Top 10 Textile Innovations for 2015-2016

Adidas' 3D Shoe Made from Ocean Plastic Waste

This latest footwear concept, showcased at the 21st session of the United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP21) in Paris, demonstrated how the industry can rethink design and help stop ocean plastic pollution. The concept shoe uses yarns and filaments reclaimed and recycled from plastic ocean waste for the knitted upper shoe, combined with a 3D printed midsole, comprised of recycled polyester and gillnets, to create a new industry standard for athletic shoe production. In a partnership with the network, Parley for the Oceans, Adidas has taken action at creating new sustainable materials and innovations for athletic shoes. Given the global ocean plastic pollution, Adidas' plan is to bring the footwear/apparel industry together to create sustainable solutions that solve big global waste problems. With companies like Adidas and global organizations like Parley, ocean pollution may one day be a problem of the past.

Alexium's Alexiflam-Crockban™

Alexium, (Greer, SC) launched an environmentally friendly treatment to inhibit crocking, which reduces the amount of dye transfer between two surfaces.Alexiflam-Crockban™ can be used as a stand-alone application or applied with proprietary Alexiflam™ FR chemistries. Crocking occurs when fabric dye is physically rubbed off from heavily dyed fabric onto other fabric, surfaces or skin. During early lab testing, it was also determined that the product provides an improvement in the fabric's hand and feel. Working with major fabric suppliers,Alexiflam-Crockban™ has successfully treated fabrics with a high content of polyester, which typically are difficult to treat. As a result, Alexiflam-Crockban™ is also helping mattress manufacturers pass the CFR 1633 bed burn in polyester rich fabrics. Alexiflam-Crockban™ greatly reduces the amount of soiling and dye transfer, keeping mattresses cleaner in the showrooms, while at the same time providing FR qualities.

Alexium's Alexiflam-Crockban™

Alexium, (Greer, SC) launched an environmentally friendly treatment to inhibit crocking, which reduces the amount of dye transfer between two surfaces.Alexiflam-Crockban™ can be used as a stand-alone application or applied with proprietary Alexiflam™ FR chemistries. Crocking occurs when fabric dye is physically rubbed off from heavily dyed fabric onto other fabric, surfaces or skin. During early lab testing, it was also determined that the product provides an improvement in the fabric's hand and feel. Working with major fabric suppliers,Alexiflam-Crockban™ has successfully treated fabrics with a high content of polyester, which typically are difficult to treat. As a result, Alexiflam-Crockban™ is also helping mattress manufacturers pass the CFR 1633 bed burn in polyester rich fabrics. Alexiflam-Crockban™ greatly reduces the amount of soiling and dye transfer, keeping mattresses cleaner in the showrooms, while at the same time providing FR qualities.

Bolt Threads

Bolt Threads has solved the decades-long problem of mass-producing and scaling up spider silk for everyday use at a commercially viable cost. The process uses yeast engineering to make Engineered Silk™ fibers at scale. The yeast is grown in fermenters, similar to brewing beer, and produces silk protein. After purifying the protein away from the yeast, the silk is spun in a process similar to making rayon or nylon. The result is a distinct polymer fiber material that is stronger, stretchier, and softer than the natural fibers made by silkworms or spiders. Engineering the yeast allows Bolt Threads to modify the properties of Engineered Silk™. The new process avoids the unpredictability of the natural production process, and the material can be tailored to have desired qualities.

Directa Plus S.p.A./ Colmar

Directa Plus, one of the largest producers and suppliers of graphene-based products for consumer and industrial markets, has partnered with Colmar to launch the first application of Graphene Plus (G+) in sportswear. The key characteristic of G+ is its ability to act as a filter between the body and the external environment. Thanks to the thermally conductive properties of G+, the warmth produced by the human body is dispersed in warm climates and preserved and distributed evenly in cold climates – ensuring the ideal temperature for the wearer. G+ also provides electrostatic and bacteriostatic qualities to reduce friction for top sporting performance. The inclusion of G+ enhances the performance of finished products without significantly increasing their cost. G+ products are natural, chemical-free, sustainably produced, and tailored to specific commercial applications like smart textiles, tires, composite materials and environmental solutions. Colmar's and Directa Plus' collaboration has resulted in the creation of ski jackets, ski suits, technical underwear and polo shirts.

Georgia Tech / SoftWear Automation, Inc.

