WORLD OF FASHION - FASH 1082

Unit 3: Designing and Producing Apparel

Chapter 10
• Ready-to-Wear
Manufacturing

1
Learning Outcomes:
1. Summarize the business aspects of apparel
manufacturing.
2. Analyze the use of contractors.
3. Differentiate among preproduction procedures from
costing and editing the line to cutting the garments.
4. Analyze the process and methods of apparel production.
5. Summarize employee concerns of health and safety, as
well as equitable pay.
6. Differentiate between offshore production and domestic
production.

2
Master-King Garment Manufacturing Ltd.
in Kampong Speu, Cambodia

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FX1KzX7_lk (2:06)
Cambodian workers fight for a living wage

Cambodian garment workers demand higher wages | Asia| An ... Dec 30,
2013
Made in Cambodia: Garment Workers Fight Gap, H&M and ... Feb 20, 2014 http://labourbehindthelabel.org/who-we-are/
Life on $3 a Day: Garment Workers and Cambodia's Struggle ... Jan 14, 2014 http://labourbehindthelabel.org 4
 Today’s Fashion Industry
• Today, the garment industry turns over almost $3 Trillion a year.
• Yet garment workers, 80% of them women, work for poverty pay,
earning as little as $21 a month.
• Human rights abuses are systemic throughout the industry.
• Poverty wages, long hours, forced overtime, unsafe working
conditions, sexual, physical and verbal abuse, repression of trade
union rights and short-term contracts are all commonplace in the
clothing industry.
• It is an industry built on exploitation and lack of transparency
that makes holding brands accountable difficult.

http://labourbehindthelabel.org/who-we-are/
5
Cambodia, faced with losing European trade
status, raises textile worker’s wages

• Cambodia raised next year’s legal minimum wage for workers in its crucial textiles and footwear
industry to $190 per month, an increase of 4.4%, amid pressure from the European Union over its
human rights and political record, officials said.
• September 20, 2019
• https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-cambodia-garment/cambodia-faced-with-losing-eur6
opean-trade-status-raises-textile-workers-wages-idUKKBN1W50MI?il=0
 Cambodia’s Garment Workers Get
$2 Monthly Pay Bump

• Cambodia’s garment workers are getting a pay increase—but just barely. The Southeast Asian nation’s Ministry of Labor announced Thursday that the
minimum monthly wage for the apparel and footwear sector will get a $2 lift to $194 beginning next year, following protracted and often stalemated
negotiations between trade unions, employers and the government to arrive…
• SEPTEMBER 29, 2021
• https://sourcingjournal.com/topics/labor/cambodia-minimum-wage-covid-19-304715/

7
Human Rights Violations Are Increasing in
Fashion’s Manufacturing Hubs

• OCTOBER 7, 2021
• https://www.businessoffashion.com/news/sustainability/human-rights-violations-are-increasing-in-fashions-manufacturing-hubs 8
Redwood Classics
http://redwoodclassics.net
Apparel

Redwood
classics apparel
praised for
social
responsibility
and human
rights
commitments

9
WS http://www.wsandcompany.com/
& Company Ltd.
#gbcfashionalumnus

The Sewing Floor - Meet the Makers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax7m_QVW2PA (2:30)

10
 1. Apparel Production
• Apparel manufacturing is also known as production
• Production
 Transformation of resources (materials) into goods that
people need or want
• Factors of production
 Resources – materials
 Labour – workers
 Capital – money and equipment
 Business leadership– ideas and organization

11
1. The Apparel Manufacturing Industry

• Spread throughout the world

• Crucial to U.S. & Canadian economy
 materials, services, wages, taxes, goods
• Dominated by production workers
• Becoming more technical, requiring higher skills for using
computerized equipment
• A mix of firms ranging from small, privately-owned enterprises
to large, corporate conglomerates
12
1. The Business of Apparel Manufacturing

https://ym-inc.com/brand/

https://hmgroup.com/brands/

• Growing firms often open new divisions with different lines and
labels at various price levels to expand and diversify
• Automation is the use of machinery to perform physical tasks
 It usually achieves greater productivity
• Productivity is a measure of how efficiently or effectively the
factors of production are used, e.g. labour, materials 13
1. The Business of Apparel Manufacturing
• To be successful, apparel
manufacturers must
 keep costs low, quality
high, and selling prices in
line with those of
competitors
• Costs include fabrics,
findings (zippers and other
functional garment
parts, trims),
wages, production
equipment and
overhead
14
 1. The Apparel Industry

