Production control is the activity of monitoring and controlling garment production or operation. It ensures that quantities booked into warehouse match cut quantities. It influences to ensure having goods made on time, of adequate quality, and at reasonable cost. Production control is the key tool for reduce wastage and cost. In this article we will discuss on functions or activities of production planning and control of clothing industry.

Functions of production planning and control of apparel industry: 
The functions of PPC could be discussed in two individual stages as shown in Fig. 

Fig: Functional diagram of PPC

Functions of production planning: 
Production planning involves everything from scheduling each task in the process to execution and delivery of products. 

The production planning functions include the following: 

1. Estimating 
It involves determining the quantity of garments to be produced and associated cost involved for the same based on the sales forecast. Determinations of raw materials and labour required to meet the planned targets and machine capacity are the vital activities prior to budgeting for resources. 

2. Routing 
It is the method of determining the chain of operations to be carried out in the production line to complete the assembling of garments. This information is given by a product engineering function and is beneficial to make machine loading charts. A route sheet is a document giving the guidelines and information for conversion of raw materials into finished products. Route sheets contain the following information: 

• The necessary operations and their sequence.
• Machine has to be used for every operation.
• Projected set up and operation time per garment piece.
• Description of raw materials to be utilized for garment production.
• Inspection procedure and tools required for inspection.
• Garment packing and handling guidelines during the movement of parts and sub-assemblies through the operation stages.

3. Scheduling 
It involves standardizing the priorities for each work and determining the starting and finishing time for each process or operation. 

It gives a time table for production, representing the total time period essential for the production of a specific garment style. The objectives of scheduling are as follows: 

• To avoid unbalanced utilization of time amid various departments as well as work centers.
• To utilize labor in an efficient manner such that the target is achieved well within the established lead time to dispatch the order in time and complete production at a minimum total cost.

4. Loading 
Loading is the process of transforming the scheduled processes into practical work. Two main concepts of loading are facility loading and machine loading. 

• Facility loading: It is the loading of the work center and deciding which kind of jobs to be allotted to which machine.

• Machine loading: It is the process of allocating specific jobs to machines or workers based on primacies and capacity utilization. A machine loading chart has to be made to demonstrate the planned utilisation of machines and workers by allocating the jobs to machineries as per priority determined at the time of scheduling.

Functions of production control: 
Production control functions include the following: 

1. Dispatching 
It is defined as making the production-related activities in a dynamic manner by issuing the orders and guidelines in agreement with the previously planned time frames. It also gives a means for comparing actual progress of the work with respect to the planned progress. The functions of dispatching are given below: 

• Ensuring the smooth flow of raw material and other accessories from stores to first garment production operation and then from one operation to the next operation until all production processes are carried out. In the garment unit, it comprises the flow of fabric to inspection and then to the spreading room, cutting section, sewing room, finishing, packing and dispatching.

• Gathering tools like cutting tools, sewing tools, etc., from tool stores and delivering them to the concerned department or operator.

• Delivering the specification sheets, drawings and route cards to the concerned departments.

• Giving the job orders and approving the processes in agreement with production schedule and time frame as indicated in schedules or machine loading charts.

• Getting the schedule of inspection by the buyers or internal inspectors in an organisation and delivering it to the inspection section of the line.

2. Expediting/Follow-up 
It confirms that the process is done as per the production plan and the delivery schedules are met. Progressing comprises activities like status reporting, attending to bottleneck processes in the production line and eliminating them, controlling of deviations from the planned performance levels, monitoring and follow-up of progress of work in all stages of production, coordinating with stores, tool room, purchase and maintenance departments and revising the production plans and replanning it if necessary. The necessity for follow-up could arise owing to the following reasons: 

• Delay in supply of materials.
• Excessive absenteeism.
• Changes in design specifications.
• Changes in delivery schedules initiated by the customers.
• Breakdown of machines, tools, jigs and fixtures.
• Errors in design drawings of patterns and process plans.

References:

1. Apparel Manufacturing Technology by T. Karthik, P. Ganesan, and D. Gopalakrishnan
2. Garment Manufacturing Technology by Rajkishore Nayak and Rajiv Padhye