Sunday, August 5, 2012

Introduction to work study and productivity improvement technique in textile and apparel garments Industry

Introduction to work study and productivity improvement technique:

Bangladesh has gone through an unprecedented growth of export oriented apparel garments industry. The growth rate is spectacular if seen from the view point that development in any other sector of industry was sluggish and of basic sector in particular, was negative and has been a source of drain on our resources.
At the starting garments business with a handful of units in 1978-1980, the clothing sub sector now comprises more than 43300 units and readymade apparel garments export value worth USD 6.40 billion.
Production of yarn, knit fabric, woven fabric, clothing and readymade garments items is rather a very complex job under a lot of pressure points. Added to the particular complexity and unique feature of apparel garments production there is the lack of appropriate management techniques.
Apparel garments and textile industry in this country are said to be not competitetive because of a host of reason. Many experts speculate with rational that with the withdrawal of quota protection. Apparel factories may find them in a deep hole unless some breakthrough takes place in the following areas:
1.    Shorting of lead time for producing apparel garments product.
2.    Effecting substantial improvement in productivity and quality of textile and garments items.
3.    Improvement of infrastructure
4.    Existence of due political stability
5.    Improvement of compliance status
Out of the mentioned measure the easiest one is the improvement of productivity and quality so as to be become competitive with the most difficult countries like china India Pakistan Vietnam countries of sub-saharan Africa and NAFTA ets.
A number of measures should be undertaken to substantially improve productivity of a textile or garments industry. The first and foremost measure to be implemented is introduction of work study principles in the apparel garments textile and dyeing industries.
Work study is a proper and specific management technique that introduce and determines standard time required to complete a job and discovers the best method and technique to accomplish the job in the easiest and cheapest way. As manual work abounds in the apparel industries work study is the only way to stipulate a time frame to complete each particular job. Work study is the only way to stipulate a time frame to complete each job.  Work study also specifies the right method of doing the job. Thus it helps enhance production productivity to the desired production level.
This also illustrates Work study principles as applied to the apparel, textile dyeing, knitting and woven industries. Besides, the further topics deal with all of the other techniques, concepts, methods, technology necessary for improving productivity of the apparel garments industry. The total work study articles has been designed bilingual so that diverse categories of people like entrepreneurs, managers, officers, and supervisors can make use of those.   It has been designed to be suitable for novices as well. This is a Teach Yourself type guideline. Examples given those articles are taken from real life circumstances. It will be a source of great joy if this effort of the author can in any way, contribute to improving productivity in apparel industries of this countries.
Let’s read the related articles on work-study and productivity improvements. 

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

SELECTION OF DYEING PROCESS FOR DYEING OF TEXTILE MATERIAL

SELECTION OF DYEING PROCESS:
Even dyes that belong to the same class can have differing degrees of colorfastness to the same condition, so that the consumer has no real guarantee of color permanence unless a label specifies that a particular fabric is colorfast. Dye performance labeling is not required by any form of legislation or regulation. Some manufacturers do, however, include colorfastness information on labels. Such labels will generally describe the conditions under which the fabric is colorfast, such as “colorfast to laundering, but not to chlorine bleaching” or “colorfast to sunlight.” A few terms may be found on labels that carry an assurance of colorfastness, such as trademarks that have been applied to solution-dyed synthetic fibers. The colorfastness of one class of dyes, the vat dyes, is so consistently good for laundering that the term “vat dyed” on labels has come to be accepted as an assurance of good colorfastness.

Textile may be dyed at any stage of their development from fiber into fabric or certain garments by the following methods:

• Stock dyeing, in the fiber stage
• Top dyeing, in the combed wool sliver stage
• Yarn dyeing, after the fiber has been spun into yarn
• Fabric/ Piece dyeing, after the yarn has been constructed into fabric
• Solution pigmenting or dope dyeing before a manmade fiber is extruded through the spinneret
• Garment dyeing after certain kinds of apparel are knitted /Woven


Stock Dyeing:

Mass Coloration
Mass coloration is the addition of color to manufactured fibers before they are extruded. These fibers have been variously known as spun-dyed, solution-dyed or doped.:; ed. iib.,is extruded, it carries the coloring material as an integral part of the

fiber.This “locked-in” color is extremely fast to laundering (that is, it will not diminish); however, such colors can be sensitive to light and bleaching or may fade. The range of colors in which solution dyeing is done is rather limited for economic reasons.