Feb 17, 2021

https://www.statista.com/char
t/24216/most-valuable-apparel
-brands/

• Competitive nature of the industry & the necessity of costly

automation have resulted in fewer, but larger apparel firms
15
 1. Competitive Strategies
• Strategies for a
manufacturer’s success
include basic competitive
approaches:
1. Being the low-cost source
for products
2. Pursuing differentiation by
offering differentiated
products
3. Focusing on and satisfying a
narrow market niche
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 1. Competitive Strategies
1. Being the low-cost source
may require
operating more efficiently
than competitors
lowering prices to retailers

17
 1. Competitive Strategies
2. Ways to differentiate
Higher quality
Distinctive designs https://wwd.com/fashion-news/sportswear/sustainable-fashion-brand-kotn-expands-into-womens-11004296/

Better performance
Convenient location
Better service
Technological superiority

18
#gbcfashionalumnus x 5+++!
 1. Competitive Strategies

2. Pursuing Differentiation
https://kotn.com/
•To pursue differentiation, companies
might set themselves apart by offering
 higher quality goods
 better service
 distinctive design features
•Upscale goods usually attract fewer
customers
 Consumers who buy those goods,
however, spend more per item 19
 1. Competitive Strategies
3. Some manufacturers focus on
satisfying a narrow market niche to
be successful
 They use innovation to satisfy
specific market opportunities
 If successful, they are first to offer
something with a special appeal to
target customers
•U.S. and Canadian manufacturers
are very successful at satisfying
niche markets
 First to offer something unique to https://www.anniethompson.ca/
meet needs 20
 1. Fashion Seasons and Lines
• Manufacturers design,
produce, and sell their lines
for separate fashion seasons
 which are distinct retail selling
periods
• Retail sales periods occur
 February through July for
Spring/Summer merchandise
 August through January for
Fall/Winter merchandise
• Most manufacturers,
however, have four or more
production seasons 21
1. Fashion Seasons & RTW Production
• Traditionally, lines are
produced for separate
fashion seasons

1. Spring–November
2. Summer–January
3. Fall I (transitional)–
February
4. Fall II (winter)–April
5. Holiday (party attire)–July
6. Resort/Cruise–August

22
 1. Fashion Seasons and Lines

Fashion Is Contagious – Progressing Towards A Smoke-Free Delhi

• Today, a new constant merchandise flow is phasing out the

older, seasonal approach
 Manufacturers constantly add and subtract garments from their lines
 They also ship smaller orders of goods more often to their retail
customers
• The greatest fashion changes take place for the fall lines
23
 1. Garment Districts

• Most fashion cities have a

garment district
 This is where most of the
apparel companies are
located
 In garment districts,
companies cluster according
to merchandise type and
price range
• New York’s garment district
is located on both sides of
Seventh Avenue in
Manhattan
24
 1. Apparel Manufacturing
• Since the apparel business is labour intensive,
factory locations depend on the high availability and lower
cost of labour
causing more manufacturing to be done overseas
• U.S. apparel manufacturing is mainly in
mid-Atlantic states and California for high-fashion and tailored
apparel
the South for jeans and casual slacks
• Canadian apparel manufacturing is mainly in Ontario,
Manitoba and British Columbia
e.g. Canada Goose

25
 2. Inside and Outside Shops
• Inside shops
 Firms that do all stages of production
from design, fabrication and sewing, to
shipping
 They employ cutting and sewing workers

• Outside shops
 Firms that handle everything but the
sewing, and sometimes the cutting
 Contract “out” to independent sewing
factories
 Outside shops that never produce their
own goods are called apparel jobbers
26
 2. Inside and Outside Shops
• Sourcing is the process of determining
how and where to procure
manufactured goods for resale
• In the fashion industry, sourcing occurs
in two ways:
 when retailers select apparel firms from whom
to buy their goods
 when apparel companies seek contractors to
produce goods to their specifications

https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/retail/our-in
sights/is-apparel-manufacturing-coming-home 27
 2. Contractors
• Produce goods according to another
firm’s specifications
 Allows for specialization
 Allows apparel firms greater flexibility
 Lowers costs
 Speeds delivery
 Main drawback is limited quality control