In response to the U.S. losing about 85% of its apparel cut-and-sew operations since 1990, representing $100 billion in sewn products annually, Georgia Tech andSoftWear Automation have developed a patented process that incorporates machine vision, robotics and computing technologies to create a fully-automated sewing machine. Together, Georgia Tech and SoftWear Automation are working to fundamentally redesign and transform today's apparel value chain. The fully-automated production line deploying these advanced robotic sewing technologies will once again make the U.S. sewn products manufacturing industry cost-competitive. The redesigned value chain will be better positioned to profitably serve the "fast fashion" market – deliver products in small lots, in varying designs, rapidly, and at competitive prices to meet the customer's "pull." It will minimize inventory in the value chain and reduce markdowns for retailers and chargebacks to manufacturers. The technology development is being funded in part by the Walmart Foundation's US Manufacturing Innovation Fund to strengthen domestic manufacturing.

Jason Mills' Screening Fabric

Jason Mills' Style 413 fabric came to fruition by talking to the Outdoor Retail industry. Jason Mills asked questions like: What is the ideal outdoor fabric? And, what type of protection from the elements are consumers looking for? After reviewing its research, the company developed an enhanced "No-See-Um fabric", which protects against the penetration of baby ticks (nymphs), ticks and mosquitoes, while still offering ventilation and breathability. The fabric is water repellent and fire retardant, which makes a great value-added product for the tenting industry. The 100% polyester yarn is dyed using automotive dyes, making it UV resistant, which means that the fabric will not degrade quickly. Currently, Jason Millsis also successfully marketing the Style 413 fabric into the apiary (beekeeping) industry as part of their protective clothing.

Newton® Wovenaire® Crib Mattress

A healthy sleep environment is vital, particularly in the first year of life. Creating a crib mattress that is not only safer, but also more comfortable is the motivation behind the Newton® Wovenaire® Crib Mattress. Made to facilitate airflow, the patented Wovenaire® core is 90% air and 10% food grade polymer. This design significantly reduces risk of suffocation, because it is 100% breathable. Its revolutionary construction contains no latex, foam nor coils, and is free of off gassing odors. The movement of air also helps to regulate the baby's body temperature, another concern cited by pediatricians for baby's wellness. Newton® Wovenaire® is hypoallergenic and the mattress itself is completely washable, creating a sanitary environment. The Greenguard Gold certified, removable and washable cover is also highly breathable through its unique spacer fabric design. Suitable from birth through toddler, the Wovenaire® core will retain its shape and firmness, and is 100% recyclable. Babies and parents can rest easy with Newton® in the nursery.

Nikwax Hydrophobic Down (NHD):

Developed by Nikwax, the global leader in environmentally safe aftercare and waterproofing solutions, NHD is setting the performance standard for water-resistant down while using clean chemistry. Eliminating the need for polluting PFC-based water-repellents, Nikwax has demonstrated that high performance waterproofing can be achieved without toxic chemistry. NHD is much more resistant to wet conditions than untreated down, which quickly loses its fill power and insulating properties in damp conditions. NHD maintains its loft and fill power even when damp. NHD achieves 1000 minutes on the hydrophobic shake test (IDFB I8A).NHD is featured in sleeping bags and garments, and is being adopted by leading brands worldwide. Downlite, which offers NHD in its product range, is a major down and feather processor and supplier of responsibly-sourced performance fills to the outdoor, home furnishings and hospitality markets, is TDS and RDS certified, and a member of American Down & Feather Council (ADFC).

Teijin Frontier's Polyester Towel-like Fabric

The Teijin Group has developed a highly comfortable and functional polyester material that achieves the pile structure of toweling. Made of 100% polyester, the material offers excellent water absorbency, a soft texture, and a unique bulky-but-lightweight feeling. Teijin Frontier is developing a variety of applications for the new material, focusing on 2016 fall/winter sportswear, functional underwear and uniforms, as well as bedding and industrial products. The new material's pile structure, surface appearance, functionality and comfort remain durable after repeated washings. In addition, Teijin's Towel-like Fabric structure is applicable for multi-seasonal products. Fabric advantages include: 1) Water moves rapidly from human skin to the fabric surface, keeping the skin dry. Water diffusion is approximately five times faster than that of general fast-drying materials. 2) Heat insulation is approximately three times greater than that of fleece due to its bulky fiber structure. Heat is retained even when the material is wet with water absorbency equivalent to 50% of its fiber weight.