The fiber manufacturer must produce substantial quantities of fiber to justify the expense of adding an extra step during the manufacturing process. Furthermore, fiber production takes place well in advance of the time when fabrics reach the market.

Fashion color trends may change fairly rapidly, so that, by the time a mass colored fabric reaches the market, the color may be out of fashion and not salable. For this reason, spun-dyed fabrics are generally produced in basic colors. Mass coloration is used on acetate to prevent gas fading. Gas fumes in the air may turn some blue or green dyes used for acetate to pink or brown.

Dyeing Fibers
When color is added at the fiber stage, this process is known as fiber dyeing or stock dyeing. It is a batch process in which loose (usually staple) fibers are immersed in a dyebath. dyeing takes place, and the fibers are dried. Exhaustion is quicker in fiber dyeing because the dye liquor has better access to fiber surfaces.

Levelness may be a problem but its effect can be minimized by blending fibers later during yarn processing. Stock-dyed fibers are most often used in tweed or heather effect materials in which delicate shadings of color are produced by combining fibers of varying colors. The yarns in Harris Tweed fabrics are a distinctive example of fiber dyeing. Fiber-dyed fabrics can be identified by untwisting the yarns to see whether the yarn is made up of a variety of different colored fibers. In solid-colored yarns untwisted stock-dyed fibers will be uniform in color, with no darker or lighter areas. Stock dyeing refers to dyeing a staple fiber before it is spun.

There are two methods.

The first method, bale dyeing, applied mostly on wool and all types of manmade fibers, is that of splitting the bale covering on all six sides, placing the entire bale in a specially designed machine (the covering and straps need not be removed), and then forcing the dye liquor through the bale of fiber. In stock dyeing, which is the most effective and expensive method of dyeing, the color is well penetrated into the fibers and does not crock readily.

**yarn & fabric dyeing **

Yarn Dyeing
When dyeing is done after the fiber has been spun into yarn, it is described as yarn dyeing. Cloth made of dyed yarns is called yarn-dyed. Yarn-dyed fabrics are usually deeper and richer in color. Yarn-dyed fabrics intended for laundering must be quite colorfast, or bleeding could occur. The primary reason for dyeing in the yarn form is to create interesting checks, stripes, and plaids with different-colored yarns in the weaving process.

If color has not been added either to the polymer or the fiber, it can be applied to the yarns before they are made into fabrics. Yarns may be dyed in skeins, in packages, or on beams. Special dyeing equipment is required for each of these batch processes. In skein dyeing, large skeins of yarn are loosely wound on sticks and placed in a vat for dyeing. In package dyeing, the yarn is wound onto a number of perforated tubes or springs. The dye is circulated through the tubes to ensure that the yarns have maximum contact with the dye. Beam dyeing is a variation of package dyeing, which uses a larger cylinder onto which a set of warp yarns is wound.

Many types of fabrics utilize yarn of differing colors to achieve a particular design. Stripes in which contrasting sections of color alternate in the length or crosswise direction, chambrays in which one color is used in one direction and another color is used in the other direction, complex dobby or jacquard weaves, and plaids may all require yarns to which color has already been added.

Yarn-dyed fabrics may be identified by unraveling several warp and several filling yarns from the pattern area to see whether they differ in color. Not only will each yarn be a different color, but the yarns will have no darker or lighter areas where they have crossed other yarns.

Usually yarns are dyed to one solid color, but in a variant of the technique called space dyeing, yarns may be dyed in such a way that color-and-white or multicolored effects are formed along the length of the yarn.

Skein (Hank) Dyeing:
Yarn may be prepared in skein, or hank, form and then dyed. The loose arrangement of the yarn allows for excellent dye penetration. The skeins are hung over a rung and immersed in a dye bath in a large container.

Piece Dyeing
Fabrics that are to be a solid color are usually piece dyed. In piece’ dyeing, the finished fabric is passed through a dye bath where the fibers in the fabric absorb the dye. A number of different methods are used for piece dyeing, each of which differs slightly in the way in which the fabric is handled. Fabrics may be dyed in either continuous or batch processes. In continuous dyeing, the cloth continually passes through the dyebath. This is the cheaper process and, where possible, is used for dyeing large yardages. Batch dyeing is used for shorter fabric lengths.

