MODERN DEVLOPMENT IN GARMENTS SEctor
Introduction:
RMG sector is one of the major employers in the economy. Around three million people
are employed in RMG industry and about 70 per cent of which are women.Ready-made
garments are mass-produced finished textile products of the clothing industry. They are
not custom tailored according to measurements, but rather generalized according to
anthropometric studies. They are made from many different fabrics and yarns. Their
characteristics depend on the fibers used in their manufacture. Ready-made garments
are divided into the following types: outer clothing, which includes workwear and
uniforms, leisure wear, and sportswear (e.g., suits, pants, dresses, ladies' suits, blouses,
blazers, jackets, cardigans, pullovers, coats, sports jackets, skirts, shirts, ties, jeans,
shorts, T-shirts, polo shirts, sports shirts, tracksuits, bathing shorts, bathing suits, and
bikinis); and undergarments, which include jersey goods and lingerie (e.g. underpants,
undershirts, briefs, socks, stockings, and pantyhose.
History of RMG sector:
Worldwide: The first ready-made garment factory was established in New York in
1831. During the American Civil War the need for ready-made uniforms helped the
garment sector grow in the United States. Near the end of the nineteenth century there
were changes in societal views towards ready-made garments: They were no longer
seen as only for the lower classes but also for the middle classes. This trend started in
the United States. In the beginning they were more popular with men than women.[4]
In the late 1860s, twenty-five percent of garments produced in the US were ready-
made, but by 1890, the portion had risen to sixty percent. By 1951, ninety percent of
garments sold in the United States were ready made. During the same time two-thirds
of garments sold in France were ready made.
In Bangladesh: The foundation of textile sector was first established in the 60th
decade of 19th century. For the first time, the industry exported shirts (Mercury shirt) to
the European market in 1965-66, which was produced from Karachi. In the latter, 9
exporting industries were available in 1977-78. The three largest industries in that time
were Riaz Garments, Jewel Garments and Paris Garments. Among those, Riaz Garments
was the most famous and oldest industry in that time.
In the earlier stage, Riaz Garments of Mohammad Reaz Uddin started its business with
some tailoring shop in the name of Riaz store. In the later, the name turned into Riaz
Garments from Riaz store in 1973 and from 1978 the company started exporting
products in the abroad by exporting 1 million pieces of shirts in the South Korean
Company named “Olanda”. “Desh Garments” is another pioneer of Bangladesh RMG
sector. In 1979, Desh Garments started a joint project with South Korean company
“Daiyuu”.
At the same time, several garments were introduced such as-Stylecraft limited by
Shamsur Rahman, Aristocraft Limitd by AM Subid Ali, Azim Group by Engineer
Mohammad Fazlul Azim and Sunman Group by Major (Retd) Abdul Mannan.
By following the beginners of RMG sector, some others discreet and hard-working
entrepreneurs started their RMG business in the country. From there, RMG sector of
Bangladesh was developing day by day and not needed to look back. Though this sector
had passed various critical stages through the path. In that time, we learned about child
labour 1994 and in 1995 we made our garments industry free from child labour very
successfully.
Present Condition/Situation of Ready Made Garments
Industry :
The garment industry has played a pioneering role in the development of industrial
sector . Though it took a rather late start i.e., in 1976 but it soon established its
reputation in the world market within a short span of time. Resultantly garment is now
one of the main export items of the country. Besides, enriching the country's economy it
has played a very important role in alleviating unemployment. At present there are
more than two thousand one hundred garment factories in the country employing more
than 12 lack labors. 85 percent of the labor force is women.
With 5,000 factories employing about 3.6 million workers (of a total workforce of 74
million), Bangladesh is clearly ahead of other Southeast Asian suppliers in terms of
capacity of the ready-made-garment industry. It also offers satisfactory levels of quality,
especially in value and entry-level midmarket products.