Texapore Softshell / EDAG Light Cocoon

The "EDAG Light Cocoon" is not just a compact dynamic sports car, but also an unprecedented projection of the future lightweight automotive construction. It is a complete, bionically optimized vehicle structure, combined with a weatherproof textile outer skin, which marks a new dimension for lightweight construction and automobile aesthetics. Also involved in the concept is the outdoor specialist, Jack Wolfskin. This company's outdoor textile "Texapore Softshell" provides the ideal weather protection for "EDAG's Light Cocoon. The lightweight outer skin, "Texapore Softshell", covers the "EDAG Light Cocoon" frame. "Texapore Softshell" providedEDAG designers with the ideal tried-and-tested weatherproof stretch fabric to serve as the new outer body skin. The material is waterproof and windproof, and highly breathable. It combines the advantages of a hardshell with those of a softshell. Its triple-layered laminate construction can be a woven or knitted with a waterproof PU membrane, and a smooth jersey lining. Waterproof taped seams make the covering completely waterproof.

A Practical Approach to the Successful Practice of 5S

Step 1: Seiri, or Sort

Seiri is sorting through the contents of the workplace and removing unnecessary items. This is an action to identify and eliminate all unnecessary items from the workplace.

Actions items:

1. Look around the workplace along with colleagues to discover and identify items which are not needed and not necessary to complete work.
2. Develop criteria for disposal for not-needed items.
3. Take “before” photographs wherever it is required.
4. An effective method for recording progress is to tag the items not needed. This visual control of the not-needed items is often called red tagging.
5. While red tagging, ask these questions: 

• Is this item needed?
• If it is needed, is it needed in this quantity?
• If it is needed, how frequently is it used?
• If it is needed, should it be located here?
• Who is ultimately responsible for the item? (Verify from that person.)
• Are there any other not-needed items cluttering the workplace?
• Are there tools or material left on the floor?

6. Find a holding area to put red tagged items.
7. If it is difficult to decide whether an item is necessary or not, put a different tag and segregate it in the holding area.
8. Classify the items by frequency of use.
9. Items or equipment used hour by hour or day by day should be kept within arms reach of the point of use.
10. Items or equipment used once a week or once a month should be kept within the work area.
11. Items or equipment used less frequently should be stored in a more distant location.
12. Unneeded or unnecessary items should be stored in the holding area.
13. Individual departments should each have a holding area.
14. A holding area should be clearly visible and clearly marked to assure visual control of items.
15. Display pictures of items and place it on a public board visible to all.
16. Responsibility for the holding area should be assigned to some at the beginning of sorting activity.
17. The items in holding area should be kept for three or four months. If the items are not needed for work, then the items can be disposed. It is always necessary to verify plans to dispose of items with anyone who had been using these items in the past or are presently using the same or similar type of items.
18. Items should be moved to a company-level holding area before final disposal of the items.
19. The facility manager or an authorized person has to evaluate the items.
20. Disposal should be done in either of the following ways. 

• Move to other department/section where the items are required.
• Sell to someone outside the company.
• Discard and haul away.

21. Dispose all items which are broken or have no value.
22. Take “after” photographs wherever it is required. 

Step 2: Seiton, or Systematize

Seiton is putting the necessary items in their place and providing easy access. This is an action to put every necessary item in good order, and focuses on efficient and effective storage methods.

Action items:

1. Make sure that all unnecessary items are eliminated from the workplace.
2. Taking into account of the work flow, decide which things to put where.
3. Take “before” photographs wherever necessary.
4. Also decide with colleagues about which things to put where from the point of view of efficient operations.
5. This should be done as per the frequency of use of items. More frequentlyused items should be kept near the workplace (see Nos. 9, 10 and 11 under Seiri).
6. Workers should answer these questions: 

• What do I need to do my job?
• Where should I locate this item?
• How many of this item do I really need?

7. Make a plan based on the principles and locate things accordingly.
8. Use 5Whys to decide where each item belongs.
9. Locate needed items so they can be retrieved in 30 to 60 seconds with minimum steps.
10. Make sure to inform everybody at the workplace about positioning of the items.
11. Make a clear list of items with their locations and put it on lockers or cabinets.
12. Label each locker/drawer/cupboard to show what is kept inside.
13. Outline locations of equipment, supplies, common areas and safety zones with lines: 

• Divider lines define aisle ways and work stations.
• Marker lines show position of equipment.
• Range lines indicate range of operation of doors or equipment.
• Limit lines show height limits related to items stored in the workplace.
• Tiger marks draw attention to safety hazards.
• Arrows show direction.