Some fabrics are dyed in open, Rat widths. Knitted fabrics and those woven materials that are not subject to creasing are handled in “rope” form, that is, bunched together and handled as a narrower strand. They are usually attached at the ends to form a continuous loop. Some dyeing methods are especially suitable for certain types of fabrics and unsuitable for others. Many different kinds of machines can be used for piece dyeing. The great bulk of dyed fabric on the market is dyed in the piece.

Small lots of fabrics of all fibers are dyed in batches. Piece dyeing is thoroughly satisfactory as regards levelness, penetration, and overall fastness, assuming that the proper dyes have been used. Fabric may be piece-dyed whether it is composed of only one kind of fiber or yarn or of blends of different fibers or combinations of different yarns. When the fabric is made of one kind of fiber or yarn, then dyeing is relatively uncomplicated because the one appropriate dye is used. However, when the fabric contains a blend of fibers or combination of different yarns, then special procedures are required which employ different dyes that are each specific for the particular fibers used. These procedures are called union dyeing and cross dyeing.

Union Dyeing:
This process of dyeing piece goods made of different fibers or yarns in one color may be readily accomplished. Although different fibers may require different dyes to obtain the same color, this may be done by putting the appropriate color dye that is specific to each type of fiber into one dye bath.

Cross Dyeing:
One method is a combination of stock dyeing or of yarn dyeing with subsequent piece dyeing. Cross dyeing produces varied effects. For instance, either the warp or the filling yarns may be stock-dyed or yarn-dyed, one set of yarns being left undyed. The fabric is piece-dyed after weaving; thus, color is given to the undyed yarn in a second dyebath, and the yarns that were originally stock-dyed or yarn-dyed acquire some additional coloring, which blends with the piece-dyed portion of the fabric. If yarns of vegetable fibers have been combined with yarns of animal fibers in a fabric that is to be piece-dyed, two separate dye baths must be used. The fabric is dipped into both solutions, each of which affects the fiber for which it has an affinity. This provides colorful effects. Still another method of cross-dyeing is to immerse a fabric composed of two different types of fibers into one dye bath containing two different dyes, one specific for each of the fibers. One of methods of piece dyeing is described below.

Beck Dyeing(Beam dyeing)
Long lengths of cloth that are to be dyed on a continuous process are very often beck-dyed, or box-dyed, by passing the fabric in tension-free rope form through the dyebath. The rope of cloth moves over a rail onto a reel, which immerses it into the dye and then draws the fabric up and forward to the front of the machine. The process is repeated as long as necessary to dye the material uniformly to the desired intensity of color.

Beam dyeing, which is used for lightweight, fairly open-weave fabrics, utilizes the same principle as beam dyeing of yarns. The fabric is wrapped around a perforated beam and immersed in the dyebath. Tightly woven fabrics would not allow sufficient dye penetration; hence, this method must be applied to loosely woven cloth. It has the added advantage of not putting tension or pressure on the goods as they are processed.

Jig Dyeing:
This method utilizes the basic procedure of beck dyeing. However, in jig dyeing, the fabric is held on rollers at full width rather than in rope form as it is passed through the dye bath. The rope of cloth moves over a rail onto a reel, which immerses it into the dye and then draws the fabric up and forward to the front of the machine. The process is repeated as long as necessary to dye the material uniformly to the desired intensity of color. Batch processes that dye fabric in flat widths are jig and beam dyeing. Jig dyeing is a process that places greater tension on the fabric than the beck and jet machines. Fabrics are stretched across two rollers that are placed above a stationary dyebath. The fabric is passed through the dyebath and wound on one roller. The motion is then reversed until the desired exhaustion or depth of shade is achieved. The tension created by placing the fabric on the rollers means that this process must be reserved for fabrics with a fairly close weave that will not lose their shape under tension.

