Embroidery is the handicraft which produce decorative stitches on the garment with needle and thread or yarn. Embroidery may also incorporate other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads, quills, and sequins. Like the printing process, the embroidery process is also mostly performed in the components of the garments. Embroidery has always been a key feature of both household textiles and clothing, in recent years embroidered decoration has become even more predominant. the advances in embroidery technology have made it much cheaper and easier to produce embroidery, also increased globalization and the easy access to cheap labor means hand-stitched embellishment is now created for mass-market clothing as well as for the more expensive end of the market. The process flow of the embroidery department is given below.
Process Sequence of Embroidery Operation in Garment Industry:
Receipt of the deign detail from the production department
↓
Development of embroidery design by punching
↓
Receipt of garment panel from the cutting department
↓
Identification of thread stitch density, pattern and color requirements
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Loading of cloth in the frame (framing process) with supporting foam
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Embroidery process
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Trimming and removal of backing material
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Completed fabric sent to sewing department
Embroidery Cost Calculation in Garment Industry:
Calculation of embroidery cost in the garment industry is very important and critical task. Because, proper cost calculation is essential for pricing strategies and maintaining healthy profit margins. The major cost related to the embroidery process is attributed to the design complication, size and location. The design complication increases the time required to complete the order. Similarly, the location of the design is another important factor. While the cut component is alone passed to the embroidery department, based on the location and cut panel size, the time of the framing process (Fixing of fabric in the embroidery frame) increases, as it is very important in quality view point. Hence it reduces the production capacity of the factory. Similarly, the number of colors and yarn quality used are other important factors. When greater number of colors is used in a design, the color changing time in the machine increases and subsequently, the yarn breakage increases leading to the stoppage and machine re-starting.
After embroidery, the removal of backing foam and trimming activities are laborious works. However, they are very important processes with respect to quality. Hence, this is another area where the cost of production increases, when the design sizes and complications vary. In Bangladesh, the embroidery cost calculations are performed generally by considering 1,000 stitches as 1 unit of embroidery. The other common factors are listed as follows.
Factors Affecting Cost of Embroidery:
- Number of stitches
- Cost of designing
- Cost of punching
- Types of design and size
- Nature of fabric or other substance
- Time required for framing and production
- Number of colors and threads
- Cost related to additional works like applique or patch work
- Cost of backing foam used
- Labor cost and production capacity
- Type of embroidery
- Time require to complete one batch
- Color of thread
- Cutting of appliqué
- Place of embroidery
- Resource and hand involves in doing embroidery
- Any restriction on selection on embroidery machine
- Any compliance requirement
- Any restriction on use of embroidery thread
- Any lab test requirement.
The factors which affect the most cost of the embroidery is,
- Stitch quantity of the design
- Rate of per unit.
Here, a unit is considered as 1000 stitches. (Mostly for a dozen of garments unit is considered as 12,000 stitches).
The formula is,
….Stitch quantity
= ————————————- × Rate per unit
………1000
For example, if the designs requires 7580 stitches and the cost of the embroidery process is Tk.0.50, the cost of embroidery per garment is,
….7580
= —————- × 0.5
….1000
= Tk.3.79.
The following example of embroidery cost calculation. From this problem, the details obtained from the tech pack, which are provided by the consumer are,
- Design details
- Color detailing with Pantone number
- Placement from the side seam, neckline and center front of the garment
- Size details (length and width) of the design
- Number of stitches (provided sometimes)
The details obtained from the manufacturer are,
- Production capacity of the department
- Number of labor and labor cost
- Raw material cost
- Overhead expenses
Example:
An embroidery unit obtains an order of 8,000 garments from an apparel manufacturer to do embroidery in the chest panel. The embroidery design consists of 30,000 stitches per design. The embroidery unit works with 5 embroidery machines with 20 embroidery heads and the average production capacity of each machine is 2,40,000 stitches/ head per shift. The factory works with 2 framers, 1 machine operator per machine and 4 helpers for trimming and removal of foams and the labors are paid Tk.320/shift, Tk.380 and Tk.280 respectively. For the embroidery process, the embroidery unit sourced 90 embroidery thread cones worth Tk.120 each and they also purchased 1000 meters of backing foam for Tk.45/meters. The other overhead expenses are electricity bill Tk.75,000/month and miscellaneous expenses like machine maintenance amount to Tk.8,000 and bobbin thread cost is Tk.5,000/month.
Calculate the cost of the embroidery process per garment with 20% profit if the company works 2 shifts per day and 30 days in a month.
Solution:
(i) Production shifts calculations
The total production needs to be done = 8,000 garments
The average production capacity is = 2,40,000 stitches/head × 20 heads × 5 machine
= 240,00,000 stitches per shift
….Total number of stitches for the order
= ———————————————————————-
………..Capacity of the unit/shift
…8,000 garments × 30,000 stitches per garment
= ————————————————————————-
………………240,00,000 per shift
….24,00,00,000
= —————————
…..2,40,00,000
= 10 shifts = 5 days
(ii) Labor cost
Machine operator = No. of labors × wages/shift × No. of shifts
= 1 × 5 machines × 380 × 10 = Tk. 19,000
Machine Framers = No. of labors × wages/shift × No. of shifts
= 2 × 320 × 10 = Tk. 6,400
Helpers = No. of labors × wages/shift × No. of shifts
= 4 × 280 × 10 = Tk. 11,200 Total labor cost = Tk.36,600
(iii) Raw material cost
Sewing thread = Tk.120 × 90 = Tk. 10,800
Backing foam = Tk.45 × 1000 meters = Tk. 45,000
Total raw material cost = Tk. 55,800
(iv) Overhead expense
Electricity bill – Tk.75,000/month
Machine maintenance – Tk.8,000 Bobbin thread cost – Tk.5,000/month
Total overhead cost = 88,000/30
= Tk. 2,933.33/day
Total cost = 2,933.33 × 5 = Tk.14,666.67
Total cost = Labor cost + Raw material cost + Other expenses
= Tk.36,600 + Tk. 55,800 + Tk.14,666.67
= Tk.1,07,066.67
…………………………………………………………………….1,07,066.67
Total embroidery cost/unit of 1000 stitches = ———————————————–
………………………………………………………………(24,00,00,000/1000)
…1,07,066.67
= —————–
…..240000
= Tk. 0.45/unit of embroidery
Embroidery cost per garment = Number of stitch units per garment × cost per unit
= (30,000/1,000) × 0.45 = 30 × 0.45
= Tk.13.5/garment
= Cost with 20% profit
= Tk. 13.5 + {16.5 × 0.20}
= Tk. 16.2/garment
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