14. Identify all needed items with labels.
15. Take “after” photographs.
16. Complete evaluation using 5S levels of implementation with the facility manager or the authorized person in the organization. 

Step 3: Seiso, or Sweep

Seiso involves cleaning everything, keeping it clean daily, and using cleaning to inspect the workplace and equipment for defects. This is an action to clean the workplace daily.

Actions items: 

1. Take “before” photographs.
2. Adopt cleaning as a daily activity and as a part of inspection. Clean the workplace before starting of the job and before closing the job.
3. Put aside 10 or 15 minutes for the same activity per day.
4. Cleaning indirectly helps to check or inspect each and every part and place. Hence, it should be a habit.
5. Find ways to prevent dirt and contamination.
6. Clean both inside and outside on daily basis.
7. Identify and tag every item that causes contamination.
8. Use 5Whys or cause-and-effect methods to find the root causes of such contamination and take appropriate corrective and preventive action.
9. Keep a log of all places/areas to be improved. Table 1 shows a format for a log for cleaning improvements.

Table 1: Sample Log for Cleaning Improvements
Questions
WHERE is the problem located?	WHAT exactly is the problem?	WHO is responsible to take action?	WHEN will solution be implemented?	HOW is solution to be implemented?
Answers (Use a much detail as needed)

10. 5S “owner” check-sheets should be maintained on daily basis. An example of a check sheet is illustrated in Table 2. (The word owner here is used as a replacement for the title of operator. An operator merely operates the machine or process, and might think cleaning is below them. An owner cares for the machine and area in which he or she works.) 

Table 2: 5S Owner Check Sheet
Machine Number:			Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri
Machine Name:			3/11	3/12	3/13	3/14	3/15
Machine Locaton:
No.	Checks	Frequency	Initials of Person Responsible
1	Red tagging contaminated items	Daily
2	Remove residue from valves	Daily
3	Check oil level	Every Tuesday
4	Apply grease to transfer side	Every Thursday
Check	Supervised by Bill Smith	Daily

11. Develop a plan, activity chart and distribute responsibility.
12. Take “after” photographs.
13. In addition to 10 to 15 minutes for Seiso everyday, owners should have a weekly 5S time, or monthly 5S day.
14. Complete evaluation using 5S levels of implementation with the facility manager or the authorized persons in the organization. 

Step 4: Seiketsu, or Standardize

Seiketsu involves creating visual controls and guidelines for keeping the workplace organized, orderly and clean. This is a condition where a high standard of good housekeeping is maintained. The first three steps, or S’s, are often executed by order. Seiketsu helps to turn it into natural, standard behavior.

Actions items:

1. Take “before” photographs.
2. Check that the first three S’s are implemented properly.
3. All team activity documents/check lists should be publicly displayed on a 5S board.
4. Establish the routines and standard practices for regularly and systematically repeating the first three S’s.
5. Create procedures and forms for regularly evaluating the status of the first three S’s.
6. Standardize red tag procedures and holding area rules (see Seiri).
7. Standardize procedures for creating shadow boards, position lines, and labeling of all items
(see Seiton).
8. Standardize cleaning schedules using the “5S Owner Check Sheets” (see Seiso).
9. Standardize “single-point lessons” for documenting and communicating 5S procedures and improvements in workplace and equipment.
10. Create a maintenance system for housekeeping. Make a schedule for cleaning of the workplace. A common approach is to ask a cross-functional team to do it.
11. Inter-departmental competition is an effective means of sustaining and enhancing interest in 5S.
12. Assign responsibility to individuals for a work area and machinery.
13. Regular inspection/audit and evaluation by a special team (including senior management persons) to be continued.
14. Instead of criticizing poor cases, praise and commend good practices or good performers.
15. Take “after” photographs and post them on the 5S board(s).
16. Complete evaluation using 5S levels of implementation with the facility manager or the authorized persons in the organization. 

Step 5: Shitsuke, or Self-Discipline

Shitsuke involves training and discipline to ensure that everyone follows the 5S standards. This is a condition where all members practice the first four S’s spontaneously and willingly as a way of life. Accordingly, it becomes the culture in the organization.