Jig dyeing
Jet dyeing: - Jet dyeing is a newer method that uses propulsion of the dye liquor through the fabric to improve dye penetration. Dyeing takes place in a closed system that carries a fast-moving stream of pressurized dye liquor. A fluid jet of dye penetrates and dyes the fabric. After it passes through this jet, the fabric is floated through an enclosed tube in which the fluid moves faster than the fabric. This prevents the fabric from touching the walls, keeping it constantly immersed in the dyebath. Turbulence is created by locating elbows in the tube. The turbulence aids in diffusing dyes and dyebath auxiliaries. Since no pressure is put on the fabric, even delicate fabrics can be dyed by this process. Jet dyeing has the advantage of being economical in operation and at the same time allowing a high degree of quality control

1. Fabric guide roll
2. Loading & unloading port
3. Header tank
4. U tube
5. Suction control
6. Suction control
7. Suction control
8. Delivery control
9. Main control
10. Filter
11. Heat exchanger
12. Service tank

Solution Pigmenting, or Dope Dyeing
During the production of manmade fibers, a great deal of time and money can be saved if the dye is added to the solution before it is extruded through the spinnerets into filaments. This method also gives a greater degree of colorfastness. A process called solution pigmenting, or dope dyeing, has been used for manmade fibers ranging from rayon through saran and glass fiber.

Garment Dyeing
Certain kinds of non-tailored apparel, such as hosiery, pantyhose, and sweaters can be dyed as completed garments because they are each made of a single component and will not be readily distorted. However, allowance must be made for anticipated shrinkage. A number of garments are loosely packed into a large nylon net bag. The bags are then put into a paddle dyer, which is a tub with a motor-driven paddle that agitates the dye bath. Except for dyeing socks and narrow fabrics, garment dyeing, is the process of dyeing completed garments, remained a rather unimportant novelty until the second half of the 1980s; Industry sources credit two factors with a sharp increase in the amount of garment-dyed apparel. First, fashion demanded small lots of garments from fabrics with stonewashed, ice-washed, tie-dyed, overdyed, and distressed effects. These effects were more readily achieved through garment dyeing than traditional dyeing methods. The second factor was the ability of manufacturers to achieve Quick Response or Just-In-Time production through garment dyeing.

The lead time required for delivery of orders in the traditional dyeing system is about eight weeks. For garment-dyed products lead time is about two weeks. Although the process of garment dyeing is more costly than traditional piece dyeing (estimated at $1 to $3 per item), savings are achieved in the long run because manufacturers and retailers need not maintain large inventories. If undyed merchandise is left from one season, it can be dyed for sale the following season. However, if it has already been dyed and a different color is wanted, it must be overdyed, given a second dyeing to a different color. Manufacturers can be more responsive to fashion trends by producing small dye lots.

Garment dyeing is primarily applied to cotton fabrics; however, high-pressure equipment can be used to process polyester and cotton blends. To achieve consistently good results with garment dyeing, manufacturers must exercise care in a number of areas.

1. Fabric. All fabric used in one garment must come from the same bolt of fabric. If, for example, one trouser leg of a pair of jeans is cut from one bolt of fabric, and the other from another bolt, each leg may dye to a different shade. The result would be jeans in which the legs do not match.

2. Shrinkage. Fabric must also be tested for shrinkage before cutting of garments, and garments must be cut large enough to allow for shrinkage so that sizes will be accurate.

3. Thread.
Thread must be chosen carefully and tested to be sure it will accept the dye in the same way as the fabric. One hundred percent cotton thread is preferred, but even with allcotton thread there may be problems. For example, mercerized thread will dye to a darker shade than unmercerized garment fabric. This will make the stitching stand out from the background fabric.

4. Labels, button, zippers.
All of these supplies must be compatible with the garment fabric in terms of reaction to the dye and shrinkage. The machines used for garment dyeing are called paddle machines. To avoid entanglement during dyeing, garments are generally placed inside bags. Paddles in the machine rotate, changing directions periodically, to make sure that all pieces being dyed are equally exposed to the dye liquor. Garments are generally washed before dyeing, to remove any finishing materials that would interfere with dyeing, and after dyeing to remove excess dye.

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Wish you good luck......................................................