Ready-made garments manufactured in Bangladesh are divided mainly into two broad
categories: woven and knit products. Shirts, T-shirts and trousers are the main woven
products and undergarments, socks, stockings, T-shirts, sweaters and other casual and
soft garments are the main knit products. Woven garment products still dominate the
garment export earnings of the country. The share of knit garment products has been
increasing since the early 1990s; such products currently account for more than 40 per
cent of the country’s total RMG export earnings (BGMEA website). Although various
types of garments are manufactured in the country, only a few categories, such as
shirts, T-shirts, trousers, jackets and sweaters, constitute the major production-share
(BGMEA website; and Nath, 2001). Economies of scale for large-scale production and
export-quota holdings in the corresponding categories are the principal reasons for such
a narrow product concentration.
With about $15 billion in exports in 2010, ready-made garments are the country's most
important industrial sector; they represent 13% of GDP and more than 75% of total
exports. Recent surveys carried out by the consulting firm McKinsey and the accounting
firm KPMG identified attractive prices as the most important reason for purchasing in
Bangladesh. Price levels will remain highly competitive in the future, since significant
efficiency increases will offset rising wage costs.
Diagram of Garment Export from Bangladesh
Besides labour cost and duty advantage, raw materials and real estate costs are also
cheaper in Bangladesh. There is also no doubt that Bangladesh is benefitting from various
preferential trade agreements providing tax free entry into several dozen countries.
MODERN DEVLOPMENT IN RMG SECTOR:
“One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of
one extraordinary man”
Men are here on earth are only developing the new technology.
In Fashion Business is all about quick response, lots of saying, short run of multiple
goods, speed of market, Flexibility high quality and cost saving. This is necessitates only
increasing demand for new technology. Technological development only making the
apparel industry to gets increases its production and quality.
As today’s customer s are not purchasing goods or services with closed eyes every
company wants to produce best quality with optimum price to compete each other.
New garment manufacturing Technologies only making them to achieved their
Costumer needs and compete.
As a result technology suppliers are striving hard to innovate and develop new
technologies keeping with demands of Garment Industry.
In this paper I have highlighted some new devlopment in garment industry
World markets:
Bangladesh was second largest ready-made garments (RMG) manufacturer after China,
by the next five years Bangladesh will become the largest ready-made garments
manufacturer.Bangladesh was the sixth largest exporter of apparel in the world after
China, the EU, Hong Kong, Turkey and India in 2006.[citation needed] In 2006
Bangladesh's share in the world apparel exports was 2.8%. apparel; 50% of their total
apparel exports. The EU took a 61% share of Bangladeshi knitwear.
T-shirt quality checking in a ready made garment factory of Bangladesh
Starting in 1974 the Multi Fibre Arrangement (MFA) in the North American market
ensured that trade in textiles and garments. Daewoo of South Korea was an early
entrant in Bangladesh, when it established a joint venture on 27 December 1977 with
Desh Garments Ltd. making it the first export oriented ready-made garment industry in
Bangladesh.After only one year in which 130 Desh supervisors and managers received
free training from Daewoo in production and marketing at Daewoo's state-of-the-art
ready-made garment plant in Korea, 115 of the 130 left Desh Garments Ltd. and set up
separate private garment export firms or began working for other newly formed export-
oriented RMG companies with new garment factories in Bangladesh for much higher
salaries than Desh Garments Ltd offered.
market share in 1995 <3% 4% <3% 3%
market share in 2004 3% 2% 3% 4%
As the above table shows, the market shares for Bangladeshi textiles in the US and both
textiles and clothing in the European Union have changed during the time period of the
ATC.
DEVLOPMENT IN INDIA
The Textile industry in India is one of the largest in the world with a large raw
material base and manufacturing strength across the value chain.
India is:
o The largest producer of cotton in the world
o The second largest exporter of cotton in the world
o Leading consumer of cotton
o The second largest producer of silk in the world
India is a global leader in jute production, accounting for about 70% of estimated
world production.1
The total number of looms installed in jute industry was 48,322, as on 01 January
2018. The installed spindles in jute mills other than 100 % export oriented units were
7,48,612. The maximum installed capacity in jute mills other than 100% export oriented
is about 2.75 mn tonnes annually. 2
The Textile industry in India is one of the largest sources of employment
generation in the country with more than 45 mn people employed directly in 2017-18.
The Textile industry in India is dominated by 70% of women workforce and
balance male workforce.