http://www.wrapcompliance.org/
Velocity Apparel talks about how WRAP has helped their business 28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYb9fHT1JrU (3:31)
 2. Using Contractors
Advantages
•The contracting system allows
for specialization of
manufacturing expertise
 Apparel manufacturers gain
flexibility in periods of varying
market demands
 By using contractors, apparel
companies have hardly any
labor or capital equipment
needs
•By adding more contracting
plants during
peak demand, orders can be
completed in a timely way
Disadvantages
•The main drawback is the limited
control the company has over the
quality of work
 Often no individual has full
responsibility for the finished
product
 Unreliability may also be a
problem
•Production contractors may
make decisions that slow or
postpone the work that needs to
get done for the first company
29
 3. Preproduction Procedures
FLOWCHART OF APPAREL MANUFACTURING

Preproduction DESIGNING

PATTERN & SAMPLE MAKING

EDITING THE LINE

BUYING OF RAW MATERIALS

PATTERN GRADING & MARKER MAKING

FABRIC CUTTING & PARTS PREPARATION

Production
GARMENT CONSTRUCTION & FINISHING

Postproduction STOCKROOM

SELLING

30
DISTRIBUTION
 3. Preproduction Procedures

• It takes many production steps to turn design ideas into finished wearing
apparel
 RTW production is a continuous process that has overlapping steps
 As one line is sent through the manufacturing flow, additional designs are considered
• Companies aim for a cohesive, profitable line by customer targeting and
fashion planning
31
 3. Preproduction Procedures

• “Merchandising the line”

starts w/ a plan for:
 Colours, styles, sizes,
quality and price in their
primary markets
 Changes in consumer
preferences
• Based on preproduction
information, designs are
created or refabricated
32
 3. Preproduction Procedures
• knocked-off & refabricated

Peak
Culmination
Rise Decline
Slowly increases in Saturation
popularity

Introduction Obsolescence
33

New style is introduced Discard for a newer style

3. Selecting and Costing the Designs
• Designs that had high sales volumes in the
previous season may be retained for the next
season, with only minor changes
These items are refabricated
• Correct amounts of supplies based on the
merchandising plan must be acquired for
production
• The first design step is sketching the idea
• The next step is making a pattern
34
 3. Selecting

• Acquiring products and

materials for production
based on designer’s
sketch and the company’s
basic pattern or sloper
• Style numbers are
assigned to designs

35
3. Selecting and Costing the Designs

• Costing, or figuring production expenses

per item, is the step that follows pattern
making
• Products must be made with the right
quality at the price that customers are
willing to pay
 Costing and planning product
specifications are usually calculated by
computer

36
 3. Costing
• Costs calculated for producing 1 item
• Variable costs:
 36% Fabric (garment and lining yardage)
 Thread (type of stitching)
 Findings (buttons, snaps, zippers, hooks,
bands, tape bindings, etc.)
 11% Labour (layout, design, cutting, sewing)
• Finishing techniques
• Labelling, packaging, and shipping
• Fixed costs:
 33% Overhead
• Profit
 20%
• Wholesale price 100%
37
 3. Editing the Line
• Change, revise, or
eliminate part of a line
• Construction details may
be altered to lower costs
• Approved styles made
into samples and shown
to top management and
key retailers

38
 3. Editing the Line
• Only a small fraction of the
designs first intended for a line
are actually produced
 Manufacturers edit (change and
revise) the line at several points
• Samples are trial garments, or
prototypes, made exactly as they
are intended to look when sold
 They are used to check design
aspects and fit

39
 3. Editing the Line
• The lines are openly shown to
all retail buyers and initial
orders are taken
 Then the amounts of each style to
be manufactured are determined
• Apparel companies also seek
market feedback
 They use samplings, which are
small quantities of garments
made up and placed in retail
stores to test the designs in the
market to determine popularity

40
 3. The Cutting Process

• Precutting
 Grading - making patterns into a range of sizes
• Pattern pieces laid on a marker
 CAD used to create markers
• Electronic cutting
 Multiple layers of fabric cut by knife, water-jet cutters or lasers
41
 3. The Cutting Process

• The sample pattern must be

graded for production
• Grading is making pattern pieces
larger and smaller for a complete
range of sizes
 The layout of pattern pieces is
drawn onto a marker, a long piece
of paper that is as wide as the fabric
to be cut
 It has all pattern pieces in all sizes
laid out for cutting
42
 3. Precutting Processes

