybody select ‘critical’ activities
hypothetically based on intuition or previous experience or
buyer’s milestones and no one actually makes PERT
network of activities and then arrive at CPM.
It was found that
in majority of the cases the buyer specifies target dates of
key activities and based on those target dates the
manufacturing organization creates their own TNA adding
buffer days (to ensure that buyer target dates are not
missed). It was also a common practice to have two TNA:
one with few main important activities (also called milestone
activities) that are suggested by the buyer, and another one
with more number of in-between micro activities (in-house
activities) to exercise control over macro activities PERT
network or Gantt chart should be mandatorily prepared to
decide upon which all activities should be there in TNA
calendar. Merchandiser must prepare either and the
resultant critical path should be the activity chain for TNA
calendar, all activities falling in critical path are critical
activities. Critical activities should always be on focus, a
single minute delay in any of the critical activities may lead
to final shipment delay.

Conclusion:

Garments manufacturing is not a business of ‘One Man

Show’ rather it is a Team-Work where lot of people,
organizations, suppliers, buyer, sub-contractors and
manufacturers are involved. Moreover, all tasks have to be
accomplished with in a given time frame to ship out the
garments on time. Buyer will not accept any delay in the
garments delivery and if the garments cannot be shipped out
on time then there will be good possibility thatbuyer may
cancel the order or may ask for air shipment or Buyer may
ask for discount. To avoid all such adverse situation
merchandiser need to do proper planning to execute any
order.

TNA is most important activity for timely shipment. If any

merchandiser is able to follow the TNA properly then it will
be not a big challenge to ship the garments on
schedule.TNA for any production unit is summery of
sampling, sourcing and production activities and their sub
activities. Merchandiser generally makes the TNA on the
basis of lead time mentioned by buyer, shipment date
negotiation, order quantity, production capacity. The
milestones and key/critical activities dates are mentioned by
buyer while other in-house activities need to manage by
merchandiser by keeping many things in mind. With the
help of TNA merchandisers can ensures satisfaction of
each and every step with constant follow ups and in
shortest cycle time possible. Rapidly changing trends of the
fashion industry is making merchandising activities more
complicated and so TNA. Merchandiser has to prepare
good and flexible TNA by keeping all facts and facets in
mind. If used effectively, a good TNA can help factory to
meet production and shipment deadlines, increase
inventory turns, improve customer service, and enhance
profits.