Actions items:

1. Everyone in the workplace should treat it they would their own home.
2. Periodic facility management involvement is required to check that the first four S’s are implemented perfectly.
3. Employees must make it a part of their daily work and not an action forced upon them.
4. Dedication, commitment, devotion and sincerity are needed in implementation of 5S on daily basis.
5. Senior management should initiate a celebration for the total 5S implementation, and be an active part in the total process in initiating and carrying forward the program.
6. Senior management should do a periodic review of the status of 5S.
7. Inspections of first three S’s should be done and the results displayed on 5S board regularly.
8. Single point lessons should be used to communicate the standards for how 5S work should be done.
9. Root cause problem-solving process should be in place where root causes are eliminated and improvement actions include prevention.
10. Owners conduct 5S Kaizen activities and document results. Owners (operators) complete daily check sheets to control factors that accelerate deterioration of equipment, and to keep clean workplaces that help build pride. 

When fully implemented, the 5S process increases morale, creates positive impressions on customers, and increase efficiency and organization. Not only will employees feel better about where they work, the effect on continuous improvement can lead to less waste, better quality and faster lead times. 5S is not only a system for housekeeping, it is an integrated approach for productivity improvement. 5S is a whole a culture which increases production, improves quality, reduces cost, makes delivery on time, improves safety and improves morale. 5S also is not a list of action items, but is an integrated concept of actions, condition and culture. To get the greatest success, the nature and implication of each “S” need to be understood by each employee and should be regularly practiced.

8 Ways To Achieve Better Work-Life Balance

For most people, juggling the demands of a career and a personal life is an ongoing challenge, especially at a time when many companies have slashed their ranks–and expect more from the survivors.

Achieving the elusive “work-life balance” can often feel like an impossible goal, especially for people who strive to give everything 100%. In today’s “do more with less” competitive reality, how can we manage careers and families, and feel satisfied with both?

People who study workplace culture emphasize that someone’s best individual work-life balance will vary over time. The right balance for you when you’re single will change when you marry or have children. Experts also say that a few small steps can go a long way toward staying sane at work and home.

First, prioritize. “If you want balance–and not everybody does–you have to force yourself to edit yourself personally and professionally,” .

Consider all the things that compete for your time, and decide what to keep and what to discard. If you volunteer with three nonprofit organizations, select the most meaningful one, focus on it, and stop scattering your attention among all three.

“Focus on the things that are important to you, and don’t do the extraneous stuff,” says Miller. “It’s a discipline that doesn’t come too naturally to most of us.”

If your firm allows staffers to telecommute, consider working from home a few days a week. When discussing this option with your boss, approach it from a position of strength. Describe how the flexibility could ultimately help your company. Consider saying: “I like my job, and feel that I’m an asset. I’d like to talk about ways I can make my work here as productive as possible. I’m in a not-so-unique situation of caring for my elderly parents (or whatever your situation may be), and working from home once or twice a week would give me much-needed extra time. I believe I’d be able to give you better work, since I’d be less distracted.”

You might be surprised to find your boss sympathetic–particularly if you’re a top performer–because he or she is in a similar situation. In this economy, employers that can’t give raises might be willing to offer other benefits. They want to treat their best employees well, so that when the economy does turn around those employees don’t flee to other companies.

Technology is a good servant, but a bad master. Remember that BlackBerrys, iPhones and other devices exist to make your life easier, not to rule it. Identify certain times, like dinner, when your household must remain tech-free. Mention this window to your manager and co-workers. “Set up your rules and adhere to them,” says Barbara Wankoff, director of workplace solutions for the professional services firm KPMG. “This doesn’t make you inflexible or unresponsive; it just allows you to be more in control of how you work. Be a role model to your staff and colleagues.”

Loretta Penn, former president of Spherion Staffing Services, takes it a step further: “You don’t have to respond to every e-mail or voicemail as soon as it comes in. Just because someone else deems something a priority doesn’t mean you should too.”

Here are 8 ways to achieve better work life balance:

Learn Your Employer’s Policies. Inquire about your company’s policies on flextime and working from home. If you’re a strong performer, you have a better chance of negotiating an arrangement that works for both you and your employer.

Communicate. If you won’t be available for certain hours during the day or weekend because you’re dealing with family issues, let your manager and colleagues know, and get their full support.

Use Technology to Your Advantage. Technology should help make your life easier, not control it. Ban technology at certain times so that you can focus on your family or friends.