• CAD equipment is used to make markers

 Data integration is the combining of several steps into
one continuous computerized process
 Some systems have a telecommunication feature that
allows a company to do the design and pattern work at
its main location
• Calculations for markers can be electronically sent
to a manufacturing operation elsewhere 43
 3. Cutting

• In traditional factories, the

long paper markers are
placed across the top of
stacks of fabric
 Workers can cut along the
outlines of the drawn
pattern pieces
 Electric cutting machines
are used that are similar to
power saws

44
 3. Cutting

• Computerized factories (with CAM – Computer-Aided Manufacturing) use

knives, water-jet, or lasers for electronic cutting
• Computerized knife cutters—cut multiple layers of fabric and may sharpen
themselves
• Water-jet cutters—cut smaller stacks of fabric layers with a thin stream of
high-pressure water
• Laser-beam cutters—vaporize a single layer of fabric almost instantly with an
intense, powerful beam of light 45
 3. Cutting
First Electric Cutting Table in NYC

Maker's Row
Apr 4, 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hnQy5ZbLFYw (O:42)
At the end of 2015, Dynotex received a new electric fabric cutting table - the first in NYC. 46
Dynotex, Inc. is a high-quality apparel production house based in Brooklyn run by owner, Alan Ng.
 4. Apparel Production
• After cutting, the garment parts go step-by-step
through the assembly line
• Older garment assembly methods include the
 Traditional tailor system
• One person does all sewing
 Progressive bundle system
• Piecework; one specific task assigned to each person along assembly line
• Newer computerized methods include the
 Unit production system
• Computerized routing, tracking, and sewing
 Modular system
• flexible manufacturing strategy

47
 4. Traditional Tailor System

• The tailor system of apparel manufacturing uses one person to do all

sewing tasks
• This assembly method in the traditional tailor system
 is slow and expensive, but can provide top quality
 is used for very high-priced, custom sewing jobs
 involves much handwork and extensive pressing
 makes use of built-in structure from the pattern and interlinings fused to 48
garment parts
 4. Progressive Bundle System

• This method uses mass production techniques

• Piecework manufacturing assigns one specific task to each
person along an assembly line
 This division of labour divides the total manufacturing process
into small jobs
 Collars go to one station, sleeves to another
 Workers are paid according to the time value of their sewing
 Meko Garments J.S Co - LEAN System Line
49
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTUHnAREEXo (changes @ 0:10 and 2:40)
 4. Unit Production System

Eton Systems
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U
KCCXKRw8eo
(2:37)

• Garment pieces are hung as bundles on an overhead

product carrier that moves them to the next operator
for the next task
• When a task is done, the operator presses the “send”
button or scans a bar code on the garment holder, thus
saving time by
 keeping the bundled garment pieces together
 automatically sending items to the next station 50
 4. Modular Manufacturing

• Modular manufacturing separates production workers

into independent teams, or module work groups
 Teams carry out all tasks from start to finish
 Employees are taught to strive for high performance and
ongoing improvement
• Modular manufacturing increases productivity and
lowers costs
51
 4. Modular Manufacturing

Toyota Sewing System (TSS) aka

Cellular Garment Manufacturing, Flexible Work Groups
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxdKET_94RU (0:57)
• A flexible manufacturing strategy
 Divides workers into teams or module work groups
 Teams work independently to sort out own work problems;
they are responsible for own productivity and improvements
 Empowers workers 52
 4. Finishing Garments
• Hems and fasteners are put in
by machine
• A final pressing is done, and
labels and hangtags are attached
• The garments are inspected
 If flaws or mistakes are found,
garments are returned to be fixed
or sold as seconds
• The finished inventory is stored,
ready for delivery to retailers
who place orders

53
5. Apparel Company Concerns for
Employees

• Health and safety

• Proper training
• Health benefits
• Equitable wages
• Team incentives
• Work Design

54
 5. Apparel Company
Concerns for Employees

• Health and safety

 Cumulative trauma
disorders
 CTDs: carpal tunnel
syndrome, tendonitis &
shoulder & back pains that
result from jobs that
involve repetitive motion

55
 5. Apparel Company
Concerns for Employees
• Health and safety
 Equipment is designed
& arranged for the
most effective & safest
interaction w/ those
using it