Process sequence of cutting section in apparel garments industry

Process sequence of cutting section in apparel garments industry



Store
Fabric Fault Checking
Relaxation
Shade Checking
Prepare the fabric in the fabric spreading m/c
Spreading
Marker attachment
Cutting
Numbering
Bundling
Panel Check (QC)
Fault
←     ↔    →
OK
Replace Cut
→     →      ←    ←
Solid
←     ↔    →
Not Solid
Print / Embroidery
→     →      ←    ←
Checking & Counting (QC)
Sewing









Store of Garments:
Garments store is the sector where all the raw material are stored which are need to make a garments. Raw fabric for cutting, which will be processed to garments by cutting, sewing, is kept here until the process starts. This fabric comes from the main factory after knitting and dyeing. Different types of fabrics like Single Jersey, Lycra, fleece, rib etc. There are three sections, Fabric Store, Garments Store, and General Store. In Fabric store all the fabric is being stored. In Garment store, all the items without fabrics that are needed to produce garment is stored. Finally, in General store, all the related things that is needed to run a factory is stored.

In fabric store, normally 250-300 ton fabric comes to store in each day. Now, around 37 ton fabrics are stored. Few days ago, this number was around 100 ton. Cutting department get fabrics from here. There is a Fabrics Requisition sheet where all the information is being written about the fabrics movement from store to cutting section.


Fabric Fault Check out before cutting:
This quality control section is very important before garments cutting. The fabric is roughly checked from dyeing section and then those are sending to garments factory for producing complete garments. Usually very small amount of fault comes from dyeing. Small hole and pin hole are the main fault get in cutting quality check. But a single pin hole in single part of garment could be the cause of rejection of garments and it is a major defect. That’s why a thoroughly checking is done before cutting. Here Fabrics are being checked before going to relaxation section of cutting. Required number of table is preserved for fault checking. Fabric fault like hole, yarn miss, dart etc are being checked. Normally 10% fabric is checked. There are two popular fabric fault checking system is exist. Ten point system and four point system. Usually four point system is very much popular for knitted fabric and ten point system is popular for woven fabric.


Relaxation of fabric for cutting
Normally Fabric came in a roll form. Before sending the fabric for cutting, it is necessary to relax the fabric. Usually fabric comes as the form of role or gathered from textile dyeing section. So the dimensional stability of fabric is relatively lower and it contain crease mark. The fabric is kept in an open place for around 12-24 hours according to fabrics type and buyer requirements. Relaxation time for lycra fabric and pique fabric is around 3 days and minimum 24 hours. For Single Jersey and Fleece fabric, standard relaxation time is 24 hours and minimum time is 12 hours. There are racks to store the fabrics for relaxation.


Shade Checking before cutting:
Shade checking is most important part in cutting section. Before spreading the fabric on the cutting table, relaxed fabric is rechecked for shade variation in time of relaxation. If the fabric is ok then it goes for cutting. If not, then that part of fabric is rejected and transferred for further reprocessing. 

Prepare the fabric in the fabric spreading m/c
The fabric is being gathered in the machine in a small lay form that will be easy to spread the fabric in the fabric cutting table. At least two men are needed to do the job.

Spreading of fabric:
Fabric is spread on the table by spreader machine. One man control the machine and around 6-10 people to adjust the fabric to its specific dimension. Number of layer varies according to the marker length and production needed. More the layer length will be, the more will be the production rate.

Marker attachment
After laying down the specific number of fabric on the cutting table the marker paper is over laid on the fabric. Then the marker paper is attached to the fabric  by some adhesive. 

Cutting
There are cutting man to cut the laid fabrics according to the marker sketch. Normally two men do this job. Generally 10-15 number of laid fabric is being cut.

Numbering
The fabric peaces are being numbered by a labeling machine to identify these peaces in future.

Bundling
All the numbered fabric is then bundled together and send it for checking.

Panel Check (QC)
Here, the fabric is being checked for any fault. There is a sticker with all the information that is needed to identify this bundle in future for further processing like, Date, Buyer, cutting no., size, bundle no, quantity, serial no., color, lot no. In checking normally Cutting no., size, serial no. are checked.

After Panel Check
If there is a fault in the fabric then it send for further processing. If there is some spot in the fabric then it will be washed and if there is hole or some thing that needed to be replaced then is send for replace cutting.

If the garment will be solid then it goes for sewing. But if some fabric peaces needed to be printed or embroidery then it goes for it. After returning from printing or embroidery the fabric is ready for sewing.  

Checking & Counting (QC)
After doing, the entire job in cutting section the fabric is checked and counted. Then, all these peaces go for sewing. Responsible people from sewing department receive the fabric from cutting department.

Sewing
Now, the peaces of fabrics are joined together to make the final product.