Sewing Department of the Garment Industry:
The sewing department of the garment industry is very labor-intensive department than the other departments. It plays a critical role in the overall production process in garment industry. Irrespective of the type of garment produced, knitted garments or woven garments, the company has a set of operators in this section. There are generally two types of labors used in this section. Highly skilled labors are used as machine operators namely for overlock, single needle lock stitch machine, flat lock and other special purpose machines, the low skilled operators are used as a helper in this section to carry the pieces to one place to other or to check or to aid the sewing operator in the sewing process. In general, in the garment industry, the sewing line will be arranged based on the operation sequence of the garment. The general operation sequence of the sewing department is given below.
Operation Flow in the Sewing Department:
Receipt of bundles from cutting department
↓
Sewing of components as per the sequence
↓
In line or end line quality checking
↓
Completion of whole garment assembly
Calculation of Sewing Department Costing in Garment Industry:
In the sewing department of a garment industry, the costing processes involved are based on the machine types involved. Since, the operators are paid based on their operating machine, it is essential to a merchandiser to know where a particular type of seam is used. In sewing department, based on the garment style, sometimes there may be a requirement of special machines, in that situation, the company use to rent that machine from different firms. In that case, the rent amount also needs to be included in the costing process. Hence, on an overall aspect, the merchandiser should understand the detailed operation breakup and stitches and seams used for any given garment. So that based on the target date, he/she can decide the number of operators to be set in a line and can arrive at the total costing of the sewing department. Other than this, there are few raw material like buttons, zippers, tapes and hooks which are also directly used during sewing process. Cost of any material that will remain in the final garment which is used in sewing process will be added in sewing process cost as direct raw material cost.
Factors Influencing in Sewing Department Cost Calculation:
In general, the influencing factors are:
- Garment style details and number of operation: Based on the style complication, the number of machines and operators need to be used will vary. This will influence the cost of the garment.
- Number of component and the size: The number of components and size of the garment influence the operator handling and thus reduces the working efficiency. Hence, the required time to complete the particular operation or garment will be high.
- Type of fabric: The type of fabric has direct influence of the production.
- Special operations: Sometimes, a special operation may require a special machine to perform it. Thus, the rental cost of the machine and operator cost may hike the total garment cost.
- Quality requirements: The quality details defines expected requirements.
Hence, to achieve the required quality, the sequence of operation or number of steps performed in any operation may be altered and hence the cost of the process increases.
Information to be obtained from the tech pack:
- Firstly, specifications detail the seam or stitch types that are to be used for any specific operations.
- Secondly , it provides a set of instructions from which the operation sequence of the apparel can be detailed.
- Trims and accessories to be used and their position in the garment.
- Special operations requirements like smocking, spot embroidery, buttonhole and button attaching machines.
- Order quantity and measurement details of the garment.
Details from the factory:
Once the order details are obtained, from the order quantity and delivery date, the planning department will come up with target detail per day and hours. Other than that, the following data are available with the factory.
- Production capacity of the section based on historical data
- Labor cost at different skill levels – In the sewing section, the labor cost is based on the type of machines the operator operates and the operation type he/she performs decides his wage (if it is not monthly basis).
- Raw material costs from stores, which are again based on market rate
- Special operation cost – Cases like non-availability of the special operation machines/facility or operator may force to go for a rental process, at this situation, the manufacturer should be aware of the cost details of the operation or rental cost of the machine based on time.
- Other overhead costs like, maintenance cost, floor cleaning, electricity, manager or in charge salary and supervisor salary come under this category.
It is important to have all the above mentioned data in hand to calculate the cost of the sewing operation in the apparel industry. The following example details the costing procedure in the sewing department.
Example:
A garment factory works with 12 single needle operators, 18 over lock machine operators and 8 flat lock machine operators to complete an order quantity of 10,000 garments with the average production of 1667 garments per shift. The wages of the operator were Tk. 250.00, Tk. 200.00 and Tk. 150.00 per shift, respectively for flat lock, single needle and over lock machine. The factory uses 8 helpers for this line alone with the wage of Tk.120.00 per shift. Other than this during sewing, for construction, each garment consumes 70 meters of sewing thread, 1.5 meter of twill tape and 7 buttons. The cost of the sewing thread is Tk.75 per cone, cost of the twill tape is Tk.5.00 per meter and cost of the button is Tk. 100/ gross. The other overheads incurred are Tk.25,000 / month for salary of other staff, Tk. 20,000 / month for building rent and Tk.1,50,000 for other expenses. Calculate the sewing cost of the factory with 15% profit, if the company works one shift per day.