56
 5. Apparel Company Concerns for
Employees
• Employee health and safety
is important
• Ergonomics matches human
performance to the tasks
performed, the equipment
used and the environment
 Understanding ergonomics
and using proper equipment
and training decreases
production costs
 Fewer employees become sick
or disabled
• Job rotation 57
 5. Employer Concerns
• Another employer concern is how to
equitably pay employees for work done
The piecework system is based on individual
incentives to work as fast as possible
plo Another system is based on team incentives to do
Em
yee
s
the best work possible, e.g. gainsharing
• Various wage plans offer different employee
earnings potentials

58
 5. Employer Concerns
• Work design encompasses:
 ergonomic matching of jobs and
equipment to employees
 the companies’ output requirements
 compensation plans
 worker behaviours that are
reinforced
• Good work design brings higher
company profits and worker
satisfaction

59
 6. Offshore Production

• Manufacturing done outside of the N.A. is

offshore production
• Benefits:
Tax exemptions and rebates
Lower labour costs
No overtime pay or fringe benefits

60
 6. Offshore Production
• Lower wages overseas usually include no overtime pay
or fringe benefits
Incentives for other governments, such as tax exemptions,
further reduce the production costs in those countries
• A garment having the name of a(n) Canadian/
American designer or firm does not mean it was made
in Canada/United States
– Product of Canada claims will be subject to a higher threshold of Canadian content (98%), while Made in Canada claims will remain subject
to a 51% threshold of Canadian content. Made in Canada claims should be accompanied by a qualifying statement indicating that
the product contains imported content.
– The Textile Labelling Act is a regulatory statute.
• "Product of Canada" and "Made in Canada" Claims ...https://www.competitionbureau.gc.ca › eic › site › cb-bc.nsf › eng

61
 6. Offshore Production
Rana Plaza, Bangladesh Factory Collapse
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISj8BECf40Q (2:34)

Date: April 24, 2013 Total number of deaths: 1,134

62
 6. Offshore Production

• Imports, or goods that come into the country from sources

outside the U.S. and Canada, are rising because of intense
competition in the apparel industry
 Garments with extensive handwork are almost always
sourced offshore
• Canadian & American apparel producers export some
goods, (send out of the country)
 But they do not match the rising tide of imports

63
 6. Offshore Production
• Apparel manufacturers who use low-cost labour
for their production may own or use contract
factories abroad
• When sourcing from distant locations such
as China, Cambodia and Bangladesh
 lead times (for ordering ahead) are much longer
 response times (for producing and delivering goods)
are also longer
 Technology has helped
• This is a disadvantage for fashion accuracy and
market responsiveness

64
 6. Domestic Production

Reshoring

https://www.fashionexchangetoronto.com/manufacturing/

65
 6. Domestic Production

https://www.thestar.com/life/fashion_style/2017/09/23/made-in-canada-is-cool-again.html
http://www.fashionexchangetoronto.com/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7Rmql4Vwk4&t=150s (2:30)66
 6. Influence of Unions
• The International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (ILGWU),
founded in 1900, lead to
 better pay and working conditions
 the outlawing of U.S. sweatshops and child labor
 the funding of unemployment insurance and health benefits
 arbitration provisions
• In the 1970s, the ILGWU merged with the Amalgamated
Clothing and Textile Workers Union in 1995
 UNITE, the new organization, is the Union of Needletrades, Industrial
and Textile Employees
• UNITE continues to work for good wages, fair labour
practices, and beneficial legislation

67
 6. Influence of Unions

• https://twitter.com/cgworkersunited?lang=en 68
• https://drive.google.com/file/d/1OsNkTNy_Y6L8XATJ_2NAM__wLnUguUj3/view (2:23)
 In Summary…
• Apparel production is global, labour-intensive, and becoming more
technical and automated
 Inside shops sew their own products
 Outside shops use contractors
• Companies plan garments in response to estimated market demand
 After taking retail orders, they decide production quantities and order
materials
• Fashion companies compete on cost, differentiation, or market niche
 Manufacturing in low-wage countries gives a competitive advantage
• Health, safety, and equitable pay are the biggest employee concerns
 Piecework pay is changing to systems based on group incentives

69
 Review Question
Apparel production costing tries to figure the financial
aspects of producing each apparel item according to
the ____.

a. amount and cost of fabric and other materials.

b. costs of direct labour and overhead.
c. profit.
d. All of the above are correct.

70