The industry contributes to 7% of industrial output in value terms, 2% of India’s
GDP and 15% of the country’s export earnings.
DEVLOPMENT IN GARMENTS SECTOR IN CHAINA
Industry Structure
Producing Factories China National Garment Association (CNGA) estimates that
there are more than 100 000 garment producing factories in China, for example
Youngor Textile Complex, Well Dyeing Factory, Hongdou Group Co. Ltd., ShanShan
Enterprise, Bosideng Co. Ltd, and more. 19 20 Trade Regarding exports: some
companies are self-exporting firms, whilst others use intermediaries, such as export
companies.21 Branded apparel is normally distributed through department stores or
speciality stores. Low priced clothing tends to be distributed through ‘wholesale
markets or hypermarkets.’22 Retail Well-known brands which source their products
in China are Adidas, Nike, Puma, Calvin Klein, Lacoste, Abercrombie and Fitch, Li
Nung, possibly more. 2
Cotton
World’s leading producer and exporter of cotton.41 Production for 13/14 is estimated
to reach 6.7 million tons.42 Previous issue of production/consumption gap with
Chinese mills using much more cotton than was domestically harvested.
Recent years have seen a change and now there are large stockpiles of cotton in
China. The government recently changed its cotton policy in order to effectively deal
with the issue of excess cotton.44 Policy changes have led to a decline in cotton
production, but this decline has not yet led to a change in China’s position as world
leader in cotton consumption.
RMG EXPORT AND GROWTH:
MEJOR MARKET OF RMG SECTOR:
RMG industry of Bangladesh fully depends on the export. The major importer of RMG
products are USA and Europe. But there is other country that has a contribution to the
total RMG export. The following table contains the list of major importer of our RMG
products.
Table : Major market of RMG industry
Country Amount
Belgium 3812.00
Canada 6218.00
France 13078.00
Germany 27008.00
India 80.00
Italy 22.00
Netherlands 10619.00
Sweden 3058.00
Turkey 2681.00
U.K. 15411.00
U.S.A 43368.00
The Competition In Garments Sector:
From the many corners it was predicted that China would expand its exports and India
would follow, and that the other relatively small exporters would suffered seriously
from the competition of these two giants. However, it turned out that some garment-
exporting Least Developed Countries (LDCs), such as Bangladesh, Cambodia and Haiti,
faired very well throughout the year 2005. In this context, an attempt has been made to
examine the export data of selected countries during MFA and post MFA to US and EU
markets in order to assess the indicative impact of post MFA scenario in Bangladesh as
well as other largest garments exporters. The following Tables show the picture in this
regard.
Table-: Exports of knit and woven garments to the United States
WORKERS CONDITIONS IN GARMENTS SECTOR:
In Bangladesh
More than 80% of the labor force in garment factories in Bangladesh are female.
Of the millions of wage earning children in Bangladesh in 1990, almost all of them
worked in the ready-made garment industry.
The textile and clothing sector in Bangladesh is by far the main and most important
industry (with 85.9% of all exports). Very low wages and trade deals with Western
countries have helped make Bangladesh the world's second-largest garment exporter
after China, with 60% of its clothes going to Europe and 23% to the US. Bangladesh has 5
000 textile and garment factories and 4 million textile workers .
In India,
the sector contributes about 4% to GDP and 11% to the country’s export earnings. It is
the second largest provider of employment after agriculture (45 million jobs). Growth is
also driven by abundant availability of raw materials and a large domestic market. India
has been in negotiations with the EU on a free trade agreement (FTA) since 2007.
In Pakistan, this sector contributes 9.5% of GDP and provides employment for about
15 million people – 30% of the country's 49-million-strong workforce. Pakistan is the
fourth largest producer of cotton in the world.
Textile goods amount to 15% of the value of all Vietnam's exports. The Vietnamese
textile industry, with more than 3 800 companies giving employment to 2.2 million
people, is the second export sector. Vietnam is negotiating an FTA with the EU and
within the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). While these agreements could pave the way
for further export increases, they could also reveal a shortage in terms of domestic yarn
factories, vital to the production cycle.
