To keep pace with the modern era, the Bangladesh apparel industry is becoming updated day by day with new innovations. The term “Industry 4.0” is mainly characterized by automation & digital transformation.

To implement and apply the new technologies, there are some challenges as well as opportunities. In Bangladesh, the cost of labor & other resources are comparatively lower than the other countries in the world. That's why Bangladesh is the second most exporting country of garments in the world. But, it’s time to set innovativeness as the new competitiveness rather than low-cost labor.

‎There are some operations or processes that we used to do manually. But now we have automations like Automatic Pocket Setter (APS), Automatic Sleeve Placket Attach, Automatic Elastic Cutter, Automatic Side Surge, Automatic Collar make, Automatic Pocket Welting (APW) and so on is developing and implementing day by day which reduce the time, cost, effort and meet the production & quality.

‎Some machine companies like Dollor, IBM, Juki, Eastman, Lectra, GERBER, etc., are manufacturing the auto-operated machines for the apparel industry to simplify the operations & reduce the process time. All those automated machines are operated by IoT (Internet of Things) sensor-based software, which collaborates the intelligence of man & machine through software.

The first fully automated machine was introduced by GERBER technology in the 1960s for the cutting section. This was called the GARBER Auto-Cutting Machine. This machine can automatically adjust the speed and maintain the cutting quality, ensuring a consistent, high-quality output. That development revolutionized the apparel industry by automating the cutting process with a simple operating system. That machine switches the manual system towards automation and increased efficiency, accuracy & productivity.

‎Automatic Pocket Setter

 

‎Automatic Pocket Setter (APS) developed and changed the perspective of the garment industry through their simple & time-consuming program during doing the process. It reduces the processes, SMV, cost, alteration percentage & increases efficiency, productivity and quality of that process of a garment.

‎This machine is automatically doing marking, ironing and pocket attaching at a time within one shot with good quality & quantity. It's a software-based machine where the width, stitch density and other constant measurements are fixed by IoT. There is a function by which we can change the size measurements within a short time. They are using a mold to hold the body & ironing the pocket parts to be ready for stitching. The vacuum system holds & folds the pocket parts in a required shape. There is also a laser light which helps to place the body parts according to the measurements & check or stripe. The whole process is operated by 1 operator. The comparison and savings are listed below.

‎Manual

‎ 1. Pocket attach mark - 1 operator

‎ 2. Pocket iron - 1 operator

‎ 3. Pocket attach - 1.5 operator

‎Total - 3.5 operator

‎Capacity/Operator - maximum 100pcs /hour single pocket (Stripe) with average quality level.

‎Automation

‎Pocket attach mark, Pocket iron, and Pocket attach all are done by 1 operator with required quality, where capacity is 160 pcs single pocket per hour. 1 person just feeds the machine and the rest are all done by the computerized systems machine.

‎Savings

‎2.5 Manpower, Process time, SMV, and CM of that garment from a line.

‎Automatic Sleeve Placket Attach

‎Automatic Sleeve Placket Attach is also an IoT sensor & software-based machine that simplifies the process as well as process complexity within a moment.

‎The machine is fully automated, which folds and sews sleeve plackets without any ironing previously. 2 patterned folders (left & right) are designed to do the process as per the requirements. When 1 piece is processed, there is an opportunity to place the other one, which minimizes the cycle time & increases the capacity & productivity with the required quality.

There is a laser light that helps to place the pocket on the specific part of the garment. One bar is used to hold the parts to avoid displacement from the air pressure. The placket is folded by a vacuum system, which helps them to stitch perfectly. The same Jigs are used for different lengths, but the width needs to be adjusted for different sizes according to the sample, which is given by the buyer or consumer. But normally, 15 to 30 mm widths are available & can be done by this machine. Here, only one person needed to feed the machine to operate it. The comparison & savings are listed below.

‎Manual

‎ 1. Sleeve Placket Attach Mark - 1 operator

‎ 2. Sleeve Placket Press - 1 operator

‎ 3. Sleeve Placket Attach - 2.5 operator

‎Total - 4.5 operator

‎Sleeve Placket Attach Capacity/Operator - maximum 60 pairs/hour (Stripe) with average quality level.

‎Automation

‎Sleeve placket attaches mark, Sleeve placket press, and Sleeve placket attach all are done by 1 operator with required quality, where the capacity is 90 pairs/hour. So, 1.5 manpower is needed here instead of 2.5. Just need to feed the machine and the rest of the operations are done by the computerized systems machine.

‎Savings

‎3 Manpower, Process time, SMV, and CM of that garment from a line.

‎Automatic Elastic Cutter

‎Automatic elastic cutter machine reduces the cycle time & increases productivity with its simple operating system. Reducing cycle time by 50 percent compared to manual operation. 1 person needed here to feed the machine & fix the size-wise measurements by using the computerized program & sensor of that machine. There is an indicator that alerts the feeder when the thread is cut off. 1 stake is there to take the final elastic ring automatically.

‎Manual

‎ 1. Elastic iron - 0.5 operator

‎ 2. Elastic measure, mark & cut - 1 operator

‎ 3. Elastic ring make & tack - 1 operator

‎Total - 2.5 operator

‎Capacity / Hour - 200 pcs

‎Automation

‎All the processes are done by 1 machine & give good quality with quantity, only with 1 manpower. Capacity is 800 pcs per hour, which can run 4 lines at a time with good strength & quality.

‎Savings

‎1.5 manpower per line. 1 Automatic Elastic Cutter can run 4 lines at a time. So, the total manpower savings by an automatic elastic cutter machine is (1.5*4=6) manpower as well as SMV, time, and CM.

Automatic Pocket Welting

‎Though the APW machines were used in the Apparel Industry comparatively more time ago than the whole automated machines. Its mechanism & simple operating system generally make the welt attachment operation easy with the best quality. Feeding, sewing & cutting are combined to automatically sew pockets onto garments. This machine has a sewing head which is responsible for stitching and a pocket feeder to feed the pocket towards the sewing head, garment feeder that positions the garments material, knife used to cut the pocket material that opens the welt for next stitch & thread cutter cut the extra thread with a control panel & aeration system.

Laser light is used here to position the pocket parts with garments & a stake bar holds the parts to avoid the displacement of the body from the laser-positioned area. The manual & automation comparisons are listed below. From feeding the materials to cutting and stitching, all the things are controlled by the machine's programming and the operator's settings, to attaching the welt with the best quality.

‎Manual

‎ 1. Welt attach - 1 operator

‎ 2. Welt pocket corner cut & turn - 2 operator

‎Total - 3 operator

‎Capacity / Hour - 120 pcs

‎Automation

‎Welt attach, welt pocket corner cut & turn all are done by 1 operator with a capacity of 180 pcs / hour. The scissoring of the welt corner is accurate with proper measurement.

‎Savings

‎2 Manpower, Process time, SMV and CM of that garment.

Automation is a blessing for the Bangladesh apparel industry, which changes the environment and workplace to a standard level. But, high cost is needed to set up such technologies, a skilled workforce is needed and all sizes of machine parts need to be available as well.

‎So, we should focus on automation with a positive mentality to adopt the technology of automation. By adopting the automation, we can easily overcome the problems & affluent our apparel industry with sustainable development.