Solution:
Step 1: Number of shifts required to complete the order.
The order quantity = 10,000 garments
Daily production = 1667 garments
………………………………………………………………….. ……..Order quantity
Number of shifts required to complete the order = ————————————–
………………………………………………………………………….Daily production
….10,000
= —————— = 5.99 ~ 6 shifts
… ..1667
The company works one shift per day, hence number of days to complete the order is 6.
Step 2: Calculation of labor cost
The operators in this department are 12 single needle operators, 18 over lock machine operators and 8 flat lock machine operators and 8 helpers
Hence, the total labor cost is
= (Number of labors × Total working shifts ×Wages per shift)
= {12(Single needle machine) × 200 × 6} + {8(Flatlock machine) × 250 × 6} + {18(Over lock machine) × 150 × 6} + {8(Helpers) × 120 × 6}
[Note: Since different machine operators were paid different wages, the total expenditure is calculated machine wise and then added together.]
= 14,400 + 12,000 + 16,200 + 5760 = Tk. 48,360
Labor cost = Tk. 48,360.
Step 3: Calculation of raw material cost
Sewing thread
During sewing, each garment consumes 70 meters of sewing thread.
Total number of garments = 10,000
= 70 ×10,000 = 7,00,000 meters
Normally, sewing thread for industrial usage comes in 5000 meter cones. For domestic purpose, it is available in 2000 meter spools. Hence, the cost provided is the cost of one cone with 5000 meter.
……………………………………………………………………………..7,00,000
So the number of cones required to finish the order = ———————-
………………………………………………………………………………..5000
= 140 cones
Cost of one cone is Tk. 75.00, hence, the total cost of the sewing thread is,
= 75 × 140 = Tk. 10,500.
Twill tape
During sewing, each garment consumes 1.5 meters of twill tape.
Total number of garments = 10,000
= 1.5 × 10,000 = 15,000 meters
Cost of tape is Tk. 5, hence, the total cost of the twill tape is,
= 5 × 15,000 = Tk. 75,000.
Button
During sewing, each garment consumes seven buttons.
Total number of garments = 10,000
= 7 × 10,000 = 70,000 buttons
[Note: Buttons generally available in the unit of gross (12 dozen).]
Each gross consist of 144 buttons. Hence, the price of the button is usually provided for a unit (gross).
Cost of button / gross is Tk.100; hence, the total number of button required is,
. ..70,000
=—————-
… …144
= 486.11 ~ 487 gross.
Hence the total button cost = 100 × 487 = Tk. 48,700
Total material cost = 10,500 +75,000+48,700 = Tk. 1,34,200.
Step 4: Calculation of overhead costs
The company spends following costs as overhead. Assume company works 30 days per month.
- Tk.25,000 / month for salary of other staff,
- Tk. 20,000/month for building rent
- Tk.1,50,000 for other expenses
= Tk.25,000 + Tk.20,000 + Tk.1,50,000 = Tk. 1,95,000
……. ………..1,95,000
Cost / day = —————–
……… …………30
= Tk. 6500.
Company works for this order only 6 days. Hence, the cost of six days can be made as
= Overhead cost of a day × 6 =6500 × 6 = Tk. 39,000.00.
Step 5: Calculation of total cost
Total cost = Labor cost + Material cost + Overheads
= Tk. 48,360 + Tk.1,34,200 + Tk. 39,000
=Tk. 2,21,560.
Adding 15% profit = 2,21,560+ {2,21,560×(15/100)} = Tk. 2,54,794.00
Total sewing cost of the order = Tk. 2,54,794.
……………………………………Total cost
Sewing cost / garment = ———————————–
………………………………..Order quantity
…2,54,794
= ———————
…10,000
= Tk. 25.48
The sewing cost of the garment is Tk. 25.48.
Conclusion:
Costing of sewing department in the garment industry is a crucial aspect of overall garment production cost management. Sewing directly impacts the quality and speed of garment production. It involves calculating the expenses incurred in turning raw materials into finished products.
References:
- Handbook of Textile and Apparel Costing by Rathinamoorthy, Surjit and Vishnu Vardhini
- Apparel Merchandising by R. Rathinamoorthy and R. Surjit
- Garments Merchandising by M.A. Kashem
- Practice of Garments Merchandising and Management by Engr. Md. Faruq Hosen
