Apparel Industry Management

Apparel Industry Management 3(3+0)

Lesson 7 : Readymade Garment Manufacture & Exports

Economics of Garment Industry

The inputs into the garment industry are mainly categorized as –

1. Raw Material
2. Manpower
3. Machine Power
4. Overheads

1. Raw Material : The raw material to the industry is essentially fabric followed by trims and accessories.
   Fabrics : A variety of fabrics are used in the making of garments. India being a major producer of cotton, our main fabric is made of cotton. We use cotton fabrics made in composite mills, power looms, and handlooms. While the mill made and hancuoom fabrics are expensive, one due to the high incidence of duties and other due to the slow process of hand weaving, by far the export industry prefers the power loom fabric as its main source.
   In addition to cost, other factors that determine the decision include, minimum quantities per color and design, width of the fabric, lead time required for production, count and construction.
   Fabric Processing: The dyeing and processing techniques defer with each process of fabric weaving. Dyeing such as Vat are expensive, followed by reactive, pigment etc. Also processes such as mercerisation, bleaching, brushing, peaching, printing, etc add to the cost of fabric. Depending on the weave and process, the shrinkage factor has to be considered.


2. Manpower : Next to raw materials, the factor that contributes to the cost of the garment is manpower. It Is not 'ust the numen'cals but the quality that has to be reckoned for in the costing.
   For example, in shirt producing unit, there is batch of 35 machines. The style of the product has double needle operations at the ann-hole, sleeve, front placket, yoke, cuffs and pocket. These operations require skilled operators to per-fonn. If any one of the operators is slow or under-performing, the assembly line suffers and the out-put of the batch will be lower than the target. As a result the productivity of the unit and the production schedule of the organization suffers resulting in a loss.
   In this example there is deficiency of the line supervisor and the production floor in-charge, in addition to the operator.
   Hence trained and experienced manpower is essential to be competitive.


3. Machine Power: From the days of the foot pedal sewing machines, the industry Progressed to various sophisticated machines that are programmable and fast. Apart from the single needle lockstitch machines, there are machines for many special operations that not only enhance the productivity but also the quality. Notable amongst these are double needle, waist band attachment, collar and cuff making, flat lock, over lock, feed-of-the-arin, pocket velt, blind stitch, hemming, Eyelet button hole, bar tack, pleating, placket, collar & cuff turning, faggoting, loop making, under wiring, elastic attachment, zig-zag, computer aided plotter
   and pattern maker (CAD), automatic fabric spreader, automatic cutter, automatic numbering and many more machines. In addition special attachments such as folders, guides, pressure foot, throat plate, feed dog, spools etc are also available to achieve high speeds and quality.
   It is not any more true that high productivity will deteriorate the quality. These ini specialized machines wdl help In mainta' 'ng the quality while throwing out volumes.


4. Overheads : In the industrial set-up, in addition to the above, we incur expenses Towards administration and establishment. While raw material, manpower, and machines form the direct costs, the administration and establishment expenses are termed as indirect costs. It is important that these costs are monitored regularly and kept in check. The costing of the product is affected by these expenses which are fixed nature. Costs like rents, deposits, staff and management salaries, communication expenses etc are some of these costs. In addition, the cost of Quota is also added in case of exports. The cost of quota is a variable and depends on the item to be exported, the period of the year and the availability of quota with the government etc. Based on these factors, the cost of quota is determined.
   World trade in garments and textiles is so far regulated by the Multi-fibre Arrangement. The MFA oversees the imports and exports of readymade garments and textiles into the member countries.