In Cambodia –
the largest employer in the "formal economy" – has been driving GDP growth.
Currently, the garment industry accounts for about 80% of Cambodia's total exports .
Indonesia's garment and clothing sector, highly concentrated on the island of
Java, employs 1.1 million people, as of 2012, making it one of the most important
elements of the country's manufacturing industry. The textile, leather products
and footwear sectors combined were the fourth largest contributor to
manufacturing industry, with a market share of 7.8% for the quarter ending
December 2013. But local textile producers depend almost entirely on imported
cotton
figure:workers in garments sectors
MODERN MACHINE AND SOFTWARE USE IN
GARMENTS:
Process Involved in manufacturing the garment
1. Spreading
2. Pattern making
3. Cutting
4. Stitching
5. Finishing
6. Checking
7. Packing
In coming lines I have discussed all the developments in technologies in the all
respective processes involved in the manufacturing the garments.
Spreading:
Automatic Spreading Machines:- Features:
# Cloth end auto-stop and return staring place.
# 5 minutes power auto-shut off.
# When emergency stop, laid cloth won't be pulled
As per the features of the spreading machine, the fabric is laid on the table
automatically and it auto stop and returns to starting place. Due to this machine
CAD/CAM:
Stand outs in the CAD /CAM technology used for for silhouette pattern development,
pattern detailing system, grading, digitizing, maker making, plotting, cutting operations,
embroidery system, texture mapping by small, medium and large companies throughout
the world. In recent years, the company has excelled in the fashion technology sector
with innovative solutions focused on providing agility and flexibility to creative and
productive processes, bringing automation and security to apparel production. The
production of the garment industry has been increased.
FABRIC CUTTING:
After completing the fabric spreading then the fabric cutting is started. To cut out
pattern pieces of garment components as per exact dimension of the patterns
from a fabric lay is called fabric cutting. The term fabric cutting is only applicable
for garments manufacturing technology.
..
Fig: Straight knife cutting machine
AUTOMATIC CUTTING MACHINE:
Stitching: Quilting is a sewing method done to join two or more layers of material
together to make a thicker padded material. A quilter is the name given to someone
who works at quilting but technology makes the quilter as a machines.
Fusing:
Continuous fusing machines: Because of developments in fusing machines the
production and quality of the garment industry has been tremendously increased. Its
speed is around 2-12 mtr/ min and can heat up to 200 C. The outer body is insulated so
it does not allow to heat to come out.
3D Heating System Preheating System
The new developed 3D heating system is the revolution in heating technology and
assures most efficient fusing. The 3D heating system allows fusing on three lanes by
using different temperatures.
Finishing:There are several other developments in Press for making the Garments;
the most complication is with shirts. The technology used in garments finishing is shown
in figure below.
machine has been especially designed for pressing collars and cuffs of both blouses and
shirts. It can also be used as a neck press. The flexible, adjustable forms allow pressing
of
different sizes and even the pressing of shirts with short sleeves.
Automatic Pressing (An advanced technology used in garment for pressing):
This technology has been introduced by VEIT KANNEGIESSER that is a unique
technology: The pressing plates are heated by an oil bath. This has the following
advantages:
• Absolutely constant temperature even at high speeds
• The ironing buck does not cool down even when processing wet shirts or for short
interruptions
Development in software:-
ERP Software
ERP means Enterprise Resource and Planning. It is an integrated system including all
process and flow of any manufacturing organization. All modules Sale & distribution,
Material Management, Production & Planning and Financial Accounting System are
integrated in EMS ERP.
3D Body scanner:-
BODY SCANNING IS A NEW TECHNOLOGY that is helping to shift the focus of apparel
production from large quantities of cookie-cutter clothes to one-of-a-kind articles with
individualized sizing and design features.
Conclusion:
It’s a prime duty for us to provide a perfect working place for the readymade garments
sector for all country, which has given our economy a strong footing, created jobs for
millions of people, especially for women, lifted them from the abyss of chronic poverty
and given them a magnificent life. Now what we have needed to do is dealing with all the
challenges facing our readymade garments industry, paving the way for its further
development