Telecommute. Telecommuting a few times a week could help free up valuable hours. You’ll be able to focus on work for long stretches at a time and use the extra hours to meet personal responsibilities.

Learn to Say “No.” Remember that you can respectfully decline offers to run the PTA or serve on an extra committee at work. When you stop doing things out of guilt, you’ll find more time to focus on the activities that truly bring you joy.

Fight the Guilt. Superwoman–and Superman–are fictional characters. Real people can’t devote 100% to everything they do. Stop feeling guilty if you miss an occasional soccer game or bail on a colleague’s going-away party.

Rethink Your Idea of “Clean.” Unmade beds or dusty moldings are not signs of failure. Try to get used to a little messiness and spend more time enjoying your life. If you can afford to outsource help, pay someone else to clean your house.

Protect Your Private Time. Allow yourself to daydream in the subway or appreciate good weather on your walk to work. If you don’t allow yourself pockets of personal time, you’ll become too burned out to fully appreciate any part of your life.

Failing To Plan Is Planning To Fail

Strategy should be at the forefront of your organization’s conversation. Without a clearly defined plan and set of goals, you’ll wander aimlessly throughout the year with no clear road map for where you’re heading. 

It all starts with the conversation, which can sometimes be challenging to have with a boss or board of directors. But it’s vital that these conversations happen. Here are some points to help you make your case:

1. Strategy allows your organization the ability to better anticipate and prepare for change. You’ll lose valuable momentum and lead time being reactive rather than proactive. Customer expectations, regulatory requirements, competition, and economic changes are all variables that can rock the boat and send you to the bottom of the ocean if you don’t have strategies in place.
2. The lack of a strategic plan can send employee morale down the drain. Besides the obvious paycheck, people need a reason to come to work every day. Without a planned, focused future, morale falls and employee interaction becomes vague and lifeless. A strategic plan sheds light on who is doing what, why they’re doing it, and how they individually contribute to the success of the organization.
3. It drives organizational growth. Succeeding without a plan is possible, and there are plenty of examples of businesses who’ve seen financial success without one. If you’re one of them, consider yourself lucky, but ask yourself this question: Could you have grown and become even more successful if you were better organized? We’ve got money you’ll say yes.
4. It sets a benchmark and helps you assess your performance. A strategic plan by nature requires you to measure and document performance. Doing so will allow you to benchmark where you’ve been, allowing you to adjust your trajectory of where you are going. Documenting data is a wise business decision to keep your organization moving forward.

Production Planning and Control – the Concept and Definition

Production Planning is one of the integral parts of any manufacturing unit. The process complexities vary in degree depending upon the number of processes involved in the production of desired product. With the globalization the sourcing process has become complex as international boundaries are not a deterrent in conducting the business. 

Production planning is a managerial function mainly concerned with the following issues.

• What production facilities are required?
• Layout of production facility to be laid out in the space available for the production
• Desired product at the desired rate of production

Production planning has a dynamic nature and has to be changed according to the changes in circumstances. Any deviation from the planned parameters as perceived during the initial planning i.e. Machine breakdown, change in raw material, change in demand, change in requirement etc will lead to the change in plan. 

Production planning is done in long term, medium term and short term. Long term planning is important in capital intensive industries (cement, fertilizer etc) where capacity additions cannot be done on a short notice. Medium term planning is done up to 2 years ahead to assess how demand can be met from existing facility by utilizing resource optimally. Short term planning is concerned to the day to day activities when plans are to be executed and corrective actions taken after efficient monitoring.

Requirements of Production Planning

A production plan should be based on accurate data. Random calculation or guess works should be avoided while planning as it can have a chain effect on the whole plan. Plans should be flexible to accommodate any deviation from the conditions and situations as perceived during planning. A rigid plan will be an accessory to fall as it may lead to compromises on various fronts which may not be suitable for longer duration. Any plan should satisfy pre defined objectives like timely delivery, quality etc. Plan should be simple and straight forward with a robust reporting system so that right information reaches at right place in right time.

Production Control

Production control is a mechanism to monitor the execution of plans. Production operation should start at right time and the progress should be observed and recorded properly so that the data can be analyzed and deviation can be measured to initiate a suitable action i.e. change in plan. Corrective action should be taken immediately in order to minimize the negative impact of deviation from the plan. There should be a feedback system in order to improve future plans.

In garment manufacturing where the final product and the input vary, challenges also come from different unpredictable fronts. A robust control mechanism is essential to make the planning successful.